The Secret of the Nether Scroll

Reading the Nether Scroll for an extended period did not make Borne feel uncomfortable; on the contrary, his state was better than ever before.

He did not know if it was due to the system's assistance or a qualitative leap in his own strength, but his absorption of knowledge was unprecedented.

Because of the Nether Scroll's passive "reading" mode, every observation session used to feel like information was being forcibly shoved into his mind, a sensation that was quite agonizing.

Yet this time, that strange feeling was absent, and after finishing the reading, he even felt a lingering sense of satisfaction.

It was just like reading a good book or sipping a fine wine!

Could this be the correct way to read the scroll?!

Furthermore, Borne discovered that the duration had extended. In the past, the information on the scroll would desperately cram itself into his head, but now, the speed of information input had actually slowed down!

At first, Borne thought the extended time was due to an increase in the scroll's content, but the system analysis revealed that for the same amount of information, the transmission had indeed slowed, and the duration varied.

Borne pulled up the peak inspection and found that the points where the speed became slower were all areas of knowledge where he was more proficient or had a deeper understanding.

At this moment, Borne had a feeling that he had discovered the reading mechanism of the Nether Scroll!

The reading mechanism of the Nether Scroll was not meant to assault the observer's brain, but to assist in reading!

This was an auxiliary reading function on the Nether Scroll, and when he considered the magical level of the creator race, Borne understood in an instant.

This was never meant for "novices" to use!

Not to mention the past, even the current Nether magical civilization was a hundred thousand miles away from the creator civilization. One had to know that back then, the creator race could go head-to-head with the cross-world race, the Spellweavers.

This is practically a moron detector!

Borne felt like he had been played. The original intention behind this design couldn't have been for their young scholars to study, could it...

The creator civilization probably never expected that the mechanism they added to assist their own learning would end up frying brains.

In other words, if one has sufficient knowledge reserves, one can easily read the Nether Scroll. Conversely, if one lacks the scholarship, the auxiliary learning mechanism might just destroy their brain.

This was truly a nightmare for poor students.

Every scholar with high levels of knowledge was, without exception, a high-ranking spellcaster or Arcanist.

Without powerful strength and a fast-spinning mental capacity, one would be "stuffed" to death.

This was simply an unsolvable problem...

However, one thing was certain: even a pig, as long as its brain could withstand the infusion from the scroll, would become a knowledgeable scholar.

There were three days left. If there were no new scrolls, the ones he had already read were of no use to Borne; even for "review," he could just retrieve the data from the Chip.

For this reason, he called Lehman over. It was time to give this guy some extra coaching; his primary-level strength was simply not enough to look at.

Lehman's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw the Nether Scroll, and upon learning that Borne was going to let him read it, he was so moved he shed tears, immediately pledging his loyalty and determination.

Borne listened with black lines running down his face, finally stopping the display by shoving a scroll directly into his face.

This was not to blame him; after all, this item was too far out of reach for him. Commoner students at Giles Academy could basically never save up enough points to redeem a scroll for observation.

If they had points, they would basically be "bought" away by nobles through various means, let alone saving them.

The academy's top brass were actually well aware that commoners also needed money to purchase experimental materials and spellcasting components.

Lehman had never read a scroll before, so there was no need to worry about his brain being blown out by just ten scrolls.

Afterward, Borne thought of President Lisper. Although the president had eventually granted him the borrowing rights, Borne still felt a bit embarrassed.

Since he was already tending to one sheep, he might as well tend to two.

With this in mind, Borne left Lehman behind, opened the door, leaped down, and flew toward the Arcane Society.

Ever since the first floor of the Arcane Society was converted into the Mission Hall, the place had been bustling with people from dawn till dusk.

As a celebrity of the academy, Borne's arrival naturally attracted the attention of others.

They speculated about Borne's purpose, and some even hurriedly checked to see if any S-rank missions had appeared.

Borne did not know that he had caused the people around him to let their imaginations run wild, and as for the gazes of those around him, he had long since reached the state of being able to turn a blind eye to them.

He walked through the hall and headed straight for the second floor of the Arcane Society. An Arcane Society member on the side wanted to speak up, but suddenly remembered that Borne was also a member of the Arcane Society, so he didn't know what to say.

The Arcane Society seemed quite busy today, with people coming and going, exchanging information, and it took a while for them to notice Borne's arrival.

However, the members of the Arcane Society were all elites; they wouldn't stare directly at Borne upon his arrival, as he was now one of their own, though they did pay a bit more attention.

Seeing Borne walk straight toward the president's office, everyone knew he was looking for the president.

Pushing open the door, the entire president's office was piled high with various files.

Borne casually picked up a few files scattered on the floor; they were all mission reports.

