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Although the Crystal Stone in his hand held the address of the Academy, Shard hadn't the chance to take a closer look; all the text on the page cleared, and a large number "3" appeared.
The four people by the wall held their breaths, but they were all extrely excited:
"Shard, get ready!"
Dr. Schneider loudly reminded.
The number "2" appeared.
Shard hurriedly pulled out his house keys and tossed them toward the wall, along with the page before him and the ssy pile of things in his pocket.
The number "1" appeared.
"If I co back late, rember to feed the cat for ,"
he shouted. Then the crystal in his hand exploded like a bomb, bursting forth a startling white light. In the room with closed doors and windows, a violent wind arose amidst this light. The doctor and the others instinctively closed their eyes, and a few seconds later, both the light and the wind disappeared—as did Shard, who had been standing there.
The papers, whipped up by the wind, fell through the air like snowflakes. Disappearing along with Shard was one-fifth of the coffee table in front of him, as well as half of the sofa behind him, both cut as if by precise instrunts, their cross-sections eerily neat.
"Oh~"
With a sigh, the doctor looked around the room that seed as if a storm had struck, muttering quietly:
"That noise... was much smaller than I expected."
(Mia running...)
She felt as though she was being forcefully pressed into a sphere, and then rapidly rolling through a narrow pipe. Then, as if stuffed into the barrel of a gun and propelled forward by a mighty force.
Strange and fantastic illusions unfolded before her eyes, and Shard couldn't distinguish reality from the bizarre visions. He saw a black octopus behemoth waving its tentacles under a dim yellow sky, the sun falling in apocalyptic fire, a massive black hand descending from the sky to obliterate the material world, Miss Luisa and Miss Beyas embracing and kissing, and many other strange scenes.
"Miss Luisa doesn't even know Miss Beyas, what am I thinking?"
His mind was in disarray from processing too much information at once, giving him the illusion that his brain might explode. But soon, the feeling of solid ground returned beneath his feet. Shard felt his body sway slightly, then saw the scene before him stabilize, the spatial leap had ended.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, pushing down the urge to vomit that ca with the dizziness. At the sa ti, a new sll flowed into his nostrils with the air—dry, slightly cold, replete with the unique scent of paper and ink.
Shard liked this sll very much.
Opening his eyes, there was no doubt he was in a large library, surprisingly standing on a solid wood floor. He was in the midst of bookshelf clusters, with yellow-brown wooden shelves of varying heights spreading out into the far distance. Uneven and irregular in arrangent, they exuded a strangely orderly charm.
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On the bookshelf closest to Shard, there was a brass plaque that read "History (Fifth Era 1~100 Years)." Books were stuffed into the shelves, and the spines of the books were marked with text from various eras to denote the information of the books. In an era where knowledge represented wealth, the visible part of the library alone would be enough to buy the entire Tobesk.
Looking up, the arched ceiling, higher in the middle and lower around the edges, seed to be as tall as a four-story building. Shard stood directly below the highest point of the ceiling, which must be the center of the library. The sound of footsteps coming from all directions indicated that the place was in use.
Perhaps just one or two bookshelves away, there might be a real Circle Sorcerer of Saint Byrons at work.
The temperature inside the library was lower than the scorching sumr of Tobesk. Taking another deep breath of the chilly air filled his lungs and restored his spirit back to normal.
The space between the bookshelves, where he stood, was generally circular. Not far from Shard, three middle-aged n wearing blue robes with the Saint Byrons emblem on their chests, were frantically rolling up a huge brown parchnt roll placed on a tripod.
With just a cursory glance, Shard saw the map sketched out with severely faded ink. However, the section of the coastline he saw did not match any location he knew, and it wasn't the shape of the New World's coastline either...
"Mr. Hamilton, please co with , Miss Danester is waiting for you."
Two n, wearing brown leather gloves, continued their "struggle" with the map that kept writhing, trying to unfold, while the woman spoke to Shard in fluent Draleon. She was tall and appeared to be in her forties. Her slightly upturned eyes gave her a sowhat fierce look.
