The library was located on the fiftieth floor of the Central Black Tower. Without the Levitation Skill, Richard had to walk all the way up from the first floor, and by the time he reached the fiftieth, his legs were so tired they were wobbling.
Standing in front of the library door, Richard straightened his appearance, then strode in.
The library was vast; countless shelves that soared ten meters high spread out from before Richard's eyes to the horizon of his sight.
Suddenly, a palm-sized, winged sprite appeared out of thin air in front of Richard.
The sprite was very beautiful, and aside from the wings on its back, it looked like a proportionally shrunken beauty.
The sprite fluttered around Richard in a circle.
"You're a new student, aren't you? Quickly, take out your crystal ball."
Upon hearing this, Richard took the crystal ball out from his bag. The sprite lightly touched the crystal ball, making it flash a faint glow.
Armed with Richard's information, the sprite floated in front of him with an expression that was cute yet solemn.
"New student Richard, I am Fenna, the library administrator. If you want to borrow books, then touch your crystal ball to the book number, and I will record your borrowings. Additionally, the library prohibits quarreling, loud noises, and the use of all spells other than the Levitation Skill. If you violate the rules, I will have you removed. If the situation is serious, I will prohibit you from entering the library."
"Got it. So how do I find the books I want?"
The library's collection was vast as smoke; without something like an index, Richard would have exhausted himself to death trying to find what he wanted.
The sprite pointed at Richard's crystal ball.
"I have already loaded all the books you're allowed to borrow into that. If you want more books, then increase your strength. Each time an Apprentice advances a level, they can access more books. Once you become a Wizard, you can borrow any book from the library."
Richard probed the crystal ball with his spiritual power and the information of one book after another instantly appeared before his eyes.
"Any more questions?" Fenna asked.
Richard snapped out of it, "Oh, no more, thank you."
"If there are no more questions, then I'll be going."
Having said that, Fenna drew a glowing portal made of luminous powder in the air with her arm and then flew into it.
"Magical spell."
Richard sighed, then began searching through the vast sea of books for the ones he wanted.
Following the guidance of the information, Richard quickly located the book he was seeking—the "Wizard World Almanac."
Unlike the spell books that required magic stones to borrow, this book that introduced the Wizard World could be borrowed without magic stones, and what Richard needed most now was to understand the Wizard World.
Finding a corner in the library, Richard sat down and began to lift the veil on the Wizard World.
The Wizard World was much larger than Earth in his previous life, with nearly a thousand Wizard Academies dotting the vast continents, each led by a wizard dean of at least fourth-level Great Wizard status.
The Gale Zone in the Extreme East region, the Great Desert to the southwest, the Magnetic Island at the center of the continent, the Sky-reaching Ice Wall at the edge of the world... As he flipped through the pages, a resplendent and magnificent Wizard World gradually unfolded before Richard.
However, as he read, Richard noticed that on the map of the Wizard Continent, there were areas of varying sizes marked as uninhabited. According to the map's legends, these places had no Wizard Academies—it did not even have ordinary people.
"What is going on here?" Richard began searching the book for answers.
Eventually, in the section that introduced the history of the Wizard World, Richard found the answer.
The history of the Wizard World was divided into three stages: the Dark Age, the Age of Enlightenment, and the current Age of Exploration.
During the Dark Age, wizards were lone warriors, carving out territories in the wilderness of knowledge on their own. In this period, wizards had not yet become the dominators of the Wizard World, as both the colossal creatures of the sea and the giant dragons that soared the skies were far stronger than the wizards.
The second stage was the Age of Enlightenment. Wizards began to unite during this phase, with wizards of similar research directions forming connections that eventually led to the creation of institutions and Schools. Wizard Families also rose during this period, with wizards intermarrying and solidifying their relationships through bloodlines and pacts.
Also, during this period, wizards replaced the giant dragons as dominators of the land in the Wizard World and reached an agreement with the giant beasts of the sea.
