Wizard's Book 1

Holding the leather-bound volume Adolf had given him, Anglie left the villa directly and took a carriage back to the academy.

As he entered the dormitory building, the middle-aged guard managing the dorms called out to him.

"Young Master Anglie, you've got a letter. And a servant dropped something off for you just now. Come in and take it." The guard was a middle-aged man with messy hair and a bulbous red nose. He was holding a wineskin and drinking himself into a stupor as he spoke, his words somewhat slurred.

"Thanks, Uncle House." Anglie smiled and nodded. He entered the guardroom, accepted a small black parcel and a letter, then quickly returned to his room.

After carefully closing the door, Anglie set down the parcel and envelope. Carrying the book, he sat at his desk and laid it flat on the tabletop. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his anticipation and excitement, then began examining the book closely.

Its cover was yellowish-brown, with an ear sewn onto the front in black silk thread, occupying almost half the cover. A line of tiny words in the lower-right corner read: Written by Berkewilly. The whole book was thick, about the size of a large English-Chinese dictionary. It probably weighed four or five pounds. Only after Anglie had completely calmed down did he straighten up and gently turn to the first page.

"Zero, begin recording the data," he ordered silently.

"Recording begun." The chip swiftly activated its recording function.

On the first page of the book, against the yellowish-brown parchment, there was only a single line in the center:

I am listening...

The handwriting was somewhat messy and appeared to resemble some kind of symbol, but it was actually just ordinary Angmarian script. Like a row of tiny black tadpoles, it sat in the middle of the page.

Anglie looked at the line, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face. He stared at it with furrowed brows for a long time without turning the page.

By evening, it had grown darker outside. A faint moonlight spilled in through the window, as though draping everything in the room with a veil of white mist. The yellow flame of the oil lamp on the desk shone across Anglie's face, casting black shadows beneath his eye sockets and nose.

After a long while, Anglie slowly turned to the second page, though his brows remained tightly furrowed.

The second page was a colored illustration. An elegant noblewoman in a white lace gown and a small red round hat sat quietly before a mirror, facing the book with graceful poise. Her fair, beautiful face was full and soft, and her pair of pitch-black eyes seemed to be staring straight at Anglie. The illustration was incredibly lifelike, as though the portrait were a living person. Anglie's expression changed slightly. He leaned closer and carefully studied the picture. Even the tiny pores on the noblewoman's face had been painstakingly drawn.

Whoosh...

A light breeze blew in through the window.

Bang! The window slammed violently against its frame. Anglie hurriedly rose and shut it before sitting back down. When he looked at the page again, however, he was suddenly shocked.

In the portrait, the noblewoman's lips, which had been tightly closed, were now slightly parted. She looked at Anglie as if she wanted to say something.

I am listening... Anglie suddenly recalled the sentence he had seen earlier. His scalp prickled slightly.

The room was utterly silent. Even the usual noisy chatter outside had vanished. The insects that often chirped beyond the window had fallen quiet as well. An oppressive, stifling feeling spread through the air.

Goosebumps rose across Anglie's body. His right hand lightly rested on the cross sword at the edge of the desk. An inexplicable sense of danger seemed to be closing in on him from some bizarre angle.

"Zero, analyze everything around me. Report immediately if you detect anything abnormal," Anglie silently issued the command.

"Task established. Beginning analysis..." The chip faithfully carried out his order. Yet for the moment, it gave no feedback, which allowed Anglie to relax slightly. His gaze returned to the page. Suddenly, the terror in his heart surged forth. The noblewoman's mouth had opened even wider, and her expression had become incomparably agonized. Her face was full of despair, while her eyes had rolled white like those of a hanged prisoner. Anglie felt every hair on his body stand on end as waves of goosebumps rose across his skin.

Rustle! He hurriedly flipped past the page.

I am listening...

It was that same sentence again, a messy line of tiny writing arranged in the middle of the yellowish-brown page.

"Beep!!! Abnormal force field detected! Abnormal force field detected! Leave the force field source by more than fifty meters immediately! Leave the force field source by more than fifty meters immediately!!" The chip's alarm suddenly rang in Anglie's ears.

"When a person with a wizard's constitution reads this book, the world he sees will be different from that seen by ordinary people." An inexplicable message flowed from the page, abruptly transmitting itself directly into Anglie's mind.

