Tyler was stunned by the sight before him. He couldn't believe there was a library inside the Demon King's chambers—mostly because he couldn't imagine the Demon King reading a book. It took him a while to compose himself and organize his thoughts. He then took a step forward into the library to get a better understanding of what was inside.
The moment he entered the hall, the door behind him closed. He felt something shatter around him but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Like the rest of the castle, the library was lined with gold, as if gold were a common metal. The walls were carved with strange symbols and drawings. There were no colored crystals to light up the room, but it was strangely bright, as if illuminated by sunlight.
Tyler walked toward one of the bookshelves closest to him to take a better look at the books. The Demon King must have used an insanely advanced concealment spell to hide the library. For a spell to last nearly 1,000 years after the Demon King's death, it must have been something even beyond legendary Tier 7 magic.
As he got closer to the shelf, he could see the titles of some of the books:
Silent Incantations
Greater Magics
Magic Circles
Fundamental Modus
The Book of Death
Apart from the last one, every book he saw was extremely valuable. To any magic user, this was a treasure trove that all races would kill for. "Was this the real reason humans started the war?" Tyler frowned slightly at the thought. If the humans had somehow discovered the knowledge possessed by the Demon King, it made sense why they were so determined to invade the Demon Continent. They probably deceived the dwarves with promises of rare ores and high-level beast cores. Even if the dwarves later realized the truth, their interest in materials from high-level monsters would outweigh their concerns. After all, there wouldn't be many books here that interested the dwarves; their focus was on weapons.
Tyler didn't hurriedly pick up a book. Instead, he casually walked through the library to get a better sense of the place. The hall was massive, and it would take him a while to explore it fully. It was a shame he wasn't skilled in using magic. His potential wasn't even at the Tier 1 standard. Despite his efforts to learn basic magic spells, he couldn't perform any of them. The only reason he had any magic at all was because of his innate ability, Potential Break.
At first, he had thought this was a cheat ability he'd received for being reincarnated. But he later learned that while it was unique and rare, there were others who also had innate magical abilities before even learning magic.
Innate abilities were unique to each individual. It would have been incredible if Tyler could use magic, as Potential Break could forcefully increase a magic user's potential, turning a Tier 2 mage or magic swordsman into Tier 3. However, Tyler could only use it on one person for 60 seconds due to his limitations. Still, this ability made him invaluable to his companions, which was why he had been able to join a relatively strong party and learn from a Tier 3 magic swordsman to become a D-rank adventurer.
"Sigh... what a shame," Tyler muttered as he composed himself. He began walking around the library, examining various magic books and scrolls containing support-type spells. The latter were quite common on the Human Continent; he had owned a few himself during his adventuring days. He secretly decided to take as many scrolls as possible when he left the castle. After all, the library was too valuable, and the books might be easily tracked. He didn't believe he could protect himself if he tried to sell a book.
After deliberating for some time, he continued exploring the library. There were books and scrolls on shelves lining both sides of the hall. He read the titles of each book and even glanced at the scrolls. An hour later, he arrived at a corner of the library. Here, there were no books or scrolls; instead, the shelves held various accessories, artifacts, and other items—likely magical. There were rings, bracelets, masks, crystals, and more.
The items displayed in a magic library would undoubtedly be special. Although Tyler was intrigued, thinking he might have found a way to become stronger, he didn't touch anything rashly. He had heard how dangerous magical artifacts could be, especially those belonging to the Demon King. Plus, his inability to use appraisal magic made him even more cautious.
There were about 150 artifacts on the shelves. To Tyler's disappointment, there were no weapons, but something caught his attention—an item he recognized.
It was an orb the size of a volleyball, dark in color, as if it were absorbing all the light around it.
The orb was used to test a person's magical potential. Tyler had used a similar one during his evaluation at the Adventurer's Guild. He could still remember the looks on the staff members' faces when they discovered he wasn't even capable of being a Tier 1 mage.
He creased his brows at the memory. Those staff members were totally mocking me, weren't they? It's not like any of them had much magical potential to brag about. Bunch of dumbasses. After cursing the dead, he considered using the orb again. Maybe after so many years, his potential had improved slightly—or perhaps whatever had kept him alive underground had enhanced his potential (though potentials were usually permanent). Still, he hesitated. It had taken him a long time to come to terms with his inability to use magic after being reincarnated into a world filled with it. Many people had mocked him for being weak, and some had even told him his innate ability was wasted on him. If he took the test only to be disappointed again, the emotional blow might be too much.
It wasn't a difficult decision, though. He didn't have much else to do, and even if the results were the same, he was already a warrior swordsman. He could still use one of the other artifacts, magic items, or crystals to compensate for his weaknesses. So why not?
