Chapter 92 The Athenaeum of Lyrei
"Wait." Tommy said as he suddenly realized something, "If Earth's god knew he was sending me to Dealubies after he reincarnated me, why didn't he give me magic?"
"Ah yeah Earth's god is not a fan of magic after what you humans did, something called the witch-hunts, lets see there was the Trier witch trials, the Fulda witch trials, the Würzburg witch trial, the Bamberg witch trials and of course the most famous The Salem Witch Trials."
"Basically Earth's god got fed up with you humans and all your witch trials when he gave a few people magic, so after that he stopped handing magic out and magic no longer existed on earth after that." Chao explained.
"Seriously?" Tommy asked in shock. It took him a moment to recover before asking, "So what did you have in mind?"
"I'm thinking lad, I've never had to think of a way for a non-magic user to be able to detect magic before you know." Chao replied in a huff.
"You know if you want me to cause chaos on Dealubies all you need to do is give me a few hydrogen bombs that can wipe out a city." Tommy suggested.
"You just want to destroy Oakforest City after what Glador did to you." Chao accused with a smirk.
"I won't deny that, but I would make sure he wasn't present in the city when the bomb went off, after all I want him to witness the destruction of his city before I kill him personally." Tommy replied.
"Hmmm." Chao said as if he was thinking about something before his eyes lit up and he said "I know."
"Oh you thought of a solution?" Tommy asked.
"Maybe, I need to make a call, be right back." Chao replied before silence fell around Tommy.
"Hello?" Tommy called out but received no response as he just floated in the multicolored space.
"Ok, guess I will just float around here then." Tommy said in an annoyed tone.
Tommy wasn't sure how long he floated there waiting as there was no way to measure time, he just knew it was a long time before Chao returned.
"Alright he agreed to help." Chao said happily upon return.
"Who?" Tommy asked, being thankful Chao had returned, he wouldn't admit it but being left there to just float aimlessly was boring and kinda scary. He wasn't able to do anything after all except speak but get no response.
"A friend of mine from another universe who is a god there." Chao replied.
"Another universe?" Tommy asked in surprise.
"Oh sure, there are an infinite number of universes and they all have god's governing them." Chao explained briefly before changing the subject, "Anyway my friend is more than willing to create one for you since he has never had a chance to test one in this universe."
"Create one what?" And why hasn't he had the chance to test one here?" Tommy asked skeptically.
"A system." Chao replied happily, "My friend is the god of systems in his universe, the reason why he has never been able to test one here is because the other gods here don't allow him anywhere near our universe."
"A system? Seriously?" Tommy replied in surprise before adding with concern, "Also why won't the other gods let him near this universe? That sounds dubious."
"Some stupid thing about me being enough chaos in this universe." Chao replied. "Personally I never understood it since my friend is the god of systems not a god of chaos."
"Did his systems ever cause chaos in his own universe?" Tommy asked.
"Well yeah kind of I guess." Chao replied dismissively. "I think I remember hearing that one of the system users conquered his universe before becoming a dictator and slaughtering fifty-percent of the population with a snap of his fingers because of overpopulation or something like that."
"Why does that sound like the plot to a movie I once saw?" Tommy replied while sighing before changing the subject, "So what will this system do?"
"No idea." Chao replied.
"Huh?" Tommy replied back while giving Chao a blank look.
"Hey don't give me that look, how am I supposed to know how the system will work when it hasn't even been made yet, I only just placed the order you know." Chao replied defensively.
"Ok so how long do we have to wait on the order?" Tommy asked.
"Not sure, all my friend said was he would have it ready within a year." Chao replied with a shrug.
"A year?" Tommy asked in bewilderment. "I have to float around this place for a year?"
"Of course not, you're going to use that time to study?" Chao said happily.
"You mean research magic, even though I will never be able to use it?" Tommy replied with a sigh.
"Exactly, though you won't be studying it to use, but to understand it so you won't fall for such a simple trap again, after all I asked my friend to add a magic detection function to the system." Chao replied.
"Why do I need to study if the system will do the job anyway"? Tommy asked.
"Because you still need to understand the principles of magic, or would you rather float around for a year while waiting?" Chao asked with a smug smile.
"Fine you win." Tommy replied in a defeated tone.
"Good, trust me you wont regret this and I bet in the future you will thank me for it." Chao said before Tommy was suddenly transported into what looked like a massive library. "Because you get to study in a place any competent magic user yearns to visit, the place where all known magic is stored on Dealubies, The Athenaeum of Lyrei, the goddess of magic."
"Is it ok to send me into another…." Before Tommy could finish speaking, a beautiful woman that looked like an elf with long ears but also for some reason wore glasses appeared before the two of them with a frown on her face.
"Chao what is the meaning of this, you dare bring a human into my Athenaeum without my permission?" The woman asked.
"Lyrei it's been a while, how are you doing." Chao replied with a warm smile.
Lyrei rolled her eyes and crossed her arms under her voluptuous breasts before saying, "Don't try to sweet talk me Chao, whenever you come here it's because you want something that will lead to more chaos in the universe, so what's you game this time?"
"Lyrei you wound me with these accusations." Chao replied looking hurt.
"No one can wound you Chao, that's the problem." Lyrei shot back before looking at Tommy and saying, "I bet it has something to do with this… this…. Why don't you have any magical power in you child?"
"Child?" Tommy asked in surprise.
"That's the way Lyrei addresses anyone who is not a god, she is after all older..." Chao began but a sharp look from Lyrei quickly made him change his choice of words, "she is after all wiser in magic than all the gods."
Lyrei nodded in approval before looking back at Tommy and asking again, "So why don't you have any magical power? You shouldn't be able to exist unless…."
Lyrei shot Chao a look of surprise before saying angrily, "You stole a human from another universe? Are you mad? Are you trying to start a god war?"
"Calm down Lyrei, I'm not so foolish as to do that, Earth's god asked me to take him and place him on Dealubies since he accidentally killed him."
"Hmmm well that's different, but it still doesn't explain why you brought him here without my permission." Lrei replied.
"Well you see Lyrei," Chao began to explain. "I placed Tommy here on Dealubies like Earth's god asked of me, however soon after he fell into a magical trap because he has no way to sense magic. Because I felt slightly at fault for causing this mess since Tommy knows nothing about magic I saved him before bringing him here to learn about magic."
"Hmmm," Lyrei replied as she looked at Chao, clearly not believing him. "While some of that is the truth, I can also see that your hiding somethings, however since I have not heard of any major chaos this child Tommy has performed for you I will let it slide, still what do you expect someone who can't use magic to learn in my Athenaeum, the repository of all known magic?"
"I just hope for him to gain a basic understanding of magic so that he can learn how to avoid traps, even if he can't sense them." Chao replied.
"You mean like places where magic traps could be set up and how to tell if there is a magic trap there without being able to sense it?" Lyrei asked with growing interest.
"That's right, of course the wisest of all the gods Lady Lyrei would understand my meaning." Chao replied while attempting to flatter Lyrei, an attempt that failed.
"I told you before to stop trying to sweet talk me Chao, I'm not Cytherea who will sleep with any god or mortal." Lyrei snapped back.
"I wouldn't dare." Chao replied.
"Make sure you don't." Lyrei replied before asking, "So why should I let this child use my Athenaeum?"