Silas stared at the blue screen, his breath hitching. In his previous life, he had spent years studying these dusty scrolls, but he never truly understood them. Now, with the Eye of Discernment, the faded ink on the parchment began to glow with a faint golden light.
"Silas! Did you hear me?" Master Varun shouted again, his footsteps heavy on the stone floor.
Silas quickly wiped his face and looked down at the pile of scrolls. "Yes, Master. I was just... dizzy. I'm starting right now."
Varun narrowed his eyes, his gaze suspicious. "Don't be lazy. These are Level 1 scrolls for the new initiates. If you misplace even one, you'll be cleaning the inkpots for a month."
As Varun turned and walked away, Silas picked up a ragged, yellowed scroll. To any other apprentice, it was just a basic 'Fire Spark' spell. But under Silas's new vision, a hidden line of text appeared at the bottom.
[Ding!]
[Hidden Modification Detected: The 'Fire Spark' formula is 20% inefficient. Would you like the System to optimize it?]
Optimize? Silas thought, stunned. If he could improve spells, he would be a genius among mages. Yes!
[Optimizing... Success!]
[New Skill Learned: White Flame Spark (Rank F)]
[Note: This spell consumes less mana but burns three times hotter than a normal fire spark.]
Silas felt a warm sensation flow from the System into his mind. It was as if he had practiced the spell for years. He looked at his mana bar: [Mana: 8/10].
He needed to test it, but not here. Not in front of Varun.
As he continued sorting the scrolls, his eyes fell on a black, charred cylinder at the bottom of the pile. It was a "Trash Scroll"—something the library deemed useless because it was too damaged to read.
Silas picked it up. His screen flickered violently.
[Warning! High-Level Ancient Text Detected.]
[Decoding Level: 1%... 5%... Error: Mana Insufficient.]
Silas's heart hammered against his ribs. This wasn't trash. This was a piece of the Forbidden Archive, the very thing the Empire would kill for in ten years.
Suddenly, the library doors slammed open. A group of young nobles, led by the arrogant Prince Kael, walked in. They were here for their weekly training, and their favorite hobby was bullying the library apprentices.
"Well, well," Kael sneered, looking at Silas. "If it isn't the little bookworm. Why are you holding that trash, Silas? Does it match your future?"
The other nobles laughed. In his past life, Silas would have looked down and apologized. But this time, he looked Kael straight in the eye.
"The only trash I see here, Prince Kael," Silas said calmly, "is the one who can't even cast a basic spell without a mana crystal."
The room went silent. Varun stopped in his tracks. Kael's face turned bright red.
"What did you say?" Kael hissed, his hand moving to the hilt of his practice sword.
[New Quest Triggered: The First Duel]
[Objective: Defeat Kael using 'White Flame Spark'.]
[Reward: +50 Experience, Unlock 'Mana Breathing' Technique.]
Silas smiled. It was time to start his rise.