In Hand

Anvis opened the clasp and flipped back the heavy cover.

The slightly yellowed Parchment pages had now turned a deep yellow, nearly brown. Their sheen and texture had become extraordinarily aged, as though they had crossed an incomparably long span of time in an instant.

On the previously blank title page, a strange, enormous Symbol had appeared.

The Symbol itself consisted of ominous spirals, twisting and shifting zigzag lines, and bizarre dots of varying sizes.

The ink used to draw it was equally peculiar. In Anvis's eyes, the blackish-green ink seemed to still be flowing continuously.

Carefully studying the mysterious design, Anvis compared it against everything he knew, trying to discern the meaning represented by the Symbol.

But in the end, the attempt failed. Like the book's material, the strange Symbol lay beyond the scope of his current knowledge.

He tried turning to the second page, only to discover that all the pages after it could not be opened, as if they had been glued together with powerful adhesive.

A strange sensation came over him, and Anvis immediately understood why he could not read it:

His Spiritual Power was not strong enough! He could not withstand the mysterious knowledge contained within the book.

Clap—

At that moment, the duke suddenly clapped his hands.

The sound seemed to switch something off, and the room's abnormal sensation vanished in an instant.

Anvis shuddered all over and raised his head as though waking from a dream. The Spiritual Power connected to the book naturally severed.

A strange feeling rose within him, as though some kind of change had already taken place.

At this point, the sound of the hourglass returned to normal. However, a visibly large portion of the silver-blue sand in its upper half had disappeared.

"Three Magic Hours and thirty-two minutes have passed since your Spiritual Power touched this book."

Noticing Anvis's gaze, Duke Carlot spoke calmly.

"Three Magic Hours? That much time passed?!"

Anvis froze, unable to keep surprise from entering his eyes. To him, it felt as though less than three minutes had passed.

"Does it feel like hardly any time has passed? This is the Lakana Effect. When the quality of your Spiritual Power is too low, yet you attempt to analyze a high-level spell, this kind of time distortion occurs."

The duke spread his hand, and a spell structure as intricate as a flower emerged in his palm before gradually dissolving from top to bottom into scattered motes of light.

"If I had not interrupted you just now, you would have exhausted your Spiritual Power without realizing it, like this. If it continued, your Sea of Spirit might even have been damaged."

"If your rank had reached Fourth Rank or above, then even if you still lacked the ability to complete the analysis, you would notice something was wrong once your Spiritual Power had been overly depleted and immediately sever the connection..."

As he spoke, the duke suddenly noticed the issue with his words.

"Of course, this is by no means your fault. On the contrary, it is a good thing!"

"As a member of the Olyvendi Family, you must never make the fatal mistakes that ordinary Professionals make: blindly pursuing the speed of advancement while neglecting your most fundamental foundation.

An early-ripened Black Honey Fruit will taste unripe and bland. Even though we possess our bloodline, among those of the same rank, differing foundations can still result in an enormous Gap in strength.

You must remember this: all future growth in strength will be built upon your initial foundation. Every bit of slow accumulation now will be magnified thousands upon thousands of times in the future!

Only by thoroughly pushing your foundation to the absolute limit, where no further improvement is possible, and advancing in the most perfect state can you travel farther upon the path of a Professional!"

"I understand, Father."

Anvis nodded slightly, inwardly becoming wary of what had just happened.

With two sets of memories, he should have noticed something was wrong immediately. Yet he had still fallen into it without realizing, which was undoubtedly a warning bell against his previously relaxed mindset.

"Then, what do you intend to do?"

Duke Carlot nodded and tapped the Desktop with his finger, drawing Anvis's attention.

"Although the aura of this book's power is somewhat strange, I can sense that it bears you no malice.

"Moreover, its hidden state can deceive even my senses. Without question, it is at least a Ninth Rank Magic Curio, perhaps even a Peak Ninth Rank one. I checked the Library catalogue just now. It was among the first batch of books in the Library, donated by First Patriarch Odrich.

"This also means that, in all these thousands of years, you are the only person able to sense and control it."

"Father, I want this book. Is that possible?"

Anvis immediately understood the duke's unspoken meaning and made his request with a smile.

A high-level Magic Curio would bring him a considerable increase in strength.

More importantly, it did not exist in Little Anvis's memories, making it a variable in fate.

Given his current situation, any such variable was incomparably precious.

"The books in the Library are the family's shared property. I cannot decide to give you one of them."

Gently stroking the engraved pattern on his cufflink, the duke raised his eyes. His azure gaze rested upon Anvis's surprised and puzzled expression, his tone unhurried.

"However, if you truly want it that badly, I can lend it to you. In exchange, you will need to add at least three books of the same type to the Library in the future to replace it."

"Do you accept these terms, Anvis?"

"I accept, Father."

"Very good."

The duke settled the matter casually. Throughout the exchange, neither of them mentioned the exact time when this future obligation would be fulfilled.

At the same time, the thick book in Anvis's hand suddenly burst into blazing white flames.

Anvis jumped, instinctively pulling back the hand holding the book. But he immediately realized that although the entire book was burning, the white flames carried no heat at all.

After leaving Anvis's palm, the book did not fall. Instead, it hovered steadily in midair.

As the white flames scorched it, runes glowing with an eerie light appeared one after another on the cover, then gradually crumbled from top to bottom, turning into faint blue motes that drifted away.

Countless motes converged in the air of the Study, stretching into a faint blue river of stars. Against the backdrop of the quietly burning white flames, it looked both mysterious and magical.

Soon, all the runes on the cover had collapsed. The Emblem Ring on Duke Carlot's index finger glimmered faintly, and the flames vanished into thin air just as they had appeared.

"Now, it is yours. However, if it undergoes any unknown changes in the future, notify me immediately. Understood?"

"I understand."

Anvis reached out and caught the book floating in midair again. The instant it touched his hand, something stirred in his heart, and the heavy book instantly shrank to the size of his palm.

"Have you gained its recognition? Not bad."

Duke Carlot nodded in understanding, casually took a sheet of paper from the desk drawer, and pressed the Emblem Ring onto it.

The moment the ring's face touched the paper, a flash of colorless Mana glimmered and vanished, leaving behind an ice-crystal-like imprint.

"Take this to Leonard and have him bring you to the Moonrise Fortress storeroom to collect materials for making a book chain."

Duke Carlot flicked his wrist and tossed the paper to Anvis, who gracefully reached out and caught it.

"Then I shall take my leave, Father."

After receiving Duke Carlot's permission, Anvis bowed, then quietly withdrew from the room.

After he left, Duke Carlot stared at the doorway, his fingers tapping idly against the desktop as his brows furrowed slightly.

"The Old Days Secret Scripture? This kind of aura..."

After thinking for a moment, Duke Carlot pulled open the bottommost drawer of the desk again and traced a complex Miniature Magic Array onto the wooden panel at its deepest point.

A faint light flashed, and the wooden panel bearing the magic array rippled like water. An extremely concealed hidden compartment opened without a sound.

At the same time, an ethereal, mysterious fragrance, as though drifting from a land infinitely far away, wafted out.

Inside the compartment lay an antique dark-silver Key, as long as a palm.

Its entire body was made from some unknown metal. Strange, delicate Vine Patterns were carved into its handle, while its surface was exceedingly dull, as if it had endured countless ancient years.

Stroking the Key's cool metallic surface, Duke Carlot seemed to recall something and suddenly let out a low, mocking laugh.

"Forbidden... Heh heh... forbidden?"

Grrr—→Recommendation tickets