His scalp went numb, and sweat covered his face.

Caw!!!!

A black bird like a crow flew past the window, letting out a strange cry.

Anglie shuddered, as if the cry had awakened him. He shot to his feet and wiped his face with both hands, trying to wipe away the sweat.

Then suddenly, he saw his reflection in the glass window opposite him. His eyes had rolled white, his mouth was wide open as if he were screaming something, and his face was filled with despair and agony. It was exactly the same expression as the noblewoman in the portrait.

"Damn it!!" Anglie roared. He shoved his chair away and ran for the door.

Bang! He crashed through the door and sprinted down the corridor. He felt as if the entire hallway were twisting and rippling, leaving him almost unable to stand steadily. There was not a single person around. The other students were somehow all absent from the dormitory.

"The host has entered an abnormal state. Blood flow has increased by three hundred percent. Minor ruptures have appeared in blood vessels throughout the body." The chip's notification suddenly sounded in his mind.

Huff!!!!

Anglie drew in a savage breath, as if he wanted to inflate his entire chest cavity in one gulp. The chip's voice instantly jolted him awake.

He opened his eyes and discovered that he had actually fallen asleep with his head resting on the book.

A refreshing breeze blew in through the open window, making Anglie feel cool all over. Only then did he realize that he was drenched in cold sweat.

"When did I fall asleep?" Anglie lowered his head to look at the book beneath him. He found that it was open to the first page. That line of tadpole-like writing sat quietly in the center.

I am listening...

"Were all those things just hallucinations?" Anglie called up the chip's previous records.

'The host has entered an abnormal state. Blood flow has increased by three hundred percent. Minor ruptures have appeared in blood vessels throughout the body.'
'The force field is weakening. The host is beginning to regain consciousness.'
'Energy radiation has disappeared. The force field has vanished.'
'The host's abnormal state has recovered. The host is experiencing a sense of lost time.'

"So it really wasn't a dream." Anglie's expression changed.

He glanced at the newly purchased crystal clock. It showed that it was now nine in the evening.

Hiss...

The writing on the page suddenly vanished. A new line of text emerged from nothing, going from blurry to clear. 'Congratulations, dear friend. You have passed this book's spiritual will assessment.'

A silver halo suddenly radiated from the surface of the entire book, rippling with silvery-white specks of light like reflections on water.

The silver light came quickly and disappeared just as quickly, fading away completely in less than five seconds.

Anglie's narrowed eyes widened again as he looked at the leather-bound volume on the desk. The book's cover had now completely changed. Its color remained the same, but a neat row of strange symbols was arranged in the center. The original ear pattern had vanished entirely. Beneath the symbols was the image of a black door. Even more bizarrely, the door seemed to be moving slightly, swaying as it emitted faint creaking noises. It was like the 3D animation Anglie had seen in his previous life.

The book still had its yellowish-brown cover, but its very nature had completely changed. Anglie's expression shifted uncertainly, hesitation appearing in his eyes. The experience that had seemed like a hallucination had already told him that this book was quite dangerous. Yet after finally obtaining a clue about wizards, he was unwilling to give up just like that.

The occasional conversations and sounds of doors opening and closing from the corridor gradually calmed Anglie, giving him a growing sense of security.

"Zero, scan the condition of the book in front of me. Is it still dangerous?"

"Scan initiated... Unknown object. Complete analysis unavailable. Danger level unknown. Please approach with caution." Zero's feedback only made Anglie hesitate even more.

He stood in the room for a long while before determination finally appeared on his face. He slowly walked over, reached out, and turned to the second page.

Nothing happened. Anglie stared fixedly at the page. The second page no longer contained the noblewoman's portrait, but rows upon rows of densely packed text. The first line was a clear title: This Is Merely a Basic Meditation Manual.

Below it was written: This book is only intended to lay the foundation. If you wish to go further, perhaps you can visit Mao Li Luodan. I hear there is a trade fair there once every fifty years. After all, I would not dare write down higher-level material so casually. For the safety of your life and soul, I also advise you not to touch those advanced meditation manuals until your spiritual power is sufficient.

The text was all written in Angmarian, clear and easy to understand.