Madam Ruby chuckled upon hearing Almond and answered, “You are in the Crimson Umbrella City, one of the four cities on this Cloudban Expanse.” Continue your saga on My Virtual Library Empire
“This Cloudban Expanse is a plane of existence, one of many, connected to the second layer of Grimworld. And you, whose soul and geno gates are fundamentally unawakened and weak, are from the first layer of the Grimworld.”
“So here is my question, how did you arrive here?”
Almond absorbed the information. ‘Second layer of grimworld? Geno gates? I need to know more. But I’ll have to answer first…truthfully.’
“I used a skill that produced a door. I went inside and arrived in that cavern.”
“Interesting,” Madam Ruby smiled. “As someone who has been playing in the Grimworld’s Tutorial, you must have skills and power sources you earned through it. Young as you are, the blaze within you is brighter. Anyway, ask your question.”
‘So she knows about the Grimworld’s Tutorial…This is a chance,’ Almond’s eyes shone.
“I want to know more about Grimworld’s Tutorial. Why is it happening? And what is Grimworld?”
“Seeing is better, so let’s watch it,” Madam Ruby waved her hand as magical motes, not of Mana, but something else, manifested and conjured into a meter-tall tree with its peak hidden in the mist, and above the mist was nothing.
“This tree is the Grimworld.”
The tree was lush and thick with leaves, dreamy and magical, and extended tendrils that connected to bubbles, thousands of bubbles from bottom to top until the area covered by the mist at the top.
“The tendrils from the trunk are connected to these bubbles. They are flat and oval. All bubbles in the area are considered to be in the first layer, and each bubble is a universe. Grimworld’s Tutorial descends in this layer on planets with population and pushes them for evolution and entertainment. The entertainment part is for the people of the third layer, the upper half of the tree’s upper half. “
“Look above,” Madam Ruby pointed upward. “The more round bubbles that are connected to the tendrils extending from branches are planes of existence, like this Cloudban Expanse. We are in the second layer.”
Suddenly, seven thrones appeared at the top, right below the mist area of the tree.
“And these seven thrones are supposed to be the strongest entities of the Grimworld, and they are given the most authority by the Grimworld. The people who sit on those thrones change, but the last change was many, many years ago, I don’t know how many. Don’t ask me about them because I know nothing except that the Grimworld is for them to rule, and they set up the laws and rules for every plane of existence in the second layer and third layer.”
“Lastly, I don’t know if this tree has been in existence forever or if it appeared and connected itself to these bubbles, the realities. People have theories, but that’s it.”
Almond released a breath, his eyes showing amazement. “This is crazy.”
His eyes went to those thrones, and they lit up. ‘That’s the place. That’s where I must reach.’
“Yes, everyone wants to go there. Well, everyone who bears the hope of living and getting stronger,” Madam Ruby smiled, “Including myself. But for who knows how long, the thrones have never changed their owners, except for in the ancient texts and olden sayings.”
“I see…” Almond nodded as he looked at the tree.
Madam Ruby’s eyes flickered as the magical hologram vanished.
“Now, my question. Do you want to return to your world?”
Almond’s pupils shrank as he looked at her and answered without hesitation, “Yes.”
“So there are people there you care for. Understandable.”
“Can you help me return?”
Madam Ruby chuckled and got up, “I can, but whether I will or not, is up to you.”
Almond got up and said with a serious expression, his tone determined, “What do I need to do?”
‘One month. Even if she doesn’t help me return earlier, I can return after a month by using the Seeker Key again because what I seek most now is to return.’
“Come with me. You have potential, but you have to make it bloom if you want to survive here.”
Madam Ruby walked towards the stairs, and Almond followed as she continued speaking, “The first step is knowing about the fundamentals. I am going to tutor you about the basics and then send you to an academy. As long as you survive in that academy for fifteen days, I will let you return.”
“Survive for fifteen days?” Almond frowned. “Is it dangerous?”
“Well, yes. It is dangerous. But if you can’t survive, then it means that’s all there is to your worth.”
Almond weakly smiled upon hearing that and followed her as they arrived in a small garden.
She sat on a chair and told Almond to sit on the grass in front of her, cross-legged.
“Magic,” Madam Ruby snapped her fingers as a wisp of flame danced on her index finger. “Tell me, what do you know about magic?”
“Magic…” Almond snapped his finger, causing golden lightning to crackle above his hand as it shaped into a snake and then the dragon. “Magic is, well, manipulating Mana and influencing with powers I control like this golden haze lightning.”
“What is Mana?” Madam Ruby asked with a smile.
“Mana is a type of magical energy, I guess.”
“But what I use is not mana, and you can see that.”
Almond nodded as his eyes flickered. “It’s different, but I see characteristics of Mana in that.”
“Correct, because this energy is Prana. Grimworld releases Prana into the second and third layers. The first layer has nothing, but via the Grimworld’s Tutorial, it creates power sources, and fills the worlds with a weaker version of Prana, which is Mana.”
“Prana cannot exist in the first layer as it’s powerful enough to break the fundamentals there. This is one of the reasons I believe that Grimworld wasn’t here forever. The tree arrived here and began ruling it all.”
Almond nodded.
“Now, I will put you through a test, a trial of sorts. This is to awaken your soul because if you want to survive here, you have to grasp Prana, and you can only grasp Prana if your soul is awakened.”