Mage's Notebook

Mage's Notebook

After seeing those potatoes, Ryan paid them no further attention. They were not going anywhere, after all.

"A Mage's Notebook is often a mage's greatest treasure. All of their knowledge can be recorded within it."

"Moreover, Mage's Notebooks differ from those sorcerers' journals. Sorcerers' journals may be filled with curses, but a Mage's Notebook is the lifelong work of a mage, meant to be passed down."

"On the Axeniel Continent, bards most loved telling tales of protagonists who obtained a Mage's Notebook and became Grand Mages. Often, just opening with such a story could earn them a large cup of fragrant fruit wine."

Ryan picked up the Mage's Notebook from the table. The first page was covered in messy handwriting, and the first line revealed the mage's name.

"My name is Melania Luna, one who reveres magic beneath the stars. If someone destined to find this notebook can see it, then I have most likely become a failure."

The female mage named Melania Luna recounted her life in a gentle tone, but most of it concerned her days studying in Furnace City in the South. It was exceedingly dull and tedious.

Perhaps every mage had to go through such a stage before they could turn violent Magic Factors into their own gentle mana.

The notebook also recorded the first spell this female mage had learned, as well as her understanding of and experiences with controlling magic. Any mage practicing the same type of spells would likely be overjoyed to read it.

Then came even more dull and tedious daily life, followed by her increasingly powerful magical studies and experiments.

The notebook only became truly fascinating when Mage Luna left Furnace City for the first and only time.

"I have become an Archmage. If I wish to advance further and become a Grand Mage, I must have a Mage Tower of my own."

"But the cold brought by the winds of Fierce Winter, along with the snow and ice, has buried everything. Furnace City relies on subterranean fire to preserve the last remaining warmth on this continent, and it no longer has surplus resources to support the construction of my Mage Tower."

"Yet north of this city in the farthest South, beneath the wind and snow of the boundless Northern Lands, vast wealth must still lie buried. Those nobles who failed to flee south in time still possess great quantities of gold that can serve as a medium, perhaps even treasures such as Mithril Adamantite."

"To become a Grand Mage, this is my only option. But I have never left Furnace City..."

"I have still decided. I will head north. Only then can I build my own Mage Tower and have my own Mage Academy. If I have the chance to become a Saint Domain Mage in the future, perhaps I can attempt to open a Planar Gate, leave this world doomed to die, and travel to a warm plane without cold."

"They all said I was obedient and meticulous, but this time, I disappointed them. I am a girl filled with the spirit of adventure. After leaving Furnace City, I did not panic. On the contrary, I was thrilled."

"Perhaps my story will be written into a book, and bards will carry my tale to distant places."

"This is not what I should be thinking about now. I left Furnace City and headed into the Northern Lands in search of the countless buried treasures, but first, I must survive in this freezing snowfield."

"..."

"Regrettably, I did not make it very far. I returned to a place near Furnace City with that wealth, but I cannot go back, lest the people of Furnace City take a share of it."

"I will build my own Mage Tower in these Northern Lands and become a Grand Mage."

"In truth, my thoughts were naïve. Perhaps that was because I lacked practical experience. I overlooked the fact that one person's strength is limited. No wonder those people did not stop me when I left—they knew I would return with wealth, and then they could take a share of it."

"Those damned people are so clever. I only understood this after going through so much, yet not a single one of them told me."

"So, I do not intend to return."

"Furnace City is indeed warm, but perhaps I am not suited to dealing with people. If I wish to build my own Mage Tower here, I must compromise with those nobles on certain matters, such as teaching them magic."

"On a continent where the Spirit of the Stag has already vanished, the power of knights has gradually become history as well. The once-renowned Stag Knights have all been buried in Fierce Winter."

"If the nobles wish to maintain their status, they must possess other extraordinary powers. So they do know how cruelly they exploit their own people and slaves."

"In the end, I reached an agreement with those nobles. They arranged for slaves and soldiers to help me build the Mage Tower, while I taught them the Meditation Technique in return."

"Actually, I also thought that if I encountered a suitable apprentice, perhaps I could take them as my disciple."

"But these nobles have far too little talent. It takes them several days just to barely sense the wandering Magic Factors, and that is only because I set up a magic array at the Mage Tower's location."

Reading this, Ryan felt a deep malice.

He continued reading.

"The Mage Tower is complete. I will become a Grand Mage here. It will be a long process, but I have long grown accustomed to solitude."

"I have kept the cellar I used to shelter from the wind and snow before the Mage Tower was built. Back then, those potatoes capable of growing in the frozen soil of winter sustained me for a long time."

"..."

"A Grand Mage... it is so difficult. It seems I am about to fail."

"I overlooked the Dead Silence of the Magic Factors brought by the eternal winter of the Northern Lands. The Magic Factors that were once active seem to have died in this Fierce Winter."

"I do not have much magical material left. I have even smelted down that gold. I want to create a Flame Furnace, but if I do so, I will have no spare materials left to advance to Grand Mage."

"But if I do not create a Flame Furnace, I cannot make the surrounding Magic Factors active, and I cannot become a Grand Mage."

"Damn it, why was such a thing never recorded at the academy? Could it be that ice mages cannot accomplish anything in the Northern Lands either?"

"My remaining materials can only support one choice. I am unwilling to accept this."

"If I cannot resist the cold, I cannot become a Grand Mage. Yet if I cannot activate the Magic Factors, I cannot succeed either. And during the breakthrough process, I cannot leave the Mage Tower for long, or all my efforts will be wasted."

"I know I have only one chance, so I intend to take a risk."

"I do not possess enough knowledge to develop spells in every direction, but among the control spells I excel at most, my Golem Puppet is the strongest."

"I saw an opportunity, but if I fail..."