After some contemplation, Tyler decided to test his potential again. His reasoning was simple: he felt no fatigue. In fact, his body felt incredibly fit. He had amazing balance and control over his limbs. He had assumed these improvements were related to his swordsmanship, but he had no idea what had happened to him or why his body was in such great shape. Maybe his magic potential had improved as well. If he could achieve Tier 3 potential, it would be incredible. And if the results were the same as before, he'd be fine—his improved physique was already a win. More importantly, no one else was here to witness it.
He walked to the shelf with the orb and picked it up. Taking a few steps back, he concentrated, just as he had done in the past.
The orb was dark, with a cluster of light gathering at its center. To use it, one had to hold the orb and will their mana into it. The orb had the unique property of attracting light from the atmosphere, a form of energy. As a result, it could draw out the mana of whoever held it, making it easier to sense the mana within. Even a novice could sense their mana while holding the orb. Once the orb contained the mana, the specks of light inside would scatter, causing the orb to glow. The more powerful the mana, the brighter the orb would glow, indicating the holder's magical potential.
As Tyler held the orb and channeled his mana into it, he slowly opened his eyes to look at the orb nervously.
Crack...
BOOM!
"It exploded?" Tyler stood rooted to the spot as he watched the dust from the shattered orb scatter everywhere.
At the Red Riverbank...
Rain and Liz were taking turns keeping watch while the other rested. Rain stood a few meters from the campfire when she sensed something moving in the forest.
Whoosh...
It was fast and agile, and she didn't get a good look at it.
She slowly retreated to where her friend was resting and whispered, "Hey Liz, get up. Prepare to leave; we have company. The noise will attract other creatures." She tapped Liz's shoulder, her eyes scanning their surroundings.
Liz got up without a word, immediately on high alert and ready to back up her friend. Even though her leg wasn't fully healed, she could use enhancement spells to regain full control of her body temporarily. It was how she had made it to the river in the first place. Now that she and Rain had regained some mana, they weren't afraid of the monsters patrolling the forest's outer areas.
As soon as Liz stood, three flashes of light shot toward her from the forest at lightning speed. They were silvery-white, claw-shaped energy attacks. Even though she had expected an attack, she was a moment too slow to react.
"Water Barrier!"
Rain reacted instantly, extracting water droplets from the air to form a barrier around Liz. Tier 2 Elemental Magic - Water Barrier. Her left palm, which had formed the magic circle, was stretched out toward Liz. Without hesitation, she raised her right index finger toward the spot the attack had come from and cast another spell.
"Twin Max Magic - Lightning Ricochet!"
Two thick bolts of silver lightning shot from her finger, streaking toward the monster's location.
Whoosh...
The monster instantly darted away, reappearing to the right of the girls, out of range of the terrifying attack. It was a silver wolf, nearly the size of an adult male. Its eyes glowed red, its fangs large and sharp. It radiated intelligence as it prepared another attack to finish off its prey. It had used its innate ability, Speed Burst, to evade the attack.
Thanks to its quick reflexes and insane speed, it had escaped before the attack could reach it, giving it a chance to finish off its prey with its next move. It knew its targets wouldn't be able to cancel their spell mid-cast, and even if they tried to cast another, it still had a few more Speed Bursts left. It could simply repeat the process.
Its fur bristled as it prepared its most powerful attack, Rage Destruction, which would unleash an endless barrage of enhanced Silver Claw Slashes.
But at that moment, two thick bolts of silver lightning struck it squarely in the head, the electricity coursing through its body and attacking its internal organs. The wolf collapsed in confusion.
The silver wolf, overly confident in its speed and mid-cast, hadn't noticed the magic circle that had appeared in its previous location, redirecting the bolts of lightning with even greater force. Its body convulsed as it fell to the ground.
Seeing her friend's spell hit its mark, Liz didn't take any chances. She immediately cast a follow-up spell.
"Max Magic - Ice Spikes!"
The moment the magic circle appeared beneath the silver wolf, the ground around it froze. In the next second, sharp ice spikes erupted from the frozen earth. The convulsing wolf stopped breathing.
"Phew... if there had been more than one, we might have been in trouble. It's almost dawn; we should start heading for the Demon King's Castle," Rain said, relief evident in her voice. She hadn't known what kind of monster would emerge from the forest, but she had prepared to counter its speed. She hadn't fully recovered her mana, so she couldn't cast any Tier 6 spells. If the silver wolf had been with its pack, they might have had to retreat into the river and hope no other monsters appeared.
Liz nodded silently. After Rain retrieved the wolf's core and cut out some meat for their journey, the two women began walking along the riverbank toward the Demon King's Castle.
Some distance away, deep in the Darknar Forest...
A figure sat on the branch of a giant tree, his eyes closed. His right arm rested on his knee, his right leg propped up on the branch, while his left leg dangled below. Slowly, he opened his eyes and stood, turning his head toward the east—in the direction of the Demon King's Castle.
His lips curled into a smile as he murmured in a low voice, "Interesting." With those words, he slowly faded away like an oil painting.