Intermediate Magic Language covered ten of the thirty-two magic runes, and Advanced Magic Language covered the remaining seventeen.
Every rune had a meaning of its own, but that meaning was not something that could be explained clearly in words. You could say it was a thing that could only be grasped in the mind, never passed on in speech. Of course, since books on the magic language existed, that meant a possibility existed as well: if the reader was clever enough, and perceptive enough, then there was a chance of comprehending the meaning of the magic language from the books.
But obviously it really was hard. Nearly half a month had passed since he had gotten his hands on the magic language books. Ye Chui had already gone through both of them over and over, front to back, and he still could not grasp the meaning of even one rune.
The runes had shape, but shape was only the outside. Without understanding the essence, he could not inscribe a spell template deep in his memory, and then it was worth exactly nothing.
Am I really going to have to find a teacher to teach me the magic language? Who knows how many gold coins that would cost, or how long I would have to wait! The eighty-some gold coins Debbie and I have right now are nowhere near enough! Somewhat discouraged, Ye Chui dropped back onto his bed board, and his hand brushed against a thick, heavy volume tucked by his pillow: An Encyclopedia of the Aigendas Continent.
He had been reading this one as light entertainment. He had marked his place in it the night before, and now, lying on the bed, he flipped to the marker and read on.
Several days of reading had given Ye Chui a systematic understanding of the history of the Aigendas Continent.
The Aigendas Continent was the only continent discovered in this world, and its recorded history stretched back fifteen thousand years.
In the very beginning, the continent was crowded with countless races. Among them, the orcs, giants, dwarves, and some other races that had since vanished, such as the giant dragons, were the strongest. Humans were stuck in an awkward, inferior position: their numbers were the greatest of all, yet because of inborn flaws in their constitution they could only live as slaves.
About thirteen thousand years ago, a genius among the humans learned, through certain means, the ability to command the power of nature. With that, the humans leapt to the very front of all races. They even established some kind of alliance with the giant dragons, the most terrifying creatures on the Aigendas Continent.
That ability the humans had mastered was what later ages would call magic.
From then on, the humans began seven thousand years of rule over the Aigendas Continent.
The humans of this era were called the Forebears.
The Forebears' rule might have been peaceful at the outset, but as the years flowed by, the bloodline of the Forebear royal family seemed to fall under an evil curse, growing more savage with every generation. They even used dark magic to create the half-orcs, a cruel race of sin utterly devoid of conscience, to help them prop up their tyrannical rule.
And it was precisely the appearance of the half-orcs that finally roused the fury of all the other races.
The orcs, the giants, the dwarves, the goblins, and a portion of the humans formed an alliance and launched a war that lasted two hundred years.
This war was called the War of the Forebears.
In the War of the Forebears, the last three giant dragons in the world were killed by a famous human "Dragon-Slaying Swordsman," and the Forebear monarch and nobles were slaughtered to the last.
The remaining Forebears were driven forever into the cold, snowbound north. Ironically, the Forebears had once built the ten-thousand-li Wall of Desperation in the north on account of an unknowable prophecy, and that wall now stood as a formidable barrier keeping the Forebear people from ever returning to the central lands. Even now, many of the wildlings roaming north of the Wall of Desperation still carry Forebear blood.
Five thousand years have passed since the War of the Forebears.
Relying on their heaven-sent gift for magic, and on the professions that gradually split off from their ranks—swordsmen, knights, acolytes—the humans remain the masters of the Aigendas Continent.
Next come the warlike orcs and dwarves. Their numbers are few, but every one of them is a born, mighty warrior.
To this day these two races still clash with the human empire now and then, but on the whole peace has held.
The goblins, thanks to their peculiar traits, have become an indispensable part of life on the continent—the continent's common banks, for instance, are all run by goblins.
The giants vanished from the continent five hundred years ago for reasons unknown. It is said their entire race is hidden away in a place that cannot be known.
The elves are the only immortal race on the continent. They are relatively few in number and seldom interfere in the affairs of other races; their empire lies hidden deep in the forest, and only a very few outsiders have ever been fortunate enough to enter it.
In addition, the half-orcs—the Forebears' evil creations—have survived to this day on sheer tenacity, roaming the continent at will and wreaking terrible devastation like a plague of locusts and rats.
And some scholars hold that the undead who wander endlessly through Tombstone Town in the west of the continent can also be counted as one of the great races.
And so humans, orcs, elves, dwarves, giants, goblins, the undead, and half-orcs—these are the eight great races of the continent today.
As for the wildlings roaming beyond the Wall of Desperation... even the most rigorous scholars instinctively left them out.
That was the general introduction to the history and races of the Aigendas Continent in the first volume of the encyclopedia; the volumes that followed went into detailed introductions of each race, species, empire, culture, and so on.
Right now Ye Chui had just reached the section on the undead.
This is a fascinating world—there's even an undead kingdom right in the middle of the continent... After reading about the undead race for quite a while, Ye Chui closed the encyclopedia and rubbed his tired eyes, an indescribable surge of excitement burning in his chest. This world is wonderful, but only people with real strength get to experience how wonderful it is! So I have to learn Intermediate Magic Language and Advanced Magic Language as fast as I possibly can!
At that thought, Ye Chui's earlier gloom seemed to clear away entirely. He carefully marked his place in the encyclopedia, got up off the bed, and reopened Intermediate Magic Language, ready to keep trying to comprehend the knowledge inside it. Being a top student wasn't something a person could just casually pull off, after all.
But he had barely turned the first page when Debbie's shout came in from outside the door again: "I'm starving! When are you planning to make lunch, Hammerhead?"
"...I'm coming," Ye Chui said.
Can't I even get a minute to enjoy showing off how cool a top student is?
Anthony's Magic Cottage had been full of cheerful bustle lately—business booming, customers coming one after another. The challenge a few days earlier, when Hammerhead had beaten the rank-four swordsman Kairui, had invisibly made the shop's name, and Ye Chui's promotions had sent the shop's magic scroll sales soaring, still climbing steadily day by day.
Ye Chui's output of thirty magic scrolls a day could no longer meet demand, and business was going so well that it had actually begun to worry Debbie—though naturally, nothing in the world could have pleased her more.
Meanwhile, Busca's Magic Shop, on the same street as Anthony's Magic Cottage, was shrouded in gloom.
With Kairui gravely injured, Busca had no heart left for business; he had simply shut the great storefront altogether and suspended operations.
"Mr. Basigen, is there really... no way for my son to recover his strength?" Outside the room, Busca dabbed the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief and questioned the old gentleman who had just come out.
The old gentleman was a rank-five mage, thoroughly versed in light magic. Barring accidents, he would one day become a priest of light, and he was also the most renowned magic doctor in Stan City.
Basigen shook his head. "He used the swordsman's forbidden technique, War God's Protection. Most of the meridians in his body are ruined. If he had built his original strength through his own hard training, I might have had some way to help. But as it stands... heh. I'm afraid that even after his injuries heal, he'll be stuck at the rank-two swordsman level, and he may even slide further back than that. There is truly nothing I can do."
That said, Basigen did not linger; he waved a hand at Busca and simply walked away.
Out on the main street, he paused for a moment and turned his head to glance at Anthony's Magic Cottage. A soft, sneering chuckle escaped him. "A rank-four swordsman, played to ruin by a rank-two little mage. Now that's a joke to make you laugh your teeth out, heh heh..."
And with that, he was gone into the distance.
Standing in the doorway, Busca's face was grim. He had meant to see off this highly esteemed mage, and had happened to overhear the man's words instead—which set a towering rage blazing in his heart.
"One way or another, I'm going to settle this score! I swear it!"