Sound of sword swings filled the white world of [Epiphany Zone] as Jaden swung his sword based on the manual of [Seven Gate Sword Art].

Swish... Swish... Swish...

Sweat glistened like tiny diamonds across his body. However, his hands didn't stop and continued to swing.

A few minutes passed while he swung the sword in the same way.

Swish... Swoosh...

His palms went numb, and he felt his arm burning as he mumbled, "She said I have talent for the sword, but... why am I not improving at all?"

[Seven Gate Sword Art: 2.67%]

He heaved a sigh and continued swinging.

Swish...

A few hours passed, and he let go of the pale white sword and went out of the [Epiphany Zone].

"Okay, that would be all for today's lecture. May all of you have a good day," Kathrine said. She collected her items into a bundle and stepped out of the room.

Arden walked over and nudged him before saying, "Let's go."

Jaden nodded and stood up before both of them began to walk towards the academy's library.

The others already knew so, none of them spoke anything of it.

A few minutes later, both of them stood before a room with tall bookshelves filled with various books, a few of which were about the dark times, and those were the books he was looking for.

"You have to go to the right end for the books related to the dark times, and for other books, you have to go to the left end," Arden explained. He stepped back and said, "I am going back."

Jaden turned his head towards him and spoke with a smile, "Thank you, Ardy."

Arden smiled at him and walked back to the classroom.

Jaden stepped into the library, and the smell of paper entered his nose.

He turned to the right, and his eyes fell on an old man sitting behind a counter, who was reading a book.

He walked to the counter and spoke, "Hello."

The old man lowered his book and looked at him, "What do you want?" He questioned in an annoyed tone.

"What's the oldest book about dark times do we have?" Jaden asked, his eyes shifting between the books placed in the bookshelves.

The old man scoffed at his words and questioned, "Do you want the oldest book or the one with the most information about dark times?"

Jaden shifted his attention to him and answered, "Both."

"Hoh," the old man chuckled and stood up from his chair. He checked a few bookshelves and came back with two books.

One of them looked as if it would turn to dust once somebody shook it hard enough, while the other was new but as thick as an adult human's thumb.

Jaden glanced at them and thought, 'Blasted hell, what is this?' He lifted his head to look at the old man and questioned, "What are these?"

A crooked smile appeared on the old man's wrinkled face. He answered while patting the newer book, "These, my boy, are the books that you wanted."

Jaden lowered his head and looked at the books. He muttered, "These?"

"I believe no one was able to care for the past while trying to save themselves from those nightmares and star beasts," the old man replied while pointing over his shoulder as if pointing at the dangers outside.

Jaden stared into his deep brown eyes before muttering, "Thanks."

He picked up the books and walked over to a bright corner. He sat at the table, opened the oldest book, and began to read it.

He flipped the cover, if it could be called that, and read the first page, which was titled.

My Dear Diary.

"A diary?" He muttered before flipping to the next page.

He looked at the binding of the diary, which had uneven pages sticking out, hinting that the next page wasn't the first page.

He focused on the dairy and it read.

7. 7. 2~

At 8:40 am, I had a st~ drea~

At 9:10 am, My fev~ ~~ dow~ a lot

At 10:00 am, I was ab~ to walk ~out the clutc~ I a~ hap~

At 10:30 am, ~ went t~ th~ balc~ for the wa~

At 11:00 am, I sa~ a suspic~ kid by Mr. Pattr~ hou~

At 11:30 am, That ki~ jump~ ov~ the wall

Blank.

Jaden's eyes went wide. He repeated the last lines, "I saw a suspicious kid by... someone's house. That kid jumped over the wall."

He hurriedly flipped through the next pages, but they were too washed out to tell him anything. At last, he couldn't find anything from them.

He closed the book, leaned back in the chair and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes until he took a deep breath and looked at the diary.

"It can be about any kid... I can't be the only person to jump over walls, after all... I have to go through all of this because of that damn Non-PG act," he mumbled while rubbing his brows.

A few minutes later, he pushed the dairy away from himself and muttered after heaving a sigh, "Let's forget about this for now."

He picked up the next book, flipped its cover and read the title.

"Records of the dark times, revision two."

He flipped to the next page and began to read it. A few minutes passed, and he finished reading it.

He rubbed his face and mumbled everything he understood from it, "Around 500 years ago, humans began to enter the dream realm... and a few weeks after it was the dark day... the gates appeared and the dreadful nightmares began to walk the waking world and mana appeared in the mortal realm, that was the day when the world ceased to be — Earth."

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