The Book Eating Magician Chapter 6:
What does this book taste like? #2
‘Well, I won’t lose anything either way . ’
In other words, it was a matter of priority .
Theo could choose to learn one more magic or borrow Gluttony’s wisdom . If he selected the wrong thing, he could just wait for tomorrow . As a result, there was no difference . If Gluttony suddenly started fasting, then he would be more worried about the situation .
Therefore, Theo came up with a simple answer .
“Let’s do two books this time . ”
He had something that he wanted to ask Gluttony .
Theo grabbed [Ignition and Ignite are Different] and put it aside . Ignite was a rather useful magic for the 1st Circle, except that the difficulty was too high .
Above all, it consumed less magic power than anything else . Despite Theo only having the magic power of a 2nd Circle, he would be able to use it 100 times .
It was now time to pick the other book .
‘I think that all six books I selected earlier are good but… I don’t know yet . ’
He would leave it to Gluttony’s Appraisal rather than his self-judging . Appraisal magic was probably better than his own analysis anyway . Instead of being unreasonably stubborn, Theo extended his palm .
“Appraisal . ”
The hungry tongue slipped out quickly . It moved over the six books lined up before it and started using Appraisal . As the books became sticky with saliva, the information entered his head .
With calm eyes, Theo looked at the essences of the books Gluttony had discovered .
‘[Fire Elemental Summoning]… eliminated . If I don’t have an affinity with the elemental, then I can’t make a contract with it, which means there wouldn’t be much point in summoning the elemental . ’
30 years ago, the mystery of making a contract with an elemental had been revealed, showing that it was impossible to make a contract with an elemental without having an inherent affinity .
A magician who adored elementals had finally achieved success . He had opened the door to the elemental world with a magic circle and developed a way to make a simple contract .
The [Fire Elemental Summoning] was a book from that magician, and Theo could summon the elemental with Gluttony’s abilities .
However, this book only gave him the magic to summon the elemental . Making a contract with the elemental and using its power was a different story . When Theo entered the academy, he had been told to give up because he had an elemental affinity of close to zero .
“It is regrettable, but it can’t be helped . ”
He had experienced it several times already . Thanks to that, Theo had gotten used to getting rid of any lingering attachments without any fuss .
It had been a week since he first began the strange cohabitation with Gluttony . Theo might be the academy’s dunce, but he had grasped this guy’s bizarre nature .
One, it was meaningless to feed Gluttony a book if Theo’s understanding was low .
Two, no matter how high was Theo’s level of comprehension, it was impossible to acquire magic beyond his competence .
Three, there was some magic which was useless even if he learned them .
Four, eating the same book again wouldn’t give him anything .
…There might be other habits which Theo didn’t know about yet, but he never saw anything apart from these four . [Fire Elemental Summoning] was an example of the third case .
There were other magic with a magician affinity attached as a condition . This was why he didn’t acquire white magic, which required ‘divine power’ .
‘There’s a magic where ‘castration’ is the prerequisite… Urgh, just thinking about it gives me goose bumps again . ’
Apparently, some lunatic in the east had done it to learn magic . Even Theo didn’t have the stomach to read through the pages . What had the person been thinking?
Theo touched his skin before moving his hand to his next prey . It was [Circulation of Water] which would increase his water affinity but was put as pending for now .
His understanding of [Enchant – the Basics] was lower than he’d thought . He would eat it after studying it a bit more, so it was eliminated . The vision enhancing magic [Hawk Eyes] had a side effect of gradually worsening his eyesight—eliminated .
Theo repeated this as he filtered through the books .
By the time 15 minutes passed, there was only one book left in front of Theo . He remembered the title of the final book, so expectation filled his face .
According to Theo’s conjecture, the value of the last book in the list was obviously the highest among the seven books he’d gathered today .
“Appraisal . ”
Finally, the essence of the book popped up .
[Ballistics Magic]
[This book describes the high application of magic missiles . It explains techniques to form compressed magic missiles and modify the shape of the arrowheads . The author, Alfred Bellontes, became a hero of the war with these magic missiles . The depth of the wisdom is superior to that of ordinary magic books .
* Your understanding is very high . (97 . 2%)
* This magic book is rated ‘Rare’ .
