Natasha went away to look for an answer for Kev's question, fully confident she would be able to find it soon.
Her confidence wasn't without reason.
She came from an impressive background.
Her powerful family library recorded a lot of things about the Abyss.Being her father's only daughter, she had a lot of authority in her hands. She could walk into her family's heavily guarded library like it was her own private garden and check those records without needing anyone's permission.
Her family library was quite far from the temple. On foot, it would take weeks if not months. But she had a person with mystical powers to depend on.
It was the elderly woman she called her aunt.
Natasha went to her after storing the tall and sturdy magical mirror she had been using to spy on Kev in a small pouch,
"Aunt Lydia, I need to urgently visit our family library. Can you please teleport me there?"
She looked at her pleadingly.
There was a trace of admiration in her eyes.
Lydia was well over 60, but she had maintained herself quite well.
There was not a wrinkle to be seen on her jade-like face and her body seemed well exercised.
It was full and curvaceous, yet not fat.
She wore a simple white garment but it accentuated her gracefulness.
Hearing Natasha's request, Lydia turned to her with a hint of curiosity in her eyes.
"Why do you want to go there suddenly?" She asked.
"It's to help a friend. There's this question he needs to know the answer to. I believe I can find it in our family library and help him out," Natasha replied honestly.
Lydia was someone she could depend upon blindly. In return, she tried to be as honest to her as possible.
"Is it the new arrival who is providing you with corpses in exchange for knowledge about his new reality?" Lydia asked.
"Yes, and he is a very competent and capable man" Natasha nodded with a bright smile on her face.
"You speak so sweetly about him. Do you have a crush on him??" Lydia asked without missing a beat.
Hearing her words, Natasha blushed and waved her hand in denial, "No, no, we're just normal friends."
Seeing her panicking, Lydia smiled in amusement. "Whatever you say."
Natasha hurriedly changed the topic before her aunt could tease her again. The one thing she hates the most was being teased.
"Anyways, will you help me?"
"You're raising a corpse spider, and it needs corpses to grow. In the empire, however, corpses are extremely rare. Immediately after people die, their bodies are burned to ashes to prevent them from succumbing to the curse of the Black Sun and raising up as an revenant. His presence is invaluable to you, and that's why I'll help. I'll get you to the library instantly so you can find the information he needs." Lydia nodded, raised her hand and gently clapped.
Natasha vanished from sight, reappearing before the gate of her family library thousands of miles away.
It was guarded by a young and sturdy man with a military-style soldier's cut and a tall, lengthy black spear in his hand.
As he sensed someone appear beside the library entrance he was tasked to protect with his life, his eyes turned sharp like a hawk's.A thick, red murderous aura bloomed from his body.
It seemed like he would strike down the source of the sudden intrusion at any moment, but it never happened.
Seeing who it was, his expression softened, his killing intent dissipated, and he returned to a harmless state.
"Young miss, this slave has seen you." He knelt before Natasha on one knee, cupping his fist in respect.
"How many times do I have to tell you? There's no need to be formal when it's just us, Rauk. Why are you still kneeling? Quite, get back on your feet" Natasha said.
The man rose back up to his feet only after she had permitted it, following the family rule strictly.
"What brings you here?" he asked.
"I want to enter the library. Please help me get inside," Natasha replied.
The library door towered over fifty feet high, forged from some kind of dark metal that gleamed sharply under the harsh glare of the sun. Like its height, its thickness was equally intimidating.
A frail girl like Natasha, who had only recently become a class holder, couldn't hope to budge it.But the same couldn't be said for the man before her.
"As you command, young miss."Rauk placed both hands on the massive door of the Ashfeld Family Library and pushed with strength that defied his youthful appearance.
Under his might, it creaked open.
He was one of the strongest people in her family's service.So talented, he had amassed great power at a young age and even earned immortality. He literally couldn't die.
This much was child's play for him.
Natasha stepped inside after thanking him.
The young man didn't feel like he deserved it. He was just doing his job.
Still, he appreciated the gesture."She hasn't changed," Rauk thought. "That's good."
He had expected her to become arrogant after becoming a class holder.But she hadn't.In fact, he found her even more likeable now.
As Natasha stepped through the towering gate and entered her family's grand library, the young man followed silently behind her while maintaining a respectful distance from her.
"Why are you tagging along?" she asked.
"I'm just following the rules. Since you didn't bring a guardian to ensure your safety inside the library, I have to play the part," he replied.
"What do you meant by that?" She asked.
"It's like this."
Rauk gave her a proper explanation.
Knowledge about the Abyss came in many forms.Some so dark they could drive a person mad.
Such type of knowledge was also stored in the Ashfeld Family Library. You could accidentally come across it while exploring and lose your mind.
That's why the children of the Ashfeld family—especially the weaker ones—weren't allowed to enter it unsupervised.
No sane parent would want to lose their child to madness when it could be prevented.And the head of the family was a wise man, known for his intellect. Naturally, he had put protocols in place to avoid such tragedies.
In the past, Natasha had no interest in diving into the mysteries of the Abyss.She had lived like a noblewoman, enjoying life to the fullest.If not for what she had seen thanks to the powers granted to her by the class she gained during a ceremony held by her family to elevate her state of existence, she would've never desired to change her opulent lifestyle.
Up until now now, she had visited her library only once or two times. Each time she was accompanied by older members of her family. In their presence, she didn't need extra protection, so she wasn't exposed to a situation where she would learn the dark side of the library until today.
"Alright, you can follow me." Natasha said to Rauk.
Now aware that the library housed forbidden knowledge, capable of driving even the most stable minds to madness, her steps grew cautious. But she didn't stop moving.She was here to find an answer for Kev. Her greatest business partner.She didn't want to disappoint him.
"Gotta rely on my power to get it quickly over with," she said, closing her eyes.
When she opened them again, a glowing green arrow appeared in her vision, pointing in a direction.
Its appearance indicated that.
She was a Pathfinder.
It was a unique type low-rank class.
Neither purely combat-oriented nor entirely support-based.
Its most recognizable and fundamental ability was the Guiding Arrow.
When invoked, a glowing arrow would manifest in the user's field of vision—visible only to them—and point toward the exact location of the thing they were searching for.
Whether it was an object, a person, or even an abstract answer, as long as they knew what they desired, the arrow would guide them toward it.
But this ability had limits. It wasn't entirely broken.
The greater the secrecy, danger, or rarity of the target, the more stamina or resources it consumed. Some pathfinders had directly collapsed or even died because of the reckless use of their power.
Natasha followed the arrow.While Rauk followed after her, occasionally glancing over his shoulder like he expected something to attack from behind.
Soon, Natasha stopped before a shelf packed with books.The book she needed was up high.
Too high for her five-foot-tall frame to reach.
Her cheeks puffed up in frustration. Why was she so short?! Couldn't she have been a little taller. Grrr.
She turned to Rauk with a pleading gaze.
"Please help me get that."
She pointed at a certain spot in the shelf.
The young man nodded. He kicked off the ground, soaring several dozen feet into the air with ease.
In mid-air, he plucked a book from the shelf. Then, gravity pulled him down. He landed expertly and handed over the book he'd grabbed.
"Here's the book you asked for, young miss."
"Thank you," Natasha said as she took it, her eyes gleaming with anticipation.
'With this, he will have no choice but to reconsider my worth.'
On the other hand, Kev had just finished looting Dakun's corpse,
Gaining three powerful items!