Free Web NovelChapter 4: Chapter 4: I Shall Surpass the Gods
The Witch Spirit’s mechanical voice continued, but the numbers it announced grew lower and lower:
[7-118-257, Abby, 74 Black Tower Points.]
[7-118-258, Dias, 73 Black Tower Points.]
The sharp decrease in the numbers clearly held another meaning—the academy was not optimistic about how far these people could go on the path of a Wizard.
The academy saw no promise in them, and so was loath to invest.
Among the crowd, some of the new arrivals wore undisguised looks of contempt and disdain on their faces.
Although no one spoke, this intangible exclusion was clearly felt by everyone.
Mo Ning’s expression remained calm.
Just as the Second Level Apprentice Lai Te had said, "For a Wizard, knowledge is power."
The Eye of Truth could perceive the precious knowledge within the ocean of information. One day, he would ascend to the apex of the pyramid of power.
’Stand shoulder to shoulder with gods?’
’No.’
’I will eventually surpass the gods!’
[7-118-268, Leia, 68 Black Tower Points.]
The Witch Spirit was extremely efficient. The moment the list was finished, the guidance program seamlessly transitioned to the next phase:
[Initial funding has been distributed.]
[All new Apprentices, please follow the prompts from your Guiding Ring and proceed immediately to your designated dormitory area to complete check-in. You will be free to move about once you are done.]
As the voice faded, the Secluded Forest seemed to be driven by an unseen will.
Before the astonished gazes of the newbies, the trees surrounding the hall, which had been standing silently and appeared indistinguishable from real ones, suddenly began a slow and orderly "shift."
They intertwined and parted, accompanied by a low but not jarring scraping sound, forcibly "carving" a winding path about two meters wide through the dense woods.
The path’s surface was naturally paved with gnarled, interlocking roots, and the branches of the trees on both sides arched slightly toward the middle, forming a natural corridor.
This sight naturally drew another round of gasps and exclamations from the newbies.
Almost at the same time, a faint, cool sensation came from the Guiding Ring on Mo Ning’s index finger.
A message flowed directly into his mind:
[Please proceed immediately along the Secluded Path to dormitory area 76.]
All the new arrivals received the same guidance.
No one dared to question or delay. The crowd began to converge on the path that had abruptly appeared.
An interesting phenomenon occurred—or rather, a phenomenon that Mo Ning found quite ironic.
The order in which the new arrivals walked toward the path’s entrance almost perfectly replicated the order of their serial numbers from moments before.
The newcomers with high talent and more funding naturally walked at the very front.
Those at the bottom, derided as "trash," silently trailed at the end of the line.
The social concepts shaped by millennia of strict hierarchical systems allowed everyone to find their place with maximum speed.
Mo Ning, like the other "last-placers," lagged at the rear of the group and stepped onto the forest path.
Walking along it, with the trees just a stone’s throw away, the sensory impact was even more direct.
The rough texture of the bark and the faint, cool dampness felt incredibly real. The thick scent of vegetation and decaying earth lingered in the air, impossible to disperse.
He could even see the fine dewdrops condensed on the leaves and the rice-sized dark beetles scurrying busily through cracks in the bark.
「One minute later.」
The path ahead suddenly opened up.
A small, circular plaza about thirty meters in diameter appeared at the end of the path.
The plaza connected to eight corridors, each entrance marked with a number. Uniform black wooden doors lined both sides of the corridors.
The surface of each wooden door was carved with a relief of the Black Tower.
This was clearly the place where the new arrivals would be living for the foreseeable future.
The Guiding Ring once again gave off a faint, Ice Cold sensation, and new information flooded his mind:
[Please proceed to corridor 8, residence 4, to complete identity binding and check-in.]
Mo Ning’s gaze swept across the circular plaza as he strode toward corridor 8 on the far right.
When he stopped before the fourth door, a dim light began to flow silently within the originally dull gray crystal on the lintel.
The light gathered and took shape, forming a line of elegant and mysterious runes—the two words "Mo Ning," written in Secret Spirit Text.
The so-called "Secret Spirit Text" was the most common script in the Wizard World.
Mo Ning reached out and gently pressed his palm against the Ice Cold door panel.
An incredibly subtle fluctuation instantly swept over his entire body.
[Registration complete.]
The prompt immediately followed.
The wooden door slid inward without a sound.
What came into view was a room of about twenty square meters.
The furnishings inside were very simple: a narrow bed with a plain linen sheet, a solid wood wardrobe built into the wall, a heavy oak desk, and an old-fashioned chair with a backrest.
The only luxury was the floor-to-ceiling window that took up the entire inner wall, and beyond it was unexpectedly a forest of tall, straight birch trees.
