Chapter 52: About to Arrive

The female mage chuckled, "I knew it! Also, the spell structure of second-tier spells can't be drawn using ordinary methods by those of the same rank. Only a third-tier mage can draw spells one rank lower without interpreting them, mainly because the mana or mental energy in these lines is a bit too strong, which easily confuses people." Faced with Shaoke's confusion, she gave him a detailed explanation.

Shaoke glanced at the copied scroll with resignation, slowly rolling it up as he said, "It seems that mage from that aristocratic family told you many things ordinary mages don't know!"

The mage carefully examined her copied work, then nodded with satisfaction. "Well, what does it matter? Haven't I told you everything now?" With that, she stopped talking to Shaoke, gestured, and continued copying the spell she had chosen.

Watching her work diligently, Shaoke rested briefly before sitting cross-legged on the chair to meditate and recover his mana, hoping to copy a first-level spell before returning—after all, he couldn't go back empty-handed!

When Shaoke awoke from a deep meditative state, the mage was still hard at work. Not wanting to disturb her, he made an effort to move quietly as he went to the bookshelf to search for first-level spells. There weren't many spells stored here, and soon he had finished reading the names of all the first-level spells. Recalling carefully, he didn't find any first-level spells he hadn't heard of before; it seemed this place didn't contain any spells exclusive to the military. Now, Shaoke no longer wanted to copy first-level spells, as he had already mastered over a dozen of them. He felt that while first-level spells were important, compared to higher-level spells, they had numerous shortcomings and would take up a significant amount of his time. It would be better to focus on familiarizing himself with the first-level spells he already knew.

Unable to find the military's unique spells, Shaoke had no choice but to pick up a book from the shelf to read. It was a book about making "spellbooks," somewhat different from what he had seen before. Gradually, Shaoke became captivated by the theories in the book, forgetting the frustration he had felt earlier from not finding special spells.

When he finished the book, Shaoke noticed that the female mage had stopped copying and was now sitting across from him, absorbed in reading a book. Shaoke gently closed his book and slowly moved behind her. She looked up at him and smiled, "What, finished reading?"

Shaoke leaned down, placing his hands on her shoulders and giving a light press. "Shouldn't we head back? I bet the coachman is already waiting outside." As he spoke, he slowly shifted the position of his hands.

The mage abruptly closed the book in her hands and pressed down on his mischievous hand on her neck. "Don't move! Hmm... don't move! We should go back." With one hand holding down the wandering hand on her neck, she unconsciously grabbed the papers on the table with the other, softly refusing.

Feeling the softness of her neck, Shaoke couldn't help but caress it for a while. Finally, as she tilted her head back, revealing her flushed face, Shaoke couldn't resist leaning down to press his lips against hers.

Just then, the stone door was knocked with a "bang, bang." Startled, both of them were jolted back to awareness. The female mage grabbed her staff and glared fiercely at Shaoke. "Who is it?" Shaoke smiled bitterly—he had almost succeeded!

"It's me. It's late now. Earlier, I heard from the servants that there's a carriage parked at the entrance. The coachman said he's here to pick you up. He's been waiting outside for almost two hours." The voice of the elder mage who had guided them came from outside the door. "Hurry back! No one stays here at night. Or, you can sleep here, and I'll have someone tell the coachman to leave first?"

"Wait a moment, we're packing up and will be right out." Shaoke and the mage hurriedly began gathering the items on the desk. They carefully returned the scrolls to their original places, neatly arranged the books, then put on their cloaks, closed the ventilation inside, and extinguished the candles one by one before coming out.

The elder mage held a hexagonal glazed lantern carved with patterns. He raised it to shine on the two mages and extended a hand. "Give me a common gold coin. I won't ask how many spells you two copied inside, and you also wasted so many candles, had our staff deliver messages for you... Just give me a common gold coin directly."

Just as the female mage was about to say something, Shaoke took a common gold coin from his purse and handed it over. "Sir, we'll be leaving now. If there's a chance in the future, I believe we'll meet again."