At the end of the Age of Enlightenment, the Wizard World had been fully explored by wizards, except for the seabed filled with magic power undercurrents and the Elemental Poles wreathed in elemental storms; the entire Wizard World had been divided up by the wizards.
The world was limited, but the number of wizards kept increasing. Under this nearly unsolvable problem, the wizard wars began.
Wizards from various Schools used all their lifelong knowledge to grind opposing wizards into dust. The Shape-shifting School's Elemental Torrents disintegrated Wizard Towers, the Undead School's multitude of undead was as numerous as grains of sand, the Soul School summoned Soul Sea Giant Beasts one after another, the Demon Statue Army of the Alchemy School poured out continuously from the forges, and the curses of the Mysterious School created countless invisible killers.
This war turned a third of the Wizard Continent into wasteland, simultaneously creating an archipelago surrounding the continent.
In the end, the leaders of the Five Major Schools reached an agreement to end the war and formed the Truth Council to manage the entire Wizard World. These five leaders were subsequently referred to as the Truth Wizards.
Thus, the Wizard World entered its third phase, the Expansion Era.
War led to the loss of countless pieces of knowledge but also birthed many unprecedented new technologies.
The maturity of Star Realm navigation technology allowed wizards to embark on interplanetary expeditions aboard Floating Cities, while the Plane Wars required a continuous influx of wizards to join the fray. The traditional family model produced wizards too slowly, often yielding only a few dozen over the course of centuries, which fell far short of the needs of the Plane Wars.
Consequently, the Wizard Academy was established.
Richard closed the book, now understanding the purpose behind the academy's ruthless rules.
"So, essentially, all Wizard Academies are military institutions, and all the academy wizards are born for the Plane Wars."
Plane Wars, Star Realm voyages—these notions electrified Richard's innermost being.
In his previous life, Richard had been obsessed with stars, fantasizing about humanity coexisting in harmony and exploring the endless cosmos.
Ironically, what he hadn't witnessed in his past life, he saw after transmigrating.
"I must become a wizard."
Richard's gaze was resolute; before, he had been living merely to survive.
But now, he had a dream!
When he left the library, night had already fallen.
At the door of his dormitory, he encountered Ali, whose hair and burns had fully recovered, and she was donned in a new, form-fitting dress.
The academy had a hospital. From minor colds and fevers to severe mutilations, the Academy Hospital could heal them all. They could even summon an Undead Wizard from the Undead School to transform you into an undead wizard—provided you had enough Magic Stones.
"Hey, Richard. Where have you been, want to try some freshly baked bread?"
Ali greeted Richard with a bag of hot, fragrant baguettes, handing one to him.
Richard accepted the bread, and the rich aroma instantly awakened his appetite.
Gurgling!
There seemed to be quite a few restaurants and bakeries in the living area
"I was at the library just now. You should go too, there's a 'Wizard World Almanac' that's quite interesting," Richard mumbled as he ate his bread.
"Okay, I'll check it out tomorrow."
Ali looked at Richard, her cheeks reddening inexplicably.
As the saying goes, clothes make the man, and Richard, now in new attire and having recovered from previous malnourishment, exuded a scholarly charm with his long black hair, handsome features, and slightly lean figure.
All of this fell right into Ali's perfect picture.
Moreover, Richard had played the hero for her aboard the Airship.
Recalling the silhouette she glimpsed through the door crack, Ali's cheeks couldn't help but feel hot.
"Mhm, make sure to look at the historical section," Richard instructed after swallowing his bite of bread, patting Ali with a determined look.
Ali's heart skipped a beat,
"Okay! I will definitely read it."
Back in his room, Richard couldn't wait to pick up the book on the Basic Meditation Method.
One indispensable condition to become a wizard was spiritual power, and the Meditation Method was the most common and widely used means to enhance it.
[Ingredient: Basic Meditation Method]
[Information that can be refined: Basic Meditation Method]
[Refining cost: 10 spiritual power]
[Proceed with refining?]
"Yes!"