Chapter 122

It also made it easier for him to run away if necessary.

With the combat power he possessed now—capable of fighting against Fifth-Tier Nation-Destroying monsters—he should already have the strength to contend with, or even kill, ordinary Level 5 adventurers.

As for facing Level 6...

Rei had no idea what kind of strength Level 6 truly represented. But anyone capable of reaching that level was surely no ordinary individual. Their power couldn’t be compared with that of common people.

Rei arrived at the library.

The library was open 24 hours a day.

Since he had already decided not to sleep anymore tonight, there was no point in simply waiting idly. He might as well find something productive to do.

The earth had stopped trembling.

Rei found a seat and pulled out a sheet of paper.

Using Fire-Write Paper, he began listing out deciphering formulas.

[Deciphering Scholar — Advancement Formula]

[Decipher Value of Solved Mysteries — Calculated based on the difficulty of each mystery, knowledge involved, secrecy level, solving methods... and the unit time spent solving the mystery.]

[Additional decipher value is added for special mysteries according to the Special Mystery Reference Table.]

"Hm... deciphering Origin Magic also counts as a special mystery."

"The value is actually 10 points... that’s really high."

Rei added up the values of the other mysteries he had solved.

The total barely exceeded 8 points.

Yet deciphering a single Origin Magic had given him 10 points.

After calculating everything together, his total advancement points were approximately 18.115.

[Advancement Requirement: Each profession possessed multiplies by a different coefficient. Based on the level of each profession, the time since becoming a Deciphering Scholar, and the time spent on deciphering activities, the required advancement points are calculated.]

The formula was incredibly complicated.

The data was dense, and the tables needed for reference were extremely intricate.

The advancement of a Deciphering Scholar truly was a mystery.

If he had majored in mathematics in his previous life...

He probably would have been perfectly suited for this profession.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t.

Still—

With his abundant Spirituality, and the Deciphering Scholar’s inherent specialization in rapid calculations, the computations didn’t take long.

Very quickly, Rei finished calculating his advancement progress.

The existence of his other professions had indeed raised the advancement requirement for Deciphering Scholar.

And it had raised it a lot.

Fortunately, the coefficient for the Mage profession was relatively low.

And deciphering Origin within the Mage profession provided quite a few advancement points.

If he were to switch to Warrior, however...

The advancement coefficient would become terrifyingly high.

"Now then... the required points."

"To meet the standard requirement: 2 points."

"For Perfect Advancement: 20 points."

A difference of tenfold.

He still needed nearly 2 more points to achieve Perfect Advancement.

If he had only taken the Deciphering Scholar profession—

The advancement requirement from Level 1 → Level 2 would only have been 0.8 points, and Perfect Advancement would require only 5 points.

Even with a Mage side profession, simply deciphering Origin Magic would already be enough for a perfect Level 2 advancement.

But unfortunately, Rei was already a Level 3 Mage, and he also possessed the Death Priest profession.

Both of those significantly increased the difficulty of the Deciphering Scholar’s advancement.

Still—

Compared to other professions that required innovation, Origin comprehension, and all kinds of complicated conditions...

The Deciphering Scholar’s advancement was actually quite straightforward.

The requirements could be calculated directly.

And the score itself was a clear numerical value.

As long as he reached the requirement, that was enough.

"I should just solve more mysteries... Learning new languages or deciphering methods can also increase advancement points."

"Learning Intermediate Cryptography increases advancement points by... 0.04."

Rei sighed softly.

He took a book from his storage space and began flipping through it.

This was also a good opportunity to test how powerful his learning ability had become after his Spirituality increase.

Rei glanced at the time.

4:00 AM.

He had barely slept.

But for a Level 3 Mage, that short rest was already sufficient.

As levels increased, mental strength also grew stronger.

With his current mental capacity, he could probably stay awake five or six consecutive days without serious problems.

Still—

To maintain his best condition, Rei preferred to keep a normal sleep schedule.

Besides, dreams sometimes provided valuable inspiration.

Sometimes the insights gained from dreams were even greater than those gained while awake.

"Let’s start with Intermediate Cryptography..."

An hour passed.

Rei closed the book.

Intermediate Cryptography... he had likely mastered it already.

He still hadn’t reached the level of photographic memory, but whenever he read something important, he could remember it clearly.

Even concepts that should have been extremely obscure became understandable at a glance.

He could immediately think of practical scenarios where they could be applied.

Although he had only read the book once from beginning to end—

Rei felt he had already mastered its contents.

All the example problems in the book could be solved perfectly.

Next—

Rei pulled out another book.

"Cipher Analysis."

These books weren’t borrowed from the library.

Rei had purchased them from a bookstore.

Since he had changed profession to Deciphering Scholar, he wanted to practice solving puzzles.

With that thought in mind, he had bought quite a number of related exercise books.

Reading problems.

Solving them.

Lines of text and symbols flashed across the Fire-Write Paper, appearing and vanishing in quick succession.

Rei solved puzzles at astonishing speed.

Turning pages...

Turning pages...

Until he reached the final page.

Only then did Rei snap out of his state.

