Shane's First Time

[Magic that prevents the handle of a cup from burning your hand]

[Magic that prevents eyelashes from falling out when rubbing your eyes]

[Magic that stops toenails from growing into the skin]

Looking at the massive pile of grimoires Frieren had brought over, Shane felt extremely conflicted.

Young lady, your taste is truly quite unique.

"Hmph, how about it? Aren't these all wonderful grimoires?"

The white-haired elf, completely oblivious to Shane's mood, continued to hum with a smug look on her face.

ꐦ

Sigh, forget it. It's rare to see you this happy.

"Let's go, let's head to the checkout."

The elderly receptionist was also taken aback when he saw the mountain of books Frieren had brought to the counter.

The old man put on his reading glasses and compared the items against a long price list, looking up the cost for each one.

"Six books in total. If we calculate everything at half price, that comes to 19 silver coins."

"How much?"

"19 silver coins, sir."

"..."

Shane nearly choked on his own breath.

Even at half price, it was this expensive!

And these were all just bizarre, trivial life-utility spells. If these had been combat spells or powerful Defense Magic, the price would have been astronomical!

Raising a mage is truly expensive.

After paying, Shane was left with only a single silver coin. He squeezed his suddenly deflated wallet and let out a silent sigh.

He needed to find a way to make money.

While feeling dejected, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a low, small bookshelf next to the payment counter.

There were only four or five books on the shelf, but each one looked to be twenty centimeters thick, comparable to a brick.

Curious, Shane walked over and picked one up.

[Magic of ???]

Type: ?? Magic

Effect: ???

Status: Not Learned

What is going on? Why is everything just question marks?

Shane squeezed his eyes shut and focused his mental energy to continue identifying it.

A wave of dizziness washed over him, and he reached out to steady himself against the bookshelf, barely avoiding passing out.

He immediately realized that his mental energy was too low to trigger the effect of the [Great Wisdom Looks Like Stupidity] trait, which meant he couldn't simplify and master the grimoire before him, resulting in incomplete information.

"Is the gentleman interested in this grimoire? If you want it, I can offer a discount of one silver coin on top of the half-price rate."

A discount of one silver coin?

I don't even want to ask what the original price is.

"Old man, why are these books placed separately here? Are there any defects?"

The elderly receptionist smiled upon hearing this.

"No defects. They are specifically displayed here. These few books might be the most powerful magic in the entire venue, but because the difficulty of learning them is so high that an ordinary mage could spend their entire life without even entering the doorway, they never sell."

"They are placed here just to see if any mages might like them for their collection."

Collecting grimoires, huh?

Shane glanced at Frieren.

To his surprise, Frieren wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to these "big bricks" on the side; she was only focused on the grimoires she had chosen, happily packing them away.

On the way back from the Grand Library, Shane remained somewhat distracted.

Even the thick-skinned Frieren noticed.

"There is no need to regret not buying that grimoire."

"The one you saw would take even me over a hundred years to analyze, and after that, it would take several more decades of practice to master it proficiently. For humans, such magic is simply beyond reach."

"Some magic created in ancient times or even the mythological era is extremely difficult to analyze due to its complex theoretical logic and operational methods. Furthermore, most of them have very strict conditions for use. From a practical standpoint, they aren't exactly attractive spells."

Shane nodded; Frieren's explanation was correct.

For ordinary people, that was indeed the case. There were likely no small number of mages who spent their entire lives trying to analyze a single spell, only to reach the end of their days without making an inch of progress.

This was the limitation of the human lifespan.

But he was different; he possessed Great Wisdom Looks Like Stupidity, which allowed him to simplify any magic into "concrete entries" and master them directly.

Despite possessing such a powerful passive skill, his mental power was so low and insufficient that he couldn't unleash his true strength at all.

How was this any different from guarding a mountain of gold while begging for food?

Improving his mental power was an urgent priority!

That evening, Shane began his attempt at cultivation.

This was his first time cultivating, so he couldn't help but feel a little excited.

Following the method Frieren had explained earlier, he sat cross-legged on the balcony of his room, facing the cool moonlight, and began to meditate.

The night breeze brushed against his face, slowly calming his heart.

He focused on sensing the blood vessels and bones within his body, attempting to find the ripples of magic hidden within.

Ten minutes passed...

Half an hour passed...

An hour passed...

Shane opened his eyes; he had almost fallen asleep, yet he hadn't felt a single thing!

Was this right??

Goddess's Barrier, activate!

Hum—

A ripple of air spread outward, and a transparent barrier successfully unfolded, surrounding him within a one-meter radius.

The magic worked.

Then why couldn't he feel the "ripples of magic in the body" that Frieren had described?

"Because you don't have any magic power at all, not even a drop."

Frieren replied while flipping through the grimoire in her hands, answering Shane who had come to her room to ask questions.

"You have no potential to become a mage."

"However, the fact that you can use the Goddess's magic means you have the talent to become a priest. You should consider following the path of a priest: recite the Holy Scripture, increase your faith, and become a devout priest."

Impossible!

I will never cultivate that kind of magic that requires one to remain single for their entire life!

"Is there really no other way to cultivate?"

Frieren put down the grimoire she was reading, thought carefully for a moment, and said, "There is indeed one more."

"Which one?"

"It is the cultivation method belonging to the Sage."

"The Sage's cultivation method?"

Shane frowned. In the pile of magical history documents at the library earlier that day, he didn't recall seeing any records regarding the cultivation of a Sage.

"The inheritance of the Sage has been severed for over a thousand years; I have only heard my teacher, Flamme, mention it a few times. This cultivation method is very similar to a mage's meditation, but the difference is that the practitioner must attempt to manipulate their own mental power."

"Attempt to manipulate mental power during meditation? What kind of cultivation method is that? How exactly does it work?"

Frieren shook her head.

The Sage's inheritance had long since been lost, and she wasn't entirely sure either.

Returning to his room, Shane pondered this so-called "manipulating mental power" for a long time, and a guess vaguely emerged—

He was able to manipulate his mental power to Strip entries when he concentrated; could it be that the Sage's cultivation was simply the continuous stripping of entries?

Just like grinding monsters to level up: the more entries he stripped, the stronger his mental power would become, and the stronger his mental power, the more entries he could strip.

Hmm...

It seemed he would have to return to the labyrinth to continue scavenging for trash.