13. Riddle of The Library

While Elena was travelling to the pacific ocean, Ryo was confused by an antique book with a leather cover that he found in the corner of the library shelf.

Ryo was still wondering to himself about the meaning of the words on the cover of the book.

[Space is The Lord and Time is The King, Only thee who know thy self shalt walk on the road of enlightment]

 It was written in faded gold ink under the triangle symbol.

"Order of Masonry," Ryo muttered as he read the title of the first chapter.

  After reading a few chapters, Ryo understood a little what was meant by this book, there was a religious organization in medieval times, which guarded the secrets of the world, ancient mystical knowledge, and the extraordinary understanding of divinity.

Ryo more and more reverently read chapter by chapter of the thick book.

 "All living things, living in the mortal dimension, even creatures that are said to be immortal, are not actually immortal, their bodies are still bound by space and time, tightly bound to the mortal world, side by side but not united. Melt with your soul, and you will be enlightened."

The fragments of every sentence written in the book felt so magical in Ryo's mind.

"Melt? Those who know themselves, will walk towards enlightenment?" Ryo muttered, trying to study.

 Ryo scratched his head as the longer he read, the more absurd it became.

The next day, Ryo returned to the library to dig deeper into this book and all its mysteries, as he felt called by the writing on the cover of the book.

 Using the library computer, he tried to find information about the Order of Masonry on the server.

[Error Code: 666]

 The system refused to provide any information. He then asked the librarian at the reception desk.

The middle-aged man looked very firm and did not hesitate to throw out anyone who bothered him. Ryo was a little hesitant to ask, but he finally got up the courage.

"Excuse me, sir, I want to know information about this book," Ryo said with a little nervousness and put the book on his desk.

"Hmm?" The man just glanced at the book. "The book is not registered in the library database. As far as I know, that book is very old and has become a legendary puzzle in the White Raven library."

"Then who brought this book?" Ryo asked, confused.

"No one knows, but rumour has it that Mrs Katya herself put the book down and made this riddle, whoever solves it will be rewarded with a big prize," replied the man.

Ryo thought for a moment, a book with a flashy cover was just placed in the corner of the shelf, anyone would be intrigued and curious. As if it deliberately invited people to break it.

"Has anyone ever solved the riddle?" asked Ryo.

 "The mystery of the Order of Masonry, during the hundred years this academy has existed, no one has been able to solve it."

Ryo increasingly lost his way, only this time, he was faced with a puzzle that made him wonder, "Is that so?"

"Yes, if there is nothing else to ask, get out of the way," the man rebuked with a sharp look.

Ryo just shook his head and waved his hand at the man as if to say, "Yeah, without you tell me, I'm going to leave you too!" but he didn't have the heart, to tell the truth.

He then intended to return the book to its shelf, but Ryo saw another clue. There was a number engraved on the shelf. It looked blurry almost imperceptibly because it was covered by layers of varnish and paint. But it could be seen if you one close attention.

"1880 AD?" Ryo paid close attention to the faint engraving.

"1880 is the Age of Enlightenment and the rapid advancement of science on earth, right?"

Ryo began to feel challenged again, as he found an important clue.

But that still couldn't direct him, he looked up at the majestic ceiling of the library, the huge array of paintings from various eras lined up neatly on the high walls.

 Masterpieces of the most famous painters were collected in this library. Da Vinci, Dante, Duhrer and so on. But what stood out the most in Ryo's eyes was Katya Katyushka's oil painting, and it was not stated who the painter was.

Posing slightly sideways, she rested her left hand on her waist, wearing a black medieval dress, she let her silver hair down, her eyes and smile were very elegant. It's as if the painting had its own aura.

He stared at the painting for a long time as if his soul was fixated on its beauty. And he realized something; "The gold ring! It has the same emblem as in the book!" shouted Ryo inside.

Although it didn't look too obvious, the shape was very convincing and seemed to be deliberately disguised. And on a table in the background of the painting, there is a plaque inlaid with gold-bearing the symbol of a triangle arrangement, and there was the number 33 in the triangular arrangement.

Ryo got even more excited, he scanned the painting with the features on his bracelet and got a clearer picture. He scrutinized every detail in the painting, zooming in and out every part he thought could give a clue. And he found a faint symbol under the eye, near the cheekbone of Katya's painting. Two triangles facing each other up and down, he immediately matched the symbol in the painting with the one in the book.

"As Above So Below." That was the only explanation in the book. "What is above is the same as what is below?" Ryo muttered, he thought as he looked up at the ceiling. He walked to the middle of the library and noticed the mural on the library dome.

There were paintings of the gods from various ancient mythologies in the world, the manifestation of each of the most ancient cultures on earth about gods and goddesses. There were more than ten gods lined up around the huge dome, each of them extending their hands to a point in the centre of the dome. A big circle and there was a small circle in it, composed of lights that seem to illuminate the dark world.

Ryo realized the meaning of the symbol, the oldest symbol used by humans on earth to describe God. He was astonished by what he realized, and lowered his head, realizing how vast the world he was in was, each of those gods and goddesses coming from a different universe, yet they still pointed to one almighty source.

"As Above So Below,"

Ryo muttered to himself. Then he looked at the floor he was standing on, the same circular pattern as the one in the centre of the dome. He took a step back and knelt down to inspect the floor.

"Is that all?! Damn, I've come this far!" Ryo was very annoyed and hit the floor.

Not too loud, but enough to make him realize that something was different about the floor. He tapped on the floor, and the sound on the tiles of the centre circle was slightly different from that of the outer circle as if there was air space beneath it.

Ryo tried to push it down, and there was a faint "Click" sound, from behind the floor. He also tried to rotate the tile. But no matter how many times he turned it, nothing happened. He thought for a moment and recalled the clues he got.

"The charter!" He thus turned the pages of the book to match the information in the painting.

 "Thirty-third degrees are great degrees, you will be told what you deserve to know if you can achieve it." light fragments of sentences from the Chapter; Order Member Degrees.

"Degrees?" As if getting a clue he turned the circle tiles upside down and started over. Press it down and rotate it 33 degrees clockwise.

 "Click!"

The mechanical sound sounded a little loud and caught the attention of several people. The circular tile opened by itself.

Ryo then quickly took a piece of paper from a small hole in the tile and closed it again. He just walked out of the library and returned to the boys' dormitory. Very carefully, he untied the little knot on the weathered paper and opened it slowly.

"Come, I am waiting at the altar of offering as the moon fades away. K.K"

That was the writing in red ink written on weathered paper.

"K.K?" Ryo muttered, only less than a second, he realized who was meant by the initials K.K. Without racking his brains any further, he knew where the offering altar it was referring to was. Now he just had to wait for the right time to meet her.