Ch. 22
Chapter 22. Then Let Us Wager 'Life'—and Decide by Knowledge!
"Not enough.."
Yan quietly shook his head.
"What!?!"
Cidy's eyes widened in disbelief.
Although she had mentioned "forbidden books" only to test the boy's character, never actually intending to trade away such precious items—
He still found that level of knowledge insufficient!?
Unbelievable..! This went far beyond Cidy's expectations.
Her bright blue eyes widened even further before falling silent.
She wanted to hear how this boy would explain himself—
"To put it simply, I'm interested in all the books here. Why not let me have the entire library?"
Yan said with a casual, easy smile.
——The girl's mind trembled at his words.
She looked at him in astonishment.
She hadn't expected his appetite to be this enormous!
"You—! At your age, touching too much forbidden knowledge will drive you insane! Even greed has its limits!"
Cidy's playful smile vanished completely. Genuine anger now shone in her eyes.
He had such an extraordinary talent, yet instead of building a solid foundation, he was fixated only on "advanced" magic...
She had seen far too many mages like that.
All of them eventually destroyed themselves—consumed by power they could not control.
Or worse, they fell into darkness and became those twisted beings neither human nor demon.
Does he really want to walk that path too!?
...
Watching Cidy's agitated expression, Yan calmly lifted his teacup.
"I don't intend to study high-level magic directly," he said lightly. "But since you've shown it to me, naturally I'll want to make it mine. In other words, you shouldn't have let me see such a 'treasure'."
So that was it.
He merely wanted to secure the knowledge first, then study it slowly?
Cidy's anger began to subside.
However—
Taking a slow breath, she closed her eyes briefly, then reopened them.
"So what you mean is, you plan to seize it by force?!" she said softly, her eyes radiating a goddess-like calm.
What a fool!
Even if he wanted it that badly, how could he say something so shameless right in front of the owner!?
Rude boy!
Yet that burning desire for knowledge—so similar to her own—made the last trace of displeasure in her heart melt away.
She even found herself admiring him a little.
"I can't win against you anyway... and I also like my library too much to just give it up."
"I see... But this library is filled with books I've gathered myself. For a mage who values knowledge above all else, a library filled with wisdom is worth as much as one's life."
Her clear blue eyes closed gently, her tone calm now—no longer angry at his audacious words.
She sighed.
Even if she admired him, there was no reason to simply give away her knowledge.
"Since you're asking for my life, unless you can offer something of equal value, I won't agree."
"No room for negotiation?"
Yan asked with a bright smile, completely unfazed.
"None at all! Of course, if you think you can defeat me, you're free to try."
"Well, that's a bit too difficult. How about this instead—let me become your apprentice. In exchange, let me browse your library freely."
"Eh... apprentice? Hmm, that's not entirely impossible... Wait, hold on!! What did you just say!? Apprentice!?"
Cidy's eyes widened in shock.
"Huh!? You want to learn magic from me!?!"
Her expression turned strange as she studied Yan carefully.
‘His appearance isn't bad—handsome, even. So he passes the looks test…’
‘As for magical talent, she hadn't measured it yet, but seeing how he fought off those new-generation Conjurers alone, his potential should be exceptional!’
However—
Cidy took a sip of tea, then fixed him with a sharp gaze. "Even among Conjurers, few meet my standards. Most are worthless. Xixiang Yan, where does your confidence come from? Learning magic from me isn't as easy as you think."
To dismiss those powerful enough to be called "weapons of war" as "worthless"...
This woman might be far stronger than Yan had imagined.
But—
Yan's lips curved slightly.
"If ninety percent of the people in this world are talentless, then I absolutely do not belong among them."
Yan said seriously.
It sounded arrogant—but it was pure truth.
With the 【Simulated Star-Creation Map】, he would inevitably draw the attention of the arcane, and eventually become the very architect of a new pantheon.
If someone like him could be called "talentless," then truly, no one in this world possessed any talent at all.
"!?!"
Cidy's eyelid twitched; the corner of her mouth spasmed.
She hadn't expected the boy to be this shameless!
That confidence! Did he think the world's greatest mages prodigies were nobodies!?
"Magic is imagination—that's what truly matters. Without imagination, one can never grasp the essence of magic. Even if your magic pathways are abundant, that doesn’t mean you can reach the ultimate end of Dark Magic.”
Cidy frowned slightly as she spoke.
Of course—
If she knew that Yan's magic pathways weren't merely "abundant," but completely open—that he himself was a living magic pathway—she wouldn't have dared to say such a thing.
Imagination indeed defined a mage's future.
But when one's flawless gift was that overwhelming, imagination became secondary.
"Eh... Then how about a little game?"
Yan continued smiling, as though completely unaffected by her sharp, oppressive gaze.
His composure made Cidy suspicious.
"A game? What kind of game?"
"As fellow mage, let's wager our 'lives'—and have a duel."
"The rules are simple."
Yan said, his smile turning sharp. "We wager what mages regard as their very life—knowledge. We each stake an equal amount of knowledge, and the victor claims all that the other knows."
"You... are you really ten years old!?!"
Cidy murmured, sweat beading on her forehead. It was hard to believe such words came from a child.
"But since you want me to wager my life, what are you going to offer in return? Don't propose something unworthy of the price!"
She sighed softly.
"Books from another world—over forty thousand volumes of knowledge!"
Yan said suddenly.
"Pffft...~~~~~~!!!!?"
"F-Forty thousand!?"
Cidy practically sprayed her tea across the room, her graceful composure utterly shattered.
The moment Yan said those words, his heart grew taut with alertness.
Yes—forty thousand.
That was what he had discovered within the 【Simulated Star-Creation Map】.
Before it brought him away from Earth, it had already awakened and analyzed a massive portion of Earth's accumulated knowledge.
For this world, it was indeed knowledge from another world.
But Yan couldn't explain the source of it.
Even as the 【Simulated Star-Creation Map】 continued analyzing the girl before him—her emotions, her state of mind—
Yan was now certain she harbored no malice.
Even so, he couldn't afford to be careless.
After all, she herself had said it: for a mage, knowledge was as precious as life.
Under such overwhelming temptation, it wouldn't be strange if she suddenly turned hostile.
And if that really happened, then Yan would have no choice but to grab Giselle and the others and use his Celestial Observation ability to run for it!
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(T/N): Change magic circuit to magic pathway