Nether Scroll: Mechanics of the Planes

Borne returned to the underground laboratory, his mind still reeling in a daze.

He took out the Nether Scroll, looking at it with a sense of unreality.

Was it really that easy to obtain the Nether Scroll?

No!

There is no love in this world without a reason, nor is there hatred without a cause.

Even the Dean had agreed to this compensation, which meant he must have paid a corresponding price.

Borne recalled every event that had transpired, yet nothing seemed worthy of such a cost.

Could it be that this was payment in advance for something in the future?

Setting aside whether Borne even had the capability, the Temple's Archivists needed his help—was that even possible?

Furthermore, Borne hadn't promised anything...

He called it compensation... Does compensation mean that I have already paid the 'price'?

Borne froze abruptly, then shivered.

If his guess was correct... he had just skirted the edge of life and death.

This would explain why Rodney had brought out the Nether Scroll as compensation.

Borne had obtained the information on Rodney from the Arcane Society's research lab.

Although the records from that time had been destroyed, memories do not simply vanish.

Subsequent successors had all recorded bits of information.

Even though the data was chaotic and disorganized, the system had compiled it all, which was why Borne knew Rodney's situation so clearly.

The title of Archivist was not something everyone understood; even among the clergy, only the higher-ups knew of it. In Netheril, probably only the Dean and the Count knew a little about it.

Based on the information Borne possessed, Rodney was indeed here with ill intent.

If I'm not mistaken, he must have come to poach talent, just like he was poached back then! Grandfather might have only realized later that his prized student had been 'brainwashed' into defecting to the Church!

Borne speculated, which would explain why the Academy had destroyed Rodney's files.

However, the situation in Netheril at the time was dire. After Great Netheril was brought down, the imperial family's control over Netheril was no longer as powerful.

Coupled with the Church's dominance and the fact that the Academy had only recently been established, they certainly couldn't win a head-on confrontation. Without evidence, the Academy had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill.

They even had to cover up the scandal for the Church!

But to 'brainwash' someone so directly is equivalent to completely replacing their personality. Is that person still the same person they once were?

Borne recalled the way Rodney had looked at him—it wasn't like looking at a person, but rather at an 'object,' a rare and priceless treasure!

Borne suddenly had a startling deduction: were all the Archivists throughout the years 'brainwashed' by the Church? Or at least, the vast majority of them?

Like Arcanists, Archivists needed a spirit of exploration and innovation to delve into the laws of how things change.

Arcanists were one thing, but didn't Archivists study deities and divine power?

If you strip away the secrets of a 'deity,' is that 'deity' still a god in your eyes?!

Even 'deities' have enemies, so the best solution is to turn them into 'one of our own'—'one of our own' who will never betray them!

At this moment, Borne finally understood why the higher-ups wanted to study divine power!

The outcome of the future had already been destined!

If not for the Chip and the 'anti-magic' properties of his 'Qi,' he might have been finished today!

Truly, disaster strikes from the heavens while one sits at home; sometimes, being too famous is not a good thing.

Although this 'poaching' attempt had failed, there was no guarantee they wouldn't come back.

Completing the Monk's inheritance had to be prioritized, the research into psychic magic had to be conducted, and the system firewall had to be upgraded.

The power to control the mind was truly terrifying; Borne still felt a lingering fear even now!

Looking at the Nether Scroll on the table, Borne gave a bitter smile. "This really was bought with my life!"

The most important thing now was to increase his strength; strength was the only absolute truth!

Damn it, to think they dared to target me!

Once I become a Great Arcanist, I'll pilot a Floating City and blast your Divine Realm to pieces!

Hmph!

For the first time, Borne was this furious, and he developed an obsession with strength.

He then unfolded the Nether Scroll, only to discover that these ten scrolls were actually a set.

More accurately, they were part of a series!

As the foundation for Netherese human magic, the content of the Scrolls of Netheril was like an encyclopedia, containing knowledge across numerous fields. Many professions would later be born from these Nether Scrolls!

Netheril had obtained two sets of Nether Scrolls, totaling 100 scrolls.

The content of these 100 Nether Scrolls was divided into five chapters.

1: Introduction to Arcane Arts (Basic Principles of Magic)

2: Magical Creation (Spells of Creation)

3: Advanced Creation (High-Order Creation)

4: Mechanics of the Planes (Study of the Planes)

5: Arcane Discourse (Artifact Crafting)

The volume Borne held in his hands now was the Mechanics of the Planes, a treatise on the knowledge of space, fields, and domains.

It primarily covered planar travel, effective defense against extra-planar harm, and the mitigation of influences brought about by foreign realms!

Mechanics of the Planes, put simply, is the theory of spatial magic!

At this moment, a bold idea struck Borne.

He would record all the knowledge inscribed upon the Scrolls of Netheril into his Chip. That way, even if all 100 Nether Scrolls were lost in the future, he would have a backup.

As for the memory capacity, that was a trivial matter; after the Chip had been imbued with 'divinity,' its memory capacity had turned into three question marks—it was so vast it defied calculation.

Furthermore, even if it weren't enough, he could always craft a few more memory modules by hand.

System Chips were difficult to produce, but memory modules were something he could easily manufacture himself.

Knowledge is the heritage of civilization; it would be a true tragedy if the Nether Scrolls were eventually lost.