* Once ingested, the proficiency of ‘Magic Missile’ will increase greatly .
* This is the original copy which was directly written by the author . There is a low chance to absorb some of Alfred’s experience . ]
Indeed, its contents didn’t betray his expectations .
“No, wait a minute . This book is the original?!”
Theo was shocked to read the final line in the description .
Magic books were usually created by the author and then a copy was made of the original . Everything from the cover to the contents would be copied completely using magic .
Therefore, it was very hard to distinguish between the original and the copies . The originals were hidden by those who hated having a value added to knowledge by collectors .
If it wasn’t for Gluttony’s abilities, Theo wouldn’t have known that the book in front of him was the original .
Alfred Bellontes…
He had been born approximately 30 years ago as the third son of King Bellontes . Magic power didn’t accumulate naturally for him, and he only became a master of battle magic after cutting into his bones .
Magic Missile was only a 1st Circle magic . Alfred had killed dozens of knights and hundreds of magicians with this shabby magic . He’d died at the end of a long war, but he then became renowned .
‘Alfred Bellontes wrote [Ballistics Magic]! If book collectors know about this copy, it would be worth a few thousand gold, even covered in dust . ’
Theo removed the dust carefully . If he were to prove its authenticity, then this book wouldn’t be piles of paper but an item more expensive than a gold bullion .
Yes, if it was possible to prove it . Theo’s excitement subsided at the thought .
“…No, there is a problem even if I can prove it . ”
In the first place, this book was owned by Bergen Academy . Although he was feeding the books to Gluttony, he planned to put back some of the books which were eaten one day .
If Gluttony didn’t threaten his life, then he wouldn’t have taken the books . In some ways, it could be called a struggle for survival .
However, taking Alfred’s book was simply stealing . It wasn’t seeking knowledge as a magician or saving lives . As a noble, Theodore Miller couldn’t throw away his pride .
He would rather feed it to Gluttony than exchange it for money . His worries lasted for a while, but his decision was quick .
“Eat, Gluttony . ”
The tongue popped out without any hesitation .
Slurp!
Gluttony grabbed [Ignition and Ignite are Different], and it was sucked into Theo’s left hand .
[’Ignition and Ignite are Different’ has been consumed . Your understanding is very high . ]
[* After ingesting, 1st Circle magic ‘Ignite’ will be acquired . ]
A familiar wave flowed into his body . It was knowledge about ignition magic . At this point, Theo could create a small fire in the air .
Due to the fact that it was a 1st Circle magic, there wasn’t that much information, and the wave soon calmed down . It was similar to eating bread, but Theo was satisfied .
Gluttony’s meal wasn’t over yet . The unsatisfied tongue snatched its next prey…
The original [Ballistics Magic] written by Alfred Bellontes . It was the moment when a precious book with the same value as a gold bullion would disappear forever .
Gulp!
Then there was a moment of silence .
Theo waited for the change with a more nervous expression than usual . It was the first ‘rare’ rated book he had fed Gluttony . This was also the original copy of a famous war hero’s book . This food would definitely be worth more than ordinary books .
Previously, it wasn’t unusual for Theo to feel pain when four books were eaten in one go . Theo closed his eyes and prepared for the aftermath .
‘Now, come at any time!’
Shortly after that…
[’Ballistics Magic’ has been consumed . Your understanding is very high . ]
[Your proficiency of the 1st Circle magic ‘Magic Missile’ has increased significantly . ]
[An original copy has been consumed . The synchro rate with Alfred Bellontes is being checked… You are at an appropriate level . You can absorb some of Alfred’s experience . The episode will play for 21 minutes and 35 seconds . ]
[Synchro is starting . ]
“…Synchro?”
What was that? Then at that moment…
Kiiiiing-
There was a sharp ringing sound! The sound cut through his eardrums and made him dizzy . It felt like he was being pulled out of his body . Before that godlike sucking power, the human mind was like a weak blade of grass .
In the end, Theodore’s mind was sucked into the palm of his left hand . He fell into the darkness and reached the faint stars .
This was the remnant of the memories contained in Alfred Bellontes—no, in [Ballistics Magic] .
* * *
Around 45 years in the past, on the frontlines of the Bellontes Principality…
Theodore Miller opened his eyes .