Starting Out with an Infinite Skill Tree!

Ch. 18



Chapter 18. Welcome to My "Library" World!

"Here, the collection reaches over 170 million volumes! So—are you interested?!"

At some point, Cidy, who was leading them forward, had stopped, turned around, and pressed her finger to her cheek with a smile.

"... One hundred and seventy million...?!"

Yan couldn't help but speak up, his eyes sparkling with deep interest.

Back on Earth, the Library of Congress in the United States—known for having the largest collection of books—only held about 162 million volumes.

"... Mm..!"

Just imagining that staggering number made Yan feel dizzy, and even a little overwhelmed with emotion.

This—this is what it means to be human!

He recalled the Great Wall of China and the Egyptian pyramids on Earth.

Time and again, humanity had created things that could only be called "miracles."

Even in this other world, Yan believed, collecting such a massive number of books could not have been easy.

Now, his impression of this world's humans rose by several levels—

Though, on second thought, perhaps it was only natural.

The girl before him was someone whose mere presence constantly stirred the 【Simulated Star-Creation Map】 within him.

For someone like her, having such an extravagant private library didn't seem strange at all...

If anything, if she had behaved as nothing but ordinary, that would have felt wrong to him.

"Then—welcome to my 'Library' 【World】, young man and young ladies!"

Cidy spread her arms wide, as though embracing the entire world, her face blooming with a sweet smile.

And in that instant, the air itself shifted, the temperature subtly becoming unusual.

The next moment, her aura changed.

As the light fell once more on her radiant, delicate face, everyone's gaze froze in place.

—Because they saw it.

A girl whose whole being suddenly radiated an overwhelming presence, a beauty so dazzling it was hard to even look directly at her.

A soft brilliance shimmered around Cidy, and beside her appeared several complex, geometric, dreamlike magic circles.

Then—

By a breeze that, from an aerodynamic perspective, absolutely could not have supported her weight, her body rose gently from the ground.

Behind her, a pair of pure white wings—like those of a mythological 【angel】—spread wide.

In that moment, Cidy's very image underwent a complete transformation.

Yan stiffened at the sight, his smile faltering.

"An... angel?" he whispered, disbelief in his voice.

‘Impossible! How could angels exist in this world?!’

At the same time, Giselle peeked timidly from behind Yan, her small hand clutching his clothes as she curiously stared at the floating girl above.

But by Yan's side, Restia's expression instantly turned grave.

The sweet smile that had adorned Cidy's exquisite face vanished, replaced with a blank expression—though in her eyes flickered a keen interest, as if amused by their reactions.

‘Eh? Not scared at all? Such cold reactions—what uncute children!’

Her inner monologue betrayed her true nature.

Then, suddenly, a thought crossed her mind.

—’I am, after all, a proud Seventh-Tier Saint Magus. How could I possibly fail to awe a few little kids?!’

In that brief instant, a testing idea bloomed in Cidy's mind.

......

Lifting his head, the moment Yan's gaze once again met those eyes—

Beneath the pink hair that swayed and fluttered even in the windless room, he sensed it—

a presence that felt almost tangible: killing intent.

That gaze sent a chill through his entire body.

It left him certain: this girl, beautiful like a deity, needed only the lightest touch to end his life.

No matter if he tried to resist or to beg for mercy, it would all be meaningless!

‘She wants to kill me?!’

The thought burst into his mind, and once it appeared, it refused to leave.

Since arriving in this world, this was the very first time Yan had truly felt the weight of 【death】.

His breathing grew heavy, his heartbeat quickened.

His whole body felt unsteady.

"No—!"

Suddenly, the【Simulated Star-Creation Map】within him jolted violently, snapping his consciousness back into clarity.

Immediately after, its ability to pierce through to the essence of things was activated—

Yan realized that within her body, she wasn't circulating much magic at all.

There wasn't even the faintest sign of physical movement to attack. But then, what was with that gaze overflowing with "killing intent"?

In the very next instant, the 【Simulated Star-Creation Map】 revealed something new.

A "spell" had just finished parsing itself, automatically surfacing in Yan's mind.

It was—

..."Killing Intent Illusion"!?!

Floating in midair at the center of the library, Cidy widened her eyes at Yan. On her beautiful, adorable face lingered a faintly devious smile.

But—

Her brows quickly knitted together.

She had noticed it: while Yan's expression had been stiff and nervous when she first cast the spell, now he was regaining his composure.

‘What's going on?!’

Her "killing intent" spell had failed?!

Behind Yan, little Giselle, who had secretly sneaked a glance at Cidy, immediately shrank back, burying her trembling head against his back in fright.

Cidy: "..."

At least it still worked on someone!

But suddenly, she couldn't help feeling that using such a spell just to scare little kids was rather embarrassing.

And as for the actual targets—Yan and Restia, those two little monsters—neither of them had been intimidated at all.

Somehow... it felt really unsatisfying!

Hmph! Fine... I'll let them off this time.

"Then, once more—welcome to my library!"

The girl spread her arms wide again, her face lighting up with a dazzling, sweet smile.

With that smile, the oppressive atmosphere crumbled instantly.

"... Hah~! Guess I'll introduce myself first. I am—"

Yan let out a breath of relief as that crushing gaze of killing intent disappeared.

Even knowing it had been fake, facing it head-on for so long had been overwhelming!

Regaining his composure, Yan decided to seize back the initiative and speak first.

Rather than waiting to be told the situation, he preferred to take hold of the conversation himself.

However—

"The 'outsider' whom Clovis rescued from the stream outside the village—currently staying in their home. I know you! Your name is Yan, right? And the little one is your sister, Giselle. And—"

Cidy cut him off with a cheerful smile.

Her eyes shifted toward Restia—only to falter.

This one... she truly didn't know.

Restia's parents had kept her hidden from the public eye ever since her birth.

Even someone like Cidy could not possibly connect the little girl before her with the newborn child that had been born less than two weeks ago.

The confident, composed smile on Cidy's face froze in place.


Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.