When Adam opened his eyes after feeling the usual weightlessness that accompanied the transfer of his soul to the Library, he found himself to be in a place slightly different from what he was used to.
It was still a place filled with books – as usual – but rather than a gigantic never-ending library of epic proportions, he found himself in what looked like a small drawing room with a chimney and a few books littered about on the shelves that were just the tiniest sliver bigger than himself.
'Where is this place?'
Adam had no time to ponder this important question as he heard a cough ringing from behind.
Spinning on his heels, rotating his head and body, he glanced at the woman – the origin of the weak coughing noises – who was sitting on a rocking chair with a huge shawl draped over her legs and even up to her belly.
"....Eve?"
Adam asked, hesitation and disbelief clearly evident in his voice and tone as he looked at the woman before him with clear shock in his eyes.
"Heh… Seems like even the little one was shocked to see me in this state."
A chuckling but feeble and deeply lethargic voice echoed to answer his question, leaving Adam to be forced to realize the reality that the woman before him was indeed none other than Eve. It really was the Eve he had come across all these times who was talking to him right now.
However, the Eve that was currently in front of him was very much different from the usual Eve from his memories.
In usual times, Eve had the appearance and the energy of a young woman who had just entered adulthood and was ready to take on the challenges that life was going to throw on her. Even though she would always show her maturity and vast experience with her words and actions, it was hard to think of her as a grandmother or anything of the sort due to her young appearance and youthful vibes.
Now though… There was no other way left to call her other than the typical Grandma.
"You look…"
"Old?"
Eve directed a gentle smile toward the boy while holding onto a large book that had been nestled in her hands even before the time he had arrived at this location. Her long silver hair hung loosely, covering the sides and parts of her face— wrinkles could be easily spotted all over her once youthful skin and her whole form seemed shrunken and loose, completely different from anything he had ever seen or witnessed when it came to her.
All things considered, it was definitely plausible to describe this change as Eve going from a woman in her early twenties to straight being a woman in her seventies or eighties. It was as though she was barely clinging on to life.
It was still quite easy to trace the beauty she held as even after being an old woman she had lost none of her grace or grandeur but her appearance still shocked Adam to no end.
Adam immediately rushed toward her without a second thought and kneeled down in front of her with deep worry and fear evident in his eyes. He spoke to her in a quivering tone, asking her what had gone wrong with her, "What happened to you?"
The smile on Eve's face stretched even further, a morbid look of ethereal beauty framing her face, as she witnessed the scene unfolding before her. She was more than just happy to see the genuine worry that lingered in Adam's eyes as he witnessed her current situation. It had been eons since she had shown anyone directing such emotions toward her.
"I burned through too much of my Karma in too little a time at recent times and am suffering the consequences."
An expression of guilt and horror flashed through Adam's face as he chanced upon the realization that he might be the reason behind her current state. He already knew that the passes he used to access the Library were in fact created using Eve's Karma. He was deeply troubled by the fact that he might've put his grandmother through so much pain.
"Is it…?"
However, Eve shook her head, dismissing his thoughts, as she closed her book and gently tapped his head with the book using her feeble strength.
"Even though the passes are costly, there is no way they would put me in such a morbid situation. Don't beat yourself with misunderstandings, kiddo."
"Then…"
"I just broke free from some of my restrictions and received an equivalent punishment."
Adam frowned, understanding the words but not comprehending the true meaning behind them.
"Well, don't you worry your little head over this? It's just a temporary backslash. I will be back to my normal self in just a few years' time. By the time you come back, I will be back to normal."
"Technically speaking… Isn't this your normal form?"
Eve's eyebrows rose immediately at that statement and she wasn't able to hold back her chuckles, "I see that you are quick to joke. But indeed, this form is more in line with what I should actually look like."
"Well, even as an old woman you are quite pretty you know that."
"Oh…What a sweet mouth you have. Your words are oozing with so much honey. I will get diabetes at this rate."
She pinched his cheek in a joking fit and shook her head before standing up and slowly walking to the shelves to put the book back in its rightful place.
Adam followed her quietly, worried that she might fall down at any moment.
This warmed Eve's heart further and she didn't have it in her to tell him that he didn't need to be so worried about her. Even though she was looking old and her physical capacity had decreased significantly, she was still far more physically capable than the strongest man on earth.
