1 Chapter 1 - The Beginning

I opened my eyes to see the gray of my ceiling, slowly letting my self wake up. When I felt ready a few seconds later I swung my body into a sitting position on the side of my bed and observed my room. It looked like some kind of library, or at least one without a good librarian.

On three of my walls sat large bookshelves stuffed to the brim with books. All around the floor, towers of even more books teetered dangerously. To most people, this would be a chaotic mess, but to me, it was home. I glanced at the clock that sat on my bedside table, which was also covered in books.

'Sunday huh, today it shall be... you'

I grabbed a book that I had not read yet from the top of one of the towers, [The Myriad Colors of Dawn].

'I feel like some epic fantasy'

I placed the book down on my bed before heading to take a shower. Fifteen minutes later I once more picked up today's book and headed downstairs. The house was empty except for me, as usual. I grabbed a cereal bar from the kitchen before heading out the front door.

"Now then, where should I read today?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

45 minutes later I stood in front of a lush forest that sat at the edge of town. After taking a moment to observe the forest, I walked inside. I planned to find a small glade to spend the rest of the day in peace.

As I walked through the trees filled with light from the mourning sun, I observed my surroundings as something that could be considered beautiful. But I cared little.

After half an hour of walking through the forest I found something that I had never stumbled upon before. It was a small courtyard with a low wall that held something of an open-air temple. 20 marble pillars held up a triangular roof that seemed to be carved out of one huge piece of some sort of green stone. Inside this temple sat a large alter and a simple stone chair. However, most of this was broken down and crumbled. The wall was almost a pile of rocks, and the temple was half-collapsed. The only things intact were the alter and the chair.

'Well this seems like a nice enough spot'

I hopped over the crumbled wall and walked into the temple, sitting myself down on the chair. But the instant I did this, something changed. The cool breeze the was blowing around me suddenly sped up to something of a tempest. As if being controlled, the harsh winds ignored me and lifted up the many crumbled pieces of the temple and wall and placed them into their rightful places before they fused together. In an instant, the temple turned from an ancient ruin into a masterwork of architecture.

After the temple seemingly healed its self, an old but powerful voice sounded in my ear as if someone was speaking right next to me. But of course, no one was there.

"Hello child, I must thank you for stumbling upon my final resting place and awakening me from my slumber. This is a great debt, and all debts must be repaid. Now child, what is it you desire? Power?"

Not shaken in the slightest by the rapid series of recent events I replied to the voice calmly.

"No"

"Wealth?"

"No"

"Pleasure?"

"No"

Sounding exasperated the voice asked one last question.

"Well, what is it you want then?"

"...to read"

The voice was silent for a moment before it broke out into hearty laughter.

"Hahaha, Then read you shall my child, read you shall"

After speaking this last line the voice silenced, then... nothing. Everything returned to normal, the only difference being the now restored temple.

'Finally, I can get to reading'

And that's exactly what I did, for the next four hours I sat on the stone chair and dived headfirst into [The Myriad Colors of Dawn].

It was a rather interesting tale of a fallen prince that swore to exact revenge oh his uncle who stole his throne and slaughtered his family. The only problem, this uncle was an extremely powerful mage, able to shatter armies and sunder mountains. To face him the prince decided to head to the edge of the known world, the myriad elemental mountains. A mountain range that contained massive quantities of unbound mana. The prince hoped that he could use this extremely dangerous mountain range to temper his skills at a fast pace. Along the way, he picked up a cast of interesting characters that hoped to increase their power in the same manner. In the end, the prince managed to gain incredibly powerful magic and defeat his uncle. But along the way, many of his new friends died, causing him to swear to create a kingdom of peace and prosperity. It was a classic grand quest story but it was well written and had good character development. As I closed the book, satisfied after reading an enjoyable story, something strange happened.

[You have finished The Myriad Colors of Dawn]

[You have comprehended the truth behind the text, allowing you to draw power from it]

[You have obtained The Blessing of Myriad elements]

'Now what's this?'