Chapter 420: Buying Books

Chapter 420: Buying Books

Sein sensed that the bald old man before him, clearly in the twilight of his years, was likely a senior initiate.

Surprisingly, when a full-fledged mage like Sein entered his modest shop, the old man made no attempt to rise and welcome him.

Instead, he remained seated on a bamboo chair, fixing his cloudy eyes with barely visible black pupils on Sein as he entered.

Sein found the old man’s indifference intriguing and did not mind it. He simply began to explore the shop on his own.

Tucked away in a poor location in the southwestern part of Dimos Port, the small, rundown shop appeared seldom visited, with every corner covered by dust and dirt.

It was unclear whether the old man’s neglect was due to his age or diminished magic power, but it was evident he had little inclination to repair or clean his shop.

Nevertheless, despite its shabbiness, Sein discovered several items of interest as he browsed around. Ne/w novel chapters are published at novelhall.com

He avoided the magic materials, which were all dirty and emitted a distinct moldy smell, presumably useless and devoid of any elemental energy.

However, the yellowed books on the shelves, clearly aged, piqued Sein’s interest.

These magic books, some bearing the author’s name and others anonymous, varied widely—some were traditional spellbooks, while many others were journals penned by mages or magic initiates.

For instance, Sein found a small gray book, no bigger than his palm and without any introduction, containing the following entry:

May 23rd, my 173rd Synthesis Experiment...

Today’s subject is particularly energetic, likely due to the mixture of magic essence No. 3 and No. 7 that I injected into it last evening...

Master Apra’s teachings in undead chimera synthesis and lifeology are profoundly complex. I wonder if this little lump of flesh, which I’ve named “Enigma No. 1”, can truly be considered a life—a life I created...

It’s a success... No, failure... This thing is not truly alive.

It’s merely a cluster of cells that divides and reproduces without consciousness!

Many similar observations were meticulously recorded in this small notebook.

“Does that mean that all these magic books come from the Divine Tower of Death?” Sein inquired casually, glancing around.

The old man nodded and replied, “They were collected by my ancestors and myself—trash to most, but treasure to some.”

Sein stroked his chin and continued to browse the shop.

Suddenly, he came to a stop.

“Huh?” he exclaimed, spotting a title-less black magic book sitting in one corner on the bottom shelf of a bookcase.

Flipping open the magic book, Sein read the first line.

The Compatibility Between Necromancy and Summoning Magic—Rogge.

***

Sein ended up purchasing about twenty books from this dark, eerie little magic store.

All of them were sold at surprisingly low prices—so low they were almost giveaways for him.

The bald old man, having no descendants, found his only companionship in the specter.

It was likely that the modest earnings from the book sales were used to sustain the specter. After all, it should not be expensive to take care of an ordinary specter below Rank One.

Unfamiliar with the power dynamics within the Marmett Union Alliance, Sein could not gauge the significance of the Divine Tower of Death in the alliance.

However, after thinking about it carefully, he surmised that no ordinary divine tower would name itself after “death”.

In any case, Sein was quite pleased with his finds.

Apart from the intriguing black leather-bound magic book, the other volumes he selected had no missing contents.

Most of the knowledge contained in them was related to necromancy. This included summoning arts and the synthesis of undead chimera beasts—fields that had long fascinated him since he had an affinity for the umbra element and other negative energies.

With these magic books, Sein was ready to delve deeper into necromancy and umbra magic.