The elder mage weighed the gold coin in his hand and said to the two, "Follow me! There are no extra lanterns, so we'll have to manage with this one." As he spoke, he seemed nostalgic, stroking the carved lantern shade and sighing. "Actually, I remember when I first came here, there were many glazed lanterns like this. Sadly, the curator sold them all. Ah! By the way, if you ever go to the battlefield, make sure not to cast too many spells in each battle. Keep about half of your spellcasting ability in reserve, so you can still react in case of emergencies."

Grateful for the elder mage's kind reminder, Shaoke and the female mage thanked him. After the elder mage dispelled the magical effects on the door, the two mages bid him farewell once more, then boarded the waiting carriage and headed back to the inn.

The elder mage held the lantern until the sound of hoofbeats faded completely, then sighed softly and slowly closed the door. A magical aura shimmered once more, and the already dilapidated library in the city returned to tranquility.

When the mages returned to the inn, the inn's manager was anxiously waiting in the lobby. "Honorable mages, did something happen on the way? The coachman didn't delay you, did he?"

Shaoke said apologetically, "I'm really sorry. The coachman didn't delay us; we just lost all sense of time. Thank you for your help."

After chatting briefly, the mages excused themselves to rest, ending the conversation.

As they returned to their rooms, the female mage suddenly turned to Shaoke and said, "Back in the stone room, your behavior was very impolite, especially toward a female mage. Heh. Good night!" Leaving the embarrassed mage behind, she turned and went into her room to rest.

Shaoke stood at the door for a moment, then spoke through it, "Francis, actually... actually, good night to you too." With that, he hurried back to his own room, not daring to hear what she might say next.

The next day, after breakfast, the two mages boarded the carriage arranged by the innkeeper. This time, they switched to a noticeably larger carriage with better furnishings, though the price was only half a gold coin more.

The two mages spent the journey familiarizing themselves with the spells they had copied the previous day. Shaoke carefully read the first half of the second-level spell "Blazing Ray," which he had partially copied, and tried slowly forming the gestures. The female mage held her spellbook, reading with her head down, occasionally closing her eyes to think while leaning against the plush cushion, then checking her notes again.

Along the way, trade caravans gradually increased. Several times, passing caravans hoped the three-carriage convoy would join their group—of course, for a fee—but Shaoke instructed the coachman to decline. However, each night when they camped, they still rested near the camps of larger merchant caravans. As the coachmen put it, "Even if there are bandits, they'll attack them first. We're too small a target." Naturally, they said this secretly during breaks, not daring to let the mages know.

After familiarizing himself with the partially copied second-level spell, Shaoke began preparing to make a "spellbook." He slowly glued together sheets of paper he had made from snow deer hide using special magical glue. He didn't stop until he had glued together hundreds of sheets, using up all the deerhide paper he had accumulated over his two-plus years at the border. This task took him nearly an entire day.

Shaoke stretched his aching back and leaned against the carriage wall to rest. Seeing he had finished his work, the female mage took some bread slices from a side compartment and handed them to him. "If you had eaten lunch, you wouldn't be so tired. How much time would it take to eat a few slices of bread?"

Shaoke waved his hand. "I won't eat now. It's almost dinner time. If I eat now, what will I have later? I still want to have a drink with you! You don't understand—I wanted to finish it in one go, so..."

The mage pushed the bread slices toward him again. "What? Do you want me to serve you?"

Shaoke suddenly opened his eyes and stared intently at her. "Sure! Thank you for taking care of me, seeing as I'm so worn out."

But she immediately put the bread slices back into the compartment. "If you don't want to eat, then don't. It's none of my business anyway."

Shaoke moved the writing desk in front of him aside and leaned closer to the female mage. "How's your 'spellbook' coming along? Can I take a look? I haven't seen you working on it these past few days."

The mage tucked her slightly messy hair behind her ears. "I've been busy studying the spells I just copied these past few days! By the way, why did you choose the 'Blazing Ray' spell? Although it has the greatest penetrating power among second-level spells, it's not very versatile. In terms of attack power, the 'Wind Blade' spell is the strongest, and it's also an area-attack spell!"

Shaoke nodded, thinking for a moment. "Actually, the main reason is that I don't plan to focus on area-attack spells. I want to specialize in studying and learning single-target attack spells, to become a true battle mage—not one who hides behind shields casting large-scale attack spells. I don't consider such mages to be battle mages."

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