Chapter 38
Garrett's journey as a mage began in a tranquil setting.
All those conflicts, face-offs, and noble oppression of commoners from the web novels of his past lifenowhere to be seen.
From Hartland City to the Mage Tower, Garrett couldn't help but mentally concoct numerous common plotlines along the way, yet not a single one unfolded. It wasn't that his classmates were morally upright, following a set of ethical rules; rather, there simply was nobody around.
Mage Gelman was nowhere to be found.
Nor could he spot the mage Elliot who'd been blasted out of the tower the last time.
The silence outside the Mage Tower was such that birdsong was audible. Garrett speculated that either the experiments were going smoothly, or the mage had switched to a different experimentone less likely to explode for the time being.
Several low-ranking mages or mage apprenticeswhen Garrett arrived yesterday, Mage Gelman had mentioned "disciples," implying there were more than onewere also nowhere in sight.
Considering yesterday's explosion occurred on the fourth floor, and Gelman only allowed him access to the first-floor books, Garrett suspected there might be a library upstairs exclusively for mages and apprentices. These novices who had crossed into the realm of magic most likely operated from the second floor and above, seeing no need to descend.
As for classes... perhaps today wasn't a teaching day?
The library on the first floor of the Mage Tower was empty, with Garrett the sole occupant.
The servant who showed him to the library simply stated, "No going upstairs," and left. Before Garrett could inquire about the location of the restroom, the person had vanished...
Not even a pitcher of water.
Ah, well, the school library back in the day didn't supply water either. A habit, indeed.
Garrett dropped his backpack, walked up to the shelves, and upon entering the library, his eyes immediately fell upon the bookshelvestall, sturdy, made of dark chestnut wood. The tops of the columns and the bookshelf's edges bore exquisite carvings, suggesting the value of the books they supported.
...Just this one bookshelf could equal a year's salary, huh?
Garrett estimated silently, swiftly scanning the books on the shelves. The library wasn't large, just two bookshelves in total. The books on the shelves were thick and substantial, as long as from his elbow to his fingertips, and nearly a fist thick.
To accommodate these large books, each shelf only had four layers. The midsection of the shelves, made of solid wood, was over five centimeters thick and slightly bent due to the weight.
Due to the sheer size of the books, even with both bookshelves combined, they didn't exceed a hundred books...
Garrett quickly did mental arithmetic. Thankfully, it wasn't much different from the quantity of textbooks they'd used during their seven-year undergraduate and postgraduate study... purely in terms of quantity, it was about the same.
After all, besides textbooks in medicine, there were plenty of workbooks, references, clinical guidelines, and such materials to memorize.
We're professionals when it comes to studying. No fear.
Garrett silently encouraged himself. So, the next step was to pick out the books he needed to read!
The titles reported by Mage Gelman!
"Fundamentals of Spells!"
"Structure of Magic Patterns!"
"Introduction to Elemental Magic!"
"Study of Magical Remedies!"
And the most fundamentalMagic Script!
As for the other books on the shelf, perhaps they weren't unimportant, but starting with the basics seemed prudent!
Garrett tilted his head, trying to read the spines of the books, but couldn't make out a thing. He tilted left, then right, trying to discern whether they were written vertically or horizontally, but it was futile. No matter how he twisted his head...
Back and forth, performing cervical exercises several times, Garrett finally accepted a harsh realityhe couldn't recognize any of the text on the book spines.
No choice, let's look inside!
He tiptoed and took down a book from the shelf. As soon as he lifted it, his arms sank down, requiring extra effort to stabilize it.
...So heavy!
Being a librarian these days is a physical job, huh!
Garrett marveled. He gingerly placed the book on the table, adjusting it, and examined the cover closely. The deep blue leather cover felt thick and soft, adorned with silver calligraphy that spiraled and twisted like vines. Despite scrutinizing it for a while, Garrett couldn't make sense of it and had to flip open the first page.
No recognition.
Still none.
Even flipping through to the main content, he couldn't understand what the book was about, let alone recognize the text on it. The only advantage was that this massive book was handwritten, and the text was ten times larger than that of later printed versions. The content of the entire book, therefore, might just be around one-tenth.
No, not even one-tenth. The paper used here was thicker than in his previous life, yellowed, bearing distinct fiber marks. Thicker paper meant fewer pages, which naturally meant lesser information recorded.
Garrett sighed with relief, but then a thought struck him, and he tensed. Papermaking techniques in this era were quite rudimentary, indicating that only basic knowledge could be recorded.
It's foreseeable that in the future, transcribing spells and the like would require paper or parchment made from materials like sheepskin or monster hides, which would start at a price several times higher than this paper. If the material was too inferior, it simply wouldn't withstand magical power, and there was a high probability it would burn up after being written on...
In the future, he'd have to provide his own materials for transcribing spells!
Paper, ink, quillsall had to be bought!
I need to check the prices later... oh, I feel so broke...
Garrett sighed, reluctantly closed the book cover, placed it back on the shelf, and went to retrieve the second book.
The second book.
No recognition.
The third book.
No recognition.
...The tenth book.
No recognition...
A thin layer of sweat had formed on his body, partly from fatigue and partly from frustration. He arrived early, not feeling hungry yet, but his muscles were weary, and his body felt empty, perturbed by this futile effort...
No wonder being a librarian is a hidden profession. In this line of work, achieving mastery sure is something!
He wiped his brow, continuing to move books. The seventeenth book finally had a title written in the common language, "The Miraculous Journey of a Great Mage." Just from the title, Garrett had a foreboding feeling, and as he flipped through, he found it to be a novel...
A low-quality adventure novel at that. Not the kind that could even secure a publishing deal on a beginner platform.
...So, I've sweated through all this to haul these things, and how much of it is just fiction?
Oh no...
Garrett pounded his chest. The bad news was he'd have to battle through these novels for who knew how long. The good news? He'd need to read (memorize) fewer textbooks...
"You can't do it like this."
A voice suddenly sounded behind him.
Garrett's hand froze mid-reach for a book.
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