Chapter 1076: Sorcery 101
Translator: Legge
Ren Xiaosu was still Ren Xiaosu, and the servants were still the servants. No matter how wonderful Li Chengguo and Liu Ting’s future vision was, they still could not win against Ren Xiaosu right now.
Based on what Melgor had said, it would probably take a dozen days for them to arrive at his fief.
Melgor’s fief was situated at the edge of the nation of sorcerers.
Along the way, Melgor said to Ren Xiaosu in a serious tone, “If you want to learn sorcery, you have to systematically learn the theory of magic first. If you can’t even get through that, you should just give up the idea of becoming a sorcerer.”
With that, Melgor had Li Chengguo retrieve a thick book from his backpack and handed it to Ren Xiaosu. “This Introduction to Sorcery is something every sorcerer needs to be familiar with.”
Ren Xiaosu looked at the Introduction to Sorcery textbook in his hand and asked, “Can’t you teach me sorcery directly?”
The book was extremely heavy. Just to completely finish reading it would probably take a dozen days.
Melgor shook his head. “Sorcery has its own logic. If you only have a superficial understanding of it, how can you become a real sorcerer? Furthermore, you have to learn the language of the Magi after you’re done reading this book. Although the Central Plains’ language has become the common tongue in our kingdom, it can’t be used for chanting incantations.”
Actually, Melgor was using the Introduction to Sorcery book to brush off Ren Xiaosu. Melgor had not even finished reading the book himself. Moreover, it was not true that every sorcerer had to be familiar with it. This was purely a book for supplementary knowledge.
Melgor was wholly taking advantage of Ren Xiaosu’s ignorance of the subject. As such, he found a book for him to read first.
Only a few people in the entire magus order had finished reading this book. This was probably because everyone felt it was not too useful since the author was just some unknown sorcerer.
Moreover, the book talked about the origins of sorcery and the Magi, how the Eye of True Sight was discovered, and the principles of sorcery and alchemy. However, there was no mention of how to master sorcery.
There were no incantations, nor how they should be recited. There was also no mention of what a sorcerer should meditate about while chanting spells.
To real sorcerers, there was a simpler way to master sorcery. They only needed to master the methods of meditation and incantation to be able to use spells.
As such, the Introduction to Sorcery could sometimes be found in the nation of sorcerers’ black markets. Although it was rare, they could still be bought.
However, only a sorcerer could truly master how to cast spells.
Melgor had brought the Introduction to Sorcery to Fortress 178 because he wanted to kill time with it. After all, he would be spending two years there.
However, in the two years that he had been here, he did not even open the book ten times.
Melgor said he wanted to teach Ren Xiaosu, but how could he possibly teach him the real thing right off the bat? He was still observing Ren Xiaosu, so it would take some time for him to verify if Ren Xiaosu had willingly become his steward.
During this period, Ren Xiaosu roughly started to understand Melgor too. Although the man had become a sorcerer, he was just a very low-ranking one.
Moreover, he was not too scheming as a person. Aside from his status as a sorcerer, he was just a normal young man.
In comparison, some of the younger people Ren Xiaosu had encountered in the Central Plains were either monsters like Qing Zhen, or geniuses such as P5092 and Wang Yun. Therefore, it felt quite refreshing to suddenly encounter a young sorcerer with a normal mentality and standard intelligence.
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Off to the side, Li Chengguo and Liu Ting were envious and jealous when they first heard Melgor would teach Ren Xiaosu sorcery along the way. But when they realized Melgor had given the Introduction to Sorcery to Ren Xiaosu, they were secretly delighted. They knew full well that Melgor still did not trust Ren Xiaosu, so he used the book to dismiss the young man from the Central Plains.
The two servants followed behind at a distance and spoke in whispers, “Have you ever read the Introduction to Sorcery?”
“I’ve never read it before. How about you?”
“I haven’t read it either. What proper sorcerer would need to read that book?”
“How can a sorcerer who reads the Introduction to Sorcery be a proper sorcerer?”
However, Ren Xiaosu did not hear what they said. He picked up the book and read it as he walked. It was like he had hit the jackpot.
Ren Xiaosu loved reading, so he would always read whenever he had the chance to do so. The Introduction to Sorcery was just one of the many books in a vast sea of books to him.
Back when Zhou Yingxue asked him why he liked reading so much, he answered it was because he could quickly understand the world through them.
Even though the Introduction to Sorcery could not help him to learn sorcery directly, it had become the key to his understanding of the nation of sorcerers.
The origins of sorcerers began with alchemy.
There were no records of the Magi that existed before The Cataclysm in this book. Ren Xiaosu guessed the magus order at that time was not as prominent as they were now. Therefore, the current “gods” did not want mortals in the secular world to know how dim their past was.
After all, gods had to have their own authority.
After Melgor handed the book to Ren Xiaosu, he could not help but observe the young man from the Central Plains more often.
Although Melgor had read this boring book many times, Ren Xiaosu was finding it a very enjoyable read. For a moment, it even made Melgor wonder if he had missed out on any details that were in the book.
Eventually, when Melgor went to get the book back, he realized Ren Xiaosu was reading about the theory and practicality of alchemy.
After Melgor returned the book to Ren Xiaosu, he wondered why Ren Xiaosu was still reading it so enthusiastically even though that was probably the driest portion of the entire book.
In the end, Melgor could not help but ask, “Is the book that interesting?”
“Yes, it is,” Ren Xiaosu replied with a smile.
“But you don’t have to read it while we’re walking, do you?” Melgor asked.
“I just want to become a sorcerer as quickly as possible.” Ren Xiaosu said, “It’s a race against time in the quest for knowledge. Don’t worry, I’ll finish reading it as soon as possible.”
The two servants chuckled at the back. It would be a wonder if one could become a sorcerer just by reading this book.
Melgor knew they were laughing because they were well aware the Introduction to Sorcery was not an important book.
However, Ren Xiaosu’s sincere attitude made Melgor feel a little embarrassed. He thought it would not be too good if his newly appointed steward trusted him so much and he brushed him off with a book.
He thought for a moment and asked, “Why don’t I get you a different book to read?”
Ren Xiaosu happened to come across the part where it talked about the principles of sorcery, which captured his full attention.. He offhandedly answered, “No need, I’ll finish reading this first.”