Chapter 9 - The Mental Space

Seraphina's eyes fluttered open to the familiar, oppressive void of the infinite darkness. A sigh almost escaped her lips as, this time, she no longer felt any sense of fear or isolation as she did before.

But rather annoyance that she would have to go through this again— she couldn't help but wonder if she would have to deal with this every night.

"What do you want now?"

She spoke aloud, expecting the reflection she had met in here previously to once again speak to her— however, she was met with silence.

Being met with silence caused a faint sense of curiosity to rise in her as she glanced around the infinite darkness— but it wasn't infinitely dark anymore.

She noticed a faint flow in the distance, a place just out of clear sight. Squinting and moving closely slightly, she saw a single bookshelf standing alone in the void as if hovering above the darkness.

Its edges were illuminated by the ethereal light and cast a bright hue in the space around it— ruining the darkness.

Intrigued by the new addition to the dark space, she moved closer to the bookshelf, walking across the solidified darkness and toward the location of the light.

With each step, the bookshelf became clearer, and Sera's curiosity only grew. Finally, she arrived just before the bookshelf, and with her hand trembling slightly, she ran her fingers over the spines of the book.

To her surprise, they were all the same books she had touched and read through in the library earlier that day— every single one of them.

"What is this place?"

She whispered to herself, her voice echoing softly in the vast emptiness.

She did not expect an answer this time, but she couldn't help but voice her question aloud— hoping for one.

She pulled out the first book she had read on the history of the Asterion Empire. Opening it, she found the same familiar pages, the same tales of rulers and battles. The words seemed to glow faintly as if imbued with some form of power.

But every single thing within the books matched the book in reality— not a part was different. Not even the parts she vaguely skimmed over before.

"This place... It's more than just darkness."

She said with some form of realization but also uncertainty.

"Is it a reflection of the knowledge I've acquired? Some sort of memory bank?"

She wasn't sure, but from what she could tell, it seemed like just that— a place where the information she had acquired was stored.

"But that doesn't make sense. If it was, why isn't my previous knowledge stored here?"

She shook her head and tried to analyze the situation. 

From what she had observed so far, two primary ideas appeared in her mind about what this space could be.

The first was that it stored information she had acquired only after awakening this space— awakening her eyes. That would be reasonable, as it happened directly after her eyes had changed.

The second was that it only stored information that she had directly made contact with in some way— this also seemed likely and reasonable because all the books stored here were all books she touched. Even the ones she didn't fully read but touched were stored here.

Whatever the truth was, she was truly grateful for this ability. In this space, she didn't feel tired, she didn't ache, nor did she need anything. Within this space, she could read these books over and over again until she was able to deepen her understanding of them.

This could be of great use to her when diving into more complex subjects.

She had to confirm this— reaching for another book, one she had only skimmed earlier, she opened it and began to read. Her mind felt clearer than it did during the day; the words flowed like water when she read them, and they stored themselves perfectly clearly in her mind.

By the time she had finished the book, she hadn't even felt the flow of time, and all the information she had read was perfectly imprinted into her mind.

Every single detail could be brought up clearly with a mere thought.

"This is incredible."

She marveled at the newfound power, and she knew that this could be a great change for her.

"I can learn and retain everything I read in here. If I can store more books here, then throughout the night, I can constantly be learning."

As she explored further with this new darkness, she realized that this dark space was not just a bookshelf in emptiness. It seemed to react to her thoughts and desires, shifting and changing based on her focus.

The more she concentrated, the clearer and more detailed the place can become.

She was able to make a simple couch and table appear in the darkness near the bookshelf; however, when she tried to make more things, she suddenly grew weak.

It wasn't a weakness in the physical sense; rather it was her mind feeling tired— drained even. It was a familiar feeling; it was the feeling her eyes had given her throughout her entire life.

"Is this place, my mind? Or my eyes?"

She couldn't tell if this place was a construct of her eyes or mind— or both. However, she was certain that this place held the secrets of unlocking more of her abilities.

Closing her eyes, she tried to concentrate on her eyes, willing the space to provide her with information about her 'God's Eyes.' 

However, after holding that concentration for a while, nothing happened. Disappointed but not willing to give up just yet— she moved on.

This space held books she touched— knowledge she acquired. It would be a great help to her in her path to power, and while she had no clear goal yet, she would survive.

"I will master this power. I will uncover the secrets of my eyes and find a way to control them. Above all else, I will survive."

She made a vow aloud to no one but herself— and stretched out her hands to grab the books before her.

She had read them before in the library, but the memories gained from reading them then were not as clear as from reading them here. Sera planned to reread all of them until they were burnt into her brain.

Slowly, she began to read one book, three books, and eventually, all ten books on the shelf were complete. 

History of the Empire, information on the continent, overview of the other Kingdoms— and even the basic language. She went over all of them and had them memorized in her mind.

With a thought, she could bring them back up and learn what she wanted to know. The only reason she stopped reading was because she suddenly felt tired.

Her eyes were forced closed within the darkness, and she seemingly fell asleep.

When she finally opened her eyes again, she was back in her room. The early morning light filtered through the curtains, casting a soft glow on her surroundings. She took a deep breath, her mind racing with the revelations from the dark space.

Her body wasn't tired even though her mind had been running throughout the entire night— and while she did feel somewhat mentally drained, it was nothing compared to being awake.

Today, she felt different; she felt better.

Not only was her body improving with time as the energy drain no longer existed— slowly gathering the energy needed to survive once more. But she also felt more refreshed.

She knew now that she had a powerful tool in her quest for knowledge, and she would make the most out of it— today, she would visit the library and go through every book she would find.

She would touch them— and also skim through some of them— to try and figure out how this power fully worked.

With a plan in mind— she turned to ring the bell.