He looked around him.
Thousands of books.
Centuries of knowledge.
Contradictory truths, perhaps.
Venti: "A soul... a drop of water..."
He understood then that this test was measuring not only his intelligence, but his understanding of the world, of life, and of himself.
The Oceanid retreated slowly, almost merging with the surrounding water.
Oceanid: "The test has begun."
Venti slowly began to move.
His feet left the sand and seaweed-covered ground, and his body rose into the water with disconcerting ease.
Venti: "I really feel lighter."
Swimming here required almost no effort:
Every movement seemed assisted by the omnipresent Hydro energy, as if the cavern itself were temporarily accepting him within its embrace.
He moved between the pillars, observing the first shelves more closely.
The books were of varying sizes and shapes.
Some were bound in marine leather, others seemed fashioned from shells or unknown materials.
FFFFFFFFFFffffffffffffffyyyyyyyyyyy
Luminous symbols sometimes ran along the spines, slowly changing color with the rhythm of the currents.
Venti reached for a book floating slightly above a shelf. As soon as his fingers touched the cover, a thin wave of energy coursed through the book, as if it recognized his presence.
Foush
He opened it.
The pages didn't get wet.
The water slid off them without ever soaking in, held back by an invisible barrier.
The words, engraved in pale blue ink, seemed almost alive, shifting slightly as Venti changed his perspective.
He read:
- Theories about the origin of Hydro energy.
- Ancient tales describing the birth of the Oceanids.
- Poetic texts comparing water to the memory of the world.
- Novels about pirates and mysterious ruins.
But nothing directly answered the question.
He put the book down and continued.
He swam further, passing under a broken stone arch, then entered a darker row where the shelves had partially collapsed.
There, older books lay half-buried in the sand.
He picked up another.
This volume was about souls.
Human, animal, and elemental souls.
It discussed their connection to will, to consciousness, to persistence after death.
Some pages suggested that the soul was the source of all true power.
Others, on the contrary, asserted that it was merely a catalyst, a simple vessel.
Venti frowned.
Venti: "Too vague… too contradictory."
He continued reading, turning the pages faster and faster.
The words flew by, but no clear answer emerged.
Each author seemed to have their own vision, often influenced by their race, era, or element.
He closed the book in annoyance.
Venti: "If I simply recite what these books say, the Oceanids will see right through them..."
"And there's no point in inventing an answer."
He resumed swimming, picking up his pace slightly.
The further he went, the more immense the library seemed.
Some areas were luminous, bathed in a soothing turquoise light. Others plunged into an almost abyssal darkness, where only a few distant glimmers guided the eye.
Venti passed a stone table on which lay several rolled-up scrolls.
He carefully unrolled one.
Venti: "Amazing these scrolls don't get wet."
This text spoke of a single drop of water.
It recounted how, over the ages, a drop could become a river, then a stream, then an ocean.
An obvious metaphor, but the text emphasized the idea that each drop carried within it the potential of everything.
Venti nodded slowly.
Venti: "Interesting... but is that really it?"
He continued reading.
Another scroll described an ancient battle, where a single tear shed by a divine entity supposedly triggered a flood.
Yet another claimed that water, however insignificant, retained the memory of everything it had touched.
Fragments of truth.
But still nothing complete.
Time passed.
Venti wasn't consciously aware of it, but he felt mental fatigue setting in.
Not physical fatigue—his body was fine—but a heaviness in his thoughts, as if his mind were saturated with information.
He thought again about the various migraines he'd had since his arrival.
He moved to another section of the library.
Here, the books were more orderly.
The untouched shelves formed circles. concentric circles around a central pillar engraved with ancient symbols.
Venti stopped before this pillar, lightly touching it with his fingertips.
He felt a vibration.
A faint, but familiar resonance.
Venti: "Elemental energy…"
Encouraged, he began to examine the books arranged around the pillar.
They dealt with the relationship between the soul and the elements.
Some claimed that the soul gave form to raw energy.
Others maintained that the element, in turn, shaped the soul.
One theory came up frequently:
Without a soul, energy was chaotic.
Without energy, the soul was immobile.
Without willpower, a person cannot improve.
Venti: "Improve."
Venti paused and reread some passages.
Venti: "So the soul isn't just a source of power... but a direction?"
He shook his head.
Venti: "No... that's still not quite right."
He closed the book and walked away from the pillar.
The further he went, the more he realized something unsettling:
The library wouldn't give him a ready-made answer.
Venti: "It's a good thing time expands in this space."
It offered him perspectives, fragments, angles of reflection, but no definitive conclusion.
He stopped in the middle of an aisle, letting his body float.