The scrolls were bound by a peculiar 'curse,' preventing the knowledge upon them from being recorded in written form.

This 'curse' was nearly a law of reality, so the knowledge could only be memorized through the act of reading.

The Chip, however, was not subject to this limitation. By using computer language as a substitute, it could perfectly bypass this 'rule.'

Now, there was one more problem Borne needed to verify: information shunting!

Beyond the inability to be recorded, the Nether Scrolls possessed a mechanism of 'reverse reading.'

When reading a Nether Scroll, one need not worry about losing focus, because the scroll would incessantly force information into the reader's brain.

This process was almost irreversible; it would not let you go until the scroll was finished.

Regardless of whether you could handle it, your eyes would be firmly 'glued' to the text, and the process would not cease until the transmission was complete.

Many whose brains could not withstand such a massive influx of information either went insane or suffered a 'system crash.'

Moreover, if someone were to forcibly interrupt the observer during this process, the victim would suffer, at best, permanent eye damage and blindness, and at worst, brain damage leaving them in a vegetative state.

Some might suggest simply reading them one scroll at a time.

In truth, the volume of knowledge on the Nether Scrolls was iterative.

If one read only a single scroll, the knowledge gained was indeed limited to that one, but by the second, third, or tenth scroll, the volume of knowledge could be a multiple of the current total, or even grow exponentially!

This effect was constrained by time; even if you waited years between reading the 99th and 100th scrolls, the knowledge contained in the 100th would still be a multiple of the 99th!

Consequently, when the Nether Scrolls were first discovered, a great many people went mad or had their brains 'blown out' from reading them.

Borne knew the limits of the human brain. The utilization rate of the human brain was naturally low, especially in a transcendent world where the body could be strengthened, leading to higher brain development and greater potential!

Having experienced reading the scrolls before, Borne knew that the true constraint was not a lack of brain capacity, but rather the brain 'crashing' from overload.

Just because you can eat ten tons of food does not mean you can eat ten tons of food all at once; the brain is the same.

The creator race had set special rules for the Nether Scrolls: as soon as you read the knowledge, it would be shoved into your mind all at once, without waiting for you to digest it slowly.

If a person eats too much, they will vomit.

If the brain's 'digestion' of information cannot keep up, it will inevitably 'crash' and die...

This led to the Scrolls of Netheril being stored separately in later years to prevent people from going insane or dying due to excessive reading.

Even if the madness induced by reading the scrolls was cured, the cost was often severe damage to the individual's magical abilities.

There were cases of high-ranking spellcasters who, after being cured of the madness caused by the scrolls, dropped to a mid-rank level and were never able to improve again!

"System, create a new independent database, named Nether Scrolls."

Borne commanded.

"Ding, database generating..."

"Ding, creation successful, name Nether Scrolls!"

"Suspend all other tasks, prioritize receiving information!"

After issuing a series of commands, Borne took a deep breath and picked up the first scroll.

Soon, the characters on the scroll began to manifest. Having read them before, Borne knew it was beginning. A familiar sensation returned; the characters on the scroll seemed to come 'alive,' surging rapidly into Borne's eyes.

At this, a 'ding' sounded. The system began to receive the information, and Borne instantly felt his mind lighten. The consciousness that had been battered by the massive influx of data was now liberated, allowing him to even contemplate other matters.

It really works!

Borne was overjoyed.

Soon, the first Nether Scroll in his hand was 'read' to completion.

Borne inspected the system information. Although the Chip had gained divinity, significantly enhancing its various functions, a mechanical chip could not fully replace a biological brain; it only possessed a one-third shunting rate.

Borne guessed that he could reach such a high percentage thanks to that sliver of 'divinity'; otherwise, it would have been difficult to even reach double digits.

"31.415926%!"

"One-third, that's enough!"

The highest recorded reading limit for an intermediate spellcaster was 30 volumes before their brain burned out.

Of course, this maximum was relative.

Just because you have a bottomless capacity for alcohol doesn't mean I do.

However, Borne was quite confident in his own mental power; not only was it a benefit brought about by his transmigration, but his mental power was still growing even now.

With the Chip sharing one-third of the pressure, theoretically, Borne could read the first 40 volumes!

Borne had already exchanged points with the academy to read 9 volumes, so adding these 10 volumes brought his total to only 19.

(The reading authorization for the library scrolls was heavily discounted for internal members, but it still required points!)

The academy's Introduction to Arcane Arts (30 volumes in total, with 2 lost) still had 19 volumes left unread, and he had to strive to finish them before graduation!

Using the Chip to share a portion of the pressure was not only a safety measure but also a way to record the data into the system.

Naturally, with the Chip acting as a buffer bridge, Borne could memorize the knowledge on the scrolls with greater peace of mind.

Subsequently, Borne became lost in 'study,' unable to extricate himself.

During his reading, Borne discovered that Mechanics of the Planes not only involved space but also contained a vast amount of knowledge regarding the outer realms.

This included a large number of planar travel logs and cross-planar characteristics, as well as information on the World Tree and the River of Blood.

The information was shockingly consistent with the data from Borne's past life, and in some cases, even less detailed than what he already knew.

Although he had already suspected it, he was still struck with horror—was this a coincidence, or had he become a character in some game or book?

The high degree of alignment in the information made him doubt the reality of the world for a time.

By the time Borne put down the last scroll in his hand, seven days had already passed.