The Mysterious Stone Book (Please Bookmark, Please Vote)

A servant wearing a blue-and-white livery led over a tall, powerful crimson warhorse. Its eyes gleamed with spirit, and every so often, its nostrils puffed out waves of hot air, as though a blazing furnace burned within its muscular body.

This was Aurelian's finest warhorse and companion, carrying the noble bloodline of a Fire Dragon Beast.

It had its own name: George.

George's name had not been chosen at random. After all, who did not have a romantic rival who had stolen the goddess they had secretly loved for years?

Of course, it had nothing to do with the current Aurelian, yet he still felt an inexplicable thrill. How strange.

"You must be sick of being cooped up, my old friend."

"Neigh!"

"Don't rush. We'll be heading outside soon."

He had arranged to meet Hume at Winter City's main gate before heading to the farms at the foot of the mountain together.

He tugged the reins, preparing to mount.

But in a daze—

Aurelian felt as though his entire body had lost its weight. Dizziness overtook him, and then everything went dark.

After a bout of spinning sensations, he felt groggy.

When he opened his eyes again, everything before him had changed.

A deathly silent space. A hazy twilight had replaced Winter City's ancient buildings, and dimness had claimed the entire place.

Yet there was still light. A book floated before Aurelian.

It was decayed and ancient, bearing countless marks left by time.

It looked incredibly fragile, its surface covered in cracks, as though someone had smashed it apart with a hammer.

What caught Aurelian's attention most was its material. Compared to paper, it possessed a solid, sturdy texture.

It was made of stone.

In his previous world, it would probably have been a precious antique.

Aurelian hesitated over whether to touch it. Though the stone tablet looked hard, he had the feeling that it would shatter at the slightest touch.

Should he or shouldn't he? That was the question.

As he stared at the book, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He sensed a strange connection—the book before him was bound to him.

Could it have been the thing that brought me here?

Aurelian suddenly had an urge. He wanted the book to send him back, back to his original world.

"Stone Book, Stone Book, I had no choice before. But now I want to travel back. Can you do that?"

Yet the book continued floating there quietly, aloof as ever.

"Please."

Damn it, you really have no sense of honor, do you?

Cursing it inwardly, he wondered what was wrong with wanting to go back. There was nothing here. He only wanted to be a happy slacker!

"Fine, then at least I have the right to know. Tell me, why did you bring me here?"

Just as he thought there would still be no response and was about to abandon all honor with this book as well—

The book actually moved on its own.

Aurelian's eyes widened. The Stone Book before him opened to its first page by itself, and lines of text appeared on the rough, heavily scratched page.

The thread of fate has been stirred. Go to the farms outside Winter City and find the reason the seeds cannot grow.

Reward: Repair the lingering effects caused by magical power rampage.

Aurelian was shocked because the words appearing on the page were not written in this world's language at all. They were in his native tongue—Chinese.

After his brief shock, he quickly calmed down. Even the gods spoken of by this world's churches existed, so what was so strange about seeing Chinese? Perhaps he might even encounter someone from his homeland.

He read the words in an instant.

So the seeds could not grow. He finally understood what Hume had been worried about. It really was a serious problem.

Lingering effects?

Yes, Aurelian knew the state his body was currently in.

Relying on the enhancement of his legendary Star-Forging Bloodline, the original owner had forcibly broken through to Lower Rank Magic, causing the magical power within his body to go completely berserk.

Now that he had taken over the body, he was weak as hell.

Otherwise, why would he be shivering in the cold wind like a little quail terrified of freezing?

That dizzying sensation struck again, and his vision went black.

He opened his eyes and found that his hand was still gripping the reins, while the servant beside him was still waiting for him to leave.

Had only an instant passed?

What the hell? Could it have been a hallucination caused by not adapting to the climate?

Aurelian shook his head and mounted the horse. Hallucination or not, he would find out soon enough.

He headed for Winter City's gate to meet Hume.

As the Star Kingdom's former bridgehead for attacking the Frostlands, Winter City was not small. Two walls surrounded it: the outer wall stood eighty feet high, while the inner wall rose one hundred feet.

Though it was called Winter City, it could only truly be considered a structurally complex castle.

With the main keep at its core, it contained numerous functional buildings.

A training ground, a bell tower, stables, a great hall, a blacksmith's workshop, an armory, another bell tower, kitchens, a tower for scholars, servants' quarters, and a library that had once been ravaged by fire.

There were many guard towers along the outer wall, while the inner wall had more than thirty observation slits.

Unfortunately, due to a shortage of manpower, almost none of them were guarded.

Aurelian chose to leave through the eastern gate because it led directly to Frost Town at the foot of the mountain, without requiring a detour.

After passing through the central avenue, the eastern gate came into view.

The fat Hume sat atop a small brown pony, looking rather comical.

Aurelian wondered whether Hume's enormous body might crush the little pony. Yet in his eyes, Hume still seemed perfectly at ease, that fawning smile remaining on his face.

However, another man on horseback was waiting behind him.

The man was tall and imposing, with a square face and short hair. He wore black armor and carried a knight's longsword at his waist.

Smiling, Aurelian greeted him.

"My loyal captain of knights, Master, how have you been lately?"

"Greetings, Lord Aurelian."

Master nodded, but there was no warmth in his expression. He was cold toward everyone, always stern and serious.

Aurelian's expression remained calm. He knew Master was unwilling to have been sent to Winter City. After all, this place was a cage established by the king.

"Everyone's here. Let's go. I want to see what exactly is causing trouble in the farmlands."