Just now—

He had been completely immersed in flow.

Without realizing it, he had already finished the entire exercise book.

"There wasn’t anything I couldn’t solve... Looks like I truly understood everything."

"So this is my learning efficiency now..."

He checked the time.

Only 15 minutes had passed.

He had completed the 55-page "Compendium of Cryptography".

Meanwhile, the Deciphering Scholar skill had evolved into:

[Focused Deciphering (LV:204)]

Skills didn’t seem to have tier classifications.

But they could still evolve once their proficiency reached LV:100.

Unlike talents, skill evolution did not allow selecting a direction.

Unfortunately, they also couldn’t be upgraded through sacrifice.

So after reaching Level 201, the leveling speed slowed dramatically.

Rei glanced at the pile of books beside him.

Advanced CryptographyOrcish Language BasicsOn DemonsMonster Classification...and more.

Time to study.

He couldn’t believe this was only eight hours of learning progress.

If he had possessed this level of learning efficiency in his previous life...

Getting into Tsinghua or Peking University would have been effortless.

Of course, that was just wishful thinking now.

But when he deliberately focused on learning new knowledge—

The results were astonishing.

Previously, most of his time had been spent contemplating Origin.

But the progress of contemplating Origin was far slower than learning ordinary knowledge.

Of course, he had also learned magical fundamentals very quickly.

But that might have been because he was already a Mage, had mastered so many spells, and trained them to extremely high proficiency.

Combined with Iz’s guidance and explanations, Rei had never really grasped how exceptional his learning ability was.

He knew he was smarter than average.

But there was also the effect of magic and books confirming each other.

Now, looking at the piles of books around him...

"Introduction to Basic Rituals.Dungeon and Monster Tide Analysis.Orcish Language.Advanced Cryptography.Demonology.Elvish Language.Avian Linguistics.Advanced Trap Studies.Monster Classification.Monster Anatomy.Combat Technique Schools.Gona Language."

Three languages—

He could now both read and speak them.

Cryptography and trap studies had reached advanced level, meaning he could easily detect hidden traps and even set traps himself.

As for ritual studies, dungeon analysis, demonology, elven studies, bird linguistics, monster anatomy, and classification—

He couldn’t say he had mastered them deeply, but he understood quite a lot. At the very least, everything described in the books had been fully comprehended.

Especially Combat Technique School Theory.

It significantly deepened Rei’s understanding of combat techniques.

"It’s already noon..."

He glanced at his pocket watch.

12:00 PM.

Only after exiting that highly concentrated state did he realize the library had become lively with people coming and going.

Nothing unusual had happened during the entire night.

"Kumironi, are you in the city?"

Rei called out.

There was no response.

Apparently not.

"Obades, are you there?"

...

After waiting a moment—

"Yes."

A slow, unhurried reply echoed within Rei’s mind.

"Stone Bro, where did Kumironi and Akase go?" Rei asked.

The response came after a short pause.

"Subjugation. Death. Church."

Rei didn’t continue asking when they would return.

Since they had serious matters to deal with, it would be inappropriate to rush them.

They would return when the matter was resolved.

Sigh...

He had actually hoped Kumironi could help him advance to Level 2 Deciphering Scholar.

Rei stored the books back into his spatial storage.

These were his own books, so they weren’t subject to the library’s borrowing restrictions.

Walking out of the library, his body seemed almost fused with the wind.

[Origin·Body Is Magic (Fourth Tier) (Origin)]

Effect 1:Magic and the physical body share the same origin. The body can be released like magic, granting it partial magical properties depending on the magic used.

Effect 2:Possess one Source, capable of transforming into countless magical variations. Permanent, all-element compatible, enhanced properties. Can mimic spells of the same tier currently being cast and store up to three mimicked spells.

Effect 3:The Source can merge with any body and is difficult to detect.

This Origin Magic existed independently.

Rei now possessed two Origin spells simultaneously:

Origin·All Magic (Third Tier)Origin·Body Is Magic (Fourth Tier)

Which meant—

Seven Source particles of colorful light floated around Rei.

Eight in total, actually.

One remained near the Ant Mountain, continuously harvesting souls.

"It’s already noon... I should go check the shop."

Today was the day his staff would be finished.

And tomorrow—

The War God Cup Tournament would begin.

His strongest opponent would probably be Luluvi, the one with 5,000 consecutive wins.

But based on the tournament format, the two strongest competitors would most likely not meet early.

Grouping was based on Arena Points, not level.

The two players with the highest points would be placed in different major brackets.

The next two highest would also be separated.

And so on.

The likely outcome—

The strongest would face the strongest... in the final stages.

"Participants limited to Rylan Continent..."

"I thought it was a global tournament."

But thinking about it—

If it were truly a worldwide tournament, the reward probably wouldn’t be just a Class Secret Scroll.

Rei arrived at Mystic Arcane Artifacts Shop.

Before he even reached the storefront, he could already see Aiden waiting at the entrance.

When Aiden saw Rei arrive, he broke into a wide grin.

A major client—and an extremely likable kid.

The more he looked at Rei, the more he liked him.

