The surroundings at the scene weren't truly quiet. After all, the place was dim, and everyone had only arrived here temporarily.
Under normal circumstances, it would be difficult to calm one's mind in such an environment.
Yet the moment Kanzaki Rei opened the book, he immersed himself completely.
His entire being entered a state of extreme concentration.
…
Rei first began studying "Ancient Ansū Cipher Language."
From the book Interpretations of Several Ancient Languages, he had already deduced that the prerequisite for decoding "Ono Transcoding" was understanding the Ancient Ansū Cipher Language.
From the perspective of others nearby—
This massive book, packed with information, was being flipped through by Rei at a speed of one page every dozen seconds or so.
Occasionally, his hand would brush across the fire-script paper beside him, leaving behind characters used for recording notes.
After reading more than a dozen pages, Rei would sometimes raise his head and glance at the content written on the fire-script paper, as though verifying something.
Even though no one else could enter the same state of immersion he was in—
Simply watching him created a quiet atmosphere of focus that seemed to calm the people around him.
To slip into such a concentrated state so effortlessly…
Even Kumironi felt somewhat astonished.
There was far too much knowledge in this world that needed to be learned. Being able to enter this kind of flow state undoubtedly multiplied learning efficiency several times over—perhaps even dozens of times.
Learning itself had two aspects: study and comprehension.
Sometimes a single moment of true understanding could surpass decades of hard study.
However, when it came to learning languages, enlightenment didn't offer quite as much advantage.
Of course, no one here was simply waiting for Rei to solve the puzzle.
Everyone had their own tasks to handle.
People continuously entered and left the area, bringing items in and carrying objects away.
Iz entered the hidden space together with Sekisei.
About ten minutes later, they returned.
When they came back, they were dragging along two living captives—apparently someone had been hiding in that concealed area.
Then, in less than half an hour, Rei finished reading the language book entirely and had gained a preliminary mastery of the Ancient Ansū Cipher Language.
Rei closed the book.
The priest stationed nearby blinked in surprise.
"Y-You… finished learning it?"
"Yeah. I've got it now."
Rei looked at the clergyman beside him and smiled brightly.
The priest had been guarding this area the whole time. He had watched Rei sit down to begin studying and instantly gather an aura of deep concentration around himself…
And when Rei closed the book, he could clearly feel that focused aura disappear.
So this was the Rei people talked about.
Even from afar, simply sensing the presence and temperament he gave off was enough to feel that he was an extraordinary genius.
"Kumironi-nee, how's the secret letter going?"
Rei extended his perception toward the sealed chamber nearby.
Kumironi's voice echoed within his mind.
"No good. Those two couldn't read the encrypted message either."
"It seems the clearance level of this secret letter is extremely high."
"Mm… I've got a lead now. Kumironi-nee might have to wait a bit longer."
After finishing Ancient Ansū Cipher Language, he now needed to learn Ono Transcoding.
Rei opened another book.
The moment he flipped it open, he once again entered that same state of absolute focus.
The transition was seamless—smooth and without the slightest pause.
Everyone who had been observing him couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
This…
was the gap between themselves and a true genius.
The concentration someone like Rei could sustain during a single cup of tea was equivalent to months of diligent study for ordinary people.
Another half hour passed.
During this time, even without Rei's reminders, Iz discovered quite a few hidden secrets.
Of course, not every hidden secret was a good thing.
For example, the secret surrounding the Thousand-Army Ant Mountain seal was something Iz herself had hidden away.
If someone else were to activate it—
They would be greeted by the pleasant surprise of a Fourth-Tier, nation-destroying monster appearing right in their face.
[Peering into Secrets] only revealed that something was hidden.
Whether that hidden thing was beneficial… was another matter entirely.
BANG!
BOOM!
CLANG—
Iz unlocked quite a few hidden mechanisms and also triggered a fair number of internal traps.
Fortunately, their strength was overwhelming, so none of them were harmed.
At last, Rei finished learning Ono Transcoding.
He began working on decrypting the secret letter.
More than a dozen sheets of fire-script paper burned with newly formed symbols. Chains of formulas appeared across them…
Using those formulas, he converted each character of the encrypted message one by one.
With the techniques of a Decrypt Scholar, deciphering this puzzle felt like a fish returning to water.
He quickly discovered the key to the cipher.
Once the required conditions for decoding were understood, it simply became a matter of applying the formulas step by step.
It saved a tremendous amount of effort.
If an ordinary decrypt scholar had attempted this, their first task would have been figuring out the encryption method itself.
The cipher had a Tier-4 difficulty, meaning that normally a Level-4 Decrypt Scholar would be required to forcefully break it.
