Wizard's Book 2

Only then did Anglie let out a sigh of relief, completely calming the lingering fear in his heart. From the tone of that line, it seemed this book had already passed its dangerous stage.

And Zero Chip sent no danger warnings at this moment either.

He continued reading. Below were lines upon lines of specific meditation content. The methods were much like Earth's qi cultivation and inner elixir practices. However, certain special substances and medicines were also needed as aids. Before reaching the rank of an Official Wizard, it was broadly divided into three stages.

The stages were named directly with numbers: First Level, Second Level, and Third Rank. According to the records, Wizards held an exceptionally precise attitude toward all vague matters, so naturally they had also established an extremely accurate classification system for their own spiritual power, to measure the stage a Wizard had reached. All Wizards were great scholars, and the vast majority possessed an exceedingly rigorous approach to research. They habitually quantified everything with precise data in pursuit of absolutely stable results. This book was no exception.

Anglie even saw that the author had written down every possible condition that might arise at each stage, the directions in which misreadings might occur, as well as the reactions readers of different levels of spiritual strength would experience upon reading this book, and so on. Everything had been recorded. After reading for a full half hour, Anglie finally stored the entire dictionary-thick book into the Chip in his mind. Fortunately, he possessed the Chip's photographic-memory storage ability.

"Begin analyzing and simplifying the content." At Anglie's command, Zero automatically began condensing the material.

"Removing 92.15% redundant information. Begin transmitting remaining content?"

"Begin."

Anglie sat before the desk, his eyes slightly closed. Both his temples throbbed rhythmically, looking rather eerie. The writing in the book on the tabletop began to slowly fade away on its own, like ink dripping into a basin of clear water. It swiftly dissolved into the tawny pages, leaving not a trace behind.

In just over ten seconds, the open portion of the entire book had become completely blank. Immediately afterward, lines of Angmar Script emerged on their own. Their content was directly the personal biography of a great scholar named Berkewilly.

After a long while, Anglie slowly opened his eyes. "So this is the so-called meditation method? Sense the special things in nature that can be sensed, then actively draw close to them. Those things must be objects capable of giving people extraordinary feelings. Anyone who can sense them has the potential to become a Wizard, and anyone who can further guide them with their will is an absolute genius. The speed at which they guide them, and the number of special things they can sense, are used to measure how outstanding a genius is. It really is..."

He shook his head slightly, unable to make an assessment.

But now that he had obtained the so-called meditation method, he could not afford to miss the opportunity.

Anglie brought up the most basic method for beginning meditation. It mentioned that a medicinal herb was needed as an aid—Soul-Death Grass, a rare plant that grew in graveyards. It was shaped much like an ordinary lucky four-leaf clover, except it was entirely black. One had to hold a leaf of Soul-Death Grass in one's mouth while meditating in order to meet the conditions for meditation. Otherwise, no one could sense the existence of the so-called special things. Not even the most gifted genius could do so!

"Soul-Death Grass?" Anglie closed the book in his hand, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.

After putting away the book, which had now completely lost its effect, Anglie had no choice but to temporarily set meditation aside without Soul-Death Grass. He glanced at the time. It was already past three in the morning. Without realizing it, most of the night had slipped away.

He picked up the black bundle lying on his bed. It had been sent from home, with a letter tucked inside.

He tore it open and read it. It generally discussed the recent situation of the Lineage.

Over the past half year, through the connections of Aunt Maria's family, the Baron had acquired a small manor outside Maruya City. But without the support of a territory, and with the Rudin Kingdom in the midst of war, titles had become practically useless. The Baron had taken more than ten of his men and established a mercenary group, making a living by accepting jobs from the port guild, the Mercenary Guild, and the Governor's Office. Over the past six months, they had made quite a name for themselves. With the Baron's current mid-level Knight Level strength, he had earned no small reputation among mercenary groups. After all, a Knight Level warrior was qualified to receive a knight's fief under any lord. What was more, the Baron was a mid-level Knight. A mid-level Knight could already plant Life Energy Seeds in the outstanding children of a territory, greatly increasing the number of Apprentice Knights and thus greatly improving the territory's overall combat strength. This was something every lord welcomed.

