The Secret of the Nether Scroll

Reading the Nether Scroll for a long time hadn't made Borne feel uncomfortable. On the contrary, he felt better than ever.

He didn't know whether it was because he had the system's assistance or because his strength had undergone a qualitative leap, but he had never absorbed knowledge so well.

Because of the Nether Scroll's passive "reading" function, each viewing forced information into his mind. It was an awful feeling.

But this time, he didn't feel anything strange. After finishing, he even felt as though he could savor the experience.

It was like reading a good book and drinking a glass of fine wine!

"Could this be the proper way to read a scroll?!"

Borne also discovered that it took longer. Previously, the information in the scroll had been shoved into his head at full speed. Now, it was being entered much more slowly!

At first, Borne thought it took longer because the scroll contained more information. But according to the system's analysis, the same amount of information was indeed being transmitted more slowly, and the duration varied.

Borne brought up the peak readings and found that the points where the speed had slowed down were all related to knowledge he was more proficient in or understood more deeply.

Borne had a feeling that he might have discovered how the Nether Scroll worked!

The Nether Scroll's reading mechanism wasn't meant to bombard the reader's mind. It was meant to assist them in reading!

That was the Nether Scroll's assisted reading function. When he considered the magical level of its creators, Borne immediately understood.

This thing wasn't made for "beginners" at all!

Even now, Nether's magical civilization was nowhere near that of its creators. After all, the creators' race had been able to stand against the Spellweavers, a race from another world.

"This thing is basically a literacy test!"

Borne felt like he'd been kicked in the teeth. "Was this thing seriously designed to help their young scholars study...?"

The creators probably never imagined that the mechanism they'd added to help their own people learn would fry someone's brain.

"In other words, with enough background knowledge, you can read the Nether Scroll without a problem. But if you don't know enough, its assisted learning mechanism might damage your brain."

It was the nightmare of every poor student.

Which scholar with extensive knowledge wasn't a high-level spellcaster or Arcanist?

Without powerful abilities, your mind wouldn't be able to process information quickly enough, and you'd be "stuffed" to death.

There was just no way around it...

But one thing was certain: even a pig would become a knowledgeable scholar, as long as its brain could withstand the information the scroll poured into it.

There were still three days left. Without any new scrolls, the ones Borne had already read were no longer useful to him. Even if he wanted to "review," he could retrieve the information from the Chip.

So he called Lehman over. It was time to give the guy some special tutoring. His beginner-level abilities simply weren't enough.

Lehman nearly popped his eyes out when he saw the Nether Scroll. When he learned that Borne was going to let him read it, he was so moved that he almost cried. He started making promises and swearing his loyalty all over again.

Borne was at a loss for words. He simply grabbed a scroll and shoved it in Lehman's face, and that finally made him stop.

It wasn't Lehman's fault. This was far beyond his reach. The commoner students at Giles Academy could hardly ever save enough points to redeem a scroll and study it.

Any points they had were usually "bought" from them by nobles through one means or another, let alone saved up.

Commoners also needed money to buy experimental and spellcasting materials. The academy's upper management was well aware of that.

Lehman had never read a scroll before, so even ten volumes wouldn't risk overloading his brain.

Borne then thought of Lisper, the president. Although she had eventually given him permission to borrow the scrolls, he still felt a little awkward about it.

If one sheep could be let loose, then so could two.

With that thought, Borne left Lehman behind, opened the door, and leaped out, flying toward the Arcane Society.

Ever since the first floor of the Arcane Society had been converted into the Mission Hall, it had been packed with people all day long.

As a well-known figure at the academy, Borne's arrival naturally drew attention.

People began speculating about why he had come. Some even hurriedly checked to see whether any S-rank missions had appeared.

Borne had no idea that his presence was setting everyone's imaginations running. He had long since learned to ignore the looks people gave him.

He crossed the hall and headed straight upstairs to the Arcane Society. One of its members was about to speak, then suddenly remembered that Borne was also a member. He didn't know what to say.

The Arcane Society seemed especially busy today. Members hurried back and forth, exchanging documents. It took them a while to notice Borne's arrival.

But the Arcane Society's members were all elites. They didn't stare at Borne just because he had arrived. After all, he was one of them now, so they merely paid him a little more attention.

Seeing Borne head straight for the president's office, everyone realized he was there to see the president.

When he opened the door, he found the entire office piled high with files.

Borne casually picked up several files scattered on the floor. They were all mission reports.

"On July 3, Old York's mouth began to shrink. He spent one gold coin to have a temple priest cure him, but it came back."

