Chapter 29: The Compilation of Classics, Part Two

Chapter 29: Book Collections (Part II)

Xazo stood up from his bed, pulled his Academy-issued bag from the wardrobe, and left the dormitory. He intended to visit the library to scan all the books in the collection and record every "Book Collection" synergy. His plan was to harvest the bonus experience points from these synergies, starting from the simplest and moving toward the more complex.

Books in the Academy library were available for anyone to check out. Volumes deemed unsuitable for mage servants were kept in the restricted archive or within the private studies of the professors. Xazo returned to the main hall of the castle, followed the appropriate signs, and walked under the warm, orange glow of the lights until he reached the library.

The library housed over twenty massive bookcases, crafted from solid, sturdy timber in a simple, elegant style. They were spaced three to five meters apart, creating aisles for students to traverse. High above, nearly ten meters up, a row of giant alchemical lamps hung from the ceiling. Their soft, golden light radiated through transparent glass shades, illuminating every corner of the room. Glass bay windows lined the walls, stretching from the entrance all the way to the deep reading areas. Outside, a serene landscape of lakes and greenery intertwined.

Xazo trod on the sound-absorbent, dark red carpet, approached the nearest bookcase, and looked up. Each case stood five or six meters tall, divided into a dozen rows of shelves. The rows at eye level held books for trial reading, while the higher shelves stored copies for study. Mage servants with innate elemental affinity could communicate directly with the elemental servants in the library, commanding them to retrieve copies from the high shelves. Those with acquired affinity, however, had to push a rolling ladder themselves to reach them.

The rolling ladders leaning against the walls and the majority of the copies on the shelves were brand new, clearly prepared by the Academy for the large number of students with acquired affinity. Freshmen with 10 points of Spirit understood the value of reading; the library was already filled with figures in crisp, new uniforms. They strolled between the shelves, searching for books that piqued their interest. Xazo’s habit of stopping after every step did not seem out of place.

He began with the first row of the first bookcase. Using his "Perception" spell, he slowly scanned the hardbound volumes. Occasionally, he would pick one up, flip to the table of contents, nod as if interested, and then carefully place it back, aligning it perfectly with the books beside it. About an hour later, he randomly selected a copy and sat in the quietest corner of the reading area. He propped his left arm on the table, supporting his forehead with his hand to shield his vacant expression as he checked his "Golden Finger" interface, while his right hand aimlessly turned the pages.

The Academy had organized the library by academic discipline, which greatly lightened the burden of inspecting the "Book Collections" and saved him the trouble of manual sorting. Among the many types of synergies, biographical books were the most numerous and offered the best experience yields.

[Book Title: Notable Figures of Starry Night City]
[Rank: Expert-level Work]
[Memory Reward: 7 XP, 0.05 Spirit]
[Book Collection 1: Common Knowledge of Starry Night City Culture, 0/2, Reward: 4 XP]
[Book Collection 2: Essential Reading for Life in Starry Night City, 0/3, Reward: 6 XP]
[Book Collection 3: Common Knowledge of Starry Night Province Culture, 0/3, Reward: 6 XP]
[Book Collection 4: Notable Figures of Starry Night Province Series, 0/2, Reward: 4 XP]
[Book Collection 5: Notable Figures of the Starry Night Kingdom Series, 0/7, Reward: 15 XP]
(Subsequent entries omitted)

Each book in the biographical category was linked to a vast number of synergies. The requirements for each set were small, and there was significant overlap between them. Memorizing a single book could fulfill the progress for multiple synergies simultaneously. Xazo did a quick calculation: finishing "Notable Figures of Starry Night City" would grant progress toward over a dozen synergies at once. If he followed the list for "Book Collection 5" and memorized the entire "Notable Figures of the Starry Night Kingdom" series, he could complete six synergies simultaneously, netting over 300 experience points.

Biographical books were, without a doubt, the kings of cost-effectiveness. Second were the topographical books, followed by ecological books, which required massive amounts of memorization for the lowest experience efficiency. Xazo nodded to himself, having made his decision. He would start with the biographical books. As for the topographical and ecological books, he would encounter those in his future classes and could memorize them then. He returned the book he was holding to the shelf and went in search of "Notable Figures of Starry Night City."

"Xazo."

Mars’s deliberately hushed voice suddenly sounded in his ear. Xazo jumped, snapping out of his focus. He looked at Mars’s hair with a dazed expression for a moment before glancing at the midday sun through the bay window. Two hours had passed already; time flew when one was reading. Since discovering that reading granted experience, he had become increasingly adept at memorizing knowledge, often finding himself lost in an ocean of information without realizing it. Even Mars, a senior student who had grown up among piles of books, admired this level of obsession.

Mars blew at the hair on his forehead, showed Xazo his pocket watch, and gestured toward his mouth. Talking was forbidden in the library. The two exchanged a few simple hand signals, left the library, and arrived at the castle’s main hall.

"I didn't even have to guess—I knew you’d be in the library. I came looking for you the moment lunch started."

Mars waved his arm at the wall, and a doorway overflowing with the aroma of food materialized. The Starry Night Castle dining hall was half-open-air and half-indoors. The central circular table was laden with fruits, desserts, and drinks, while long benches and booths were scattered around. Mars sat Xazo at a square table, skillfully ticked items on a menu, and rang a copper bell to summon an elemental servant.

The menu was taken by an invisible force and drifted toward the kitchen. Behind the glass partition in that direction, countless spatulas and seasoning jars danced through the air. Xazo watched the bustling kitchen with rapt attention, imagining himself controlling elemental servants to prepare hundreds of meals at once. If the experience bonus for commoners hadn't been nerfed, he wondered how much XP he could have reaped. Unfortunately, his Golden Finger had already patched that loophole.

A moment later, two plates of sizzling steak with vegetable soup drifted over and were set on the table.

"Mars, who controls these elemental servants acting as chefs and waiters?" Xazo asked, cutting a piece of beef sirloin and putting it in his mouth. The meat was tender, perfectly marbled, and cooked to a flawless medium-rare.

Mars took a sip of soup and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Nobody controls them. These elemental servants are products of Elemental Manifestation; they operate autonomously according to pre-programmed protocols. Once you take the Elemental Manifestation course in the future, you’ll have an elemental servant of your own. If your talent is good enough, Professor Bethel might even issue you a few more."

There were no books related to Elemental Manifestation in the mage servant library; it seemed to be an exceptionally profound and difficult field of study.