I crapped out the Ten Shadows Technique?

"Come on, I'll take you to the study!"

Philip walked ahead, leading the two of them.

Radeus and Rudeus followed Philip with excitement on their faces, eager to see how many books House Boreas had for them to read.

Could there be God Rank magic?

Excitement surged through Rudeus, and he couldn't stop grinning.

You're dreaming. If they really had God Rank magic, why would Uncle Philip need to show off over recruiting a Sword King?

Surely it couldn't be because he couldn't learn it?

Radeus shattered Rudeus's fantasy.

Fair point!

Before long, the three arrived before a set of doors. They were enormous double doors, wider than Rudeus and Radeus put together.

Doors this big?

Looking at the enormous doors before them, neither Radeus nor Rudeus would have doubted it if someone had said they led to the Demon King's chamber.

The three stopped before the doors. Philip clapped his hands, and four tall, burly guards approached from the side. It took all four of them working together to push the doors open.

Only after Radeus and Rudeus entered this so-called "study" did they understand the weight the name Boreas carried.

Holy chovy, didn't he say this was a study?

What the hell does this have to do with a study?!

Radeus couldn't stop clicking his tongue as he surveyed the space, as vast as a library from his previous life.

Awesome!

Rudeus was also too stunned to speak, only able to describe it as "awesome."

"You can read any of the books here, or take them back to your rooms to read at your leisure. But you absolutely must not give them to anyone else. Understood?"

Philip gave the two of them this warning with great solemnity.

Even in House Boreas, books were extremely valuable. Letting their own people read them was fine, but even Philip couldn't tolerate handing them out to outsiders.

"Yes, sir!"

The two raised their hands in salute, expressing their loyalty!

For now, the two felt nothing but loyalty toward Philip. As for whether they would forget his kindness later, that could wait!

"What an interesting custom!"

Watching their salute and listening to their words, Philip felt he had learned something new again!

Radeus picked a book at random from a shelf. Seeing that its contents weren't in the Human Race's language, he couldn't help asking in confusion.

"What language is this? I can't understand a word!"

"Haha, look who's illiterate!"

Rudeus hurried over. He wouldn't pass up any opportunity to take a jab at Radeus.

"What are you yapping about? As if you can read it!"

Radeus snapped irritably.

"Let me see... shit, I really can't read it!"

The scrawls inside the book made Rudeus's eyes swim.

"That's the Demon God Language. A lot of magic is written in the Demon God Language. The books beside it are in the Beast God Language."

Philip explained, casually showing them a book written in the Beast God Language.

"This is the Beast God Language! I know a little of it myself, but I don't know the Demon God Language. It is the language of the Demon Race, after all."

"Most of the Demon Race live on the Demon Continent, and very few appear on the Central Continent, so very few people know their language. As for the Beast God Language, Ghislaine knows it very well. You can ask her if you want to learn."

"But I can't help you with the Demon God Language!"

Philip put the book back on the shelf and shook his head at them.

The Demon Race?

Wasn't Miss Roxy a member of the Demon Race, if I remember right?

Right, we could ask her.

Let's write to Miss Roxy in a bit!

Hearing Philip's words, the two kept communicating over their internal channel.

"Understood. We have a way to handle the Demon God Language. Our teacher is a mage of the Demon Race, so she should know it."

Radeus told Philip.

"That's good! I'll leave you to look around on your own, then. I still have some things to take care of, so I'll be going!"

After saying this to them, Philip left the study.

"Let's look at the books written in the human language first!"

Rudeus suggested to Radeus.

"Good point!"

After two hours of reading, Radeus discovered that there weren't many books on magic, and those they found covered relatively basic spells. Most of the valuable material was written in the Demon God Language.

This discovery left the two stumped. They couldn't read the Demon God Language!

Even if they wrote to Miss Roxy now, it would probably be half a year before they received her reply.

Fuck!

Why isn't there any communication magic?!

This world still used the most primitive method of having people deliver letters. There weren't even messenger pigeons or anything of the sort, and many couriers even traveled on foot.

As a result, it generally took half a year from sending a letter to receiving a reply. Over longer distances, it could even take years.

Looks like we'll have to solve the communication problem first!

Radeus rubbed his chin, considering the possibilities of magical communication.

Makes sense, but for now, let's start with the magic books written in the human language and the Beast God Language!

Rudeus nodded, agreeing with Radeus's idea.

"Sorry, my stomach hurts. I need to use the toilet!"

Radeus suddenly felt his stomach begin to ache. He hurried out of the study and sprinted toward the toilet.

"That urgent?"

Rudeus scratched his head.

The toilet was roughly a hundred meters away, but those hundred meters felt so long to Radeus.

He had been perfectly fine, but his stomach had suddenly started hurting, and he had no idea why.

Running at full speed, Radeus finally reached the toilet before anything came out.

It was worth mentioning that there was no lighting in this toilet. Only a single window provided a little light, and shadows covered the place.

Radeus sat on a contraption that looked like a toilet and unleashed a deluge worthy of the dawn of creation.

Just as Radeus felt he was about done, he keenly noticed his shadow twisting continuously.

"Holy shit, it's haunted! My shadow's moving on its own?"

Radeus hurriedly wiped his big East African ass, pulled up his pants, and looked at his shadow.

Although Radeus stepped into the shadows beside him, his original shadow didn't move. Then that shadow turned into countless black hands that reached for him.

Faced with such an eerie sight, Radeus dared not take any chances and tried to leave the toilet immediately.

But just as he tried to move his feet, he realized he couldn't move at all. He could only watch helplessly as the black hands reached for him.

Countless black hands coiled around Radeus like ropes. They slowly crawled up his face, enveloping his head.

At the same time, a message entered Radeus's mind.

"Your Modified Ten Shadows Technique has successfully arrived. Please carefully review its associated abilities."

I freaking crapped out the Ten Shadows Technique?

Screw you! Could there be a more ridiculous way to awaken?!

Other people awaken when they're facing death or have an epiphany. You freaking awaken while I'm taking a dump. Are you deliberately trying to disgust me?

I want to file a complaint!

The voice fell silent for a moment before responding to Radeus.

"Your request has been acknowledged. The method has been successfully changed!"

"???"

Request? Successfully?

N-no way...

"No, I was joking! Change it back!"

"Hey, can we make peace? I think awakening on the toilet is pretty good!"

But the voice didn't return, leaving Radeus utterly numb.

Now I'll probably have to die once before I can awaken my ability. Wait, doesn't an epiphany work too?

But I'm no epiphany master!!!

I'm screwed, I'm screwed!

Rudeus: "If you're not an epiphany master, what am I? A clown?"