11 The Breeds and The Bread (1/2)
Hector looked carefully at the cover, there was a kind of lock that blocked the opening of the book, a bit like you can see with some diaries. He could have forced the lock, but he decided to look for the key, it took him more than an hour, but he ended up finding it between two slats of the floor. His research also allowed him to discover other interesting objects that he took with him. He took the opportunity to continue to search as the sun began to disappear behind the roofs of the houses, but he suddenly felt very uncomfortable, Balam remarked to him, something was wrong with this place, it was perhaps just a simple impression, but the young man decided to leave immediately to linger a second longer to pry into the attic.
The two acolytes discussed their findings and after a while, Hector opened the book with the key. He hadn't felt this childish excitement for a long time, the one you feel when you open a Christmas gift, this thought made him smile and after staring at the front cover, he opened the front page with curiosity.
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╠►Preamble: This manuscript was written with the purpose of listing all the breeds of this world in the hope of being able to unlock the secret of our existence in the future. I have listed all the races discovered so far, but since there are new ones emerging over the years because of the biological, alchemical and magical weapon created by the Elves hundreds of years ago, so what is written in this book will only be an exhaustive list of the different peoples who live on our dear planet, not to mention that not all the emerged Lands of our world have yet been discovered.
This book is therefore by no means a finished work and should not be taken as a reference to talk about breeds and peoples, it is only a big book filled with sheets of paper that an old man has tried to fill after years of travel and research.
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Hector sneered a little bit at seeing how the man had written his preamble, he seemed to think he was just an old bum who was good to go and die of a heatwave. Claude Grim. In his own short biography of the author, he said that he was a man born of an interracial marriage between an elf and a human, which had allowed him to live longer than average, and that he had walked the Pangea and some islands to learn more about the world around him.
He probably must have been dead, though. The grimoire was written according to the author between the year 173 and another unknown year. It was not indicated, which suggested that he had died prematurely, or at least that death had prevented him from finishing his work, some pages at the end of the book were empty of ink, which validated this theory.
[A book this thick, but worthless?] Balam began with a thoughtful tone. [This man seemed to have very low self-esteem.]
[I guess it's because, at this time, Dentelia had just been built, so the society was much more matriarchal. They must have put a lot of pressure on the men, which is probably what made him want to travel... I would have done the same thing.] replied Hector with an evasive expression.
[I suppose...] said the demon as he reflected. [Wouldn't you like to take a look at the contents of the book?] he grumbled with an amused tone. [You're more admiring the cover of this book than of all the women who look at you when you walk outside, it's almost scary.]
[Sorry for not collecting your so precious sexual energy, huh.]
[You could at least make an effort and try to meet some girls, the bonds are forged afterward, no need to make an excuse like that you want to love the girl you're doing it with. If you don't meet anyone, you can't love anyone. Then go outside and make me work these testicles.] Balam ordered, speaking quickly.
[You don't want to let go of me with this, it's incredible... Excuse me for not being the milking cow you want me to be. In the meantime, I'm the only one who chooses where I dip my dick, so stop talking to me about that, when the time comes, you can tell me anything you want about sexual energy and sex, but for now, I just want to understand this world and manage to progress, it gets boring just to stay there.. I've been here for less than a week.]
[Yes, yes, like me... Weak.]
[Yes, I am.]
The relationship with the demon wasn't particularly bad, but sometimes, like that, all of a sudden, they started to get into a little argument like two children. After this little altercation, Hector opened the book a little more; a very light cloud of dust spread in the air before falling to the ground in silence.
The first page following the preface was titled: The Ancients. Handmade sketches showed humanoid, misty, sometimes deformed, human-sized shapes that stood upright. The young man stared a little more at the drawing and was shivered through. How many copies of this manuscript had been written? If he followed his logic, there was only one copy, after all, no scholar would post a work that he himself considered incomplete, so this grimoire had to be the only one making a serious and precise report, containing an unimaginable amount of information on the peoples and breeds of this world. How much would a book as rare as this be worth at auction? No. Hector took that idea out of his head, selling something like that would be sacrilegious, it was better to analyze everything he could learn. It was after looking more closely at the content of the book that he turned a few pages. The Ancients seemed to be extremely powerful spiritual beings, older than the Gods who organize and structure this world.