As Shard surveyed his surroundings, he nodded, trying to imprint everything he saw into his mory. The sound of the woman's voice had already inford him that the space was almost entirely infused with traces of the Four Elents. This place really was Saint Byrons, the Arcane Academy hidden in the Far North, it truly existed.
He then followed the woman through the narrow aisles between the bookshelves, not knowing if they were heading towards the inside or outside. Seeing Shard glance one last ti at the huge map, the woman explained:
"The 'Tattered Old World Map' is considered one of the Angel-Level Relics in the Academy that is relatively safe. Its containnt thod is simple, and its negative traits are not too complex. It won't cause any problems as long as it is not unfurled for more than 30 seconds."
"What happens if it exceeds thirty seconds?" asked Shard, listening to the light sound of his shoes on the wooden floor. But as he entered the aisle between bookshelves, the wooden floor changed into stone tiles, suggesting that the library's flooring was not made of the sa material throughout.
"If it exceeds thirty seconds, the map will randomly transport objects around it to any corner of the material world. Mr. Hamilton, this might not sound serious, but once it exceeds thirty seconds, the range will only get larger over ti, and the effect is continuous.
Considering that the map is unaffected by any Arcane Techniques and Sorcery, do you understand what that ans?" the woman asked, leading Shard around the corner to the right. A young boy, who looked even younger than Miss Beyas, stood in the aisle of the bookshelf and curiously glanced at Shard.
"Once it exceeds thirty seconds, no one can approach the map, for they will be teleported if they do. You cannot use supernatural abilities to roll up the map either, so the map's impact will only expand," Shard replied, his eyes darting around the bookshelves. Most of the books he saw were in Draleon or Carsonrick, two languages with very similar scripts.
Upon occasionally spotting books in strange scripts, Shard, having made sure that the content around him was safe, attempted to interpret them. For example, one bookshelf he just passed had a book titled 'Book of Pink'—it was the only pink book among the entire shelf.
"This Relic is contained by the Academy of Library Managent. The last ti it was employed was over thirty years ago. It was brought out this ti at the request of Miss Danester. It is said that the map is a product from before the Third Era and had a serious loss of control at the end of the Fourth Era.
It directly altered the geography of the material world, causing the main continent in the docunts of the Fourth Era to split into the Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern Continents of the Fifth Era, as well as the central... We're here."
The woman suddenly stopped at the end of the bookshelf aisle, signaling Shard to continue walking forward.
After passing the bookshelves, they ca upon another clearing nestled within the clusters of shelves. Shard suddenly felt that this library was more like a maze, concealing countless years of precious knowledge.
The woman turned around and left Shard behind. Taking two steps forward, he saw a coffee table and four sofas arranged together in the clearing. The coffee table was made of glass with scattered books piled on top, while all the sofas were dark-colored fabric.
The red-haired lady wearing delicate glasses was sitting on the sofa waiting for Shard, with a gentle expression and a beautiful face, holding a book whose title was too far to read clearly.
Her hair color was not as vivid as that uniquely associated with the Cavendish Royalty; instead, it could be considered dull.
Whether it was the influence of a High Ring Sorcerer's power or the effect of the "Ever-Youth Leaf" Relic, she appeared to be under thirty. Yet according to the information Shard had gathered, her age should not be less than...
"Good afternoon, Mr. Hamilton," she said. "From the look in your eyes, it seems to
that you are thinking about sothing impolite."
Her command of Draleon was equally fluent, with a tone that carried a hint of tease.
"Good afternoon."
He had only taken a few steps forward and had not even sat down when the woman's voice by his ear already reminded him of her power.
He nodded slightly in respect:
"Miss Danester."
The Librarian of Saint Byrons Integrated Academy and known as the "Red Moon Witch," Danester was the first Thirteen-Ring Sorceress Shard encountered in this world. The woman with the soft smile before him was one of the strongest mortals in this world.
The lady before him did not possess a sharp temperant; on the contrary, the way she held the book while sitting on the sofa made her seem like an ordinary person who had no contact with Mysticism. But the more she seed that way, the more unusual it was.
