When Kanzaki Rei returned to the City Within the Circle, it was already noon.
As he passed by the Ascension Hall, his heightened perception caught fragments of hushed conversations among nearby pedestrians.
"Did something happen?"
"I heard one of the elders in the Ascension Hall got arrested for colluding with a cult."
"A cult?"
"Yeah. Apparently they were working with the Church of Death. Kumironi caught them."
"What?"
"That's really the end for them… being caught by the High Priest of the Church of Life while tied to the Church of Death."
"Right. If it had been any other heretical group, the Church of Life might not even have bothered. But since it's the Church of Death…"
"Look at that—so many high-ranking clergy from the Church of Life showed up. Even the kingdom's law enforcers are here."
"Seems like this is a pretty big deal."
Life and Death, in this world, were forces that stood in absolute opposition.
Unlike the saying from Rei's previous life that life and death depended on each other.
In this world, Life and Death truly clashed head-on.
Whenever traces of the Church of Death were discovered, the Church of Life would always be the first to respond.
No one suppressed the Church of Death more aggressively than the Church of Life.
And Death Priests were the main combat profession of the Church of Death.
Rei couldn't help but wonder what Kumironi must have felt when she learned that he had changed his class into a Death Priest.
Had she ever considered putting righteousness above personal ties?
Rei suddenly recalled the look Kumironi gave him the first time she saw him after returning to Rain Town.
Thinking back now, the emotion in her eyes had been so complex…
Sure enough, many figures dressed in luxurious emerald robes had gathered before the Ascension Hall.
High-ranking clergy of the Church of Life.
Rei originally considered taking a look.
But after a moment's thought, he gave up.
After all, he was the one who had discovered the secret scroll.
Rei had no desire to entangle himself in further disputes.
Better to avoid unnecessary trouble. There was nothing left here that concerned him anyway—why join the spectacle?
He could always ask Kumironi about it later.
Rei quietly drifted away from the crowd.
Taking a map of the City Within the Circle from his spatial storage, he glanced over it.
The city's Grand Library was nearby.
"Oh, that one…"
Following the directions on the map, Rei soon spotted a domed building.
The hotel did have a reading room.
But no matter how luxurious the hotel was, it was still just a small library. When it came to actual collections, it could never compare to the city's Grand Library.
Having just changed his class to Puzzle Scholar, Rei wanted to search for books related to deciphering and cryptography.
The moment he stepped through the library's doors, he suddenly sensed something familiar.
Almost instinctively, Rei expanded his perception.
His awareness surged deeper into the library, leaping straight up to the seventh floor. Following the faint trace of that presence, it passed through rows upon rows of towering bookshelves until it reached a small inner room.
A desk.
A reclining chair.
Bookshelves packed to the brim.
Lying quietly in the chair, reading a book, was a girl with short, pale-violet hair.
Pali.
"So the first thing you do after learning perception… is spy on a girl's room?"
Her gaze never left the book.
The moment she spoke, Rei's perception was abruptly cut off.
The library's structure was complex—its endless rows of shelves forming a sea of books. Rei glanced toward the winding staircase and began climbing upward.
The room she occupied was truly remote.
You had to reach the seventh floor and pass through a maze of shelves before finding her residence.
When Rei arrived at the room where Pali was.
The door opened on its own before he could knock.
He stepped inside.
Sure enough—it was her.
"Pali, what are you doing here? Aren't you the librarian at the hotel?"
Pali replied calmly,
"That shift is at night."
"I work here during the day."
You're not doing this on purpose, are you?
I keep running into you everywhere.
And are you really working as a librarian? You're hiding this deep in the stacks—like you don't want anyone to find you.
Pali spoke again.
"So what? You don't seem very happy to see me."
"How could that be, Sister Pali?"
In her usual flat tone, she said,
"Plenty of people want to see me and never get the chance."
Rei didn't doubt that statement.
A Level-6 Diviner—with her divination abilities, she could drive countless people into a frenzy.
Of course, the price she charged was something ordinary people could never afford.
Rei's gaze wandered.
After encountering Pali so many times, their relationship had become something like half-acquaintances.
Pali lifted her eyes slightly.
Then a book floated up from the desk and drifted toward Rei.
He caught it with both hands.
"This is the book you're looking for."
"Guide to Puzzle Scholars"
It really was exactly what he needed.
Being an erudite class certainly had its advantages.
"Pali… are we really just running into each other by coincidence?"
Pali let out a faint sigh and closed her book.
"Do you know the other title given to a Level-6 Diviner?"
Rei thought for a moment.
"Fate… Puppet?"
Pali met Rei's eyes.
The two fell silent.
Oh.
I see.
