Cecilia walked a short distance ahead of him and glanced back at him.
Edmond was also watching him, his gaze was filled with a complex emotion, probably puzzled by "how this person can do everything."
Duke showed no expression and continued walking forward.
He passed through the magical barrier, stepped onto the cobblestone path, and pushed open the door to his residence.
The study remained quiet as he walked over to the desk, sat down, activated his badge, and checked his account.
Current contribution balance: 795 points
Total contributions: 810 points
points available.
Including the registration fee spent earlier, his total contributions amount to 810 points.
Annual assessnt only considers the total, not the balance.
Which ans that with his target of one thousand points this year, he has already achieved eighty percent.
In the remaining months, casually earning another hundred or two hundred points would be sufficient.
But Duke did not plan to remain idle.
In two months, there would be another assessnt task.
Cohen had ntioned this is the true test.
He needed to use these two months to improve himself as much as possible.
And the fastest way to improve was to spend these contribution points.
Duke leaned back in his chair, starting to calculate in his mind.
The library of the Six-Ring Tower is one of the largest knowledge repositories in the entire Wizard Plane.
It is said that Albert’s world-class secret treasure, the Book of Truth, exists within this library.
It houses books, manuscripts, and research records that are unseen elsewhere.
Especially information regarding the essence of elents, energy operation, and rule comprehension would be highly coveted by even small organizations along the West Coast.
What he lacked most right now was a preliminary understanding of the rules.
Advancing to Level 3 requires mastery of rules, which is an unavoidable hurdle.
Though he possesses a six-elent composite crystal, a Light Divine Status, and the advantages provided by the Skill Tree, the understanding of rules cannot be achieved rely by talent.
One needs accumulation, introspection, and a true understanding of those abstract concepts.
And the first step of understanding is to see how others have understood.
...
Early the next morning, Duke left ho earlier than usual.
Passing through the magical barrier, he did not head towards the teaching area as he normally would but in a different direction, towards the heart of the Central Islands.
The library of the Six-Ring Tower is not in Zone 7 but in Zone 1.
It is the core area of the entire Central Islands, directly beneath Sky City, the island where the core of the Six-Ring Tower is located.
He needed to pass through seven Light Gates, each of which has guards who verify badge information.
The guards at the first few gates only glanced as a formality, but at the fifth light gate, the guard, now a Level 3 Mage, rested his gaze on Duke for a while before waving him through.
Beyond the seventh Light Gate, the view opened up.
Duke stopped in his tracks.
This was his first ti truly standing on the land of Zone 1.
Beneath him was a vast avenue made of white stones, flanked by ticulously trimd short shrubs.
At the end of the avenue stood a massive building centered in his vision.
It was a colossal square structure built entirely of pure white stone, with the facade spanning no less than three hundred ters and a height exceeding fifty ters.
The main entrance comprised of three massive arched doors lined parallel, each standing twenty ters tall, with densely inscribed runes slowly shifting on the doorfras.
Above the arched doors, several large words were inscribed in ancient common script:
"Here Settles Truth."
Six-Ring Tower Library.
Standing in the avenue, Duke looked up at those words, silently pausing for a few breaths.
Then he stepped forward.
The mont he crossed the main gate, he felt a slight weightlessness; it was the feeling of passing through a spatial barrier.
When he regained his senses, he was already standing in an imnsely vast hall.
The ceiling was so high it was nearly out of sight, and everywhere within sight were labyrinthine passages and bookshelves.
The bookshelves rose along the walls, one layer after another, reaching the vanishing point.
Suspended passageways connected each layer, with figures moving quietly as if strolling through clouds.
In the center of the hall stood a large circular service desk constructed of so kind of silvery stone material.
Behind it stood several wizards in council uniforms, answering visitors’ questions in low tones.
Duke approached.
"First ti here?" A witch behind the service desk glanced at him.
"Yes."
The witch nodded, retrieving a palm-sized silver tal tag from beneath the desk and handed it to him.
"Take this; it will record your entry and exit tis and locations. The library charges by ti, at 10 points of contribution per hour, counting partial hours as whole."
She paused, then pointed at the pathways deep within the hall.
"With your current basic permissions, you can only access activities on the first to third levels; the fourth and above require higher permissions or a separate application. Borrowing books also incurs extra fees. Books from the lending section can be taken out, whereas those from the reference section must be read here. Specific rules are in that booklet."
She pointed to a stack of thick parchnt booklets in a corner of the service desk.
Duke picked one up and skimd through it.
The rules were more complex than he had imagined, categorized by areas, permissions, and types of books.
So books charge by the hour, so by the day, others by the number of borrowings.
The most expensive books on the first to third levels had prices marked that even made him take a second glance—5,000 contribution points, just for a three-day loan.
He closed the booklet, nodded at the witch, and turned to head deeper in.
After passing through the hall, a wide passage ca into view.
On both sides of the passage sat bookshelves arranged neatly, each standing five to six ters tall, cramd full of books, scrolls, crystal balls, and tablets.
So had book titles on the spines, others just numbers.
Every so often along the passage, there was a small reading area with several armchairs and a small table.
People sat there with bowed heads reading, with a hot drink of unknown origin on the side.
As he slowed his pace, Duke’s eyes swept over the labels on the shelves.
"Basic Elent Theory"
"Classification and Characteristics of Energy Particles"
"Advanced ditation Principles"
"The Underlying Logic of Magic Model Construction"
"Introduction to Plane Energy Circulation"
...
He kept walking inward.
On the second level, more specialized titles began to appear on the shelves.
"Interactions and Transformations Among Elents"
"Research on High-Level Elental Affinity Phenona"
"Theory and Practice of Energy Resonance"
"Observation Notes on Rule Phenona (One)"
...
Duke’s gaze lingered for a mont on that last book.
Observation Notes on Rule Phenona.
He reached for it, and as his fingers touched the spine, the book emitted a faint hum, and a semi-transparent light curtain appeared before him:
Additional 15 contribution points required for borrowing, confirm?
Duke paused, then confird.
His badge heated slightly as 15 points were deducted.
The book stopped its humming, and he took it from the shelf, heading to the nearest reading area to sit.
Upon opening the book, a handwritten line greeted him on the flyleaf:
"Dedicated to those seeking light in darkness."
No signature.
Duke flipped past the flyleaf and began reading the main content.
It was a notebook, not a formal publication.
Recorded by a wizard nad Edwin, judging by the content, likely a Level 3 Mage, with observations of various rule phenona across different planes and environnts.
Page by page, Duke read, becoming more engrossed.
Much of what Edwin recorded was beyond Duke’s understanding.
’Resonant frequencies of rules,’ ’mapping relationships between energy and rules,’ ’stability of rule projections’—these terms he knew, but together they beca obscure.
Yet he could understand part of it.
Especially those Chapters on elents.
Edwin had recorded a passage at a plane rich with water elents:
"The control that water elent mages have over water is essentially about resonating their spiritual power with the rule of water. The stronger the resonance, the stronger the control. However, rules themselves remain unchanged; what changes is rely the channel between you and them."
Duke stared at that passage for a long ti.
Spiritual power resonating with rules.
Channel.
He recalled what Aisling ntioned in class, that a Level 3 Mage, with a single thought, could completely prevent a Level 2 Mage from utilizing elental particles.
It wasn’t because the Level 3 Mage had stronger spiritual power, but because there was a channel between the Level 3 Mage and the rules, which a Level 2 Mage did not possess.
Channel.
This word made him think for a long ti.
After finishing, he closed the book, leaned back in his chair, and gazed at the layered passages and bookshelves above.
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