Chapter 261: A Path Leading to a Dangerous Domain
The Magic Association's library occupied an entire floor of the tower.
Not only had Serie acquired the royal collection from Emperor Fidel, but she had also brought her own private collection of magical tomes.
Countless bookshelves filled the enormous space, packed densely with grimoires and scrolls. The air itself seemed thick with the scent of mana dust.
Because very few people had passed the Second-Class Mage exam, the library was currently quite empty. Only occasionally could one spot a mage coming to consult the texts.
Among them was Flamme.
When the Magic Association was completed, she had moved in along with the others. Given her status, she naturally didn't need to pass any exams to read the books here unconditionally. She could even freely access the even more precious tomes behind Serie on the floor above.
However, Flamme was more interested in finding obscure magic from the Mythical Era within these shelves, hoping to find something she needed.
Floating in mid-air, her fingertips traced over row after row of spines, constantly pulling out books and flipping through them rapidly.
She had been searching for a long time, but still hadn't found what she was looking for.
But she wasn't anxious.
Hard work pays off. Finally, she found a shred of information in an ancient text.
The clue pointed to another grimoire. Flamme immediately went to find it, but it seemed she was a step too late.
Hmm?
Looking at the figure in front of the bookshelf, Flamme paused slightly, retracted her mana, and slowly descended.
Standing by the shelf was a young male mage.
He didn't look very old. He wore a simple mage's robe, and his short black hair was a bit messy. A pair of crystal-ground glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, and behind the lenses, his eyes shone with a near-fanatical light.
He was trying to retrieve a book from a high shelf but couldn't quite reach it, and there was no stool nearby.
Although flight magic was gradually spreading, due to its difficulty and mana requirements, very few mages had mastered it.
Flamme noticed that the direction of his outstretched hand indicated his target was the exact book she wanted.
Moreover, he wore a Second-Class Mage badge on his chest, meaning he had passed the exam set by Master Serie.
It seemed he possessed a certain degree of magical talent. If he studied hard, he might pass the First-Class Mage exam in the future.
But why would he be interested in obsolete theories from such an obscure field?
Curiosity rose in Flamme's heart.
She walked forward silently and waved her hand gently. The scroll slid smoothly off the shelf and floated into her grasp.
The young mage jumped in fright. He spun around, saw Flamme—and specifically noted the lack of a badge on her chest—and froze for a moment.
"Who are you? Isn't this floor restricted to Second-Class Mages?"
"I am Flamme. An apprentice of... Master Serie."
She had intended to invoke Master Rhodes's name, but at this moment, invoking Master Serie seemed more effective.
Realization dawned on the young mage instantly.
He had heard that Lady Serie had two apprentices, both incredibly powerful mages. He just hadn't expected this red-haired woman to be one of them.
He immediately put on a respectful yet nervous expression. "H-Hello, Senior! I am Carlo!"
Flamme sized him up and handed over the grimoire. "You were looking for this?"
Carlo accepted the parchment scroll as if receiving a priceless treasure. He nodded repeatedly, his tone becoming excited. "Yes! Yes! This is it!"
"You know about this material too? As expected of Lady Serie's apprentice! I always thought I was the only one interested in this kind of... uh, fringe theory."
He seemed to realize his field of research might not be well-regarded, and his tone turned slightly embarrassed.
A glint of interest flashed in Flamme's eyes. "Oh? Why are you interested in this? The theories in here run completely contrary to modern Life Magic and Holy Healing Magic."
The magic Flamme was looking for concerned a type of monster from the Mythical Era that possessed an innate ability to absorb the mana of others.
However, because the mana of others wasn't the pure mana found in nature, absorbing too much would contaminate the mage's own mana, affecting their mind and eventually turning them into a berserk monster.
This type of monster was now basically extinct; there hadn't been a sighting in centuries.
But their magic had been recorded.
Although humans couldn't learn monster magic directly, thanks to Rhodes's foundational magical theories and the occasional research by legendary mages over the millennium, parts of this magic system had survived and were recorded in this book.
Flamme's goal was simple: she hoped to use this magic as a base to deduce a spell capable of absorbing life force.
Such magic was undoubtedly evil—one could say it was the antithesis of all Holy Magic. Thus, Flamme intended to tell no one.
So, for what purpose was this Carlo researching this field?
Carlo pushed up his glasses, his face glowing with a strange radiance. "The mainstream isn't necessarily the only correct path!"
"Senior, don't you think that while the current magic system is powerful, it is almost completely blank in certain areas, such as the structural composition of life? Or rather, it has been deliberately avoided!"
"But these..." He patted the grimoire in his hand excitedly. "These pieces of knowledge that Lord Rhodes didn't pass down or record in standard books—the explorations that have been ignored or even deemed taboo—might hide the true mysteries!"
His words faintly touched the most persistent obsession deep in Flamme's heart.
She asked impassively, "Looking at the badge on your chest, you have already passed the Second-Class Mage exam."
"With your talent, you should be focusing on magic that can quickly increase your strength. That way, you might pass the First-Class exam in the future and receive the spell you desire from Master Serie."
"Why obsess over these... things that might yield no results?"
Carlo's face took on a near-pious expression. "It is to complete a great concept! An unfinished magical draft left behind by the First God-slayer, Lord Rhodes! I feel this is a magic that even Lady Serie cannot give me."
Flamme's heart skipped a beat.
Master Rhodes's discarded draft?
Carlo, completely oblivious to Flamme's subtle emotional shift, was fully immersed in his own world.
"By chance, I obtained a fragment of a magical concept Lord Rhodes discarded in his early years!"
"At first, I couldn't decipher or deduce anything. But after years of continuous effort, combined with researching other drafts Lord Rhodes left behind, I feel I have touched the truth of this magic."
