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Alex looked at Mia and started to explain what their next steps would be. Of course, he also explained this through a message inside the system to make sure it doesn't get leaked.

[ Lucifer: The quest we need to get is inside the Empire of Scholars. It's an Epic quest, however, it's actually an Epic Continental Quest! The quest is to recover an item that was lost since the Lost Era. To be given the quest, we need to find a specific book inside the library in their capital. ]

[ Snow: Alright, however, how do we know which book it would be? ]

[ Lucifer: I know the general outline of the cover. After that, I'm not too sure about the details of the quest. ]

Of course, Alex already knew where the item was located; however, he wasn't going to say anything yet. The place is located in an extremely dangerous area, considered a forbidden zone. Not only does the zone house strong monsters and hard-to-move terrain, but the biggest issue is that it's not located in the physical world; it's instead located in purgatory, the plane between heaven and hell. Purgatory is a special zone as it's both great if you can manage your pain and horrible if you can't. While in purgatory, the flames of hell would repeatedly purify your soul to get you ready for your afterlife. This includes removing impurities and any distinct features, along with inhumane pain and extreme discomfort. Alex would have never considered the quest so early; however, with the addition of the title of strong mind, he had to try. The quest was too important not to complete, as it opens up an important game feature for the player. It opens the lordship system and gives the player who completes it a territory inside the Scholar Empire! Of course, in the last timeline, it was opened up a while after we realized the truth about the game. If we can open up the system, then maybe, just maybe, it will go differently this time.

Alex shook his head and motioned for Mia to follow him. They left the Spirit Association and went to the Teleportation Hall in Violet City. The teleportation costs for both of them were 200 gold coins. While Alex agreed with the prompt to teleport to the City of Knowledge, he looked back at Violet City one last time and smiled in gratitude for the times he experienced inside its walls. Although it wasn't his intention, the city and kingdom had been severely weakened. It wouldn't surprise him if another kingdom were to annex it soon. A few moments later, Alex and Mia left the weakened kingdom and arrived at the City of Knowledge inside the Scholar Empire. The City of Knowledge was the capital city of the Scholar Empire, and this showed with how prosperous it was. The Teleportation Hall had easily more than 25 times more people than the Violet Kingdom did when he first arrived. Alex started to hear distinct voices through the crowded hall.

"Selling herbs for cheap!!"

"Buying minerals for a good deal!"

"Selling Shimmering Silver level 20 equipment!! Get it while you still can!"

Yes, players were trying to sell or buy items inside the Teleportation Hall. While the city restricts the construction of stalls unless they are a citizen, it doesn't limit players from selling items through trades. Alex watched the bustling hall with a newfound ambition. He wanted to control this city, no, he wanted to be the controlling force in this country! In the last timeline, the Library of Secrets had controlled this city and country. It was also a special guild as it was a neutral force. It was one of the strongest superpowers and yet it mostly dealt with information. They had their wars, conflicts, and enemies. However, their main business was still selling information. Alex walked out of the teleportation array with Mia following behind him. They were getting a few side glances; however, it wasn't an overly large amount of attention. Alex seemed fine with that as he knew that would change soon. He and Mia went straight to the library. The library was completely different from the one inside the Violet Kingdom. The library was extremely large and beautiful. The reason for that was that it was also the central building. The library was where the scholars would meet up and decide the actions of the Empire.

Alex and Mia went into the library and noticed how magical it looked. The inside was clean and tidy with bookshelves upon bookshelves. The library was divided into multiple floors with 10 floors going up and 3 floors going down. The 3 floors were used as containment for books or items of extreme value or dangerous use. The 10 floors were divided into smaller rooms that corresponded with the committees. The first floor, or the lobby floor, was the actual library or the public library. Alex told Mia to look around and try to find the book with a blank cover. Alex went around and decided to read up on the history and structure of the empire. The empire was governed by a board of scholars, with 7 scholars on most boards. They had a board of foreign relations, taxes, economy, education, health, safety, warfare, etc. They had a committee of scholars for every subject or issue that could pop up. If a committee didn't exist for an issue, they would either add the issue to another committee or create a whole new committee. Of course, the scholars are employed for life on their respective committee, and their positions can't be inherited by their family. The Scholar Empire valued ability more than bloodline or wealth. Of course, like with any Empire, they had a position that stood at the top of the country and approved all the committees' requests. While there were also nobles, they mostly had lower status than committee members. However, there were two families in total that were the most influential and had status that surpassed the committee members. The Royal family of Wisdom, headed by Raphael Solomon. Then the Duke family of War, headed by Rin Blood. The Royal family of Wisdom ruled the country with unheard-of ideas and inventive methods. They made sure the Scholars were doing their job and kept the home front in check. The Duke family of War made sure any outside or inside enemies or threats were dealt with swiftly and efficiently. The two families have amazing relations, and this was due to their oath. The Oath of Allegiance made by the first heads of each household. The head of the Solomon family, Queen of Ruin Hela. Then the head of the Blood family, the Hero of Justice Theo.

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A/N

Hey everyone! I hope you all enjoyed today's chapter! Have a good rest of your day or night!

If you like this book so far you should check out my other work, A Last Wish!