Around him, the water rippled gently. The books seemed to watch him, silent.
Venti: "Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way..."
He had been searching for a definition.
A clear sentence.
But perhaps the question posed by the Oceanid wasn't meant to be answered in this way.
He thought back to his battles.
To Deith
To Lyra
To Eron
To Bram
To Kael
To the guild receptionist
To Arthur.
To the city of Rillmont.
To the Abyss Herald.
To the Abyss Lector.
To every decision he had made.
Every time he had used his powers.
Venti: "A soul… it's not just what gives strength. It's what drives action."
He shook his head again.
Venti: "No… I still don't have the answer."
He resumed swimming, almost mechanically.
Book after book.
Text after text.
Hours seemed to slip by, even though, deep down, Venti knew that time here didn't follow the same rules.
Finally, he stopped in front of a nearly empty bookshelf.
He placed his hand against the cold stone.
Venti: "I've read… learned… analyzed… and yet…"
He couldn't do it.
No wording seemed right to him.
No answer seemed worthy of being presented to the Oceanids.
The library had offered him knowledge.
But the answer… wasn't clearly to be found in the books.
Venti remained there, motionless, surrounded by water and silence, aware of something troubling.
Venti: "I must hurry."
Elsewhere:
In a space separate from the library, concealed behind several layers of Hydro barriers, the four remaining Oceanids observed the scene as if through a vast, perfectly smooth surface of water.
The image of Venti, swimming between the shelves and frantically leafing through the ancient books, appeared and disappeared with the ripples of light.
This space had neither a visible floor nor a visible ceiling.
The Oceanids floated freely within it, their semi-liquid forms unfolding like silhouettes made of currents and reflections.
Their voices, though distinct from one another, resonated with a multifaceted echo, as if each word were repeated by the water itself.
One of them, more expressive than the others, waved her translucent arms agitatedly.
Oceanid #2: "LEFT, LEFT!"
"That book is about Hydro magic, I recognize it!"
"It's right next to the cracked pillar!"
She frantically pointed in a direction that, in the library, corresponded to a half-collapsed shelf. Her excitement caused small splashes of light to erupt around her.
Another Oceanid, calmer, turned slowly toward her. Her form was more compact, her movements measured, almost solemn.
Oceanid #3: "There's no point in shouting."
"You know very well, he can neither hear nor perceive us in this space."
Oceanid #2 paused for a moment, as if she had only just remembered.
Oceanid #2: "I know... I know... but it's frustrating."
"He's so close, and yet he's passing by some essential books."
She watched Venti again, who had just put down a book before walking off down another path.
Oceanid #4: "...".
Oceanid #5: "....".
The other two Oceanids, #4 and #5, were floating a little further back.
They were talking to each other in hushed voices, their silhouettes slowly drawing closer and separating, like waves crossing each other.
Oceanid #4: "The question we asked him isn't simple."
"Even among us, there were disagreements back then."
Oceanid #5: "Yes… and yet, he must find his own answer."
"Not one from a book."
"Not ours."
"He must understand that he needs to better understand the answer he's giving, and that it's not a logical answer we expect."
Oceanid #4 observed Venti with particular attention.
Oceanid #4: "He's overthinking it."
"He analyzes, he compares, he accumulates, but he doesn't feel yet."
Meanwhile, #3 had moved closer to the observation point.
She followed Venti's every movement, every pause, every hesitation.
Oceanid #3: "He's beginning to understand that the library won't give him a..."
"The only truth."
"That's a good thing."
Oceanid #2: "You call that a good thing?"
"He's been going around in circles for too long, even if it's longer, outside time keeps flowing."
At these words, a slight shiver ran through the magical space. The reminder of the outside world, of the imminent threat, was never far away.
Oceanid #5: "Exactly."
"That's why the trial exists."
"Without this pressure, he would never have been able to go beyond mere knowledge."
#2 crossed her arms, visibly annoyed.
Oceanid #2: "The Abyss Herald isn't going to wait for him."
"He talks about destruction, merging, enslavement... and we just let him read books in the meantime."
Oceanid #4 spun slowly around, her form.
Oceanid #4: "If we don't do this, he will die."
"Perhaps not today, but sooner or later, he doesn't yet have the understanding necessary to confront an entity that manipulates both the soul and the elements."
A silence fell.
On the observation platform, Venti had stopped in the middle of an aisle, motionless, as if lost in thought.
Oceanid #3: "Look at him."
The four Oceanids focused their attention on him.
Oceanid #3: "He's no longer reading. He's thinking."
A faint smile appeared on #5's watery face.
Oceanid #5: "It's at this moment that the answers begin to emerge."