Rei had never cared much about those titles.
Archmage. Battle Saint King. Unbreakable Guardian…
He would glance at them once and move on.
But now that Pali had pointed it out, he realized the Level-6 title for Diviners was… strangely fitting.
"The reason I'm here is not because I want to see you."
"It's because I'm meant to be here."
"Our lives offer no choices. We can only follow the results of divination."
Listening to that made the Diviner class sound rather pitiful.
They could only act according to their prophecies?
After seeing the future, they didn't even have the right to decide for themselves?
Just as Rei felt a trace of sympathy for her situation—
Pali said flatly,
"I'm kidding."
Iz, I understand now why you wanted to strangle a Diviner.
I feel the same.
When dealing with a Diviner, you constantly swing between not believing their nonsense and believing their predictions.
"But I'll still give you one piece of advice."
"If you place absolute faith in divination, you're no different from a puppet of fate."
Rei nodded.
"Understood. Thanks for the advice, Sister Pali."
Half a month ago, Iz had also spoken to him about similar matters.
Rei had no intention of entrusting his entire destiny to divination.
If someone predicted that he would die, he would certainly struggle to change it.
So his principle was simple.
Only divine things worth knowing.
Only follow predictions that produce favorable outcomes.
And if the result was unfavorable—then he would find a way to break the situation himself.
Rei had no intention of demonizing Diviners or avoiding them like plague.
Since it was a profession that existed in this world, he would use it when needed.
Besides, avoiding divination didn't guarantee bad things wouldn't happen.
If divination helped him avoid misfortune that would have occurred anyway—then all the better.
"Pali, I'd like to find a few more books…"
Having a librarian help him locate books was far more convenient.
On the sixth floor, nearly every book related to knowledge-type professions was stored here—an ocean of texts.
Rei swept his perception across the shelves.
He quickly noticed several unusual volumes.
Secret: "Riddles of the Lunar Hours"Hidden Content: Ancient MagicUnlock Method 1: Chino Language Mastery (Required), Introductory Cryptography
Secret: "The Night of Demonic Essence"Hidden Content: Ancient Sacrificial RitualsUnlock Method 1: Minier Language Mastery (Required), Introductory Cryptography
…
There were roughly four or five books like these scattered across the sixth floor.
Among the millions of books lining the shelves, they looked completely ordinary.
Rei pulled the special books from the shelves and placed them into the library's basket.
These books couldn't be stored in a spatial ring. Doing so would count as theft.
Afterward, he sat at an empty seat and began reading.
"Riddles of the Lunar Hours"
The book was written in Chino, an ancient language.
Before becoming a Puzzle Scholar, Rei wouldn't have understood it.
But after the class change, the language came naturally to him.
It was actually a fairly common ancient language.
Chino, incidentally, was also the language used in "Notes of the Ancient Origin Mage".
Which meant Rei could probably read that notebook now as well.
Still, meals were eaten one bite at a time—and books read one at a time.
After finishing the entire book, it appeared to contain no information about ancient magic whatsoever.
On the surface, it was simply an anecdotal essay.
Rei flipped through it again more roughly.
This time, he noticed faint glimmers appearing in certain characters—almost as if they had been marked.
Puzzle Scholar Mastery: Key Discovery
As a Puzzle Scholar, he had detected a hidden puzzle within the text.
He also instinctively understood its difficulty.
Puzzle Scholar Mastery: Puzzle Difficulty Assessment
Puzzle Difficulty Level: 1
Rei immediately took out a sheet of finely textured paper.
He pressed his hand onto it.
Whoosh—
Lines of text burned themselves into the page.
Fire-Writing Paper
Price: 10 copper.
Instead of ink, the paper used fire elements to burn words directly onto its surface.
Chino characters appeared across the fire-writing paper in rough strokes as Rei rearranged and recombined them.
He pulled out another sheet, writing numbers and common language notes to assist with comparisons and deductions.
The common language text was merely for reference. As long as he could understand it himself, it didn't matter.
Technically he could even write Chinese characters—but he didn't want to expose their existence.
The puzzle itself wasn't difficult.
After becoming a Puzzle Scholar, Rei had naturally learned Cryptography (Beginner), which documented this type of puzzle.
A cipher unique to the Chino language.
Puzzle Scholar Technique: Key Decryption (LV: 1)
Following hints within the text, Rei identified specific paragraphs.
Extracting certain characters and combining them produced entirely new meanings.
Key Decryption Proficiency EXP +10,000
Key Decryption Proficiency EXP +50,000
…
This technique couldn't be upgraded through sacrifice.
Probably because it was classified as a technique, not a skill.
Still, his proficiency increased rapidly as he used it.
