Upper Volume: Eternal Night, Episode One: The Age of Legends

Chapter One: The Tower

"The Record Tower..."

This is a place between existence and non-existence, a location that does not possess any real-world meaning, a building called the Record Tower. It is the headquarters of the organization True History, and also the place where all recorded historical documents are stored.

William Thompson carefully followed behind his mentor, almost stepping exactly in his mentor's footsteps. After a while, the mentor turned and said, "You don't need to be so cautious. As a recorder of True History, even if you are just a new generation of recorders, you should possess the special qualification to walk between time and space. The uniqueness of this place will amplify that qualification to the point where it can even affect probability, so you really don't need to worry about anything happening."

William Thompson gave a weak smile in response, and looked around. All around was a void—no, it wasn't even a void, but pure "nothingness." In the distance, the tower rose straight up into some unseen, mysterious place, and aside from the tower, there was nothing else here. He wasn't even walking on a road, but rather walking through "nothingness" together with his mentor. Just a few days ago, he had been an utterly ordinary freshman at Taiqing University, so walking here was truly a test of his nerves.

Whether from the perspective of his own knowledge, or from the advanced knowledge he could imagine, this "nothingness" would devour any being that was not a sage. He was already using all his courage just to walk, and didn't dare, nor could he, act recklessly in any way.

The mentor looked at William Thompson's expression and sighed. He turned to look at the tower and said, "Strictly speaking, you should only be allowed to enter the Record Tower and view the True Texts of History after becoming a senior recorder. But your situation is a bit special... so you can start viewing them now, but only the True Texts of the Chronicle of the Great Desolation. Remember, these True Texts themselves are special. If you get too greedy, you might never leave this tower."

William Thompson nodded, then asked, "Mentor, how many volumes are there in the True Texts of History?"

"It's not quite accurate to refer to them as volumes," the mentor said. "The True Texts of History are actually divided into an infinite number of chapters, from the birth to the end of every intelligent race, to all the interactions and influences among intelligent life, to the changes of the multiverse itself. The True Texts of History have no beginning and no end... But that's the True Texts of History, and we are only living beings. So we forcibly divide them by time: the Age of Chaos, the Age of Primordial, the Age of the Great Desolation, the Age of Humanity, the Age of Merit, the Age of Dreams, the Age of Radiance, and finally the Age of Ascension. Of course, this 'final' is only as far as our observation can reach."

William Thompson pondered silently. Just these words alone were endlessly beneficial to him. Judging from the time nodes of the True Texts of History, he should have been born in the Age of Humanity, born in the Desolation Government, an utterly ordinary person, with utterly ordinary grades, utterly ordinary family background, utterly ordinary abilities, and by ordinary luck, was admitted to an ordinary college at Taiqing University, becoming an ordinary college student.

While William Thompson was lost in thought, the mentor's pace did not change, leading William Thompson slowly closer to the Record Tower. At the entrance to the tower, aside from a large door, there wasn't even a single guard. Upon arriving, the mentor stopped and said to William Thompson, "From here on, you must walk the rest of the way yourself. Remember, you may only look at the Chronicle of the Great Desolation section. Do not look at any other sections. Otherwise, even if you have the qualification of time and space and can become a recorder, you are still only the most junior of recorders. If you make a mistake, you may be lost forever."

William Thompson nodded in agreement, and saw his mentor turn and head off into the nothingness. He immediately called out, "Mentor, aren't you coming in with me?"

The mentor turned and looked at William Thompson silently. After a moment, he shook his head and said, "This is your path... remember that." With that, he left without looking back.

William Thompson stood in front of the tower's gate, hesitating for a long time before slowly walking into the tower. As soon as he stepped through the door, he felt a moment of disorientation, and when he came to his senses, he found himself standing in a corridor lined with endless bookshelves. On both sides of the corridor were bookshelves over ten meters high, and aside from himself, there wasn't a single soul in sight.

The vast and quiet environment made William Thompson shiver involuntarily. He looked around for a long time, sighed, and then casually took a book from one of the shelves. As he did so, he found himself already sitting in a comfortable chair, with a table in front of him and a bright oil lamp on the table.

"...Does it have to be this old-fashioned? Paper pages, a wooden table and chair, and an oil lamp... Am I supposed to study by lamplight?" William Thompson laughed at himself, then looked at the thick cover of the book. On it were written the four characters: Thirteen Sages.