Xiadam and Sheffield left the Lord’s Mansion, holding the Fat Little Dragon.
They followed Priestess Anna to the Church in the Border City.
It was an enormous church, and it belonged to just one holy official.
It turned out Priestess Anna owned a gigantic property in this Border City, which made Xiadam deeply respectful, not daring to speak too loudly.
“This is our church’s Scripture Room.”
However, Priestess Anna led the two past the grand church, to a book repository at the back that seemed even older.
“Can we go in? Isn’t this a restricted area of the Holy See?” Xiadam was still pretending to be naive, but in truth, she was itching to rush inside.
“Of course you can.” Priestess Anna pulled out a key necklace, unlocked the door, and pushed it open to enter.
Xiadam followed her in, and was immediately greeted by a wave of stale, dusty air.
Inside were all wooden bookshelves, piled high with scrolls.
“You two wait outside for now. There’s a lot of dust in here.”
Priestess Anna began searching, helping the Mage to find that long-ignored Strength Scroll.
To avoid suspicion, Xiadam still stepped out.
After all, this was the Book Repository of the Holy See—outsiders shouldn’t wander in at will.
Sheffield lifted her little hand, secretly controlling the air to blow the dust out of the room.
“What kind of indoor freshening Magic is that?” Xiadam whispered.
“We tell people I’m your Magic disciple, right? Can you not ask such stupid questions in front of others next time? It’ll blow our cover,” Sheffield whispered back even more quietly.
“Is my question really that stupid?” Xiadam fell into self-doubt.
Oh, right, I forgot to explain: the Dark Elf Sheffield is supposedly the personal disciple of the Magician Xiadam, currently following Xiadam to study Magic.
Of course, we all know the truth is exactly the opposite.
But out here in the world, to avoid unnecessary trouble, making an Elf the disciple of a Human is much more awe-inspiring than the other way around.
As long as you’re respected, as long as others fear you, you can avoid a lot of idle gossip.
But these kinds of lies only fool ordinary folks who know nothing of Magic, or young Magic wielders like Priestess Anna.
If they ever ran into a true old Mage, fooling them wouldn’t be so easy.
“Lady Xiadam, I found it. This is the Strength Scroll you wanted.”
After searching for quite a while, Priestess Anna finally emerged holding a scroll, handing it to Xiadam without hesitation.
“Thank you so much.” Xiadam accepted the scroll and gave her heartfelt thanks.
“But, what does a Magician want this spell for? This Strength Scroll has been sitting here for decades, no one ever asked for it.” Priestess Anna asked curiously.
“Every spell is useful, that’s why it was created. Maybe it’s not popular now, but it surely had great value in the past. We can’t underestimate any Magic.” Xiadam said.
“The Grandmaster speaks with reason.” Priestess Anna nodded repeatedly.
“I’m planning to give the Strength Scroll as a birthday present to the Old Lord. Once the Birthday Banquet is held, you’ll know what it’s for. For now, please help me keep it secret, or there won’t be any surprise.” Xiadam said with a gentle smile.
“Yes, I’ll never leak it, even if you beat me to death. If I break this oath, may Forbidden Divine Thunder strike me down!” Priestess Anna swore on the spot.
“Uh… it’s not that serious. I’ll be off now—see you at the Birthday Banquet.”
“Goodbye, Lady Xiadam. Goodbye, Lady Sheffield.”
Having gotten what she wanted, Xiadam couldn’t wait to hurry back to the Lord’s Mansion, return to her room, lock the door, and start her secluded cultivation.
She spread the Strength Scroll out on the tea table and read it carefully.
Compared to studying the Weapon Enhancement Grimoire, this scroll was extremely brief, and much easier to understand.
Even so, Xiadam still stayed up all night before she fully understood the Strength Scroll.
Daybreak arrived…
Xiadam was left with black lines across her face.
She had learned a new Magic, but her expression was filled with gloom.
“Damn it, the principle behind strengthening physical power is basically the same as weapon enhancement.”
She couldn’t believe she had studied two basic spells that used almost identical principles!
The Strength Scroll described how to infuse Magic power into every part of the body, thoroughly analyze the human body, and then strengthen muscles and tendons.
How was that different from analyzing a weapon before reinforcing its material?
One could say that the basic logic of these general Magics all led to the same destination. A clever Magician could infer one thing from another.
Unfortunately, Xiadam was not what you’d call a clever Magician; deep down, she was still a traditional warrior.
Still, Xiadam’s Magical wisdom had grown a little—so, it could be called a gain! Probably.
“So tired… I can’t keep my eyes open…”
After staying up all night researching Magic, Xiadam was so exhausted that she could barely see the bed across the room, so she simply flopped onto the sofa and fell asleep.
But she didn’t sleep long—by noon, she woke up on her own.
Sitting up, she found a Bearskin Cloak draped over her.
Her face filled with confusion—wasn’t this left at the camp in the woods? How did it end up here?
“Sheffield, you…” Xiadam started to say something.
She turned her head just in time to see Sheffield grabbing the Fat Little Dragon, about to shove it into a Void Rift.
The Fat Little Dragon was panicking, sweating profusely, waving its stubby limbs like a puppy drowning in water.
“What are you doing?!” Xiadam vaulted over the back of the sofa, delivered a knife-hand strike to Sheffield’s head, and successfully rescued the Fat Little Dragon.
“Ah~” Sheffield was still in a daze.
“Why are you bullying Little Black?” Xiadam demanded.
“What do you mean? I was going to teach it some advanced Dragon Magic.” Sheffield put her hands on her hips, but her tone was a little guilty.
“And what is that?” Xiadam pointed at the Void Rift floating in the air.
“[Spatial Storage Magic].” Sheffield replied.
As she spoke, she reached into the Void Rift, pulled out a small Bearskin Cloak, and handed it to Xiadam.
Xiadam’s eyes lit up at once. She took the small Bearskin Cloak—her very first handmade piece of clothing.
“Such a convenient Magic. Can you teach me? This doesn’t seem like a Dragon-exclusive spell.” Xiadam asked.
“…”
Sheffield didn’t answer, only gave Xiadam a subtle look.
“Alright, alright, I get it. I know I’m not up to it,” Xiadam said, admitting her limitations.
“This may not be Dragon Breath Magic, but it’s still a power exclusive to me, the White Dragon King—[Spatial Magic]. It’s just like the Black Dragon’s Gravity Magic, an innate talent. Some Humans might comprehend Spatial Magic or Gravity Magic, but the odds are about as high as your… ahem,” Sheffield explained, almost letting something slip.
“My what?” Xiadam’s eyes suddenly turned sharp.