Adrian stood in the cabin, his thoughts spiraling further than the walls of the vessel. The more he touched the depths of the Volumes, the more terrifying their existence became.

The more he learned, the clearer the truth became.

The monsters of Earth no longer felt like the greatest enemy. They were brutal, yes. Relentless. But compared to what lay beyond the sky? They felt like stepping stones.

The alien civilizations that had been able to create the volumes of the Language of Mana… how deep must their understanding run? How many more volumes might exist, beyond the three humanity possessed? Ten? A hundred? What chance did Earth have before such beings?

The weight pressed down on him. Humanity’s every breath was survival. And now, because of what he had done, because of what he had become, a part of that responsibility rested on him.

But he also knew he was not alone. Selena’s tattoo symbol, a discovery made through years of dangerous experimentation, proved it.

Others were fighting in their own way. Humanity had always survived because of its fragments of brilliance scattered across generations.

He would move forward with them and help them all.

Adrian lifted his hand. White-grey light bloomed at his fingertip. A sphere of brilliance, condensed and steady. The same technique he had used with Mira.

“This,” Adrian said, his voice calm but heavy, “is everything I know of runes. Every fragment of the Language of Mana I’ve comprehended. Take it. If humanity is to survive, we must go beyond human limits.”

The cabin froze. Mira’s eyes widened, she recognized the glow, for she carried one within her.

“Adrian, what are you—” Selena started, then stopped as understanding dawned.

Adrian stepped to Selena and pressed the sphere to her forehead.

Her breath hitched as the flood came. Symbols and meanings poured through her mind, not as raw gibberish, but as patterns, connections, a dictionary of the third volume.

Decades of painstaking translation unraveled in an instant. She devoured it greedily until her mind hit its limit. The excess sealed itself away, waiting for when her mind could grow into it.

She opened her eyes slowly, disbelief burning behind them. She had spent her life chasing the meaning of these symbols, and now he had handed her the key.

“Impossible,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “I can see them. The connections I missed for fifty years.”

Adrian turned next to Dorian. The old master’s weathered hands clasped behind his back, accepting what was to come.

“Master Dorian, this gift is yours by right. You sheltered me when the fortress needed me most.”

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The old master endured it with quiet dignity, though his fingers trembled as he realized that concepts he had once deemed incomprehensible now lay within reach. Years wasted, overturned in a single moment.

Then Liora. She gasped, eyes wide, nearly collapsing as the knowledge rushed in. Her world, until now bounded by the first two Volumes, had suddenly cracked wide.

Mira steadied her, whispering encouragement. “Breathe through it. Let it settle slowly.”

“I know that overwhelming feeling better than anyone,” Mira added softly.

Adrian stepped back, looking at them all. “It’s a better version of a skill book,” he explained. “But it doesn’t vanish after you use it. It stays inside you. All you need is time. Time to adapt, to grow into it.”

The four of them stared at him in silence.

Dorian was the first to speak, “Child, what you’ve done… it changes everything. Not just for us, but for every rune master who comes after.”

Selena recovered next. For once, there was no mockery in her tone. No rivalry. Only sincerity. “You’ve done what no one else could. What you’ve given us… It isn’t just for me. It’s for all of humanity.”

Adrian shook his head. “I’m human too. This isn’t charity. It’s duty.”

The rest of the journey passed in quiet intensity. Adrian showed Selena the strengthening rune, guiding her hand through its strokes until she could inscribe it herself.

Selena had gravity affinity, only rune masters with space affinity could inscribe runes that had space concepts in it. But now, the source-infused ink changed all those.

Even Adrian just discovered this now, it was surprising, but a really needed option for humanity.

“Feel how the space concepts weave with the strengthening matrix,” he murmured, watching her work. “The void simulation builds in layers.”

They both knew what it meant, the first step to preparing humanity’s fragile bodies for the void.

Hours later, a voice came over the comms. “We’ve arrived at Headquarters.”

Through the cabin windows, the massive EUO complex stretched before them. Towers of steel and crystal pierced the sky, their surfaces gleaming with defensive runes that pulsed like heartbeats.

The transport docked smoothly.

Adrian stepped onto the platform first. His boots rang against polished metal, each step echoing in the vast docking bay.

Lord Kael Varros stood waiting. His silver hair caught the overhead lights, and his space affinity rippled faintly around him like heat distortion.

“Lord Sentinel wants to see you,” Kael said. His voice carried no emotion, but his eyes never left Adrian’s face.

The words hung in the air. Selena’s breath caught audibly behind him.

Even Dorian, who had served humanity for decades, straightened unconsciously. The name carried weight that pressed down on everyone present.

“Now?” Adrian asked. His voice remained steady.

“Now,” Kael confirmed. “The others will be escorted to quarters. You come with me.”

Selena stepped forward. “Lord Kael, perhaps I should—”

“No.” Kael’s gaze shifted to her briefly. “This is between the Lord Sentinel and Adrian alone.”

Adrian followed Kael, leaving the others behind on the platform.

The corridors of headquarters stretched endlessly. Defenders in formal uniforms snapped to attention as Kael passed, their eyes lingering on Adrian with obvious curiosity.

Kael said as they walked. “Lord Sentinel has lived many millennia. He’s seen humanity’s greatest triumphs and darkest failures.”

They entered an elevator that moved without buttons or controls. Kael’s affinity guided it upward through the building’s core.

“Few things surprise him anymore,” Kael continued. “And now, you have.”

The elevator stopped at the highest floor in the tower. The doors opened to reveal a corridor unlike any other in the building.

The walls themselves pulsed with golden runes.

“This is as far as I go,” Kael said. “The corridor will guide you.”

Adrian stepped forward alone. The doors closed behind him.

Each step forward made the runes brighter. He could now easily understand these defensive and spatial runes, which shifted the building itself.

At the corridor’s end stood a simple door. No guards. No ceremony.

Just wood and brass, humble before the infinite complexity surrounding it.

Adrian raised his hand to knock. Before his knuckles touched the surface, a voice spoke from within.

“Enter, Child.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep