Leaving

After successfully channeling his own magic, Tierra did not remain in the library. He briefly searched through the drawers of the wooden desk, took out a slightly heavy Stone Awl, then followed the records in Merlin's Notes and recited the ring's spell backward, returning to the cramped storage room of the orphanage.

Having successfully channeled his magic and even established contact with the Outer Gods, Tierra was in much better condition than when he had arrived. After returning this time, he only felt dizzy, without any nausea or urge to vomit.

"Tierra" had probably been locked in the storage room at around nine-thirty at night. During the period after the nuns had checked on the children and were holding their bedtime prayers, several mischievous children had dragged Tierra out of his warm bed, drenched him in cold water, and locked him inside.

He did not know how long he had been there before waking up, but from the bluish-white light seeping through the crack beneath the storage room door, Tierra estimated that it was around four or five in the morning, just as the sun was rising.

Tierra picked up the Stone Awl and smashed it viciously against the storage room's lock.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Bang—

Tierra struck only three times before smashing a hole through the rotten, poorly maintained wooden door.

Tierra crept out of the storage room.

It was now 4:26. The storage room was beneath the stairs on the first floor of the orphanage, and just around the corner was the reception hall, where an old wall clock hung.

At this hour, neither the nuns nor the orphans had awakened from their dreams. It was the perfect time for him to leave.

Yes, leave.

Although the orphanage provided food, drink, and shelter, it also meant restraint.

He could not practice magic freely. An untrained magical apprentice without a teacher nearby had a high chance of losing control while using magic.

At best, he might only destroy a few cabinets or pieces of furniture. At worst, he could start an uncontrollable fire. For an already impoverished orphanage, that would be no less than total disaster, and who knew how many children would end up on the streets.

Although Tierra could not say he had any affection for this orphanage, he could not bring himself to let hundreds of orphans become homeless just so he could practice magic alone.

But neither could he give up magic. After spending over twenty years as an ordinary person in his previous life, how could he possibly abandon the extraordinary power now within his grasp, no matter how dangerous or mad this path might be?

Besides, he was only an orphan now. Unlike his previous life, when both his parents were alive and his family was comfortably well-off, he was now in this unfamiliar capitalist country. Even with the knowledge he had brought from his previous life, getting into a community college would already be the limit. He had no confidence that he could scrape together the astronomical tuition fees of a public university.

As the saying went, without breaking the old, there could be no new. How could he pursue the truth of the universe without giving up a comfortable life?

In any case, he had that library on another planet. At least for the short term, he did not need to worry about having nowhere to stay after leaving the orphanage.

And the library did not contain only books. There were also quite a few items and instruments Merlin had brought in from the outside world.

For example, the dull gray, utterly inconspicuous stone pyramid awl he had just used to smash open the storage room door was a divine stone Merlin had picked up from Avalon, the Celtic Holy Land. It was a key item for Celts advancing to become Druids, engraving Natural Markings upon themselves, and completing the ascension of Transfiguration.

And Tierra had used it to smash down a door.

Tierra found a blood-red gemstone. It was a Philosopher's Stone that Merlin had failed to refine long ago.

There was also a wooden staff over half a man's height, likewise from Avalon. It was a branch from the Celtic Sacred Tree and Merlin's early staff, though after Merlin became a great wizard, he rarely used it except for certain special rituals.

As well as various other miscellaneous things, which Tierra intended to identify slowly in the future.

Besides these Magical Items, Wu Muming also found three leather bags in the third drawer of the wooden desk. They were filled with all kinds of gold, silver, and copper coins dating from Merlin's era—the eleventh and twelfth centuries—up to the period when printing became widespread in Europe. They were all antiques, and pawning them could bring him a considerable income, probably enough to keep him going for quite some time.

Tierra returned to his room and gently pushed open the door. Seeing that his other roommates were still asleep, he crept inside and quietly packed up his clothes, flyers, bedding, as well as the notebooks, fountain pen, and ink rationed out by the orphanage. He transported them in batches to the Alien Library for storage, intending to retrieve them once he found a stable place to settle down in this world.

Then he casually tossed the Curse Worm onto one of the sleeping roommates who had bullied him, before quietly looting all of his roommates' small savings as well—

The orphanage might have been poor, but those bad children always found ways to get a little money from the donation box.

Though Tierra in this world was still young, he was usually very observant and had naturally noticed where his roommates hid the money they stole.

Tierra found a total of forty pounds sterling beneath drawers, under children's shoe insoles, and inside the pages of books. It should be enough to get him through for a while.

After all, Tierra did not dare live in the library for long. Under normal circumstances, the consciousness of the Outer Gods could not pass through the strange stones that made up the library.

But the sacred magic of the stones was not one hundred percent reliable.

According to Merlin's records, spiritual power was most active when people slept. At such times, they were extremely susceptible to the influence of outside entities.

It was entirely possible that, without realizing it, he might connect with an Outer God through some ancient book.

After packing his things, Tierra did not alert anyone. He went to the kitchen and took some bread and milk, then resolutely climbed over the orphanage gate.

"From now on, I'm a wandering wizard." Tierra smiled mockingly and glanced back at the orphanage, at the rusty sign above its gate that read "Wool's Orphanage" in the faint light of dawn.

At that moment, Tierra felt the urge to run back. He understood that once he left, he would face a drifting, unstable life that even adults could not endure.

Although he possessed a mature soul and no fewer than a hundred ways of making money from the future, he was still only a six-year-old child. That severely limited many of his methods.

"Ah." Without looking back, Tierra headed toward the bus stop leading to the city center.

Although the orphanage was poor, the church beside it still had a donation box. Tierra struck it with the black stone once—

Twice—

Three times—

And borrowed the money from inside the donation box as well.

Relying on the lingering memories of the Tierra from this world, Tierra knew that there was a pawnshop near the theater where his parents had been shot, in the city center.

Without money, nothing could be done. He would first exchange some things for cash, eat something good, and then consider what to do next.

Having practically stayed up all night, Tierra was now utterly exhausted both mentally and physically. He needed to replenish his energy properly.