Mo Ning’s gaze lingered on the Birch Forest for a moment.
He clearly remembered that the area around the Black Tower consisted of jagged black rocks and low, hardy shrubs; there was definitely no such dense, tall Birch Forest.
’Is this the power of Witchcraft again?’ Mo Ning thought to himself.
His gaze finally returned to the room, locking onto a corner of the desk.
A neat stack of paper sat there. The paper was slightly yellowed, and its edges were cut with exceptional precision.
This was scale pattern paper.
This type of paper had excellent toughness and was highly waterproof, allowing it to be preserved for several years even in damp environments.
In the Wizard World, whether one was deducing complex Witchcraft Models or researching Magic Potion Study and Alchemy, a massive amount of data was involved, all of which needed to be recorded on paper.
Therefore, every Wizard was an unapologetic, heavy consumer of paper.
Mo Ning walked to the desk, pulled out the chair, sat down, and reached for the topmost sheet of scale pattern paper.
The paper’s surface had a faint, scale-like pattern, which was the origin of its name, but it felt very smooth to the touch.
The corner of his mouth curved up slightly. ’Time to see if this method can earn me a small sum of Black Tower Points.’
Mo Ning wasn’t hoping for too much.
to 200 Black Tower Points would be enough to satisfy him.
He carefully spread the scale pattern paper on the oak desk and picked up an "Ink Tube Pen."
The body of this pen was made of dark-grained hardwood, its surface carved with beautiful patterns, and it had an embedded ink reservoir and an extremely fine black-silver nib.
For a Wizard, manufacturing such a writing instrument posed no difficulty at all.
Mo Ning’s gaze fell on the blank surface of the paper as he unconsciously twirled the Ink Tube Pen in his hand.
He wasn’t thinking about some profound formula, but rather—how to put on a performance without leaving a trace.
Because he was almost certain that some audience—perhaps the academy’s omnipresent Witch Spirit, or perhaps a certain Apprentice—was observing the several hundred new arrivals through their Guiding Rings.
The purpose of this was, naturally, to identify any suspicious targets among them.
And everything he did would undoubtedly fall under the observer’s gaze.
「Two seconds later.」
The tip of the Ink Tube Pen touched the scale pattern paper for the first time.
Mo Ning first wrote several lines of text in standard, clear Secret Spirit Text:
"After my Spiritual Talent was unexpectedly detected, I studied for several months in the capital of the Holy Spear Kingdom.
"Everyone told me that on the thorny path of Witchcraft, ’Secret Divination and Divination’ is the pair of boots essential for a long journey. Without it, one can barely move a single step.
"I have to say, Secret Divination and Divination is a real headache. The introductory stage of learning is simply torture.
"After leaving the Kingdom, and following another long journey, I finally set foot in the renowned Black Tower Academy.
"Although I only entered the academy today, the powerful Witchcraft here has left an incredibly deep impression on me.
"To me, the academy is simply a captivating Holy Land of Witchcraft!"
This was almost pure fluff.
However, if you were to flip through any Wizard’s notes, you’d find that trivial records like "The weather is nice today, I think I ate a bit too much for breakfast," or "Spent a little too long fooling around with a Succubus last night, my back is still a bit sore" were everywhere.
Mixing proper research content with all sorts of nonsense was a common style for Wizards when writing their notes.
In the worldview of a Wizard, Secret Divination and Divination was the most core and most frequently used tool and language for studying all Witchcraft phenomena.
It was far from ordinary mathematics, but rather a vast system of knowledge that integrated plane geometry, solid geometry, linear algebra, advanced mathematics, Magic Field theory, causal probability, and symbolic logic.
It not only contained a large number of precise mathematical formulas but also carried the Secret Technique laws that generations of Wizards had extracted from the world’s underlying rules.
For example.
The theorem known in geometry as "the shortest distance between two points is a straight line" had a more profound and practical expression in Secret Divination and Divination:
"In a uniform magical medium, constructing a stable linear gradient force field between two points achieves the shortest path, lowest dissipation, and optimal efficiency for Magic Power conduction."
This was the universally known "Theorem of Linear Conduction," one of the most fundamental laws of Secret Divination and Divination.
To put it bluntly, Secret Divination and Divination was another kind of Magic Wand for a Wizard.
A Wizard who was not proficient in this art might be able to cast a few powerful Spells through talent or luck, but they could never touch upon the true Mysteries of Witchcraft.
The topic Mo Ning had carefully chosen, however, was beyond the level of a new arrival.
But not by much.
The Knowledge of Divination he had taught himself in the Royal Library was enough to support research on this topic.
This was indeed a bit incredible.
But—
Mo Ning thought cheerfully to himself, ’Geniuses do exist, after all.’
