No pleasant surprises awaited, just as Lucian had expected. Over the four hours between finishing dinner and drifting off to sleep without realizing it, he had managed to decipher only the first dozen or so pages of the Magic Notes — and mostly in the form of disconnected words rather than complete sentences, since many of the arcane terms were extremely obscure and seldom encountered.
Of course, with years of study under his belt, Lucian could piece together and infer the meaning of certain sentences from these individual words, but the results were far from precise. Based on such a rough understanding, he didn't dare rashly attempt to study Arcane Magic — he wouldn't even know how he ended up dead.
Fortunately, being a set of magic notes, the Witch occasionally recorded her own thoughts and encounters alongside the spells she learned, much like a diary. The vocabulary in these portions wasn't particularly obscure, and the grammatical structures were the same as everyday speech, which allowed Lucian to successfully decipher several sentence-like passages among those first dozen pages. Through them, he gained a general understanding of the origins of the other two magic books — or rather, magical volumes.
The Witch hailed from a mage lineage that had survived the fall of the ancient Sylvanas Magic Empire. Although this family had relocated to a remote castle deep in the mountains after Altor was conquered and kept a low profile, the Church's centuries of persecution and hunting had steadily thinned their numbers. Had the Church not significantly reduced the intensity of its crackdown over the past hundred-odd years, the family would likely have gone extinct. Even so, by the Witch's generation, only she and her parents — a family of three — remained.
After a summoning accident involving a creature whose name Lucian didn't recognize in the Witch's writing, she became an orphan. It was then that she formally inherited the two magical volumes: the *Book of Stars and Elements* and the *Illustrated Guide to Common Things Associated with Magic*.
The Witch's diary-like entries in those first dozen pages contained only so much. Therefore, when Lucian woke the next morning, the first thought that surfaced in his mind was: "I just hope the Witch's Magic Notes are complete and nothing was left out — otherwise, where am I going to learn the ancient Sylvanas script?"
…………
Since the work Lucian could currently find at the Copper Crown Tavern was almost entirely connected to the Allen Gang, he was once again unemployed, left to rely on his meager savings for the time being.
However, this suited the plans of Lucian, John, and Joel just fine — namely, that Lucian should spend the next stretch of time focusing on learning the written language while lying low and avoiding possible retaliation. After all, Joel and Elisa either performed as street artists in the Administrative District or washed clothes for a powerful guild, and Evan could go along with Elisa to help out at the Textile Guild doing small odd jobs for free. None of them had much overlap with the Allen Gang. Lucian was the only one — if he started working, it would be nearly impossible for him to avoid the Market District, where the Allen Gang held considerable sway.
John and the others had even insisted that during this period Lucian must not leave the city, must not wander off to secluded places, and at night should be on guard against arsonists who might try to burn his house down while he slept.
Thus, after getting up, washing his face, and eating some black bread softened in boiled water, Lucian was struck by an almost leisurely sense of having nothing to do.
Of course, this was merely an illusion. Lucian quickly shook off the languor, went out, found an empty lot in the Adrang District, and following John's instructions, began training his body and practicing the fundamentals of swordsmanship with a wooden stick.
For Lucian, before he could learn Arcane Magic, the best way to prepare for whatever dangers might come was to work hard at strengthening himself — even though John had already explained that without training from a young age, anyone who started at sixteen or older had essentially no hope of awakening their bloodline power or receiving Divine Grace, unless they were granted "Holy Light Water" by the Church.
Besides, Lucian still had Jackson's dagger, which could prove useful in a pinch.
By the time he finished training, it was already nine o'clock. Lucian returned home, rested briefly, and then set about reviewing what he had learned the previous day along with the fruits of his attempts to decipher the Magic Notes the night before. His diligence, conscientiousness, and self-discipline were at an all-time high, far surpassing anything he had managed before.
…………
In the main hall of 12 Sneva Street, Gisu District.
Victor stared at Lucian in disbelief. "You've truly never studied the written language before — not the pronunciation, not the spelling rules, not the grammar?"
From the recitation of the thirty-two letters he had requested to the follow-up questions, Lucian had answered everything perfectly. He had even raised several questions about spelling rules — the sort of issues that typically only surfaced after one had already begun learning vocabulary and grammar. Lucian's progress was simply astonishing; a single day of study had produced results equivalent to three months for a typical beginner, and he was nearly catching up to Colin and Renie, students who already had some foundation.
This was the second time Victor had been stunned by Lucian's performance, and it drew glances from the other students once more. Was this slum kid a genuine genius with languages and writing, or had he been lying all along — secretly possessing a foundation he claimed not to have?
"Mr. Victor, I really have never studied the written language before. It's just that while learning, it occurred to me that I could link the material to the pronunciation and patterns I'm used to from everyday speech. By comparing and cross-referencing, I was able to pick things up that quickly." In Altor, Lucian wanted to be seen as talented, but not as an incomprehensible freak — if the Church took notice, that would mean trouble. So in a calm and measured tone, he gave a brief explanation of his learning method.
This was indeed the method Lucian had employed. However, without a library to assist him or written books to practice deciphering, anyone else using the same approach would not have achieved his speed.
Victor himself was of common birth, though his father had been a rather accomplished violinist who earned the admiration of many nobles. Victor had begun studying the Common Language from a young age and therefore had no comparable experience. After hearing Lucian's explanation, he nodded repeatedly in approval. "Excellent, excellent. The fact that you can leverage your advantage of already speaking the Common Language and distill a method from it proves that you are quite intelligent and possess genuine talent in this area."
His satisfaction with Lucian was plain to see.
Herodotus, Colin, and Renie regarded Lucian with gazes that now carried a faint tinge of envy.
Lot and Phyllis, who had studied under Victor for five years, had long since mastered the Common Language and had similarly impressive musical accomplishments, rarely witnessed Victor praising a student so warmly. They exchanged a glance with one another.