Chapter 155: Zhaahen’s Portal

Compared to the ordeal of choosing a sword technique, Zac’s second choice was almost effortless. After barely half an hour of searching, he emerged with another book in his hand.

He then returned to the entrance, and when he reached Mimir’s desk, he saw Sabrina and Ravena already waiting there.

Zac slowed slightly as he approached them. "You two are still here?"

Both girls turned toward him, and neither looked particularly pleased. On the other side Mimir burst out laughing. "You certainly took your time, kid."

Zac looked between the three of them in confusion. "Wait, don’t tell me they are waiting for me to come."

"What do you think?"

"But why?"

Mimir leaned back in his chair. "Teleporting you all one by one is just too much waste of energy, so I told them to wait until you finished."

He chuckled. "And guess what? They’ve been standing here for the last four or five hours now."

Zac stiffened slightly before looking at Sabrina and Ravena. "Sorry."

Neither of them even nodded or acknowledged his apology. Mimir observed the relationship between the three and chuckled softly. "How wonderful it was to be young."

He then turned toward Zac. "So, what did you pick, kid?"

Zac, with a grin, placed the first book on the desk.

Mimir’s eyes lit up. "Oh, Phantom Steps? That’s a very good choice, and since it’s an A-rank skill, you can use it for a long time too."

"A-rank movement skills are not particularly common on the market, especially something like Phantom Steps. It interferes with an opponent’s perception of your movements, and at higher proficiency, they’ll begin misjudging your direction, timing, and even the position you’re moving toward."

Mimir nodded approvingly. "For a swordsman like you, especially one who prefers closing distance quickly, it suits you quite well. Train on it properly."

"And what’s the other one?"

Zac placed the ancient book on the desk.

Mimir looked down at it, and immediately his face changed into disbelief. "Ha! You actually found this?"

Seeing the amazed expression on his face, Zac’s face also immediately brightened, thinking that he stuck gold.

"Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful." Even Sabrina and Ravena looked surprised by his reaction now.

"Is it really that remarkable?" Zac asked eagerly.

Mimir turned toward him and spoke with the same cheerful enthusiasm. "No. It’s quite the opposite. I was actually searching for this book so that I could put it on the disposal list and send it back to waste storage."

Zac’s expression immediately sank.

"But every time I search for it, it always disappears, almost like it naturally avoided me. Who would have thought after all these years it would be you to find and bring it to me?"

"Thank you." Mimir reached for the book to set it aside, but Zac quickly grabbed it.

"Wait."

Mimir looked at him, then at the book in Zac’s hand. "No. Don’t tell me you’re actually choosing this one?"

"Kind of."

Mimir stared at him in disbelief. "Can you even read a single word in that thing?"

Zac didn’t answer immediately.

But seeing his silence, Mimir’s expression grew increasingly concerned. "Please tell me you can’t."

"Actually, I can. My father taught me several ancient languages when I was younger."

"Oh, don’t give me that nonsense, kid. I knew your father, and even he couldn’t read this."

Zac’s expression changed instantly.

Mimir noticed it and clicked his tongue and glanced toward Sabrina and Ravena, who were now staring at them suspiciously.

’Cough cough.’ He cleared his throat. "I mean... well, anyway."

Sabrina slowly stepped forward. "Can I see that book for a moment?"

After a moment of thought, Zac handed it to her.

She studied the writing on the cover and said, "I can’t read it either. It must be very ancient."

"See? Even she can’t read it." Mimir said, and then he thought about it and said, "Wait, why is that even important?" "Hey, girl. Who do you think you are? A universal translator?" ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Zac looked Mimir seriously and asked, "Can you tell us anything about this book?"

Mimir released a long sigh. "That book has been sitting in New Dawn Academy for almost as long as the academy itself has existed."

"That long?" Ravena asked.

"Almost, yes." Mimir stroked his beard.

"Can you tell me the full history of this book?"

"I can, but your friends have already been waiting for quite a while. What about them?"

Zac turned toward the girls, looked at them with puppy eyes, and asked, "Please?"

Both of them stared at him before releasing a long sigh. "Fine. We can wait."

"Well, at least he’s every bit as charming as his father," Mimir thought.

"Well, if you are all okay, then let me begin, but before anything else, let me give you a warning. Everything I know about this book comes from old legends, stories, assumptions, and theories. Nothing has ever been conclusively proven."

Mimir raised a finger. "So you can’t hold me accountable if anything turns out to be wrong. Understood?"

[Since when did giving disclaimers become part of this world’s natural order?]

Mimir then continued, like he was really telling a story to kids. "This book did not originate from our planet."

"What?" Zac blurted out. "Is it alien?"

"Is there any particular reason people believe that?" Ravena asked.

"Is it from some other race?" Sabrina asked.

"Stop interrupting me, or I won’t tell you anything."

The three of them immediately fell silent.

Satisfied with their sincerity, Mimir continued. "Do any of you know about ’Zhaahen’s Portal?’"

Sabrina immediately spoke out of reflex. "Wait, isn’t that the first portal explored by the first generation of Variants?"

Mimir glared at her. "Who is the raconteur here?"

"Sorry." Sabrina promptly went silent.

