The Tome of Truth

'I don't know why, but these humans seem to welcome me.'

Aura, often puzzled in her role as a librarian, noticed that the human apprentice mages who came to her for answers were receiving information that was extremely outdated. Even the most ancient human mages from five hundred years ago wouldn't have deemed these obsolete theories worth teaching their students.

Yet, no one seemed to notice the drawbacks of the knowledge they received from her. Could it be that these humans hadn't gone through a proper magical education?

'This is my chance,' she thought. 'Surely, magical education among humans isn't widespread yet. I, Aura, am the only source of authoritative magical knowledge these human apprentices have access to!'

'Kribi is the central city of human magic, gathering human apprentice mages who are the future hope of humanity. As long as I seize this rare opportunity, I can imprison the magical thinking of these human elites with the backward system.'

'Then... then... the next generation of human mages will be set back at least five hundred... no, seven hundred years!!'

In a quiet corner, Aura looked around cautiously before pulling out a tampered grimoire from her robes and placing it among the densely packed shelves. Checking the bookshelf, she noticed that the grimoires she had previously planted had already been borrowed.

"I've eliminated another future major enemy for the demons," Aura murmured, her voice low and sinister, a wicked smile spreading across her face.

'Foolish Serie, you never expected this, did you? Even if you make me, Aura, the librarian here, unable to directly interfere with the development of human magic...'

'Even so, you can't stop me from corrupting human mages!'

Every one of them, after reading the grimoire written by Aura, although they gained a lot in the beginning, when they grew to a certain level, they would be limited by their vision and could not break through the ceiling of the era five hundred years ago no matter what.

By then, it will be too late for regret.

"Ha ha, ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha..."

"What's that sound? It sounds like someone laughing. Did you hear it?"

"Wasn't it coming from over here? No one's around; maybe I just imagined it."

Two young human boys with childish faces, dressed in the standard robes of apprentice mages, walked over, drawn by the sound of Aura's laughter echoing through the library. They had been eagerly discussing their latest magical studies when the infectious sound of her laughter caught their attention, pulling them away from their conversation. But by the time they arrived at the source, Aura had already disappeared, leaving no trace of her presence.

The escape techniques of a great demon are naturally beyond the comprehension of mere apprentice mages. The two human teenagers did not even sense a trace of mana fluctuations, as Aura's mastery allowed her to slip away seamlessly. Confounded, they exchanged puzzled glances, wondering if they had merely imagined the sound or if it was some trick of the library itself. They briefly questioned their senses, unsure if it had all been a hallucination.

Scratching their heads, they stopped caring about the weird laughter and started chatting about the legend of the library.

"Have you heard? Have you heard? There's a rumor about a purple-haired fairy in this library—no matter what you ask her, she has an answer. People say she's a fairy born from the magic knowledge in the books."

"You are new here from out of town, right? Indeed, mages who have never seen Lady Aura always think that Lady Aura is a fairy from a book. After all, she is knowledgeable, wise, and beautiful. Unlike other great mages who look mature, she still looks like a girl and looks younger than us."

The tall boy was a native of Kribi. When he heard the rumors that his new friend, whom he met through magic learning, heard from somewhere, he covered his forehead in embarrassment and started to explain to him.

"Really? So there's a real person behind the book fairy legend? Is this great mage named Aura really the same age as us? That can't be right. The youngest great mage I've heard of is already thirty years old."

"Of course, she's older than us. Lady Aura probably isn't human, maybe an elf or something, just without the pointed ears. She's incredibly beautiful; you'll know when you see her—it's not a human beauty."

"Does she really know the answer to any magic problem?"

"Hey, I noticed it before. Have you really never heard of the name Aura?"

"Should I have?"

"She was the former president of the Continental Magic Association, and even before the association was founded, she was the chief examiner for mages. She's known as the honorary mentor to first-class mages! Every mage of the previous generation who holds a certification has been through an exam overseen by Lady Aura. My father, during his second-class mage exam, was fortunate enough to experience Aura's magic cannon."

"Oh, sorry, I'm from the countryside. No one ever told me about these things."

"It's okay, it's okay. Lady Aura is known for her kindness towards commoners. Many poor mages can borrow books from her without collateral; she often says knowledge is priceless and only valuable when shared. If you meet her, call her 'teacher' politely, and you will definitely get Lady Aura's care!"

The tall boy chuckled. Actually, he knew no more about magic than his friend. After his father became a second-class mage, he went to the border battlefield and had few opportunities to teach him. He was also self-taught. Whenever he encountered difficulties, he would go to the library to look up books and solve them himself.

"However, Lady Aura isn't around often. She is the librarian, but you have to rely on luck to run into her in this library. We might have just missed her today."

"Oh... I see. Then - have you heard the rumor about the Tome of Truth?"

"The Tome of Truth? Another rumor?"

"Hey, if the book fairy has a real basis, the Tome of Truth must exist too. That is to say, someone in this library found knowledge that is obviously not from this era in the basic collection. It is said that it was a gift from the goddess, and the tome containing the truth of magic was buried in this library, waiting for any mage to discover it."

"I've heard of this rumor, too. But what does this have to do with us? The library is so big, almost like a castle, and there are millions of books on the ground floor alone. Even if they're categorized, we wouldn't be able to tell the good ones from the bad just by the titles. We should stick to the basics and focus on what we can understand."

"You are a good person in every way, except that you don't have the ambition," his friend retorted with a mischievous grin. "Just watch me pick up a random book. What if I get it? What if I find something extraordinary?"

"There's no such luck... huh?" The other boy's skepticism was interrupted as his friend reached out and grabbed a book seemingly at random from a nearby shelf.

The two of them buried their heads together and began flipping through several pages, curiosity overcoming their initial doubts. Even with their limited knowledge as apprentice mages, they quickly realized the wonders contained within the book. The author, whose name was nowhere to be found, possessed extensive knowledge of magical systems. The theories were presented in a simple and straightforward manner, making the complex and profound aspects of magic easy to understand

With just a few lines and a few theories, the two teenagers gained a new understanding of what they had learned about magic. The author's explanations were so clear and insightful that it felt like a veil had been lifted from their minds, revealing new perspectives on the arcane arts they had never considered before.

They looked at each other, eyes wide with realization.

"Could this be...?"

"The Tome of Truth—"

"I'll go through the procedures for borrowing books."

"Use my card; My credit is full of stars, so we can extend the return date."

With a shared sense of urgency, the two of them hurried to the front desk to register for borrowing the grimoire. Their footsteps echoed on the polished marble floor of the library, and their hearts raced with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. They exchanged eager glances, knowing that this book could change everything about their magical studies.