Ch.14 Ambitious

In the past month, Lin Yun tired himself out in order to understand the world. He swept rows of bookshelves in just one month. This amount of reading, drove him to the border of insanity.


So today, he decided to take the day off, by not reading boring history or comparing the level of knowledge on magic theories. He just decide to pick a random book and casually read it to pass the time.


So, he picked up [Flynson’s* Formula].


(TN: the original text 范瑞森 with pinyin fàn ruì sēn)


For Lin Yun, The knowledge of the archmage level was just a casual reading that he had no difficulty with. As he flipped the pages, he was either reminiscing on the past or enjoying correcting the errors he found.


As he was basking in the sun, leisurely reading and enjoying life, he muttered to himself:


“Tsk tsk tsk, So the wizards are still ignorant, and still believe that the seven string theory can solve the problem of compressing the magic vortex*, What a total mess.”


(TN: the original text is 魔漩 not sure if it is different from mana vortex 魔力漩 or it’s just a typo)


“What total mess?”


As Sauron was approaching, he couldn’t help but overhear the last sentence, so he looked with suspicion at the young mage.


“Ah, Mage* Sauron, who mentioned a mess, perhaps you heard wrong.”


(TN: he used mage not archmage, i guess that’s a honorific for all levels.)


Lin Yun decided to deny what he just said.


“Is that so?”


Sauron just smiled and decided to let go of the subject because it wasn’t the reason he came over for. He just wanted to give an advice for the young mage.


Maybe because that young mage obtained the permit too easily, so he didn’t appreciate the opportunity. He seemed too casual, weather it was his selection of books or his attitude towards reading. Maybe he won’t notice it now, but years later or perhaps decades, when he tries to advance to the archmage level, he’d regret wasting this opportunity.


As a senior, Sauron didn’t want to see this happen, because it’d be too late to regret.


“Mage Merlin, the thing is….”


Sauron hesitated. After all, even though the other party was just a level 1 mage, he was very likely to be a disciple of a grand alchemist. And he couldn’t just educate him like how he educates the mages of the tower.


“Yes?”


“Actually, it’s not important. I just wanted to ask if mage Merlin has any requests. You know, You are a guest with the highest level permit, If you have any demands, we’ll do our best to meet them.”


Sauron pause a little then said :


“Right, Mage Merlin, I can help you with books recommendations. I have been working here for 2 years. Ah, this book here is quiet easy to understand.”


As Sauron said that, he felt helpless. After all, behind this mage, was a grand alchemist. Even his own master Saruman was’t willing to act recklessly. So his only option was to give subtle hints otherwise the consequences would be dire.


“I appreciate your kindness.”


Lin Yun was at a loss. When he decided to take the day off, the other party decided to recommend some books for him, and it wouldn’t be good to refuse him. After all, the other party came to him with good intentions. So while his words sounded polite, he was thinking of an excuse.


“Mage Merlin sure is polite. You are a guest of our tower of sages, It’s our obligation to provide you with the best service.”


The young archmage said with enthusiasm.


“You are a level 1 mage, Right? I recommend that you study [The virtuous’ notes]. The notes were left behind by < The Virtuous > a titled Wizard from the third dynasty. He recorded his experience when he was at the mage level. You’d also find [Varrel’s conjectures] interesting. Even though, many of his hypotheses have been proven wrong, I find that his eccentric way of thinking can be enlightening.”


“Ok, I will make sure to read them later.”


Even though, the young archmage was very enthusiastic, Lin Yun found his selection of books to be shallow and don’t even qualify for light reading.


“Well, If you aren’t interested in those books, you can try to study the fire spear spell. It’s extremely close to the archmage level. You even might use it in the future.”


This time, Sauron tried to be more blunt. He even emphasized the word “future” to remind him that he is still a level 1 mage.


Unfortunately, Lin Yun didn’t react at all. Though, the mention of the fire spear spell, reminded him of something.


“Mage Sauron, I heard that the tower of sages obtained a complete version of “astral path*” spell. Can I see it?”


(TN: original text 星空之路 which means road of the starry sky, but i feel it’s a mouthful)


If there was any spells that could grab Lin Yun’s attention in this era, the “astral path” spell would be certainly one of them. Even at the peak of the magical civilization, the magi still appraised it very highly.


In the decaying library, Lin Yun had seen the spell. But it was a version that had been polished over the years. He didn’t see the original version.


“The astral path spell ?”


Sauron burst out laughing. It was true that the tower has the astral path spell, but it was a forbidden-level spell that required the 3 big shots of the tower to join hands to cast it. And now a level 1 mage actually wanted to see it.


After Sauron stopped laughing, he decided to stop pretense.


“Mage Merlin, don’t you think it’s too early for you to study the astral path spell now. It seemed like you didn’t hear what I said earlier. You are a level 1 mage, and there aren’t a lot of books in the library that you can read at your level. There is no shortcut to the top when it comes to magic, even I have to walk step by step. Can you even recognize the runes in front of you?”


Lin Yun wanted to say that he understand them, after all he had seen them many times, but Sauron didn’t give him the chance to say anything.


“Well, Mage Merlin, I have other things to do, so I will take my leave.”


Sauron left the library while fuming with anger then went to the study room at the top floor of the tower.


Saruman was sitting beside the fireplace, while putting a grey blanket over his skinny body and holding a book.


He’d cough violently from time to time.


‘Master’s condition is getting worse.’


Sauron sighed when he entered the room. Saruman suffered and injury 20 years ago. That’s why he’d been stuck at the peak of wizard level for a long time. That was a secret only few people knew about.


“Master, Your cough has become more serious. Should I call Wizard Scipio to prepare a medicine for you?”


“No, the medicine that Scipio makes is hard to drink. I don’t want to suffer. Anyway, I won’t die for a few years.”


“OK”


Sauron was a little shaken. Saruman injury has been weighing heavily on the hearts of  the magi in the tower of sages. Everyone hoped that the wizard would recover soon. But no one could find any solution. Even Scipio, a grand alchemist, gave up after trying for 2 years. The only thing that could be done know was to give him medicine to alleviate the pain.


“You came from the library? How is the little mage of the Merlin Family ?”


“The same as every day.”


“You’ve observed him long enough. What do you think of him?”


“He’s nice, smart and polite but …..”


“But what?”


“But he seemed too ambitious for his own good.”


“How so?”


Sauron talked about what he saw in the last few days, then hesitated a bit and said :


“Today, when he was looking at Flynson’s formula, he said something was a total mess. ”