Limits

Chapter 429

I followed her upstairs in silence, until she spoke herself. "The higher ups can be a bit stubborn. Fortunately for you, I met Oren on my way, and he explained the situation. Otherwise you wouldn't gain entry". I smiled, "I'm not so sure about that". She turned around "Yes, Shak would help you out, maybe even for free. I don't doubt your abilities either, Mr Dark Traveller. But, don't assume Voltars are that weak". This sounded more like a warning to me. I would receive what I came for, so I didn't mind.

She faced forwards again, and said "You will be allowed to browse through the history of North alone. No other knowledge will be accessible to you. Please bare that in mind, as I will not repeat this warning". I replied, "That is all I'm interested in". She nodded while saying, "I'm glad to hear that then".

We climbed more, and more stairs. Until we arrived at what looked like the top floor. There were ten guards stationed there, all at the Inner Limits stage. They greeted the woman with respect, and allowed us to enter the only room on that floor. I was a bit surprised by the amount of strong Voltars the city possessed. I saw at least fourteen of those Voltars. 'Sedon has at least eight Shades at the Inner Limits stage. At least one that passed the Half Step as well. That woman should've passed that stage too' I thought.

I shouldn't be really surprised. Voltars, Shades and Lizards were the major races of the North. Their population was large, compared to other races. This meant, more people had a chance to reach such stage. Humans had a lot more of such people, due to the amount of us in the world. Avians were not a major race at all, they didn't even have one person at the Inner Limits stage. The same was true with Atols, although the Warrior Faction Leader reached that stage, as well as few other warriors. Their race was small in comparison to others. At best one or two thousands Atols existed in the North. Golems were not that different, but they were much stronger comparably.

This begged a question. Why was the North so diverse, while the rest of Perival Continent belonged to Humans? While we entered the room, I realised it was a huge library. Books, scrolls and whatnot, filled the shelves. Before she said anything, I said "I have a question". She replied, "Sure, go ahead". I asked, "Why is North so diverse? You are trapped inside here, while Humans roam the rest of the continent. Who exactly trapped you here?".

She smiled, "That you can find out, if you read about the Northern history. We don't have the exact accounts for the history of the North to be honest. But, I'm sure we have the most extensive collection of books, that the North has on offer. Not all books here are about North. There are loads that concern Endrosians and Elysians. Yes, we know about them too. We have books on all races known to us, or those that existed". She shot me a glance after the last sentence.

She continued, "The tables are to your disposition. Tell me what exactly are you interested in, and I will bring you the books concerning that subject". I nodded while saying, "I need books about the beginnings of the North. Any old book you can find on Lizards is also great". She asked interested, "Lizards?". I replied, "Yes Lizards. Their history, past events and stuff like that. I don't need anything recent".

She told me to sit down at the table, and wait for her to bring the books. Once I sat down, I took a more detailed look at the library. The wood was old, very old but in good shape. The whole place smelled like old books and dust, while dim orbs of electric energy illuminating the whole room from above. There were different sections spread throughout the whole library. Some concerning recent events, while others concerning specific races. The section for Humans was not small, it probably detailed a lot of stuff about both Endrosians and Elysians.

She returned after a while, and presented a few books to me. "Those are the books you asked for. You are not allowed to copy anything. When you're done reading them, let me or someone else know. We will return them to their original place". There were a total of four books. Three of them about Northern History, while only one about Lizards. 'I hoped to get more books about Lizards, but whatever. After all, I asked for the oldest records they had' I thought.

I began from the book about Lizards. The book described how Lizards struggled in the beginning to set up their home at Obsidian Mountains. It described how they built Arangard, their main city, and how they later branched out to other volcanoes. Apparently, the Obsidian Mountains was much more deadly back then. Lava would spew out of volcanoes, and the Lizards sustained a few losses in the process of creating Arangard.

They didn't have help from anyone else either. All of that was built by their own hands. As the book describes, it was crude in the beginning and not what it became later. There was no mention of Grey Lizards in that book, the book referred to them collectively as Lizards. I put the book down, and looked around me. The woman was sitting further away, reading something herself. I asked her, "Can I got something a bit more recent on Lizards? This describes how they built Arangard, I would like to read about something that concerned a bit more recent history".

She seemed surprised for some reason, and asked "You already read it?". I shrugged my shoulders while replying, "Is that so surprising?". She only smiled, and took the book. "I will bring you something more recent, but if you tell me what you are looking for, it would be easier". I simply replied, "Grey Lizards". She was stunned again, but then smiled. "So I see why you need the knowledge of the old times. We have nothing on their whereabouts, if that is what you are looking for. Grey Lizards would be forgotten, if not for a few appearing every so often. We have some records on the Grey Lizards, but that was before they were banished".

I asked, "What about Hatmandor?". She narrowed her eyes, and replied "I'm not allowed to discuss them. We are not allowed to keep records on them either. It has been like this since ancient times, that is all I can say". I nodded and didn't push any further. Instead, I read the other three books she brought.

The first book answered the previous question I asked her. It told the story of why North is the North, and how it came to be. From what I gathered, North was not isolated in the past, and all those races were not prominent there. Almost all the major races of the North, originate from around the Perival Continent. There were two exceptions. Golems and Eterians. Even Furians were not part of the North in the past, they used to live alongside Humans. Back then Shades, Lizards, Avians and a few other minor races, were considered monsters. The world was ruled by Humans, Furians, Eterians and another race I had never heard of.

The race was called Bramans. The book had no picture of that race, but from the description it provided, I gathered they were a sort of humanoid dogs. They had tails, and head that looked like that of a dog, but they were intelligent and had their own society. This was the race which Humans exterminated, but the book didn't describe the reason.

Supposedly this prompted Humans to fight others, and wars erupted left and right. Voltars existed during that time, but they were a very minor race that avoided most humanoid races. Reasons were not stated again, therefore I didn't know why. The book described that due to the wars, a lot of minor races who were considered monsters, asked someone or something for help. The book wasn't specific on that either.

The help came in the form of a barrier. The barrier that surrounds the North wasn't placed there to trap all those races inside, but to protect them from all the wars. Although this seemed to be the case, I felt something was wrong as well. The barrier prevented those races from leaving, but allowed strong Humans to enter. This was under the condition of course. That condition stands till this day. Humans had to pass trials, in order to enter North.

The book argued it was a trap, to make Humans fear the new North, and leave it in peace. Eterians and Furians also had the ability to cross the barrier just like Humans, but the restrictions placed on them were not that severe. I found it weird, but the book didn't describe that in detail either.

This was when Eterians also fought against Humans, and Furians joined them. This was the great war all Humans told me about, and where the hate of Eterians as well as Furians comes from. The book didn't describe any events in detail or even at all. It was mostly generalisation, probably due to second-hand information. Voltars at that time were a minor race. Minor race which didn't interact with others much as well. This suggested to me that, they couldn't be the original owners of that knowledge.

The record was really hazy, and I extrapolated a lot when I read it. Nevertheless, one thing was clear. The barrier was created by someone or something to protect the minor species. My instincts pointed towards Hatmandor. Strangely, the book mentioned nothing about Elysians. Maybe due to generalisation, or perhaps for other reasons. 'Although I still don't know exactly how the barrier came to be, but I know the reason it exists' I thought.

There was another thing that I recalled. 'You started it' I thought. That's what the Eterian told me, before I killed him. I wasn't sure how everything tied in, I required more information.

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