The Sage's Diary

No man can resist the temptation of yellow.

Clearly, Shane was a true man.

"Trait Extraction!"

The moment he saw the trait information, Shane focused his mind with everything he had and lunged forward.

It turned out that hesitation leads to defeat.

Frieren's movement and his command to extract the trait were separated by a mere 0.01 seconds.

"Hm? It all crumbled away..."

Frieren, standing by the table, had intended to pick up the diary to take a look, but the moment her hand touched it, the long-sealed paper decayed and turned into a pile of dust.

This was normal; no paper could remain immortal for a millennium, and lasting a century or two was already the limit.

Yet, at the very instant her hand touched the diary, three yellow light spots suddenly ignited behind her, right in front of Shane.

The extraction was a success!

Frieren, who possessed Mana Detection, naturally sensed the subtle energy fluctuations coming from behind her.

She turned around in confusion, only to see Shane collapse without warning.

"Shane?"

"Failed again! Why did it fail again!"

A hoarse voice repeated irritably in his ears, accompanied by the sound of something being smashed against the floor.

Shane felt as if his head were about to explode.

He struggled to open his eyes, and what met his gaze was still that cramped, simple room.

But unlike before, the room was now piled high with books and parchment, so much so that there was nowhere to step.

"The amount of mana used to activate the spell must be the problem! Increase it or decrease it? Let me calculate, let me calculate..."

In front of him, a hunched figure wearing a cloak and hood was hunched over the desk, frantically calculating something while muttering to himself.

Shane did not know who this person was, but a voice in his heart faintly told him that this person was likely the owner of the room.

He wanted to ask the other party what was going on, but when he opened his mouth, he found he could not speak at all.

He tried to tap the person on the shoulder to get their attention, but his hand passed through the figure's body as if it were thin mist, and the person remained completely oblivious.

Shane was stunned.

"￥%@!"

He roared in anger, but no sound came out.

He grew afraid and wanted to leave the room, only to find it impossible.

He was like a lingering spirit, suddenly bound behind the room's owner, unable to speak, move, or leave.

"￥%@!"

Unfazed by the struggling Shane behind him, the figure at the desk continued to write and draw with intense focus.

After trying everything, Shane finally stopped, resigned to his fate.

Then, everything in his field of vision dimmed, and the scene shifted.

The hooded figure was deciphering a grimoire.

From Shane's angle, he could clearly see the title: Notes of Sage Aewich.

Deciphering this book seemed incredibly difficult; the hooded figure would sweep away a page of draft paper every now and then, and the floor was soon covered in discarded scraps.

The hooded figure attempted to activate a magic spell, failed, and became extremely irritable.

He cursed and grumbled for a long time.

The hooded figure stood in the center of a palace hall. On the ground beneath his feet was an incredibly complex magic formation, filled with viscous blood that looked both bloody and eerie.

Shane felt as if he could even smell the stench of blood.

He furrowed his brows, watching as the hooded figure stood within the magic circle and activated the spell.

The pool he had seen earlier with Frieren suddenly began to boil, and immediately after, countless black droplets emerged from the water, slowly gathering into a mass in mid-air.

How should one describe that thing?

It churned and twisted, just like a mass of living black asphalt.

Then, he watched as the hooded figure casually summoned a cup and, with his hunched frame, walked toward the mass of black water in the air.

"For humanity to completely eradicate the Demon Race and achieve final victory, everything is worth it."

"Teacher, when we meet again in the future, will you praise me or despise me?"

The hooded figure attempted to activate the failed magic circle once more, only to fail again.

The hooded figure began to perform more complex calculations, with torn-up draft paper scattered everywhere.

The hooded figure attempted to activate the failed magic circle again, and it remained a failure.

The hooded figure began to incorporate those "rolling, twisted black tars" into the failed magical formula, and this time, the magic spiraled out of control.

A blurred human figure appeared within the circle; the hooded figure tried to stabilize the magic, but in the end, the blurred figure melted into a pool of blood.

This time, the hooded figure did not curse anything; he sat blankly beside the magic circle for a very, very long time.

The hooded figure began to continuously test the magic circle, repeatedly gauging the necessary amount of black tar to use.

The floor of the palace hall was stained red with blood over and over again.

Bones and flesh began to appear within the magic circle.

Formed human limbs appeared within the magic circle.

Shane felt like he was going insane.

He did not know how much time had passed, but it felt as though a lifetime had gone by.

He hung there behind the hooded figure, watching him slide into extremism day by day. From initial confusion, he eventually came to understand the other's intent... this maniac was attempting to create a "human."

Shane felt that he must have entered the labyrinth the wrong way.

All of this was just a hallucination.

"Teacher's method must be correct."

The hooded figure's hoarse muttering sounded in his ears once again.

"This is the last time."

"I must destroy all research materials to prevent interference from those who [foresee the future]."

As these words were spoken, the hooded figure snapped his fingers. All the books and draft papers in the room flew up, and the hooded figure controlled them to pile up in the center of the palace hall.

Then, he flicked a flame toward them.

All the materials burst into flames.

The moment the fire soared into the air, he activated the magic circle on the ground; the results of countless experiments had finally yielded success.

A complete person appeared within the magic circle.

"￥%@!"

Shane roared.

But his voice did not echo in the vast hall. Amidst the rising heat of the flames, he clearly saw the person standing in the center of the circle—it was his past self, anxiously crossing the street to save time...

Beep—

It felt as if an electric current had surged through his brain, slamming against his eardrums.

Shane clutched his head in agony. He wanted to curse, and he even wanted to ask the madman before him if he had any idea how painful it was to be sent flying 200 meters by a truck!

Just then, the hooded figure, who had been facing away from him the entire time, suddenly turned his head.

A pair of scarlet, madness-filled eyes locked onto Shane's gaze. The owner of those eyes tilted his head, slowly pulled at the corners of his mouth, and revealed a murky, sinister smile at Shane.

"Hehe, Teacher, we succeeded."