NOVEL WEB Chapter 599: Lumen archive
Finally, Alex now knew about the motivations of those at the top of the food chain in both the Primordial Expanse and the outside universe.
After all he had gone through to reach this point, things still came down to something as simple and primal as a fight for power…
He sighed as he felt disappointment, knowing that power still corrupts even when one reaches heights never even thought obtainable back when he was just an innocent newbie Awakened in the Federation.
'People in power are all the same… It seems this unfortunate fact will never change.'
'Whatever, I'm only here to set up a diplomatic relationship between the Federation and the Solari, and to search for further clues on Mikhail. What those with more power than me spend their time doing doesn't concern me… as long as they don't interfere in my business.'
Alex knew that setting up such diplomatic relations between two civilisations was a long drawn out business that could take years… especially with one party not even being aware of such diplomatic relations yet – since Alex would only be able to inform the Federation about it after he returns.
Hence, when the meeting with the Conclave finally ended after the atmosphere had died down and the conversations quickly turned to boring political talk, Alex managed to get away from all of that, joined by Reluun.
"So what's the plan now? Didn't you say you had something to search for?" Reluun asked with curiosity practically overflowing.
Alex nodded in acknowledgement. "That's right. I remember I was promised a look through your guys' records to search for what I'm looking for, so you wouldn't happen to know where I might do that, right?"
Reluun sucked his teeth inwardly as he thought in inward contemplation.
"Hmm… If its the records you're looking for," the curious Solari said, "they'll be located in the Lumen archives a few hours walk away from here. Though I'll have to warn you, the restrictions of the Primordial Expanse make it so that… storing information here is quite inconvenient – which makes searching through such information equally as, if not even more, inconvenient. In fact, you're quite lucky we have some archives here at all, since most of our databases are in the outside universe, for obvious reasons." Reluun answered.
Alex nodded along, expecting such a thing.
"Well, that might be a problem for you, but not so much for me. Are you forgetting I'm a higher life form? I could run through a thousand different thoughts and scenarios before you could even get through one. A large archive purely written down the traditional way might be cumbersome to you, but for me, it isn't such a big deal." Alex boasted with his chest held high.
Even though he wasn't usually the type to boast so shamelessly like this, for some reason it felt natural when he was with Reluun.
The two made their way out of the Grand Cartographer's building, stepping into one of the floating platforms to take them back down to the surface.
The sun was on the horizon as the day had already passed in the Primordial Expanse, causing spires of light from the crystalline city off in the distance to look all the more spectacular, with a consistent stream of floating platforms making their way in and around the towering crystal structures, like swarms of fish silently swimming between the structures as if gliding through water.
The 'few hour walk' as Reluun described it, only took a couple dozen minutes since Alex wasn't one to waste time like that and simply swept Reluun off his feet and carried him the rest of the way at his own pace.
With his face the Solari equivalent of pale, Reluun felt immense relief as Alex finally slowed down when the two neared the city skyline.
While Reluun regained his bearings, Alex found his thoughts drifted back to Mikhail as his appointment with the archives was rapidly approaching.
He couldn't help but wonder just how much the legendary smith had known about some of existences' biggest secrets. Secrets of the System, the Primordial Expanse, the outside universe, the 'gods' etc.
The idea that Mikhail had become too strong… too knowledgeable, perhaps even creating something that worried those at the top… or even the System…
It both excited and unsettled Alex.
Getting into the city was a piece of cake since Reluun was actually quite a reputable figure around these parts, as it turned out.
Alex was quite surprised to see this, since the guy was… lacking in some areas, to put it nicely.
The Lumen Archives were located within a spiralled obsidian crystalline structure that contrasted strongly with those lighter coloured crystal buildings that occupied other parts of the city.
It was the Solari equivalent of an ancient marble library situated at the heart of the city. As the entered through its ominous doors, Alex was met with a sensory overload of… information.
He was shocked to find that the entire interior of the building was… hollow?
Instead of walls, different floors and offices, like most libraries or archives might have. The entire building was simply a holding ground for huge, unending piles of paper scattered throughout the place chaotically.
However, unlike the ease they found entering the city, they were quickly stopped before Alex could get a good enough read on any of the sheets of paper.
"What's your business here? This is a restricted building. Only those who are permitted may enter." A Solari guard, who looked similar to the gatekeepers back at the Grand Cartographer's place, stopped Alex and Reluun from entering any further into the building.
Reluun stepped forward to take control of the situation before Alex could do so himself.
Alex just let the man to do his thing, since he knew that the words of a Solari, and one who worked directly under the Grand Cartographer at that, were much more official and trustworthy to the guard than if he tried to explain things himself.