Assimilate All Talents

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to disturb you.”

Sol didn't really mind the old woman throwing a ruler at him, and he knew these books were all restricted.

The old lady scoffed, “Well, I’m awake now. You must be Sol.”

He nodded. “And you are?”

“Minlarei, but that doesn't matter. I heard you want to know about Ophis.”

“That's right. Is there anything about that here?”

Minlarei nodded and took out three books she had already separated ahead of time. “Honestly, it's a subject not worth researching, but that's not my problem. Come take your pick.”

Sol approached and read the three titles: Remembrance of the Old Gods, From Poison to Life, and Ophis: A Legacy Untold.

“I can only choose one, right?”

“Yes, but I have read all three. I can help you narrow your choice if you want.”

Sol was surprised at how willing she was to help after yelling at him not long ago.

‘Well, it is her job to help me with what I need. Though I’m not really sure what I’m looking for.’

After thinking about it for a while, he decided to ask her opinion.

“I don’t really know exactly. It’s not really for me but for a friend who passed away. She just said to come here and look for Ophis.”

The librarian pondered for a moment before asking, “Was your friend perhaps a variant human?”

Sol’s eyes widened, and he didn’t deny it. “Yeah, she was.”

Minlarei slid one of the books forward without hesitation. It was Ophis: A Legacy Untold.

“This one should have what you need. Don’t ask me what; read it yourself. Also remember, these are one-of-a-kind books. There are no other copies, so handle it with care. This means no bending corners, writing notes, or anything else that could damage the book. You can sit over there.”

She gestured to a long table by the opposite wall with comfortable looking chairs lined across it.

“Thank you.” Sol took the book and headed to where he was told. The chairs were as comfortable as they looked, and he quickly got settled in. The book was rather thick, and even with his pseudo psychic skill to memorize all he read, it would still take a while.

He skimmed the introduction, which was mostly the author's personal information and how hard they worked in gathering and confirming all the sources.

—

Ophis, the great serpent. People say it was not born a god but earned its divinity through countless years of effort. It was originally known as the god of poison and feared by its enemies and worshipers alike. Few were able to withstand its toxic blessings to truly obtain the benefits they held.

Those that could, however, survive its blessings became unparalleled. They were called Serpent Devout and their average strength rivaled those of Chosen. Mind you, there was only one Chosen per god, so even with its small following, this elite group of Serpent Devout was a powerful force and none dared to challenge them.

This was during a time when the gods were much more active and took a more proactive approach to spreading their faith. Borders were usually defined by the influence of their gods, and nations only existed with a god as their main pillar of support. As such, there came a point when Ophis believed he had created enough Serpent Devout to expand his small borders and gain prominence amongst the other gods. So Ophis sent his followers towards the north and east, fighting a war on two fronts…

—

Sol continued reading about the divine war, which the author wrote as if it were a common occurrence until, a few pages later, a conclusion was reached.

—

Though Ophis was winning the battle against Ragnar, who received help from Proteus and Minerva, they were all forced to cease their conflict. This was because of the invasion of the Outer Gods, which occurred in the year 2817 of the Kioran calendar. It came suddenly and unexpectedly, with many gods falling and rising during this time.

—

There was a footnote in this section that referred to two books titled Remembrance of the Old Gods and The War for the World. Sol remembered the first title from when the librarian showed it, but the second one he guessed was somewhere in here or gone from the passage of time. Regardless, he continued reading.

—

Focusing on the events that Ophis was involved in, he joined forces and defended the eastern continent alongside the gods he once fought against. The four gods previously mentioned all worked together. Ragnar used his War Domain to enhance his allies while also summoning the spirits of dead warriors to join the battle. Proteus created dungeons, a never ending source of monsters, to also push the overwhelming number of enemies back. Minerva blessed all the fighters, further increasing their strength and also created the strategies for attack.

While all three gods were powerful in their own right, it was Ophis and his elite group of Serpent Devouts who led the battlefield and took down most of the stronger enemies and multiple gods. Even so, the Outer Gods still outnumbered our gods, and they were slowly being pushed back. If nothing changed, our world would have been lost to these foreign enemies.

This was why Ophis, along with other powerful gods, convened to discuss how they could turn the war around. None of them could have expected that there was a traitor in their midst. The God of Mist secretly joined the Outer Gods for unknown reasons and snuck a large number of Outer Gods to the meeting, which launched a surprise attack. Many gods died that day, including Ophis.

—

‘Huh? He died?’ Sol was confused as he was only halfway through the book. For the main subject of the book to be dead halfway through didn’t make sense. It was similar to writing a cliffhanger when the protagonist was in the middle of an important event. Sol didn’t know where this led and continued reading once more.

—

After the massacre, the Outer Gods left to chase after the fleeing gods while the corpses of many gods lay in the area. It was within the many corpses that the dead body of Ophis began to change.