But deciphering worked much like a key and lock.
Forcing it open was difficult.
Yet if you possessed the correct key, it would open with a simple twist.
And the principles of decrypt scholars never advocated brute-force decryption in the first place.
"I've got it."
WHOOSH—
Kumironi appeared beside Rei instantly.
"Really?!"
Just moments ago, an elder from the Temple of Life had arrived.
That elder was a renowned scholar within the temple…
The Life Church didn't consist solely of healers and cultivators. To maintain the church's functionality, they recruited all kinds of class users—though the numbers varied.
That elder had just evaluated the encrypted message and concluded that it used an extremely unusual encryption method.
It would likely require a Level-4 Decrypt Scholar to crack it.
And Decrypt Scholars were an exceptionally rare class among Scroll-bound professions.
Even though the requirement was only Level 4, they were about as rare as Level-6 conventional classes.
"Yes. It's decoded."
Rei glanced through the deciphered message and read it aloud:
"Miles,"
"The location for the final sacrifice has been set at the Valley of Deep Descent."
"The date is December 1st."
"Before this date, ensure that living humans with the required spiritual aptitude are delivered to the Valley of Deep Descent."
"This matter concerns the White Descent. Destroy this letter immediately after reading."
The entire message contained only three short sentences.
Yet the amount of information within them…
was terrifying.
"Location. Date. Living humans. White Descent."
Kumironi's expression became extremely serious.
"If what you've uncovered is true… Rei, then you've just given us incredibly important intelligence."
White Descent might refer to the Divine Descent of the White God of Death and Destruction.
The day when the lunar cycle changed was also when the seasonal influence of the Moon Cycle was strongest.
Even if the success rate of such rituals was extremely low—
There was no way they could allow something like that to occur.
"Amor."
WHOOSH!
A figure in a green robe appeared beside Kumironi.
A sheet of gold-green parchment appeared in her hand. Lines of text instantly formed upon it, and in the lower-right corner, a golden-green seal was stamped.
"Deliver this letter to the Bishop."
"Yes, Lady Kumironi."
The man named Amor accepted the parchment and vanished.
"Little Rei, the Life Church will remember your help…"
Rei shook his head.
"It's nothing. I'm just happy I could help Kumironi-nee."
"You've all helped me so much already—I'm the one who doesn't know how to repay you."
His words came from the heart.
Kumironi smiled faintly.
"The information you provided may concern the survival of the entire Kingdom of Rellon…"
"No—perhaps not just Rellon."
"If the White Descent truly occurs…"
Her gaze drifted toward the distant horizon.
No one knew what kind of catastrophe the world would face if the True God of Death and Destruction were to descend.
Even though the success rate of such rituals was extremely low—
If it succeeded even once, it could become a world-ending disaster.
"This isn't merely a personal favor."
"You deciphered the secret letter. The Life Church will remember that."
…
Over the next several hours, Sekisei and Iz disappeared again—no one knew where they had gone.
Meanwhile, Rei copied all the important books.
If the church members who kept coming and going took the originals away, he would have nothing left to read.
As for those restricted tomes that required sealing…
When people saw Rei using them, they simply pretended not to notice.
They allowed him to read them first—or make copies first.
With Kumironi backing him, everyone was extremely tactful.
So this was what privilege felt like.
Having privilege really was nice.
[Method for creating a spatial container capable of storing living beings through a sacrificial ritual.]
There was actually such a method?
It required blood sacrifices using living humans—that was far too brutal.
And it required the Enchanter class to complete the process…
Should he ask Aijin to learn this method?
That didn't feel quite right.
But if they could obtain a spatial container capable of storing living beings, they might be able to carry the Thousand-Army Ant Mountain around with them.
Maybe he should discuss it with Iz.
As for living humans…
Could the Death Church cultists they had captured be used?
There were probably ethical considerations involved.
From what Rei had observed so far, the Kingdom of Rellon maintained fairly high moral standards. Perhaps death-row prisoners could be used instead.
Sigh.
It was a shame.
Rei had been in this other world for quite some time now, yet he had never encountered any true life-and-death enemies.
If he had a few mortal foes, he could have sacrificed them without the slightest guilt.
Apparently, having no enemies wasn't entirely a good thing either.
Aside from secret knowledge—
Other books also contained useful information.
For example, Tier-2 and Tier-3 Death magic.
Rei could learn them directly.
Even without the Death Priest class, he could still learn them using his Mage level.
Coming here with Iz had truly yielded enormous gains.
Every hidden secret that his perception could trigger—
Rei attempted to activate them all.
As for those he couldn't trigger himself…
He pointed them out to Iz and the others.