N#2 sighed, creating a small ripple around her.
Oceanid N#2: "I recognize his potential. Few humans could withstand such mental pressure without collapsing."
Oceanid N#4: "He's not just a human."
"His soul is… unique."
"As if it resembled that of an elemental entity with a high power."
N#4 hesitated for a moment, as if weighing her words.
Oceanid N4: "He is marked by difficult choices, irreversible decisions, and has already crossed a line that many refuse to approach."
N#3 nodded slowly.
Oceanid N3: "That's precisely why the Hydro Trial accepted him."
A moment passed.
Then Oceanid N#2 abruptly changed the subject.
Oceanid N2: "By the way… we're not going to let him face this monster alone, are we?"
Oceanid N#4 turned to her.
Oceanid N#4: "Of course not."
Oceanid N#5: "Don't worry."
"We'll give him a hand."
At these words, the water around them seemed to vibrate slightly, as if the cavern itself had reacted.
Oceanid #2: "How so?"
Oceanid #5 approached the observation surface, her gaze fixed on Venti.
Oceanid #5: "The trial isn't just about leveling up."
"When he succeeds, something will change." "him."
Oceanid #3: "A deeper understanding of the Hydro."
"Not as a destructive element... but as a link."
Oceanid N#4 added, in a deeper voice:
Oceanid #4: "And when the time comes, we will intervene."
"Not directly. Not as weapons."
Oceanid #2: "But as supports?"
Oceanid #4: "Like currents."
A respectful silence followed these words.
In the image, Venti began to move slowly again, his gaze less hurried, more focused.
He seemed to have stopped searching for a written answer, and something in his demeanor had changed.
Oceanid #3: "He no longer needs to read all the books."
Oceanid #5: "No. He already has everything he needs."
Oceanid N#2 gave a small smile, gentler this time.
Oceanid #2: "Then let's hope he understands before it's too late."
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At that very moment, the water in the magical space began to ripple differently.
The usual calm, circular ripples were suddenly disrupted by a denser, older current.
Fush
A silhouette slowly formed in the center of the space, as if the liquid mass itself were condensing to give it form.
Oceanid #1 had just entered.
Oceanid #2: "....... "
Oceanid #3: "....... "
Oceanid #4: "....... "
Oceanid #5: "....... "
Its presence immediately imposed silence.
FFFFFFFFffffffffffffyyyyyyyyyyy
Unlike the others, her appearance was more defined, more stable, almost immutable.
Where the other Oceanids seemed to constantly change shape, she maintained a clear, slender silhouette, reminiscent of a statue sculpted from the purest water.
Oceanid #1: "....... "
She fixed her gaze on the observation surface where Venti continued to move through the submerged library.
Oceanid #1: "He has a chance."
These simple words were enough to immediately attract the attention of the other four.
Oceanid #3 looked at her with a perplexed expression.
Oceanid #3: "Then he's on the right track."
Oceanid #2 turned sharply toward her.
Oceanid #2: "A chance?"
"Are you sure?"
"He's been going around in circles for a while now."
Oceanid #1 offered what looked like a faint smile.
Oceanid #1: "He's not going around in circles anymore... he's coming closer."
Oceanid #3 inclined her head slightly.
Oceanid #3: "Do you think he's grasped the nature of the question?"
Oceanid #1 didn't answer immediately.
She observed Venti's image for a few more seconds, his penetrating gaze seeming to go far beyond the simple scene.
Oceanid #1: "He's stopped searching for an external or scientific answer."
"That's the first step."
At these words, #2 moved closer, clearly impatient.
Oceanid #2: "Very well, then tell us."
"What is the answer to the question?"
"What power does a soul confer, and what power can a drop of water transmit?"
A silence fell.
The currents around Oceanid #1 began to ripple slowly, as if she were deliberately hesitating to answer.
Finally, she turned her head slightly toward #2.
Oceanid #1: "You'll understand soon."
Oceanid #2: "Hhmm."
Oceanid #2 opened her mouth in protest, but no sound came out.
She remained frozen for a moment before sighing, clearly frustrated.
Oceanid #2: "You're still as enigmatic as ever."
Oceanid #5 let out a soft laugh, like a gentle lapping of water.
Oceanid #5: "That's why she's the first."
Oceanid #4: "......"
Meanwhile, Oceanid No. 4, who had remained silent since No. 1's arrival, slowly approached her.
Her voice, when she spoke, was deeper than the others'.
Oceanid No. 4: "Tell us something else, then."
"What would be the consequences if the Abyss Herald succeeds in its plan?"
Chapter 62: The Oceanids and the Aquatic Library
The End