Sorcerers' temperants would undergo extraordinary changes after their Spirits had contact with the Four Elents, so the lady in front might be considered perfect in controlling all her power.
After offering his respectful greetings, Shard took a seat on the sofa opposite Miss Danester. He didn't quite understand what she wanted from him, but since he didn't flee when he received the notification earlier, he surely couldn't show any anomaly now.
"Welco to Saint Byrons, Shard Suren Hamilton."
The Librarian spoke softly, but did not give Shard a chance to speak:
"Show
your Ring of Fate."
This was Miss Danester's first request after Shard sat down. He summoned the tallic ring behind him among the sounds of steam whistles and rumbling noise, but the Red Moon Witch only glanced at it before allowing Shard to retract it.
Shard had thought the "Little Match Girl" might have aroused suspicion, but then the question suddenly changed:
"Actually, I am very curious, Mr. Hamilton, why is your middle na Sulun?"
Her right hand, adorned with an erald ring, gently shook, and the teacup and teapot on the coffee table leaped into action, pouring tea for Shard.
Then, with a snap of her fingers, a segnt of the Thirteen-Ring Sorceress's Wheel of Destiny appeared before Shard, revealing one of Miss Danester's Core Runes, "Red Moon."
He was slightly amazed inwardly, yet responded "honestly":
"I have no mories of the past, and when I ca to, I only knew my na. I thought of the word 'Sulun' on the spot while signing docunts for corpse disposal for the forr Detective — it was the first word that jumped into my head."
This wasn't a lie, just omitting so details. Indeed, when the woman's voice spoke in his head, it was "a word that jumped into my head."
The Red Moon Witch nodded and slightly raised her right hand. The phantom images of red, yellow, and silver moons appeared above her palm. The three moons almost at the points of an equilateral triangle rotated in the palm of the Thirteen-Ring Sorceress:
"We are all people with ties to the moon. But the aning of the word 'Sulun' is not limited to Silvermoon."
Shard nodded but didn't speak, thinking it best to listen at this mont.
"Mr. Hamilton, when you reach the higher grades and have a deeper understanding of ancient scripts, you will realise that this pronunciation has appeared in most civilizations and always represents Silvermoon. One theory is that in the most ancient era, there wasn't a trio but a single moon in the sky. The silver moon was the original moon."
Shard thought of the "Illusion" created by the "Creator of Innocence" during their second eting, where there was only one silver moon in the sky.
The view that Silvermoon was the original moon was likely more than re speculation.
The discussion about the moon helped Shard to beco a bit more familiar with Miss Danester. But then, she abruptly switched topics:
"We'll return to the topic of the moon later; that's why I called you here. Now, let's talk about your Low Fourth Ring Ascension Words. For talented students, we always support early access to the 'Sublimation Codex.' As for whether you can be trusted, I think there's no need to consider anymore, as no one is ever entirely trustworthy."
She shook the book in her hand and eyed Shard, her tone remaining relaxed as though she was having idle talk with a friend during a normal afternoon tea:
"So the question that we need to consider now is, Mr. Hamilton, which Core Rune do you wish to use in constructing your Low Fourth Ring Ascension Words?"
"Any of them."
Shard replied; he had inquired in advance from Dr. Schneider that choosing any Core Rune would not affect him personally.
"Then, would you prefer to start the search with the First Ring Spirit Talismans you currently control, or are you looking to challenge yourself and dissatisfied with your current Spirit Runes? Actually, during the construction of the Sublimation Incantation, it's great if the aning of the Spirit Rune is a perfect match, but close ones can also be included.
But I think your Enlightennt Spirit Rune probably won't work; it's too long," she went on. Your journey continues at empire
"Both 'Gluttony' and 'Echo' are fine with ; I only wish to advance to the Second Ring as soon as possible," he said.
Choosing Spirit Runes for each Ring would not greatly affect the future; the difficulty of acquiring the other three Runes in the Sublimation Incantation would have an impact.
"This narrows down your choices quite clearly," she said.
The large book with a black, rigid cover in Miss Danester's hands turned automatically, making rustling sounds.
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