With Rei's assistance, Kumironi's group not only discovered information about the Final Sacrifice, but also uncovered the locations of several other Death Church strongholds.
Rei even deciphered a membership list of Death Church members.
Despite being strictly outlawed, the Death Church had existed for thousands of years.
The reason they survived so long was because they hid extremely well and communicated through highly secretive methods.
But they could never have imagined—
That the information they painstakingly encrypted would be cracked so easily by a Level-1 Decrypt Scholar.
In truth, they should have destroyed those records.
Unfortunately, the raid had been too sudden.
When Level-6 Sekisei stormed in personally, they hadn't even been given time to react.
Now the Life Church and the Kingdom Tribunal had both mobilized.
Judging from Kumironi's orders to her people, it was clear that a new purge operation had begun.
Rei never expected that his actions would trigger such a large-scale storm of bloodshed.
Night had grown deep.
Tonight's gains included:
A ritual to temporarily enhance spiritual power
The method for crafting spatial containers capable of storing living beings
The method for creating Death Puppets
"…Almost all forbidden arts…"
Aside from those sinister rituals, crafting techniques, and secret knowledge—
He had also learned:
One Tier-4 Death Spell
Two Tier-3 Death Spells
Two Tier-2 Death Spells
Rei still couldn't understand why these people hid so much secret information inside books.
If he hadn't possessed the ability to Peer into Secrets, how many hidden inheritances would he have missed?
After scanning the entire stronghold one last time—
He had finished reading every book worth reading and investigated every secret worth investigating.
There was nothing left here for him.
Tomorrow was the War God Cup Tournament.
If he failed to appear, it would count as a defeat.
And Rei quite wanted that Prophet Class Scroll.
A unique class scroll was said to be far stronger than ordinary classes.
And Prophet sounded like an advanced version of a Diviner.
If he mastered the abilities of the Prophet class, perhaps he would no longer need to rely on a Diviner in the future.
Pali had indeed helped him quite a lot.
But diviners had also given Rei a fair share of psychological trauma.
"Sekisei, can I head back now?"
"It's getting late. I'll take you back."
The distance from Circle City to this place was enormous.
Rei's speed was already very fast—
But compared to Sekisei, it was still the difference between heaven and earth.
It took Sekisei half an hour to run here.
If Rei tried to run back himself, dawn would probably arrive before he made it.
Unfortunately, he hadn't exchanged much magical knowledge with Iz today.
All his mental energy had been spent deciphering secrets.
Still, Iz had mentioned she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.
There would be more chances to discuss magic later.
And tomorrow, Kumironi would help him advance to a Level-2 Decrypt Scholar.
As for becoming a Level-4 Mage…
Iz had given him two books:
Anzheng's Manuscript
Mana Enhancement
However, she had repeatedly warned him that until he reached the appropriate stage, he absolutely must not continue studying the deeper sections.
It would be best not to even look at them yet.
He should finish reading them first—then proceed with advancement.
…
After returning to the hotel, Rei lay on the bed and began studying the Fourth Stage of Mana Enhancement.
"Mana commands infinite elements, analyzes arcane truth, disintegrates the soul…"
Reading Mana Enhancement now gave him an entirely different sense of profundity.
[Mana Enhancement – Fourth Stage: Void Mana]
Rei understood.
The moment comprehension dawned—
The mana within his body was no longer something like flowing liquid or gas.
Instead, it became something that existed in a state of void—between existence and nonexistence.
Mana was born from emptiness in every corner of his body.
And after being born, it returned to emptiness once again.
Previously, mana possessed form and substance. It could be intercepted or captured by others.
Now—
Its existence had no form and no substance whatsoever.
Whenever he needed it, with a single thought, mana would separate itself from the nature of the void—
Turning the intangible into the tangible.
"What a profound insight…"
Reading this book felt like reading Iz's thoughts themselves.
It truly was the thinking of a genius beyond imagination.
"And if my body itself becomes the spell…"
"If I transform my body the same way mana transforms… what would happen?"
"…No. Better not try that lightly."
Rei sensed danger.
He might accidentally turn himself into nothingness.
He had already mastered the Fourth Stage of Mana Enhancement.
Now Rei looked toward Anzheng's Manuscript.
This was something delivered together with the Void Spirit Starwood, though the manuscript had been intended for both Iz and Rei.
He had heard that the author was the highest-level mage in the world.
An Eighth-Tier Mage.
Previously, the manuscript had always been in Iz's possession for research.
Rei didn't mind.
After all, Iz needed to confirm that the knowledge inside was not dangerous.
Because something left behind by an Eighth-Tier Mage—
If mishandled—
Could very well cause a Level-2 Mage to lose their sanity completely.