Ordered to Copy Books: Gret

"He's copying it!"

The boy shouted. When Magister German ignored him, he jumped up and down, his face red with anger.

"Fine! You're not even going to do anything about this? I'll tell my grandpa! Do you people at the Magic Tower even want to pass this year's assessment or not?"

Who was this brat? What a big mouth! He could decide whether the Magic Tower passed its assessment? Was this kid a second-generation mage—or, no, a third-generation mage?

Gret hurriedly bent down, took all the sheets of paper out of his backpack, straightened them up a little, and handed them over. Magister German flipped through the pages one by one, then suddenly snorted and tossed the papers down in front of Gret.

"I told you to organize them, and this is what you came up with?"

"Ah... oh?"

When did you tell me to copy it?

Gret shuddered. But the mage's words had clearly covered up the matter of his copying the book without permission, which was very much to Gret's advantage. Gret wasn't stupid, either. He immediately lowered his head and admitted his mistake.

"It was careless of me."

"You haven't even figured out uppercase and lowercase letters! The alphabet's in complete disorder! Copy it again!"

"Ah... ah? Yes!" Gret was overjoyed and hurriedly agreed. The mage stopped paying him any attention and walked off with his hands behind his back. After a couple of steps, he threw out a second order.

"Copy two books. Keep one for yourself. Hand them in within half a month!"

"Yes!" Gret answered loudly. He could copy the book! He could copy it openly! This was wonderful!

The dictionary really had been useful!

I knew it. Anyone learning a new language can't resist the charm of a dictionary! You've learned Magic Script, but don't you need to learn Elvish? Draconic? Wait, are there dragons and elves in this world?

He gathered his thoughts and hurried after them, following behind the mage to see him off. Magister German took a few steps, then suddenly stopped and said to his disciple:

"Keep an eye on him!"

His tone was slightly stern. Eliot quickly agreed. Magister German swayed off on his own. Eliot maintained his respectful posture until his teacher disappeared into the lift, then turned to look at Gret.

"I'm sorry for the trouble," Gret apologized at once.

When the boy had been shouting earlier, Eliot had pretended not to notice and walked straight away. Gret had seen it all from inside the library. Looking back, it was obvious that Magister German had noticed Eliot deliberately turning a blind eye. Gret really did feel bad for him.

Gret's apology had found Eliot looking a little dejected, but his expression softened. He picked up the papers and leafed through them, then suddenly raised his hand and gave Gret a hearty slap on the shoulder.

"You're really lucky!"

"Yeah." Gret smiled in relief, though he still felt a little shaken. Eliot glanced at the boy beside him and shook his head.

"You caught a lucky break, you know? The Magic Council assesses every Magic Tower each year. They score you on how many Mage Apprentices you've trained and whether you've developed any new magic. If your score is low, you get less funding, and you'll be short on money all next year.

June's assessment period is just around the corner, and our research hasn't been going well... This little thing of yours is pretty interesting, so it should help us get by..."

Thank goodness! Copying the dictionary really had been useful! Gret let out a breath, his shoulders immediately slumping. Magister Eliot flipped through a couple more pages, then suddenly threw his head back and sighed deeply.

"The teacher told me to keep an eye on you... sigh, you don't even know the alphabet, so teaching you would be a pain. I'm in a hurry to run an experiment. How about this—"

He lowered his head and murmured a couple of words, then suddenly raised his hand and pressed a finger to Gret's forehead. A cool flash of magic passed through him, and Gret felt his head swell, as though an enormous amount of information had suddenly been crammed inside. Eliot waved his hand.

"Read on your own. I'm off!"

Gret spun around. On the open book on the table, the Magic Script he hadn't memorized or studied, the characters he hadn't recognized at all before, now made perfect sense, every single one of them.

"First-level spell: Comprehend Languages?"

The words flashed through Gret's mind. He'd seen this spell in web novels and games in his previous life. It seemed to have a time limit, with the duration depending on the mage's level. In other words, once the time ran out, he'd forget everything instantly?

Gret had no time to thank him. He moved his pen like a whirlwind, first arranging all the letters in order and copying them onto a sheet of paper. When he turned back, Eliot was already hurrying away.

"Thank you!" Gret shouted, clinging to the doorframe. Then he rushed over to the bookshelves and, racing against time, pulled out Basic Meditation.

Meditation was the foundation of a mage! The sooner, the better! While Comprehend Languages was still in effect, he had to memorize this book. The important thing was to go home and be able to follow its instructions!

He opened the title page and scanned it, then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Meditation is a lifelong practice for mages.

—Hella Yuriel, Magic Calendar 382"

Thank goodness, he could read it.

The book was written in Magic Script, not some strange, unfamiliar language, so he didn't need to find a way to decipher it. He recognized every character on the page. How considerate of this predecessor who'd written the book...

Gret focused and read on, word by word. Whether it had been written for beginners or its author had simply been an approachable person, Basic Meditation was incredibly clear and easy to understand. It began by plainly explaining the purpose of meditation:

Meditation was how mages honed their mental power, then used it to observe and reflect the world.

Hmm...

He recognized every character.

He understood every word.

But put them together, and... what exactly was mental power? His attention? His ability to think? The level of activity in his brain waves?

It couldn't be seen or touched. Would an EEG help?

Or could the brain-computer interface that Musk and the others were working on help mental power extend beyond the body?

Or maybe it wasn't brain waves, but a magnetic field generated by the brain's nerves?

Gret pushed aside all his quips, calmed himself, and started reading. Time was limited, and he didn't know if he'd have time to copy it, so he could only read and memorize at the same time. After reading through it once, he started over. When he was halfway through the book, his mind suddenly went fuzzy, and then...

The words on the page turned into great swathes of twisted patterns, with a few words he recognized scattered here and there.

The spell's duration had run out.

One instant, and it was all OVER. Not even a scrap of memory remained.

Gret sighed in frustration. He spread out a fresh sheet of white paper, opened Basic Meditation to the first page, and, using the illustrations and the few scattered words on the page as prompts, began copying it from memory, line by line.

The purpose of meditation.

What meditation was.

How to begin meditating, how to quiet your mind and enter a state between waking and sleeping—first concentrating, then expanding outward.

How to use mental power to touch the world, what you would feel during your first meditation, and what to avoid...

Line by line, page by page, before he knew it, a pile of sheets covered in writing had gathered to Gret's left.

An unexpected bonus!

Tonight, he'd be able to try meditating for the first time!

The world of magic, here I come!

I deleted a chapter from my backlog today, and I'm exhausted. Please comfort me...

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