She was in no way about to fall down to her death and die right here,
"This is the way I looked when I was just 700 years old back in ancient times."
This feeling of weakness was quite familiar and unfamiliar to her at the same time. This was a step she had gone through already when she was still living on Earth. At the same time, she had surpassed the limitations of her mortal body billions of years ago.
It had been so long since those bittersweet times had passed that she could barely recall them even though she had a perfect memory.
"So, where is this place? And do you plan to actually tell me what you did?"
"This place is the heart of the Library. You could also say that it's my room or my original cage."
She pointed at the books, "All the books placed in this room are stories about beings who broke through the limits placed on their mortal shells and could change the course of Fate with their own will. The Library created a section especially for them as the decision they made could affect many worlds or at least had the potential to do something similar."
Adam brought his hand forward to take one of the books but Eve slapped it away gently,
"You should not touch them. All those books are the equivalent of EX-ranked skills. If you open them you will be forcibly synchronized into them and trust me when I say that… very few of them are as kind as Buddha. Without the protection of Genesis to filter the noise, you would drown in their memories and lose yourself."
It was rare for Eve to look and act so stern with him. But this matter was too important for it to be left as a mere joke or an object of nonchalance. This was why she admonished him gently like a mother talking to her child.
'The body truly affects the mind, doesn't it?'
She sighed inwardly at how she was truly acting like an old woman right now. But there was nothing much she could do about it. These emotions were ingrained in her bones already.
To obtain an EX-ranked skill, the Book of Genesis would generally act as a filter through the synchronization process and make sure to focus on the most helpful memories. Furthermore, after the experience, the person would only have vague memories of the experience as the genesis would block the actualization of the assimilation.
But reading those books was like looking at an uncensored movie with not a shred of filter. With the current power of Adam's soul, the chance of him keeping his sense of self was more or less zero.
"I…"
"'Eternal Damnation' won't change a thing. This is not a power to protect you, Adam. It's a curse to make sure you will not lose your mind during the long periods of torture and solitude you will go through over your miserable and cursed life. You will never break, yes. But your mind and will, will be bent to their absolute limits and beyond."
She looked at him with a slight feeling of pity before caressing his face with her wrinkly palms with all the motherly affection she could muster.
"Well. Don't worry about it."
She had already had one son who was suffering from this accursed 'Eternal Damnation.' Why did her lineage have to be entirely cursed?
Adam had committed no crime outside of being born and the same went for all of his other siblings.
The sins of a father should not fall on the innocent head of the children who did not even ask to be born.
"Now come here, Adam. Sit down and tell me what happened to you since the last time you visited."
Adam could only give her a bitter smile in response, "Since you know about 'Eternal Damnation' then you should know about everything else."
Adam was once again sure that Eve had a way to observe him. Though he did not understand how.
"I do. But listening to your story is a different thing than the matter of me knowing it by indirect means. Do you not want to?"
Adam looked up.
Thinking about it, Eve was basically the only person he could speak absolutely about anything and everything.
Even the things he hid from Cecilia.
Or the things he hid from Yui and Shuri.
"Well… I guess we should talk about my experience as a Gigolo first."
He laughed sheepishly.
Since he was not planning to focus on reading new books this time, he could spend his time and enjoy some quality time with the only blood-related family he was in contact with— his grandmother, Eve.
Who knows?
This might be fun in its own way.
———
(AN: A small little arc with Adam having fun with his grandma. By the way, I wish to apologize for the sporadic release rate this month. Though I am still pushing at least one chapter every day so not so sporadic. Since I am home this month and will be until around the 8th of August I decided to enjoy as much as possible and have fun. Been a long while since I could simply go out with friends and relax or be pampered by my mom hehe.
Thanks for all the support guys and I wish you all a very good summer break. Let's all touch some grasses. At least I really needed it.
By the way, I am also planning to start a third story. Might or might not write it as Hikaru. But either way, it will not be on WN but only on RR and Patreon, and eventually KDU. I don't know if I already said this here. Seems like I am starting to forget things. The third story will be sci-fi though it won't be connected to SHK and GoC since the two are under contract with WN. Be it non-exclusively or exclusively.)
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