Chapter 224: How to Read Books

Chapter 224: How to Read Books

The huge number of books made Zheng Yichen struggle to find what he needed…

“Miss Irene! You don’t actually make everyone search for books themselves in your library, do you?” Dan Marina chuckled, watching Zheng Yichen’s frustrated figure pacing inside a mirror as she talked to the girl beside her.

“Nope.”

Irene shook her head. Inside the library, a startled Zheng Yichen stared at the tiny, two-headed-tall figure that had appeared before him—a projection, but not like a real person; more like a chibi-style cartoon. “What kind of book are you looking for?”

“Uh, is this the Projection Spell?” Zheng Yichen asked, surprised by the girl barely twenty centimeters tall.

“Why?”

“Why does it look like this?” he questioned strangely. With a wave, his own projection appeared beside him—similarly small, but every detail matched his body perfectly. He’d tried changing minor details in his projections before but had failed every time.

“You just haven’t mastered the spell well enough. You only managed a basic body projection,” Irene stated plainly. Her tiny projection hand beckoned slightly, and a broom from the corner flew over, hovering beside her. “Use this to find the books you want.”

“…” Zheng Yichen stared blankly at the broom, which now had two little wooden hands. Hesitantly, he asked, “Uh… like Bona Kaine’s Magic Book kind of effect?”

Irene gave a slight nod as her projection faded away.

Ah? So cold-hearted… Shaking his head, Zheng Yichen kept his own projection active. He made the projection grab the broom. Thinking about the books he needed, the broom instantly broke free and zipped into the depths of the library. Moments later, it returned carrying a huge, wobbling stack of volumes.

Zheng Yichen gaped at the little wooden hands holding the pile. Seriously? That strength was unreal! These books must’ve weighed over a hundred pounds!

After piling the books onto one of the library tables, Zheng Yichen flipped one open and nodded. Hmm… just as expected. Much of the content matched what he’d seen in the Underground Library. Probably, unless it was a rare one-of-a-kind text, most books there could be found here too.

Putting a thick book before Lily, he explained to the stunned little girl, “This is a Warrior’s Enlightenment Book. Start studying this.”

“… So big?”

Lily stared at the giant volume—its spine was wider than her arm, and its size rivaled a 17-inch notebook computer. She felt truly intimidated.

“Oh, take your time. It’s thick, but really simple to understand,” Zheng Yichen assured her. The sheer thickness came partly from this world’s script. If translated to Chinese, he figured it’d shrink by a third. Enlightenment books didn’t need close reading anyway—mostly basic explanations. To grasp the knowledge, just find the key parts. Plus, many pages were just illustrations.

Pettyng the tall heap of books beside him, he added, “I’ve got way more here, you know.”

“…” Lily silently nodded, feeling self-conscious as she stared at the tower of books rising above him. “You’re amazing.”

“Haha! Took you long enough to notice!” Laughing proudly twice, Zheng Yichen shook his head and focused on skimming his books. He’d hunted down essential texts—master these first, and other books of the same type became easier later. Reading in a library took skill, not just forcing yourself through giant books to memorize every detail.

Doing that wasted huge amounts of time. Later, you’d realize you could’ve grasped most books just by understanding their core ideas. It was like math formulas. Once you fully mastered one, you’d handle similar problems easily without memorizing them all. Since you’d only truly grasp that core formula anyway, why waste time on every variation?

So reading needed technique.

“Mm… skill helps, but combining it with practice would be better,” Zheng Yichen shared his thoughts with Lily while scratching his chin. Too bad they weren’t at the Castle, where things were flexible. Getting access to this Witch’s Manor for reading was already generous. Taking books to a Laboratory? That’d be asking too much.

“Huh, clever approach.” Watching through the mirror, Dan Marina nodded approvingly at Zheng Yichen’s method. His skill cut straight to the core. She glanced at Irene beside her. “You do the same?”

“…I read for the joy of it,” Irene replied, turning her back to leave. “And stop bothering me.”

“Can I get warehouse access? Just the basic stuff?”

Without turning, Irene flicked a small, dimly glowing blue crystal toward Dan Marina. Though its color matched her usual ones, this held weak energy—mostly just a symbolic key.

⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈

Zheng Yichen stayed buried in the library until evening. Rubbing his tired head, he stretched. He’d memorized most of today’s material, but practice would still help it sink in. Seeing Lily asleep atop her giant book, he quietly gathered her up to reshelve the volumes.

He didn’t need to move. The broom resting by the table instantly took flight. Its wooden hands grew longer and swiftly tidied all the books. Lifting the stack high, it zipped out of sight. Welp, saved him the trouble.

