Wizard's Handbook

In his predecessor's memories, the Loft Family was not a wizard family, but a transcendent family with a century of history.

Unfortunately, as a collateral branch of the family, he had not awakened any transcendent bloodline power.

That was why his predecessor, longing to become a transcendent, had run off to attend the Specter School's interview—and even after being eliminated in the end, had still refused to give up and chosen to become an intelligence officer.

Still, Wei En saying there were wizards in the family who had returned from the Specter School was not exactly wrong... Apprentices counted too, right?

"Are you sure it was the Specter School?" Lacy asked with a frown.

Wei En nodded. "I'm sure. Is there a problem?"

"Nothing. As long as it isn't a wizard from the Blood Spirit School, it's fine." Lacy let out a breath of relief and explained, "Otherwise, those people from the Church of Dawn would watch you like lunatics."

"The Church of Dawn?"

"I heard that a long time ago, the Blood Spirit School was already at odds with the Church of Dawn, so their relationship is still terrible now."

Wei En understood at once. He had seen that bit before—the thing about some great wizard from the Blood Spirit School putting out a bounty for the corpses of the Church of Dawn's clergy.

See? You really shouldn't advertise in a manual like that. And it was even valid long-term...

"No wonder your research into the Gonzalez Language is so deep." Marco laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

In his impression, those school wizards were all extremely formidable.

It was just that their personalities were hard to figure out—rigid, old pedants, that sort of thing... probably.

"What Gonzalez Language research?" Somlai looked at Lacy. "Is he very good at the Gonzalez Language?"

Lacy glanced at him. "What does that have to do with you?"

Hearing her say that, Somlai's eyes could not help lighting up. "How does he compare to Professor Herwin?"

"Of course he can't compare. Please look at his age before you say that." Lacy did not choose to tell the truth, instead asking, "Why do you care about this?"

"Pretend I never asked."

Somlai curled his lip. There was no way he would say what he was after. "Come on, I'll show you whether there's anything you can use, little apprentice."

Wei En calmly followed him. He did not mind Lacy hiding the truth.

In any case, any Gonzalez Language translation tasks the Secret Investigation Bureau had in the future would ultimately fall into his hands.

After all, for the same amount of money, one person only took two hours, while the other needed three days. Any normal person would know which to choose, right?

"Most wizards of the Specter School are active on the Northern Continent. They're rare here on the Eastern Continent. Though that's only relative—our Secret Investigation Bureau happens to have some ghost-related collectibles."

"Um, Somlai, actually, I'm not necessarily looking to choose something from the Specter School... Anything involving wizards will do."

Ever since learning about the level-two mission reward that morning, Wei En had made plans in advance.

First, he ruled out equipment-type items, such as armor and weapons. His strength was not high right now, so those items would not help him much.

Second were materials. Those things were just as strange, and might even trigger mutations. He could not use them for the time being either.

What remained for him to choose from was nothing more than knowledge-related Era Relics, as well as some tools with special abilities.

So from the very beginning, his goal had been very clear.

Somlai glanced at him. "Looks like you've got your own ideas. Tell me."

"There." Wei En pointed at the display rack on the left side of the Collection Room. "I want to look at those Era Relics."

"Good decision."

The heart-wrenching feeling in Somlai's chest, as if he was about to lose a treasured item, vanished in an instant.

Those Era Relics could not be understood by looking at them, could not be used, and served no purpose except taking up space and gathering dust.

If not for the Secret Investigation Bureau's special requirements, their Property Management Department would have moved those Era Relics elsewhere for storage long ago.

"But I have to remind you, many of the relics here have contaminating properties. If you can't understand them, it's best not to touch them carelessly."

Wei En nodded. He knew all of that.

However, he had already spotted a rather interesting book—the growth story of Mechanical Wizard Jerry.

It was a book with a cover made of soft leather, showing some signs of wear, revealing the yellowed paper pages within.

There was also a complex pattern stamped on the cover. It looked like a rune, yet also like some kind of emblem or badge, ancient and mysterious.

Clearly, this was a Wizard's Handbook.

Wei En walked straight over and carefully wrapped his hands in mental power before grabbing the book. He did not want a mechanical puppet jumping out of the handbook in a moment.

That would be far too awful.

Somlai did not stop him. On the contrary, when he saw that handbook, he was delighted—they had made a huge profit.

The contents of that handbook were the only thing their Property Management Department could understand.

It was called a Wizard's Handbook, but compared with current mechanical knowledge, the knowledge related to mechanical wizards recorded inside could only be considered the basics among basics.

In fact, apart from a few mechanical puppets commonly used in the Fourth Epoch, the rest consisted of unreadable runes and mechanical design drawings.

In short, it was an unfinished experimental notebook belonging to a mechanical wizard.

"That counts as one item."

Almost the moment he opened it, at first glance, after seeing only the three Gonzalez Language phrases at the very top of the first page, Wei En was certain this was what he needed.

The meaning of those three phrases—Apprentice Experimental Notes.

"No problem," Somlai agreed readily, as if afraid Wei En might change his mind. He pulled a registration form from his pocket and wrote down the name of the handbook. "Sign here."

Wei En signed his name in passing, then looked over all the Era Relics again. After finding another piece of parchment related to potionology, he said, "This one, then."

The other relics were either useless notes or words of praise. They were of little use to him.

"You're sure?" Somlai asked, raising a brow.

Wei En nodded. "I'm sure. This is the one."

"As you wish."

This sheet of parchment was one of the relics their Property Management Department could not understand.

Many strange patterns were drawn on it, along with some untranslatable Gonzalez Language. All they could determine was that the content was related to potions.

After he finished registering it, Somlai reminded him, "Once chosen, no returns or exchanges. Even if you can't understand it, you can't... Wait, do you recognize what's on here?"

"No. I just want to study Gonzalez Language."

Wei En obviously would not let him notice anything. He put away the parchment together with the Wizard's Handbook.

"Then I wish you success in translating it. When the time comes, our Property Management Department..."

Somlai did not continue. Instead, he asked, "There's one more. What do you want to choose?"

Wei En picked through the items, and under Somlai's increasingly impatient gaze, finally chose a Storage Ring. It only had a space of two cubic meters inside, just enough for him to store a few odds and ends.

In fact, if not for the limited choices, he would have rather taken those alchemy devices.

Unfortunately, they all had separate rune arrays and counted as precious collectibles...

After he finished all this, Somlai "drove" them out of the Property Management Department, then shut the doors tight, looking as if he really could not stand them.

"Hmph. Next time I see him, I'll have to give him another good beating."

Lacy kicked the door in annoyance, though she did not dare use too much force.

She was worried that if she really broke it, the bastards from the Property Management Department would make her pay compensation...

"Let's go. We're heading back."