Settling into the chair, I arranged the books on the wooden table. I started with the "Glossary of Magical Creatures," one of the essential books for any acolyte. Opening the thick cover and flipping through the first pages, I focused on the introduction as if I were reading attentively, but soon murmured to myself:
"Laboratory, begin content extraction."
At first, I pretended to be deeply absorbed in the words of the book, softly reciting each line as I read, to mask what was really happening. But in reality, the virtual laboratory was copying every word, image, and magical inscription directly through my eyes. All the content was being stored, classified, and categorized automatically, far more efficiently than any human could ever do.
As I realized the efficiency of the process, I stopped wasting energy reading attentively and beca a true copying machine. My only effort was to move my eyes across the pages, letting the chip do the rest. The subtle blue glow in my eyes was the only evidence of what was really happening, but thanks to the stone column hiding , no one could notice.
In less than fifteen minutes, the "Glossary of Magical Creatures" was fully saved to the database. I leaned back in the chair for a mont, absorbing the magnitude of it.
More than ten thousand races and unique creatures from the Continent of Mages, detailed in descriptions, illustrations, and specifications, were now permanently stored in the virtual laboratory.
I smirked, impressed with myself. "If the other acolytes knew I could do this, they’d sell half their soul for sothing like this," I thought, as I opened the next book: "The Beginning of Spiritual Power."
This was a theoretical text, more technical and abstract, but incredibly valuable. It dealt with the origin and application of spiritual power used by mages, offering basic thods to wield it. Though less voluminous than the glossary, it required even more concentration, as it was filled with magical letters that drained spiritual energy with each page read.
Still, I continued. The efficiency of the virtual laboratory was unbeatable, and soon the content was fully digitized.
However, when I finished the second book, I felt sothing strange. I placed my hand on my head, massaging my temples gently. A wave of nausea and exhaustion began to wash over .
"Shit," I murmured, frowning. I knew what was happening. These were the classic signs of spiritual energy depletion. As a level 1 acolyte, I was very familiar with this feeling, but I never imagined that just reading general books could drain so quickly.
"If basic books drain energy so intensely, how exhausting must it be to learn a spell of casting?" I thought, as I took a deep breath to refocus.
I was worn out, but I still couldn’t stop. Even with my heavy head and protesting body, I opened the next book. There was so much knowledge I needed to acquire before leaving the library, and every magical crystal invested there had to be worth it.
Within the vast and intricate world of magic, there was sothing almost poetic in the way the four great branches of mages differed and, at the sa ti, intertwined. Each of them represented not just a style of magic but a philosophy of life, a way of facing one’s own fate, and defining what power truly ans.
Mages of Lineage... As I read about them, I imagined majestic and imposing figures, bodies overflowing with ancestral energy. These were the lunatics who sought purity in their blood, desiring to beco sothing beyond human. They chose the most powerful creatures from other realms—dragons, phoenixes, abyssal demons—and worked tirelessly to incorporate their strength. It wasn’t just magic that drove them, but an obsession to transcend their mortality and achieve sothing divine.
It was fascinating, but at the sa ti, terrifying. How much would they be willing to sacrifice? Their own bodies? Their souls? In the end, they were nothing more than mortals playing with the fire of gods. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder: "What if I had the chance to carry such a lineage? Would I accept it? Well... the answer is, of course, hell yes!! Who wouldn’t want to be so kind of heir to a divine lineage of a FUCKING LIGHT DRAGON?"
Mages of Body Refinent... These were, without a doubt, the most extre and determined. To them, the body was both temple and weapon. Every muscle, every fiber was a fortress that had to be strengthened at any cost. I imagined one of them imrsed in a tank of poison or pierced by radioactive tals, all to endure levels of pain and pressure that would crush an ordinary human.
I couldn’t help but shudder at the thought. "What kind of unbearable pain must that be? Would it be worth it to have an invulnerable body but live a life of constant suffering? The answer is no."
The penultimate of the four main branches—Mages of Knowledge... These were the most nurous, but also the most diverse. I respected them deeply, because in so way, I saw the spark of a Mage of Knowledge in myself. They were the scholars, the ones who got lost in libraries, who deciphered the laws of the universe, and who pursued absolute truth through understanding the rules that govern everything.
But I also knew that, no matter how vast their field was, there was a danger in it. Knowledge was a powerful weapon, but also an unbearable burden for those who dared to go too far. As soone who manipulated a virtual laboratory, I understood the limits of knowledge well. A small part of feared what could happen if I crossed the line between understanding and obsession.
chanical Mages... Finally, the most despised and misunderstood of all. The chanical Mages. I read about them with a mix of curiosity and discomfort. These were the ones who didn’t hesitate to trade flesh and bone for tal and gears. It was a kind of blasphemy to the more traditional mages. "Why contaminate your sacred body?" that’s what many said. Mages readily accepted mages of lineage because it made sense—wanting to be the child of a dragon god or sothing like that.
But for the chanical Mages, that didn’t matter. Their bodies were tools to be perfected. Each piece of tal implanted was one step closer to transcending the need to sleep, eat, or even feel. For them, knowledge ca above all, even above humanity.
I had to admit, part of admired them. They were mad engineers, but their commitnt to learning was absolute. They sacrificed their mortal bodies for more ti and resources to pursue the truth of the universe. But the price was high, perhaps too high. Losing their own flesh... that was sothing I was willing to do. No... after all, how could I feel the body of a woman if I were a machine?
When I closed the book, I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes for a mont, processing everything I had just learned. These four branches weren’t just divisions of power or knowledge, but paths that every mage had to choose at so point in their journey. Each one had its own logic, its strengths, and weaknesses.
Obviously, for these four main branches, let’s say nothing is impossible in this strange world. After all, I wouldn’t doubt that so chanical mage must have found a way to impregnate won, even without genitalia, just to have descendants.
The book ntioned that so of them even built floating cities.
With these four main branches as the backbone, an infinite variety of strange mages were born in this world. They conquered different worlds, plundering resources and knowledge, and enslaving thousands of dinsions. They were the dominant force of the entire Magical World when they fought or conquered other realms.
Furthermore, I also discovered that nurous large-scale mage associations existed in the Magical World. There were simply too many to count. Internally, each of these organizations and associations would implent their own exchange system, but because of the differences in attributes and lineages that each mage had an interest in, none of them were interchangeable.
After all, a fire mage wouldn’t accept a water spell in exchange for a magma stone. Therefore, in an effort to resolve trade between organizations, Magic Crystals were born.
This was an advanced magical universe with countless planes. Every space of each of these dinsions was filled with magical energy. Normally, these magical energies were distributed equally throughout the space, but, on rare occasions, or in so unique environnts, very dense clusters of magical energy could be found.
Thus, in these unique environnts, the excessively dense magical energy would infest the surrounding minerals, turning them into a crystal. This crystal was a unique item that allowed mages to quickly replenish their spiritual energy consumption. As a result, it beca an item that gained acceptance from all users across all major realms.
As a result, the Magic Crystal beca an important strategic resource for the Magical World, as they were constantly conquering other realms. Thus, it was used as the basic currency for the entire Magical World.
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