"The Enforcement Squad found a corpse. The brain inside the skull had completely rotted away. They suspect a psychopathic serial killer!"

"Healer Locke brought in a lot of medicinal herbs. There have been more patients these past few days. They all have cloudy vision, ringing ears, or difficulty breathing."

These were missions outside the academy. So soon?

The second group hadn't even returned yet, had they? And they were already sending people on missions outside the academy?

Borne's movements caught Lisper's attention. She looked up and only then realized it was him.

"Sorry, I forgot to knock," Borne said.

"It's fine. Have a seat... Ah, it's a bit messy..."

Lisper looked around and realized there wasn't even a single clear spot.

"No need. Are you free to come with me now?"

"Where to?"

"My place. It might take two or three days!"

"Sure. Right now?"

"If possible, yes..."

"Give me ten minutes!"

"Okay."

Borne nodded.

Lisper immediately called Dalena and Jennifer over and quickly gave them a few instructions.

The two women glanced at each other in secret. They'd known Borne had entered the president's office and assumed something was up, but with him right there, they didn't dare ask.

Lisper finished giving her instructions in no time, then turned to Borne. "Shall we go?"

Borne nodded, flew straight out the window, and Lisper followed.

Jennifer covered her face with one hand. "It's over. The president's been corrupted too!"

"What do you think they're going to do?"

Dalena went over to the window and looked at the two specks in the distance.

"Isn't that the direction of the coastline? I bet he needs the president's help with some kind of experiment..."

Borne was famous for being a "homebody." He basically only went to two places: the underground laboratory he'd built himself and the library in the Wizard Tower.

"Do you think they might be going on a date?"

Dalena suddenly leaned closer and whispered.

"A... a date?"

Jennifer's face instantly turned bright red, like a boiled crab.

"Hahaha..."

Seeing how fun Jennifer was to tease, Dalena burst out laughing, then added, "As if. That guy probably only has magical formulae on his mind. The word 'romance' will never have anything to do with him."

Jennifer: ...

The two soon arrived at the coastal cliffs. Borne suddenly turned around and asked, "Aren't you curious why I asked you to come? You just came along. What if I sold you off?"

Lisper smiled. "No need. I trust you!"

"..."

Borne fell silent for a moment, then gave a wry smile. "You trust me so much that you're making this difficult for me..."

He took out a badge and handed it to the president.

"What's this?"

"A pass. If you need anything, you can come straight to me from now on. This will let you through the barrier."

"Okay!"

Lisper didn't make a fuss about it and accepted it readily.

When the two entered the laboratory, Lisper immediately noticed Lehman studying intently, as well as the Nether Scrolls on the table. She seemed to realize something and turned to look at Borne.

Borne grinned. "That's right, this is it. I asked you here to help verify something."

Just then, Lehman "came to" as well. He rubbed his eyes. "You're back, boss. Hm? Miss Lisper, you're here too."

The president smiled and nodded to Lehman.

As the Shamsuddin Legion was the Lehman Trading Company's biggest client, Lehman and Lisper had crossed paths a few times and were acquainted.

"Which volume are you on?" Borne asked.

"I just finished the third."

"How does it feel?"

Lehman thought for a moment before replying, "I did as you instructed, boss. I didn't resist and tried to understand and absorb everything. It feels good. I didn't experience the forced injection everyone talks about. It's just that I haven't studied for over two years, so I have to recall a lot of things. The scroll seems to help dredge up memories too!"

Borne nodded to himself. It seemed his theory was right. The Nether Scroll really did have an assisted reading function.

From their conversation, Lisper had also realized what a remarkable discovery this was. She immediately turned to Borne and asked, "Have you already figured out how the scroll works?!"

"Not completely. There's still part of it I need to verify. That's why I asked you to help..."

Lisper was silent for a moment after hearing that, then said, "Thank you!"

"What are you thanking me for? I asked you to come help, and you're thanking me? I guess being president for too long really does make people stupid." Borne laughed it off. "By the way, how many volumes have you read?"

"Six."

"Six volumes? There are ten here. Three days should be about right!"

"Three days?"

"Enough talking. Hurry up..."

As he spoke, Borne quickly explained the reading mechanism to the president. She nodded to show that she understood.

Although Lisper didn't know where Borne had gotten the Nether Scrolls, three days would be more than enough. Whether the information was forcibly implanted or actively understood, her mid-tier spell-pattern spirit could easily absorb it.

But I'll owe him a huge favor for this!

With complicated feelings, Lisper immersed herself in the ocean of knowledge.