Chapter 634: The Prototype of Runes: Primitive Totem
“That is to say, at the Grand Library of the Witch World, it is very convenient to start, but to reach greater heights and grasp more special powers, one can only rely on oneself, right?”
“Of course, there are no free lunches in the sky. To become an Extraordinary Witch, even if you know nothing, the Grand Library of the Witch World will ensure you have the starting power. This is a benefit of being an Extraordinary Witch, but to go further, one must rely on their own efforts.”
“Generally speaking, after reaching the Book of Ten Thousand Methods in the Grand Library, the number of spellbooks available decreases sharply. Basic spellbooks are very common; one Magic Source can be exchanged for one. Many newly established witch academies in the Void tend to stock up massively on these basic spellbooks from the Grand Library to support the academy’s operation, also helping to reduce inventory.”
“Ten Thousand Methods… Wait, at the Grand Library, are the levels of spellbooks classified by magic consumption as well?” I curiously asked, as this seemed different from what I had previously understood.
Wasn’t it said that this was just a tradition of our Main World Witch Academy?
“Spellbooks don’t have overly specific level classifications because there’s no unified standard. Apparently, Xiao Han should know that magic consumption does not necessarily correlate with the power of the spellbooks, right?”
“It’s okay, once you arrive at the Grand Library of the Witch World, you will know. The spellbooks you can buy are all common types; most adhere to the rule that greater magic consumption equals greater power. There are also spellbooks whose power does not match their consumption, affectionately referred to as defective spellbooks.”
“Uh… okay, I see. So if the ratio of magic to power does not follow the common rule, it is either a defective product or a high-quality spellbook that has been snatched up?”
“Exactly! So the spellbooks you can buy mostly follow the rule that the greater the consumption, the greater the power; you don’t need to worry about these details.”
“Then the Reincarnation Rebirth spellbook that I have belongs to the high-quality spellbooks, right?” I continued to inquire.
Now that I understood what they ultimately wanted, I didn’t mind guiding the conversation.
“Of course! Moreover, not only that, the Reincarnation Rebirth spellbook is not only a high-quality spellbook but also a rare spellbook; its appearances in the Grand Library of the Witch World are few and far between!”
“Really that rare? However, this spellbook, according to Sister Mei, is classified as a defective product because of some skill thresholds; only by truly learning to edit it myself in the future can I perfect it.”
“Of course it’s extremely rare!” Belika was quite excited as she explained this to me, and at that moment, her tone became a bit shy, “So Xiao Han, I heard you are the one leading this Reincarnation Rebirth spell, I think… you must have a lot of insights about this spell, right?”
“Yes, indeed, but the Reincarnation Rebirth spellbook isn’t necessarily my original intention; I can only say it’s a byproduct of something I was working on…”
“Not a goal… a byproduct… Xiao Han, you really are… making me unsure of what to say…” Upon hearing my words, Belika felt a great blow!
“Sister Belika is interested in this Reincarnation Rebirth spell? But I’m sorry, I still need this spell to complete a very important task. Moreover, due to missing many key techniques, it has a very high usage threshold; even Principal Mei cannot use it, and forcing its use would only yield the effect of an ordinary Resurrection Spell.”
“Oh! Xiao Han misunderstood; I have no thoughts about your spellbook. I primarily want to understand the insights regarding its creation~ Not long ago, I shamelessly approached Principal Mei to ask for her information, and it makes me so eager… so…”
“So Sister Belika wants my insights?” I inquired.
However, I was also amazed at her quickness. How long has it been since?
It took quite a bit of time from the principal’s office to the laboratory due to researching the Knowledge Seed, but it was probably less than a day. After all, I directly shared the information of the Great Knowledge Tree, so it was easy to sync the progress of the witch sisters, but her efficiency was too fast!