"I can only say, Lord Rhodes's idea was simply heavenly!"
"He actually attempted to break the limits of human lifespan—to extend human life in a way I haven't figured out yet!"
His voice trembled slightly with excitement.
"However," his tone dropped instantly, "it is only an extremely rough structural framework and a mess of chaotic formulas and symbols."
"I have exhausted all my effort and only understood a small part of it. I cannot crack the derivation of many key nodes no matter what I do."
"I have hit a bottleneck."
"Although I know this discarded draft concerns Life Magic, I have no idea about the specific method or form. I have no way of knowing."
"Hearing that the Kingdom of Ersten established this Magic Association gathering countless texts, I rushed here immediately, hoping to find relevant clues or data."
Flamme listened quietly, waves crashing in her heart.
She was almost certain that what this young mage was obsessed with researching was the exact direction she dreamed of.
A path that might lead to eternal life—or at least, greatly extended life.
And the source pointed directly to Master Rhodes!
Thinking about it carefully, it made perfect sense.
Because Master Rhodes had broken the limits of human lifespan, living from the Mythical Era to the present, establishing a millennial bond with Master Serie.
Out of curiosity, Flamme had once asked Rhodes about the secret of his immortality.
Rhodes hadn't hidden much. To dispel his apprentice's ideas, he had told Flamme everything about obtaining the Authority of Life and using it to reconstruct his body.
It was something only he could do. No one else could replicate it.
And Rhodes couldn't use that magic on others.
From the start, that reincarnation magic was destined to allow only Rhodes to survive.
Now that she had discovered another potential method to extend life, Flamme suppressed the excitement in her heart, maintained her calm facade, and spoke slowly. "Master Rhodes's draft? Can you show me where specifically you are stuck?"
Carlo hesitated.
That draft was his treasure. But he could sense that Lady Serie's apprentice before him had unfathomable strength and seemed knowledgeable in this area.
His thirst for knowledge ultimately conquered his wariness.
He carefully took out a small box from his inner pocket and removed a piece of parchment. It was clearly very old, covered densely with complex symbols.
Only parchment of this quality could barely survive a thousand years.
But it still paled in comparison to the dragon-skin paper used for the Codex of Origin.
It was said that the first grimoire in human history remained pristine without a single trace of wear, despite a thousand years of time and countless humans flipping through it.
Carlo pointed to several bizarre, incomprehensible formulas on the page and said distressedly, "Here, and here... The mana system Lord Rhodes constructed cannot be applied at all. I tried dozens of possible solutions, and they all failed."
Flamme focused her gaze.
She had seen some of these formulas and structures with Master Rhodes before. A small portion she had never seen—clearly discarded, immature, or even dangerous ideas from his early explorations.
However, relying on her understanding of Master Rhodes's magic system, sparks of inspiration flashed in Flamme's mind.
Although not much, it was enough to help this young mage fill in a small part of the puzzle.
She pondered for a moment, organizing her words to avoid revealing her true intentions. "Your thinking might be too constrained."
"The core of this magic from Lord Rhodes might not be stability, but rather a forceful absorption and traction."
"You can try applying the structural runes from this grimoire here, then deduce backwards."
"It is impossible to fully reconstruct Lord Rhodes's magic from just this one draft page. You must add your own understanding. Only then can you reconstruct the magic as much as possible..."
With every sentence Flamme spoke, Carlo's eyes grew brighter.
Elsewhere, people would only mock his arrogance for trying to restore a magic even Lord Rhodes hadn't completed based on a scrap of paper.
But now, Flamme's words gave him a new direction.
Flamme even displayed certain magical runes she had never shown before for him to study—runes that happened to match parts of the draft.
Clearly, as Serie's apprentice, she mastered special runes taught only between master and disciple.
Seeing Flamme show him these runes directly left Carlo overwhelmed with excitement.
"These runes... Yes! That's it! That's it!"
He was so excited he was practically incoherent. He grabbed his hair, pacing back and forth, muttering unintelligible things, completely lost in ecstasy.
After a long while, he stopped abruptly and bowed deeply to Flamme, his face full of gratitude.
"Senior! Thank you so much! You are amazing! I... I think I've found the door!"
"I have a path! I really have a path!"
"Hahahahahaha!"
By the end, Carlo was laughing somewhat manically.
The runes Flamme showed him were exactly what he lacked.
With their help, plus his own understanding, even if he couldn't perfectly restore Lord Rhodes's magic, he could at least replicate a small part of it!
This was undoubtedly a massive step forward.
Watching him, Flamme felt a myriad of emotions.
This young mage's talent and fanaticism were truly awe-inspiring, yet also terrifying.
She forced a smile. "You are welcome. You are excellent. I look forward to the day you succeed."
This was sincere. Flamme genuinely hoped Carlo would succeed soon.
Carlo solemnly put the precious draft back into the box and looked at Flamme earnestly. "Senior, once I successfully restore this magic, I will come to find you immediately and share all my research results with you."
Without Flamme's guidance and the runes she contributed, he never would have figured it out.
Flamme's heart moved. She had intended to hint at this indirectly, but Carlo had offered it outright.
Perfect!
She nodded, her tone gentle. "Alright. I look forward to it."
"Yes, Senior."
After bowing again, Carlo couldn't wait any longer. hugging his precious draft and the grimoire, he hurried away.
Flamme stood there, watching Carlo's retreating back, her red eyes flickering with complicated light.
I hope he succeeds.
If he does, I might see a glimmer of hope too.
What she didn't know was that the magic this young mage named Carlo was so obsessed with restoring—the magic originating from Rhodes's discarded draft—pointed to something far beyond simple life extension.
It was a domain of incomparable danger.
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