Chapter 252 Unexpectedly Unexpected (End)

Basil was good at multitasking. While he had been digesting the information his mother had given him, he had also been scanning the entire forbidden section to look for the legacy of the unknown Mage of Braxtein Kingdom.

He had soon found that the legacy he was looking for wasn't there, so he immediately asked Iliana to go with him. He still didn't know where the legacy was, but he was sure he would eventually find it if he searched it outside.

Iliana, on the other hand, followed Basil willingly, but she was still curious of what Basil was actually searching for. Not only had Basil not tell her anything yet, but she also didn't know there was something worth looking for in Arthan Library.

She had honestly thought that Basil's aim had been the information of his parents since the beginning, but now that he had stated he was looking for something different, she didn't have any idea of what he was searching for.

"My mother ... She was burned while being crucified. She was also executed at the Great Church of Azarthan, so how could her body travel to Parteron?"

Basil opened his mouth after a few minutes of silence, and Iliana tensed slightly at that. She kept her emotion in check, however, she couldn't immediately answer Basil's question.

"Parteron is just 120 kilometers away from Azarthan..." Iliana spoke after a few seconds of silence. "She actually didn't leave anything behind, other than an urn filled with her ash."

Since Basil was walking slightly ahead of Iliana, he had to glance back to catch a glimpse of Iliana's expression. He immediately found that Iliana was having a sour face upon doing so.

"They are respectful enough to keep her ash?"

"No, it wasn't the case." Iliana shook her head faintly. "They were about to perform a ritual with it when I stole it from them."

"How did you do it?"

Iliana immediately let go of Basil's hand, and stopped in her track. Basil also stopped in his track, then turned around to face her.

She gave him an incomprehensible look, but he knew she was in turmoil as he could sense what she was feeling from her Mana. He slightly tilted his head at her before nodding his head in assurance.

"I know that you have some things hidden from me—I have told you about it long ago—so I don't mind. You can speak freely without worrying that I might yell at you."

Basil, in the end, couldn't confirm how much truth Iliana's story held from his mother, but he didn't actually mind it. He still had Iliana who could tell the truth herself, so he would wait until she was ready.

He was telling Iliana he knew she had been lying to him and she didn't need to worry about that, but he knew that Iliana had another reason for hesitating to tell him about what had actually happened on the day she stole his mother's ash.

Iliana was ashamed—she was ashamed of what she could not accomplish that day.

"Her ash was about to be delivered to somewhere I didn't know ... The Priest who was being entrusted to do the job was careless, so I exploited his carelessness to steal it. Even so ... I failed."

Iliana was clenching her fists tightly as if she was recalling the day when her parents were murdered. Contrary to her however, Basil was still calm as he looked at her with a small reassuring smile.

"I ran so fast that day, I didn't even realize I had arrived at Parteron. Still, the Priest had also been chasing after me for all the time, so he managed to catch me when I was tired."

Basil noticed that Iliana became more emotional, but he didn't want to stop her. "Tell me what happened next."

"I was being cornered, so my survival instinct kicked in. Being a child I was, I threw the urn I had been holding in my hand at the Priest. It didn't hit the Priest, but it managed to distract him. I used that chance to kill him."

"What happened to the urn?"

"I accidentally threw it into the river, so it got submerged in the water."

Basil slightly blinked his eyes at how rather unimpressive the story was. He then stomped the urge to chuckle at what Iliana had recounted; he knew it must have been a great deal for her, so he didn't want to ruin the mood.

"I, of course, took the urn back, but by the time I took it out of the water, not only had it been broken, but the ash had also mostly gone ... Some of the remaining was also mixed with the water!"

Basil, who had been calmly observing Iliana since the beginning immediately widened his eyes the moment he saw the tears in her eyes.

Although he regained his composure quick enough to make it look like never happened, he was still in disbelief. He could somehow guess how close she had been to his mother, but he didn't expect Iliana would give this kind of reaction.