“Yes!” Belika nodded repeatedly, not expecting that I would suggest it first, so she naturally felt no hesitation. Meanwhile, she silently praised Bai Yu in her heart, feeling reassured, “Is that okay? I want all of it, including the information about those special techniques. I’m willing to pay any price I can!”
“Uh… that… no need to be so dramatic.” Seeing her determined look, I quickly comforted her.
After all, I hadn’t expected her to be so persistent.
“Then what do you want? As long as it’s something I can offer, I can consider it for trade! Precious Extraordinary materials? Magic Source, spellbooks?”
“Well… actually, I don’t really want those…” I waved my hand quickly.
Although I had already heard that the complete Reincarnation Rebirth spellbook consumed a starting magic of 500,000, I wasn’t at the point where I needed to trade for a Magic Source.
As for spellbooks… I really didn’t lack those. I already had many spellbooks, with derivative types of spells making them innumerable, covering too many fields, including Teacher Ji’s Reverse Summoning Spell and the crystallization technique given to me by Principal Beif Alanna; I couldn’t keep up with researching all these special spells.
“Then what do you want? Knowledge! How about knowledge and books? I know Xiao Han has the Great Knowledge Tree and the Great Knowledge Seed, so you don’t lack the conventional knowledge, but I also have many good things you currently cannot access. I wonder if they can be considered?”
“Of course.” I readily agreed.
Exchanging knowledge for knowledge is the fairest trade there can be, especially since I didn’t want to take advantage of her.
“Eh? You agreed just like that?” Belika hadn’t expected my response to be so quick.
Though she had previously learned that Xiao Han was very generous in sharing, if she had known the other party was so generous, did she need to lay this foundation?
She remembered times when she visited to see something she liked and was met with closed doors because this was her taking the initiative; even an equivalent exchange felt like she was at a disadvantage.
“Well, it’s a reasonable proposal; I don’t see any part I can refuse.” I smiled and said, “Did you overthink me, Sister Belika? I don’t understand those roundabout things; compared to that, I prefer a more straightforward approach.”
“Alright! I like this kind of straightforward communication from you, Xiao Han! So… should we discuss this now? Uh… these few are also interested in the insights regarding the Reincarnation Rebirth spellbook.”
“Okay, are these sisters also interested?”
“Yes, I’m quite interested too, but I probably won’t study as deeply as Belika. I will collect it in my portable library.” The other witch sisters chimed in.
“How about we exchange knowledge equally?”
“Of course.” I nodded; after all, knowledge is truly priceless.
“So Xiao Han, what kind of knowledge do you plan to seek? I have a lot of different areas of knowledge in my collection, and even in the Witch Academy Library, they may not be present.”
As Belika spoke, she revealed a corner of her collection located in an independent space, yet her neatly arranged bookshelves still filled her back area.
“I heard you once attempted alchemy. I have many alchemical notes here; most were written by me personally, ensuring that most of the content involved cannot be found in the Witch Academy Library, whether it’s for medicinal stone alchemy or energy alchemy, or even biological alchemy— I have them all covered.”
“Wow…” Seeing these books, I was instantly tempted.
However, I resisted the urge to use the Earth Vein Identification Technique to exploit them.
“Or these…” Belika waved her hand, and the books on the other side of the bookshelf lined up one by one, “These are related to the study of runes. I heard Xiao Han is quite knowledgeable about Rune Literature, and based on it, you’ve learned to manually cast spells by even dissecting spellbooks by self-learning.”
“Yes, I’m indeed very interested in runes.” I quickly replied, and this interest was far greater than in alchemy!
Because Rune Literature is the foundational subject that has supported me to this point; my understanding of runes gives me a level of fearlessness regarding many things.
It seems that as long as I grasp the rune ceremonies and understand the rules of composite runes, I can accomplish anything!
Just give me time, and no problem is too difficult!
That’s the confidence that learning Rune Literature has given me!
The runes I currently understand are mostly common; in fact, many composite runes I’m already accustomed to, and recognize what they represent at a glance. What I need now are more “boundary” runes and the patterns of more “peculiar” composite runes.