"Well, just as she said, ’Zhaahen’s Portal’ was one of the most dangerous portals discovered near the end of the apocalypse."

Mimir stroked his beard. "It required the combined efforts of almost every ’S-rank Variant’ alive at the time to close it."

"The reason wasn’t merely that the monsters inside were exceptionally powerful. Instead, the crucial requirement for clearing the portal was solving an intricate ruin located at its center."

As Mimir spoke about the ruin, his expression gradually changed.

The casualness in his face disappeared, replaced by something far heavier, almost as though he had personally witnessed what had happened there.

"That ruin was cruelty given form. At least that’s what everyone said."

"Thousands upon thousands of S-rank variants entered ’Zhaahen’s Portal,’ and only a few hundred returned alive."

Zac, Sabrina, and Ravena remained silent.

"And even among those who returned, many were traumatized for the rest of their lives. Only a handful of the strongest who remained sane were willing to speak about what happened inside."

Mimir’s eyes grew distant, remembering seeing a recording when he was younger about it. "They described it as one of the most horrifying experiences they had ever endured."

"And remember these are people who endured apocalypse itself."

"The ruin didn’t merely affect them physically. It shattered them mentally as well."

"Every death inside was steeped in cruelty. It almost felt as though the ruin had been designed by someone who loved cruelty and the torment of other beings more than anything else."

For several moments, the atmosphere around the desk remained somber. "If you ever get the chance after graduating, go to the ’Association Archives’ and read the true history of ’Zhaahen’s Portal.’"

Mimir looked at the three of them. "It will open your eyes to the true nature of the apocalypse humanity endured."

He then exhaled and shook his head, and his tone gradually returned to normal. "Well, enough of the depressing part."

"As horrific and deadly as the ruin was, that wasn’t all there was to it."

"The ruin itself was believed to be the remains of an ancient, destroyed civilization belonging to an unknown race. It contained advanced technology and knowledge that were incomparable even to what humanity possesses today."

Mimir tapped the ancient book. "And this book was excavated from that very ruin."

The three listened attentively in eager anticipation.

"At first, the variant who recovered it kept its existence completely secret."

"But several years later, when ’New Dawn Academy’ was established, many of the world’s strongest Variants contributed something of their own to the academy as an offering toward the growth of future generations."

"And that is how this book eventually came into the academy’s possession."

Mimir chuckled. "At first, everyone praised the Variant for generously surrendering such a supposedly priceless treasure for the sake of future youngsters."

"Aahhaaaa...haaahaaa... But only after people actually tried studying it did they realize why he had been so generous."

"Because this book has far more disadvantages than advantages." Mimir glanced at the three of them. "To be frank, other than the fact that it came from an extraordinarily valuable ruin, there is almost nothing positive to say about it."

"Hahaaaha...Ahaaa..."

The three of them exchanged glances. "Why is he laughing like that?"

[Maybe selective amnesia was not the only problem he has?]

He noticed their expressions changing. "I can see those faces. Let me explain."

"First, the book has no identifiable rank. No one knows its actual value or whether the technique inside is even worth learning."

"Second, it is written entirely in an ancient language that no one has managed to decipher. Not even people awakened with transcription or translation-related abilities could properly read it."

"Third, after countless researchers examined the illustrations inside, they concluded that the book contains some form of sword technique."

"But it appears to be only one portion of a complete technique."

All three students looked even more perplexed.

"I know," Mimir said. "But that is what the researchers concluded. This book is apparently only one part of a larger set."

"And that leads to the fourth problem. Which is, no one knows where the remaining parts are."

Zac frowned.

"No one even knows whether they still exist."

Mimir shook his head.

"And many people eventually asked the obvious question. If even a single portion was hidden inside a ruin as dangerous as Zhaahen’s Portal, then where could the other portions possibly be?"

"And even if their locations were discovered, would anyone actually be capable of entering places of comparable danger and retrieving them?"

The three remained silent.

"Even so, the reputation of Zhaahen’s Portal alone made this book famous for many years. Researchers continued trying everything they could to uncover even the smallest clue hidden within it."

Mimir glanced down at the worn cover. "But regardless of what they tried, they never discovered anything meaningful or gained anything from it."

"Eventually, the years passed, and the book’s reputation gradually faded, interest dwindled, and people stopped giving it even a second glance."

Mimir leaned back in his chair. "And now you understand why it ended up sitting here collecting dust."

His gaze returned to Zac. "Now you’re finally choosing it. I just hope you actually gain something from it instead of wasting one of your free selections."

"I won’t." Mimir smiled faintly. "I like the confidence. If you really uncover what’s hidden in it, will you mind telling me about it?"

Zac nodded with a smile.

Mimir then leaned back on his chair. "Now, if the three of you are finished, let’s get you back."

Sabrina and Ravena stepped closer, and Zac naturally ended up standing between them.

He glanced left and right before releasing a small sigh.

[Back between the wives.]

"Please don’t start. I’m already tired."

Mimir looked at Zac. "I hope to hear great things from you, kiddo."

Then his expression became strangely serious. He raised one hand.

"Abracadabra... disappeara!"

"Really?" all three asked in unison.

Light instantly engulfed them, and the next moment, all three were standing on the academy grounds.