Even in his past life, Iliana had only cried in front of him once, and it had been just a few moments before she died. He was as baffled as he was saddened by the fact that he could see Iliana's tears this soon.

"Not only did I fail to prevent those bastards from taking her, but I also failed to bury her in the place where she wanted! I—"

"Enough. It wasn't your fault. In the end, you managed to bury the urn at Parteron, so it's fine. The dead will never come back to life no matter how much you cry, so stop crying ... It doesn't suit you at all."

By the time Iliana knew it, she had been enveloped in Basil's warm hug. She didn't know what to do at first due to how sudden the development was, but she still hugged Basil back in the end.

'So, this is what those girls have been feeling for all this time whenever they hug him ... No wonder they are addicted—it feels like the safest place in the world.'

Basil didn't know what Iliana was thinking, but judging from how she snuggled into his embrace, she must've really needed him to say what he had said.

He had noticed she had been looking at him with guilt for all this time. Although he wasn't necessarily sure that the matter regarding his mother was the cause of her guilt, he could see that his "mercy" helped her slightly.

Basil caressed Iliana's back for another minute, before finally saying that it was time to go. Iliana immediately let go of her hug, but keep holding Basil's hand until he finally found the rack that attracted his attention once again.

[Hydro Mage and What It Entails Upon Becoming One]

There was a particular book that managed to attract his attention in the particular rack. Basil could see with his [Eyes of Mana Perception] that there was a Rune carved on the cover of the book, and he wondered how the creator of the Rune hid it so well.

"This Rune is incomplete."

"I don't know how to word it intelligently, but I don't see any Rune on the book."

Upon taking the book in his hand, Basil could inspect the incomplete Rune carved on the cover of the book better, meanwhile Iliana didn't see anything on the leather cover of the book—not even a single letter.

Basil understood Iliana's confusion, but he didn't have any intention to explain to her why it happened, because he didn't want to waste his time any longer.

The Rune was carved by, at least, an Eighth Circle Mage, so it was normal for her to not be able to see it. If he were to explain it to her, it would only lead to more questions.

'I am pretty sure however, this Rune wasn't carved by one of the deceased famous Mages of Braxtein Kingdom. This Kingdom has never given birth to an outstanding Mage of this caliber after all.'

As Basil tried to understand what was written in the Rune, he soon realized that the legacy he had actually been looking for had gone, and the book he was currently holding was his way to get another legacy—a better one.

He turned his head to Iliana, who was still trying to figure out where the Rune he had mentioned was, as he infused his Mana to the Rune carved on the book. The Rune was immediately activated, and her eyes widened at the scene.

"What the...? How is this impossible?"

"Iliana, I want you to help me collect the other books that have the similar Rune. There are seven of them in total, so it shouldn't be hard to collect them."

"Yes—I mean what has just happened? How can you activate a Rune that you don't know where it is carved on?"

Just like what Iliana said, for one to be able to activate a Rune, one needed to know where it was located first. In case that the Rune was carved in such a way that made it invisible, one needed to find a way to find the secret "entrance."

Unless one had found a way to infuse one's Mana inside the Rune, said Rune would never be activated, which was why Iliana had been surprised Basil could still activate the Rune even though it was concealed so well.

"To be exact, YOU don't know where it is; I know where it is. Regardless, we don't have much time, let's start searching."

"Ah, understood."

Although she was still curious of how Basil had done what he had done, Iliana could see by the urgency in his tone that now wasn't the time to ask. She immediately took off to look for the other books that had the similar Rune carved on them afterwards.

It took her a few minutes to find another two books, which Rune carved on it was resonating with the Rune carved on the first book Basil had found.

By the time she returned to Basil, she saw he already had seven books with a Rune that was similar to each other shining brightly on them in his hands.

Iliana handed him the two books she had found, then watched as he aligned the book in some kind of a formation.

Basil cast a Spell Iliana didn't know under his breath afterwards, and each Rune on the books was immediately connected to each other.

Not long after, they were greeted with an unexpectedly unexpected scene.