Since Sister Belika mentioned these are things absent from the Witch Academy, then its value would even make me willing to ask Belika in return!
However, before I chose this, my gaze fell upon a book.
“Uh? This book… Primitive… Totem? What is this?” I pointed at it, curious.
“Uh? Did I grab too many?” Belika was a bit surprised but followed my pointed direction to look, “Primitive Totem, oh this! How should I define it? You can think of it as something similar to rune ceremonies, but it’s not the same thing.”
“What do you mean? Is the totem something composed of runes, similar to a more complex composite rune?” I curiously asked.
“Not at all. Runes are not totems; these two do not have a composition relationship. It should be said that the totem is the prototype of runes.”
“Wait… prototype?” This statement left me more confused, “Can you elaborate a bit? I seem to be getting interested in totems.”
“Alright then~ I didn’t expect Xiao Han to become interested in totems!” Belika smiled and shook her head, “I studied Rune Literature, but I really couldn’t delve into totems, so I don’t have many research notes on totems. The totem research is even incomplete because it’s studied very little, and cannot be compiled into a systematic study of knowledge like ‘Rune Literature.'”
“Xiao Han, you should understand what runes are, right? Runes are often referred to as the ‘words of the Void.'”
“Yes.” I nodded to indicate I understood this concept.
“But this statement is inaccurate. It should be said that runes are a kind of Void language that can be recognized by the consciousness of life. They can be recognized and utilized, and that is runes.”
“Being recognized means it can be categorized; each rune corresponds to certain effects, and that’s recognition. The spells composed of runes, alchemy utilizing runes, extraordinary arts, etc., are all utilization.”
“But totems are referred to as the most direct language of the Void; they do not change based on the lives in the Void. A totem may be interpreted, recognized, and utilized, but that is only a very small part, and the part that is interpreted shows properties similar to runes, so it is not an exaggeration to say that totems are the prototypes of runes.”
“Ah?” After hearing this explanation, I was stunned for a moment and needed to digest it before I could respond.
“I have another metaphor here, which I hope can help you understand it.” Belika organized her thoughts and then spoke again.
“Uh, well, please speak directly.”
“Have you heard of types of writing? To give two examples, one is a phonetic script made up of letters, and the other is a pictographic script evolved from symbols. Do you understand this concept?”
“Yes, I understand.” I nodded.
“We can compare phonetic scripts to the rune system, where the most basic unit of a rune is like a letter; each letter can also represent some meanings, and when they combine, it forms a string of words, which is similar to composite runes. Letters have corresponding meanings, and words likewise have corresponding more complex meanings; this represents a very vivid rune system.”
“Then we compare pictographic scripts to totems, where the most primitive pictographic characters are closest to the images of things, most vivid yet most abstract. We can recognize the meaning of the most primitive pictographs at a glance because we have the fundamental understanding of many things in this world.”
“But we do not understand the Void, so we know nothing about totems.”
“However, as I gradually learn within the Void and continuously engage with the extraordinary, we gain a fundamental understanding of the Void. Only then can we have vague guesses or insights about specific totems, but each person’s understanding varies, and the fields involved also differ, leading to different interpretations; do you understand?”
“Only by deepening our understanding of the essence of the Void can one qualify to have a deeper understanding of totems. The threshold for learning about totems is omnipresent, which tests not only one’s abilities but also one’s comprehension!”
“So do you understand now? Runes and… totems; if you must be interested in totems, I can only say to take it lightly. A first attempt without harvest simply means one does not have that insight.”
“Lacking insight means you still wish to learn about totems, and you can only rely on accumulation; that is a task that yields little for much effort. I suggest that if you lack insight… at least don’t touch totems before becoming an Extraordinary Witch. I wouldn’t want you to be delayed by totems to the point where you can’t even advance to an Extraordinary Witch, or I would feel guilty.”