Of course, planting Seeds caused slight harm to the Knight as well. Moreover, the higher the rank of the Knight planting the Seeds, the stronger the children's physical foundations would be when they became Knights in the future. Some Apprentice Knights could even nearly compare to Formal Knights in certain aspects of physical ability. Thus, lords naturally wanted to support as many Knights as possible, and the number and rank of Knights supported by a territory became an important standard for judging whether a lord was powerful. But the Baron was naturally unwilling to live beneath another's roof. Rather than pledge himself to anyone, he simply formed his own mercenary group and accepted wartime missions. The money they earned was quite considerable. Though it was not as much as when they had a territory, it was not far short of it either. The letter described the manor's recent circumstances, then mentioned that the Baron had recently accepted a new mission: to travel to the Anse Grasslands and receive and escort an important person. More than ten mercenary groups had accepted the mission together. Aside from one group weaker than the Baron's, the other dozen or so were all medium-to-large mercenary groups far stronger than his. It was said that they might clash with Saladin Empire cavalry during this mission, which was why the Governor had offered such high pay.

It also mentioned the two girls, Maggie and Cilier. Cilier had shown considerable talent in music, so the Baron had sent her to study under a music instructor. Having one more skill was always beneficial. As for Maggie, after trying all sorts of work, the girl had shown no particular excellence in anything. If not for her relationship with Anglie, the Baron would have long since treated her as an ordinary servant instead of continuing to provide her with good food and drink.

The rest was his father conveying greetings on behalf of Aunt Maria and Uncle Powat. The final note read: To my beloved son, Anglie. Time: December 11th, 1541, 2:00 a.m. It had been written only last night. Anglie put the letter away, feeling suddenly dazed. Time flew like a white colt glimpsed through a crack in the wall. Since he had been reborn into Anglie's body, more than a year—nearly two—had passed without his noticing.

He untied the bundle. Inside were daily necessities: white towels, some parchment for writing, a new bottle of ink and a quill pen, as well as a brown leather dagger. A small diamond-shaped black crystal was embedded on one side of the dagger's sheath. It looked exceptionally ornate.

Anglie had not spent much money at the academy. Of the two thousand gold coins he had brought with him, he still had more than eight hundred left. Since many students had seen him interacting with Mentor Adolf, he had gained a little fame. Quite a few students who could not afford classes often came to ask him to teach in their stead. Anglie only needed to teach occasionally to casually earn dozens or even over a hundred gold coins, enough to cover his lessons. Thus, he had not spent much over the past half year. Most of his money had gone elsewhere, such as buying strange and unusual items at the port. The transparent crystal clock on his desk was one such oddity. As a major port on the nation's border, Maruya Port gathered merchant caravans and ships from every country each year. These countless merchants brought all kinds of goods. So long as one had money, one could buy almost anything, including slaves.

Anglie toyed with the crystal-sheathed dagger for a while. It was loot the Baron had obtained during a mission, sent over this time as his birthday present. Sometimes Anglie would take a carriage back to the manor to see his father and the others. But he never stayed long. Most of his time was spent at the academy or at Adolf's home—studying, practicing swordsmanship, training in horsemanship and archery. Life was dull, but not without flavor.

Over the past half year, his physical abilities had not improved at all. They remained as they had been, at the level of a mid-level Knight. If not for his powerful foundation in swordsmanship, he would probably have been nothing more than an ordinary mid-level Knight rather than standing at Knight Peak. His archery, however, had progressed quite well. With equal accuracy, he could now fire two arrows from one bow. At the academy, most students were not enthusiastic about combat skills like archery and horsemanship. Aside from showing off during lessons, the training grounds were empty the rest of the time. Those students without much money occasionally came to practice, but most of the time they worked odd jobs or found other employment to earn money, ease their financial strain, and cover their expenses. Only a small number of people like Anglie went to the training grounds every day to use the weapons there for free and train themselves. Over time, his archery had improved considerably, and his swordsmanship had gained a smoother flow as well.

After arranging his belongings, Anglie hurriedly washed up, extinguished the oil lamp, and lay down on the bed.

According to the book's records, Soul-Death Grass mostly appeared in graveyards with large numbers of Deadmen, though never in great quantities. Maruya Port's graveyard was on Red Rock Mountain west of the city. It was a desolate mountain where all the port's Deadmen were buried. There should be plants like Soul-Death Grass there. As he pondered the next day's plans, he gradually sank into sleep.