Interpretation.
Analysis.
Calculation.
Extraction.
Arrangement.
By the time he finished, an entire sheet of fire-writing paper was filled.
Key Decryption had reached LV: 89.
The method for solving such puzzles now felt crystal clear in his mind.
At last, he decoded the hidden message.
It described an ancient spell.
Ancient Magic: Face Transformation (Tier 3)
Ancient magic came in far more varieties than modern magic.
In ancient times, mages lacked the systematic frameworks used today.
Their spells were wilder—many came with severe side effects.
Modern magic had mostly been refined into stable systems.
Usually, the only cost was mana.
Ancient spells were different.
"Face Transformation… a spell that alters the body."
"It's also a prerequisite for learning Flesh Sculpting."
"It can distort your facial features and transform your appearance into another person's."
Rei blinked.
That was eye-opening.
Over the past few weeks, he had absorbed quite a bit of foundational magical knowledge.
Like studying science—he now understood what was plausible and what was nonsense.
In modern magical doctrine, body-altering magic was strictly forbidden.
Everything currently taught involved external elemental casting.
Level-1 mages mastered basic elements.
Level-2 mages gained flexible control of elements and limited arcane power.
Level-3 mages began using arcane arts and shallow mental magic.
Level-4 mages touched upon space.
But magic that directly altered the body had never appeared in the books.
"Bone and flesh. Blood and skin. Man is but a vessel of skin, blood flowing through a hundred bones…"
Rei frowned slightly as he recited the incantation.
Ascension: Face Transformation (Tier 3) → Flesh Sculpting (Tier 4)
He had learned it.
Flesh Sculpting (Tier 4) (LV: 1)Fill muscle and fat with mana. Extend bone and skin. Assume a new form.
Rei attempted to cast the spell.
His muscles swelled.
His bones stretched.
The muscles and fat on his face shifted and reshaped.
He pulled out a mirror.
Sure enough—his face had changed.
But…
It looked twisted.
And frankly, unsatisfactory.
Pain spread throughout his body.
This magic really did have side effects.
Rei quickly canceled the spell.
"Looks like ancient magic shouldn't be used casually…"
Proficiency +150,000
Just using it once granted so much proficiency…
Was it because he had deciphered the spell himself?
Whatever.
Rei decided not to grind the levels slowly.
He used Soul Sacrifice to upgrade Flesh Sculpting.
Flesh Sculpting (LV: 100) (Evolvable)Faster transformation speed. Reduced pain. Lower flesh rejection…
As expected, leveling the proficiency greatly reduced the side effects.
Rei evolved the spell.
Evolution direction: Side Effect Reduction
He tested it again.
This time, there was no tearing sensation at all.
The next two evolutions focused on:
Side Effect ReductionTransformation Capacity
The final result:
Flesh Reconstruction (Tier 4) (LV: 301)
Rei extended one hand.
His arm stretched outward like rubber.
At Level 2, he had already gained internal perception of his body.
He could feel his muscles lengthening, skin stretching, bones softening.
Yet under muscular control, his arm moved like a serpent.
If he wanted, he could extend his arm to a shocking five meters.
At that point, his form was no longer truly human.
Whoosh—
Rei quickly retracted his arm.
After canceling the spell, his flesh returned to normal with no discomfort.
Perfect.
As his proficiency increased, his understanding of the spell deepened.
The earlier Flesh Sculpting was practically a broken fragment.
Maintaining it too long would cause irreversible bodily damage.
A person could become permanently stuck in their altered form, suffering lifelong pain.
But Flesh Reconstruction had completely repaired those flaws.
The side effects were essentially gone.
The only real cost was extremely high mana consumption.
For Rei, that wasn't a problem.
Moreover, his understanding of human anatomy, flesh structure, mana interaction, and magical physiology had all improved dramatically.
Proficiency Evolution wasn't just a method of strengthening skills.
It was also a way to learn knowledge.
Raising skill proficiency meant gaining deeper insight into the subject itself.
The more he used this talent, the more practical it felt.
"This spell… Iz would probably be interested."
Rei stored the fire-writing paper in his spatial storage.
As for "Riddles of the Lunar Hours", now fully deciphered, he placed it back into the library basket for return.
Then he looked at the stack of books beside him.
Guide to Puzzle ScholarsMagic and DecryptionDeep CryptographyAdvanced Chino Language AnalysisThe Night of Demonic EssenceDoes a Second Magic Exist?The Daylit Heaven
Some were academic texts about Puzzle Scholars.
Others concealed hidden secrets.
Looks like he had plenty to study.
So this was what it felt like to change into a knowledge-type class.
The sea of learning truly had no end.