Wei'en looked at the few items in his hands.
The letter was a reply from the administration office. The front of the envelope was addressed to "Wei'en Loft, for his eyes only." The back was sealed shut and stamped with the sigil of the Ghost Soul School—a pair of scarlet eyes within a black flame.
The other three sheepskin scrolls looked slightly ancient, each tied with a linen cord. 'One of these must be the Meditation Technique I've been longing for.'
Wei'en set the sheepskin scrolls aside and opened the letter first.
"To His Excellency Wei'en Loft, Intelligence Officer of Caster City State, our department has received your application. It has been reviewed and approved, and we have issued you the 'Basic Meditation Technique'."
"Furthermore, in accordance with the Ghost Soul School's regulations for apprentice management, we are also issuing 'A General Introduction to Wizards' and 'Gonzalez Language (Introductory)'."
"Please transcribe the contents of the sheepskin scrolls and return them within two days to avoid any unnecessary trouble caused by their loss."
"On the path of pursuing knowledge, death is not the end. —Ghost Soul School, Item Management Department!"
The letter's contents were brief, but Wei'en was already overjoyed.
Besides the Meditation Technique, the two free sheepskin scrolls would allow him to understand this world a little better.
He put the letter away, then began to unroll the three sheepskin scrolls.
They looked identical from the outside, so he randomly unrolled one.
"Gonzalez... Gonzalez..."
The moment the sheepskin scroll was unrolled, the flat parchment twisted into a deformed face. The dense, bizarre script on its surface coalesced into facial features and let out a low, guttural roar.
Fuck,
Wei'en frantically tied it back up with the cord.
The sound stopped instantly, and the sheepskin reluctantly flattened itself out again.
"That was terrifying!"
'This must be the 'Gonzalez Language (Introductory)' scroll.'
He had learned from his predecessor's memories that books recording Extraordinary script were bizarre, but he never imagined they'd be *this* bizarre.
'So the question is, how am I supposed to learn from this scroll?'
'I can't just beat it into submission, can I?'
Wei'en had his doubts.
Next, he carefully unrolled the second sheepskin scroll.
'Thank goodness, it's in a familiar script. No wonder this scroll looks so new.'
The second sheepskin scroll was written in the continent's common tongue—the Ole-Elder language. It bore the title "A General Introduction to Wizards."
Its contents made him even more delighted.
It was a book that introduced the common knowledge of the Wizard World, containing much of the information he was desperate to learn.
According to its records, Wizards were the Extraordinary profession with the most complete heritage. Unlike the Holy Professionals of the Church, nobles with Extraordinary Bloodlines, or the Inheritors of other Extraordinary races, Wizards placed a greater emphasis on creativity.
And after being refined by the passage of time, there were currently five active Wizard Schools.
Besides his own Ghost Soul School, there was the Spiritual Mystery School, which specialized in elements and divination; the Blood Spirit School, which focused on unlocking the body's potential and fusing with extraordinary flesh; the Mechanical School, which was obsessed with puppetry and mechanical augmentation; and the Shadow School, which was devoted to ancient Secret Techniques.
The Ghost Soul School, on the other hand, focused on exploring the mysteries of life and death, just as the motto in the letter stated—On the path of pursuing knowledge, death is not the end.
Moreover, the scroll also recorded some warnings for Wizards to heed.
"Knowledge is power! But remember, when you pursue knowledge, knowledge also pursues you! (Left by Liszt Wizard, founder of the Ghost Soul School, in the year 138 of the Third Era.)"
"Dissecting Summoned Creatures is forbidden, especially Abyssal Creatures. (Left by the Forbidden Mage Green Stanford, in the year 363 of the Fourth Era.)"
"All acts of romance or reproduction with mutants are forbidden! (Left by the Mutated Mage Rayli Doyle, in the year 568 of the Fourth Era.)"
"The Blood Spirit School collects the corpses of Holy Professionals from the Dawn Church (long-term offer). (Left by the Legendary Mage of the Blood Spirit School, Gaman Macalis, in the year 2434 of the Fourth Era.)"
"..."
"Do not pursue any knowledge from before the Fourth Era. Remember this! (Left by Great Mage Macon Zainger of the Spiritual Mystery School, in the year 238 of the Old Calendar.)"
"Do not rely too heavily on forbidden items; they will bring misfortune. (Left by Ancient Faust of the Shadow School, in the year 165 of the New Calendar.)"
There were ninety-nine warnings in total.
Each one was left by a different Wizard, with the dates stretching from the Third Era to the present day.
Wei'en was no historian, so he didn't know exactly how many years that spanned, but it was enough to prove the long and storied history of the Wizard profession.
Furthermore, judging by the content, the various Wizard Schools communicated frequently, and... they were all pretty good at courting death.
Dissecting Summoned Creatures and breeding with mutants was one thing.
'But the one about collecting corpses being a long-term offer was truly bizarre. Was that an advertisement?'
At the same time, however, he also had many questions.
For example, why couldn't one pursue knowledge from before the Fourth Era, what were these forbidden items, and so on.
These questions were all left for later... and then tossed to the back of his mind!
'There was no way he would actively seek out a world of mystery and strangeness just to satisfy his curiosity. Isn't it good to be alive?'
With that thought, Wei'en looked at the last sheepskin scroll.
After a moment's hesitation, he picked it up gently, then gripped it tightly. The Gonzalez language scroll was already so bizarre; this even more ancient-looking Meditation Technique scroll was probably...
With a rasp of the linen cord, the scroll was opened.
The bizarre scene he had imagined did not appear. Wei'en breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the scroll's contents.
The whole sheepskin was about a foot square, with irregular edges.
Upon closer inspection, there was a layer of glistening coating on it, distributed in the corners like oil stains.
The recorded text... he didn't recognize it. It was somewhat similar to the script on the Gonzalez language scroll he had just seen, but he needed to confirm.
As for the other content... was it a drawing?
A drawing occupied eighty percent of the sheepskin, and it was rendered...
'No, it wasn't rendered!'
To be precise, it was formed by unknown bone fragments branded onto the sheepskin, arranged into a bizarre hexagram formation.
And beneath this strangely constructed hexagram, there was a faint, grotesque image.
He could confirm that the image depicted a humanoid creature, but its four limbs, head, and several tails were pressed under the hexagram's bones, making them difficult to see clearly.
Only the torso was clear—the flow of its patterned lines depicted a human face.
Black hair, dark skin, a chiseled face, thick black eyebrows, bright red pupils...
Wei'en leaned closer, observing it carefully. He felt like he had seen this face somewhere before.
'Where could it have been?'
'That's it... This is what he looked like now!'
Before he could react, the face on the torso—identical to his own—gave a wicked smile and spat out a few strange syllables: "Apu, Luno, Rexi..."
If Wei'en had understood the Gonzalez language, he would have known the meaning behind those syllables: "Chaos, Despair, Death..."
As the sounds echoed, he felt his vision begin to blur. Everything around him seemed to recede, and an extremely unreal sense of nothingness washed over him.
THUMP!
Wei'en fell flat on his back, his vacant eyes staring into space, his mouth opening and closing unconsciously.
"One head, two heads, three heads..."
His low muttering spread throughout the room.