We were standing in the air, just like when we climbed the Stairs of Truth, but this time, our bodies were upside down. Looking up, the Great Wall of Truth stretched along the mountain range like a snake.
“Hmmmm!” Wendy had already tightly closed her eyes, holding on to the collar of my clothes. “Hmm, it’s better than when we were climbing the stairs. Keep improving like that, Wendy.”
“Follow me.” Myoil took the lead and walked ahead. Is this the headstand version of Walking in the Void? It feels like walking on an invisible ceiling. But there was no particular discomfort.
I asked Myoil, the spiritual being who uses mysterious magic, “Are you from the Cremont family?” The Cremonts, a prestigious magic family of the earth. “Only those related to that family could use such advanced gravity reversal magic.”
Myoil slowly shook his head. “Haha, how could that be? I was just a guest in the Cremont family before I became a spiritual being. I learned it by watching over their shoulders back then.” Magic is not something you can do just by watching a few times. Especially magic with attributes like Earth Magic, which is a closely guarded secret passed down through families. This old cat was able to do it because he was a genius that might appear once in history.
+
Character Profile.
Name: Myoil.
Age: 1237 years.
Occupation: Librarian of the Magic Library, Custodian of the Great Wall of Truth.
Characteristic: Hermit master.
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“…You are modest.”
“Hahaha, you flatter me. Meeting you in person, I see you are quite different from what the rumors suggested, Tristan.”
“Rumors, you say.”
“Yes… There wasn’t a single good rumor about you. I was worried you might have many enemies.”
“Enemies…”
Strictly speaking, I might be considered an enemy of the world. Most of the characters dislike me. Some are even desperate to kill me. However, unfortunately, I’m not yet ready to fight the world. My characteristics are prone to self-destruction. I can’t use magic because of a curse. Nor am I physically outstanding. I learned to use my characteristics by practicing patience. But that’s not enough. I need a power that can defeat any enemy I encounter.
As we continued to walk, the landscape above our heads rapidly passed by. Then we stopped on a mountain separate from the long bookshelf fortress.
“We’ve arrived,” declared Myoil.
It was a small shrine, hidden in a dense forest, invisible from the outside. “You can read books related to ancient magic here.”
“Ugh… It feels eerie…”
It hardly looked like a place frequented by people. Moss clung to the stone roof and long weeds grew abundantly.
I stood in front of the firmly locked door of the shrine. “This storage is the most special place in our library. You can’t access it without a VVVIP-level reading pass.”
Myoil pointed to the purple reading pass in my hand. “This means only you, the owner, can enter. Even I haven’t been inside due to lack of authorization.”
“I see.”
So, I’ll be the first to enter.
I brought the purple card to the door and it began to faintly resonate. Just before opening the door, I hesitated.
“What’s wrong?”
“Myoil.”
“Yes.”
“I heard you play Shogi (Japanese chess).”
“Oh? Yes, I quite enjoy it.”
“I see. Wendy.”
“Y-Yes?”
Wendy, suddenly called, tilted her head in confusion.
“Learn from him.”
“Count…?”
“I’m interested in Shogi, but as you know, I’m too busy to learn.”
“C-Count…?”
“If you’re my exclusive, you should naturally know how to play Shogi.”
“Count… Why are you doing this to meee…”
“Learn it before I come out. Later, I’ll learn it from you.”
I said to Myoil, “I’ll be back, so please take care of this child.”
“Oh, the weight on my shoulders has just increased. I’ll have to teach her ‘properly’ so that the Count can learn from her later. Hahaha.”
“Count!!!” Wendy cried out in despair.
I’m sorry, but this will certainly be helpful for her.
Can’t be helped.
I opened the door of the storage, leaving Wendy’s cries behind me. At the same time, a voice was heard.
[Library number 1257742 – Ma / Subject – Opening the ancient magic storage.]
My consciousness was instantly sucked into the door. I found myself sitting as if I had always been there. It was not particularly surprising. I knew how to use the storage from the original story.
I spoke to the empty space. “Keyword search.”
[Please enter the search term.]
A message window appeared, shimmering.
“Ancient magic that does not use mana.”
[0 out of 56,321 results found.]
Hmm… My approach seems a bit off.
I thought for a moment and then spoke. “Forgotten ancient magic.”
[7,431 out of 56,321 results found.]
Still a lot, but it’s reduced.
“Add keyword to results… The oldest ancient magic.”
[15 out of 7,431 results found.]
Almost there.
“Add another keyword… Moon magic.”
[1 result found.]
This is it.
“Access it.”
At that moment, a book floated up in front of me, so old that its original color was indiscernible. This was the book I had been searching for.
+
Name: Book on Moon Magic.
Description: A book on moon magic that existed a long time ago.
Appraisal: Its current value is unknown.
+
Moon magic. This might be the only magic I can learn. All the ingredients are ready.
I manipulated the message window to find information on one of my characteristics.
+
Characteristic: Greed
Rank: SS
Details: You must obtain what you want to be satisfied. You yearn to understand everything about your desire, from head to toe. You want to own it, monopolize it.
Your greed knows no end. The more you fill your bottomless greed, the poorer your soul becomes.
*This characteristic is one of the seven deadly sins.
+
I’m finally putting it to use.
I concentrated, just like when I used ‘anger’. And then I began to covet the ‘knowledge’ in this book.
Glug.
If anger was hot, greed was sticky. A sticky emotion overflowed in my chest. And I swallowed the book in front of me.
[You ‘covet’ the knowledge in the book!]
Knowledge flowed into my head. It was written in an ancient language incomprehensible to me, but I understood its concept from the setting. Magic manifests by consuming mana present in the human body. Tristan can’t use magic because he has no mana in his body. In other words, he lacks fuel.
Moon magic is also magic and consumes mana. However, it does not consume the mana inside the body. Instead, it uses the mana present around. The moon does not shine on its own. It only reflects the sunlight. The concept of moon magic is similar. It manifests magic using mana present in everything around, not in my body. This is the only way for Tristan, who has no mana, to use magic.
I continued to concentrate. First
, I understood the knowledge about the forgotten moon magic. Based on that understanding, I discovered knowledge not mentioned in the book. And I greedily devoured this newly acquired knowledge.
Glug.
My body, devoid of mana, began to embrace the new magic. I understood the new magic. But that was not enough for me. I coveted other books related to ancient magic as well. Knowledge that only remained in name, and basics to applications transmitted by ancient magicians long ago. Their know-how. The history of magic thus created.
“…I covet all of that.”
Glug.
I exhaled.
[You use ‘patience!’]
[Your ‘greed’ is suppressed by ‘patience.’]
[‘Greed’ goes wild!]
Glug, glug!
A tug-of-war between greed and patience ensued. I concentrated again, recalling that moment when I barely stopped the heavy trigger from being pulled on Millium. I remembered my ‘patience’, as fierce as my anger.
Glug.
At that moment, the overflowing sticky sensation in my chest stopped.
[You have successfully ‘endured’ your ‘greed!’]
At the same time, I realized. I had also become a proper magician.