Gently rubbing his temples, Zheng Yichen left the Library. At nighttime, fire blazing deeper in the eyes of the two stone Giant Dragons flanking the door felt like stares boring into him. Fighting his sudden itch to swipe at them, the dragon left without turning back, heading to the lakeside shack.

The shack brimmed with half-carved statues—little animals, birds, people—all in varying stages of ruin. With so many gazing blankly in the moonlight, the place felt eerie… Good thing Zheng Yichen wasn’t Human anymore.

Placing Lily into a basket that now served as her small bed, Zheng Yichen rubbed his growling stomach. He shifted a few steps, drew a Magic Rune Array on the ground, then snapped his fingers.

“Pht!” His go-to fire Magic failed!

Frowning, he glanced around and spotted why immediately—local elemental energy was too dense! The Mana and Mental Energy he’d channeled into the runes couldn’t ignite a spell under such potent force.

He fed more power in. Finally, flames appeared. Good thing he was ready—he immediately restrained the eruption before it could ignite the entire shack. Even suppressed, its heat wildly surpassed his normal campfire flames. Though mastering magic was hard, external factors like this environment could amplify control.

Irene’s Manor functioned as a magic-boosting zone—like a game buff: Mana cost doubled, spell power tripled.

⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈

Back in her Workshop, Irene instantly paused her research on Fate-Killer upon sensing magic ripple across her grounds. Waving a hand, she conjured a watery mirror that projected Zheng Yichen’s scene precisely. Firelight flickered in her eyes as reality set in.

This dragon… just what was he?

Her Sorceress power saturated the Manor. Breaching this barrier was near impossible by non-Sorceresses. Even if another managed it here in her domain, a spell would drain vastly more power yet yield weaker results—this being her long-fortified home turf.

So how could that dragon ignore her Magic suppression so easily? Casting such a crude, basic fire spell, yet it gained enhanced power in this environment? Why? Element density here stemmed from her magic! Its imprint lingered on every elemental particle… hence why others found Spells so hard here.

No Sorceress would feel comfortable seeing their hard-built advantages casually ignored. Was this dragon a prank by those other two Sorceresses just to unsettle her?

Noticing Zheng Yichen simply making a campfire to cook meat finally broke her icy composure. She decided then: Tomorrow they’d talk. While Fate-Killer mattered, Dan Marina hadn’t demanded its return timeline—plenty remained for study. Zheng Yichen? Intended as a secondary research subject, he now topped her list. Until she understood how he bypassed her suppression, peace wouldn’t find her. His power posed no threat, but two other Sorceresses dwelled here too…

⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈⌈

“Gah!—Ah! Hah!” Zheng Yichen rubbed his nose, irritated by a stifled sneeze. Eyes darting, he genuinely contemplated grabbing pliers to force that sneeze out. This half-baked, teary, “stuck” sensation was torture.

“I thought you’d stop him,” came Dan Marina’s voice from behind. Wearing something sheer, she watched the black-lingerie-clad Loris by the window.

“Why should I?” Loris glanced back. Irene’s research on Zheng Yichen went only as far as magical cooperation—nothing more. With her and Dan Marina present, Irene knew pushing boundaries risked severe fallout. Dragons embodied human ideals of perfection, yet for Sorceresses? Meh. Their Magic, Talent, power, and longevity surpassed even the Dragon Clan’s. Irene knew many from the Dragon Clan; Zheng Yichen was unremarkable. Accepting him just smoothed the Fate-Killer exchange. At current research pace, Zheng Yichen’s turn wouldn’t come soon. As for leaving? Irene despised disadvantageous compromises. Hence, Zheng Yichen showcasing his unique edge now might ruffle Irene enough to start tests early… and their departure might come sooner!

“Seems eager to leave too… Hmm, this lingerie style—the little dragon designed it?” Dan Marina murmured before suddenly darting forward to tug the black lace on Loris’s chest. “Flowers like this… you sure pulled it off? Hey, no hitting!”

Seeing the cold-faced Loris preparing to slap, Dan Marina hopped back half a step. “Don’t mind if I ask the little dragon for some similar designs?”

“Don’t annoy me,” Loris spat frostily.

“No refusal means consent, then?” Grinning, Dan Marina left for her room. Settling on her soft bed, she tapped her chin. “Seriously, how’d that Little Dragon come up with such designs? More intriguing by the day.”

Stretching languidly, she flopped back with a contented sigh. “Almost time… Finally completely free!”