He almost felt like giving the boy gifts every time they met.

"Uncle Aiden."

"Ah! Rei! Your staff is finished!"

"But where’s Iz? Why didn’t he come?"

Rei sighed.

"Master Iz seems to have gone after Messe... he still hasn’t come back."

Aiden’s heart skipped a beat.

Chasing Messe?

That infamous, vicious ultimate criminal?

That was a chilling thought.

But then again—

If it was Iz, there probably wasn’t anything to worry about.

"Well, nothing we can do about that. Come with me."

"I’ll show you..."

"The strongest staff on this continent."

Rei’s eyes lit up.

"Okay!"

The strongest staff—just hearing that was exciting.

They entered Aiden’s inner workshop.

The room, usually chaotic and cluttered, had been completely cleaned.

"Actually, the staff was finished yesterday."

"But carving the finer details took an entire night."

Rei noticed the dark circles under Aiden’s eyes.

"Uncle Aiden..."

"You didn’t sleep these past few days, did you?"

Aiden grinned and gave a thumbs-up.

"Correct!"

"But your uncle here is a Level 5 Enchanter. Going a few days without sleep is no problem."

"In fact, I feel even more energetic."

"Especially while forging your staff... I felt like my entire spirit and focus became one."

Before them lay a staff covered with a pure white silk cloth.

"Come on—no more talk."

"Lift it."

Rei swallowed.

Then pulled the cloth away.

Before him appeared a jet-black staff, its surface shifting between illusion and reality, covered with countless star-like patterns.

At the tip floated a brilliant multicolored gemstone.

When Rei grasped it—

The sensation wasn’t like holding dry, decayed wood.

Instead, it felt smooth and refined.

Mana flowed into the staff instantly.

The moment he touched it—

The staff felt like an extension of his own body.

Rei could feel that he could now cast spells at an extremely distant range.

His casting range had increased to at least 160 kilometers.

That far?!

And spells cast through the staff clearly had greatly increased power.

As for the coverage range—

It would probably be terrifying.

Void-Spirit Ringstar Staff

Quality: Perfect

Effect:Additional enhancement to spell range, casting distance, power, speed, defensive strength, and duration based on proficiency level.

Special 1: Perfect Casting Distance (activated by Level 1 Mage)Special 2: Perfect Spell Power (activated by Level 2 Mage)Special 3: Perfect Spell Coverage (activated by Level 3 Mage)

Enchantment: Perfect·Protection of Distance — Doubles casting distanceEnchantment: Perfect·Protection of Power — Doubles spell powerEnchantment: Perfect·Protection of Range — Doubles spell coverageEnchantment: Perfect·Casting Perception — Sense everything within spellcasting range.

It matched his request perfectly.

Distance.Power.Coverage.

And there was even an additional effect from the staff itself.

"Additional enhancement tied to proficiency level?"

This really fit him perfectly.

The staff was truly tailor-made for him.

Even the Casting Perception enchantment solved his weakness of insufficient perception range.

Perfect.

Absolutely perfect.

Just by holding the staff, Rei could perceive the general state of everything within a 160 km radius.

As detailed as if his own senses had expanded there.

Within this range—

His spells could hit exactly where he aimed.

Enemies might be blasted by his magic without even knowing who attacked them.

He could lie in his hotel bed and bombard targets near the city walls.

"Aiden... this staff..."

"You really don’t want payment?"

Aiden shook his head firmly.

"This staff is the best gift you could ever give me."

"Don’t mention money again."

"Little Rei, one day you’ll become an incredibly great mage."

"As long as you don’t forget your uncle here when that day comes—that’s enough."

Enchanters themselves had little combat power.

But no one dared provoke a powerful enchanter.

Because their existence meant they were backed by powerful class holders.

A good weapon was incredibly important in battles against monsters.

Even the strongest individuals were no exception.

Rei—who had rarely relied on a staff before—now deeply felt this truth.

A casting distance of 5 km...

Versus 160 km...

They weren’t even remotely comparable.

And this improvement scaled percentage-wise.

Once he reached Level 4 or Level 5, the casting range would become even more absurd.

"I won’t forget."

"Uncle Aiden... you’re about to advance to Level 6 Enchanter, right?"

Aiden burst into laughter.

"HAHA! Of course!"

"Forging your staff forced me to use everything I’ve learned in my life."

"After this refinement, I can feel that I’ve fulfilled the principles of enchantment."

"I’ll be able to take another step forward on this path."

"Congratulations, Uncle Aiden."

"Haha, and congratulations to you too, Rei—for obtaining the strongest staff on this continent."

"Your staff is even stronger than the one Iz uses."

"But just holding it doesn’t show its true power."

"Once you actually use it, you’ll understand its mysteries."

Rei’s heart pounded with excitement.

He really wanted to test it immediately.

"Oh right—these are the materials you entrusted to me."

Several exquisite necklaces and a jade bracelet appeared in Aiden’s hand.

"Sigh... my apprentices may not be very capable, but they can at least process these materials."

"As for the crafting fee—don’t mention it."

"Just come back to my shop more often once you become strong."