"July 3rd, Old York's mouth began to atrophy. After spending 1 gold coin to have a Temple priest heal it, it recurred."

"The Enforcement Squad discovered a corpse, saying the brain inside the skull had completely rotted away. Suspected to be a perverted serial killer!"

"Physician Locke purchased a large amount of herbs. There have been many more patients these past few days, all suffering from white-filmed eyes, blurred vision, tinnitus, or difficulty breathing."

These were off-campus missions. So soon?!

The second batch of personnel hadn't even returned yet, and they were already pushing off-campus missions?

Borne's movements caught Lisper's attention; she looked up to find that it was Borne who had entered.

"Sorry, I forgot to knock."

Borne said.

"It's fine, sit... er, it's a bit messy..."

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

"No need, is it convenient to leave now?"

"Go where?"

"To my place, it might take two or three days!"

"Sure, right now?"

"If possible, that would be best..."

"Give me ten minutes!"

"Mm."

Borne nodded.

Lisper immediately summoned Dalena and Jennifer and quickly gave them some instructions.

The two women exchanged a secret glance; they had known Borne entered the president's office and figured something was up, but with Borne standing right there, it wasn't easy to ask.

Soon, Lisper finished her instructions and said to Borne, "Shall we go?"

Borne nodded and flew directly out of the window to the side, with Lisper following close behind.

Jennifer covered her face with her hands, "It's over, the president has been corrupted too!"

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

Dalena walked to the window and watched the two black dots on the horizon.

"That direction is the coastline, isn't it? I guess there's some experiment that needs the president's help..."

Borne was notoriously a 'homebody,' basically only ever in two places: his self-built underground laboratory and the Wizard Tower library.

"Do you think it could be a date?"

Dalena suddenly leaned in and said!

"A... a date?"

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

"Hahaha..."

Seeing Jennifer so amusing, Dalena laughed, then added, "How could it be? In that guy's eyes, there's probably only magic formulas; the word 'romance' will never have anything to do with him."

Jennifer: ...

The two soon arrived at the coastal cliff, at which point Borne suddenly turned around and asked, "Aren't you curious why I asked for you? You just followed me; what if you were being sold off?"

Lisper laughed, "No need, I trust you!"

"..."

Borne was silent for a moment, then gave a wry smile, "Your trust makes things very difficult for me..."

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

"This is?"

"A pass. In the future, if you have something to discuss, you can come find me directly. With this, the barrier won't stop you."

"Alright!"

Lisper didn't stand on ceremony and accepted it readily.

When the two descended into the laboratory, Lisper immediately noticed Lehman, who was 'studying' intently, as well as the Nether Scroll on the table. She seemed to realize something and turned to look at Borne.

Borne grinned, "Yes, that's it. I invited you here because I want to verify a question."

Just then, Lehman happened to 'wake up,' rubbed his eyes, and said, "Boss, you're back. Hm? Miss Lisper, you're here too."

The president smiled and nodded at Lehman.

As the Shamsuddin Legion was the Lehman Trading Company's largest client, Lehman and Lisper had interacted a few times and were considered acquaintances.

"Which scroll are you on?"

Borne asked.

"Just finished the third one!"

"How does it feel?"

Lehman pondered for a moment and said, "Following your instructions, I didn't resist and tried my best to understand and absorb it. It feels good; it doesn't have that feeling of being forcibly infused that people talk about outside. It's just that I haven't touched this in over two years, so a lot of knowledge needs to be recalled. The scroll even seems to have a function that helps dig up memories!"

Borne nodded secretly. It seemed his hypothesis was correct: the Nether Scroll truly possessed an auxiliary reading function.

Lisper, standing to the side, had also realized the gravity of the situation during their conversation and immediately turned to ask Borne, "You've already cracked the reading mechanism of the scroll?!"

"Not entirely; there's still a portion that needs verification, which is why I asked for your help..."

Lisper fell silent for a moment after hearing this, then offered a simple "Thank you."

"What are you thanking me for? Asking you to help and then getting a thank you—it's true what they say, being a guild leader for too long rots the brain." Borne laughed it off, adding, "Right, how many scrolls have you read?"

"Six."

"Six? There are ten in total, so three days should be about right!"

Three days?

"Alright, enough talk, hurry up..."

As he spoke, Borne quickly explained the reading mechanism to the guild leader, who nodded to show she understood.

Although Lisper did not know where Borne had obtained the Nether Scroll, three days was more than enough time. Whether through forced infusion or active comprehension, her mid-tier spellcaster mental capacity could easily absorb the information.

But the favor I owe him now is massive!

With a complex mix of emotions, Lisper began to immerse herself in the ocean of knowledge.