Chapter 97: Array Breaking Studies

"Hmph!" Muria's expression soured. He knew well that Crystal Castle was protected by a complex legendary array designed against legendary beings. He realized that if he wanted to retrieve the legendary metals by brute force, he might have to wait a few hundred more years.

"Master Muria, without Lady Atelis's permission, no one can touch anything here."

Muria glanced at the golden-haired maid leader floating beside him, his mood darkening further. He turned and walked towards the exit of the vault. There was no point in staying if he couldn't reclaim his legendary metals; it was only frustrating to look at them.

Just as Muria reached the castle's exit, ready to leave for good, a faint glint of insight flashed in his golden pupils, halting the step he had just taken.

"If I do nothing and just leave, it would be a wasted trip, and that's a bit of a loss. I shouldn't waste time like this," a sudden thought popped into Muria's mind. "I'll go to the library and grab some books. That way, it won't be a wasted trip."

As soon as he thought it, Muria turned and headed towards the location of the library, leaving the maid leader, Sophia, somewhat surprised. "Master Muria, I thought you were leaving?"

"Sophia, I plan to visit the library and take some books before I go."

"Do you need some maids to assist you?"

"No, that won't be necessary," Muria waved his hand dismissively. "I'll do it myself. You don't need to follow me; I'm just going to pick up a few books from the library."

"Then, I shall take my leave," said the golden-haired dragonkin maid leader as she watched Muria walk down the corridor lined with precious treasures, a slight smile on her face.

"Muria, I thought we were leaving?" Renata, perched on Muria's shoulder, asked with a hint of confusion.

"I just thought I'd grab some books to read," Muria forced a smile at the loli-form Renata.

"Oh," Renata replied obediently, her spirits lifted by seeing Muria's strained smile. She understood how bad he felt, especially knowing the value of the legendary metals, but she appreciated that he tried to smile for her.

In the vast, deserted library, rows of shelves filled with the scent of sandalwood were neatly arranged as far as Muria's eyes could see, filled with books that could pile up into a mountain of knowledge.

The aisles between the shelves were too narrow for Muria's thirty-meter titan form, so he used a spell to transform into a young boy, with Renata still in her young girl form, weaving through the shelves.

For some reason, as soon as he entered the library, Muria felt drawn to a specific section, as if there was a book he needed to find there.

Guided by this inexplicable intuition, Muria maneuvered through the rows of shelves and finally paused at one that looked no different from the others, searching for a particular book.

He had a strong feeling that this shelf held a book of great importance to him. This sudden, strong intuition felt so natural, as if it were his own idea.

"I think I've found something incredible," Muria murmured, his gaze settling on a book with a black cover and golden edges. The title, written in draconic script, brought him a profound sense of satisfaction when he read it: "Array Breaking Studies."

"What does this book contain?" With anticipation, Muria took the thick volume off the shelf and opened it, only to see a message from the author on the frontispiece.

"No array is perfect; every array has a weakness. Find the weakness, and even a minimal force can break the array."

"With the smallest force, break the array," Muria read aloud, his eyes narrowing as he thought of the legendary defensive array protecting the castle. A wild idea took root—if he could decipher the array guarding the castle, then the contents of the vault...

Considering his knowledge of array studies, the castle's defensive array seemed nearly flawless, with no apparent weaknesses or vulnerabilities.

But the message in "Array Breaking Studies" resonated with Muria. He understood that no array was truly perfect; his perception of the array's perfection was simply due to his insufficient knowledge in array studies.

"What can this book teach me?" Eager to learn, Muria turned to the second page, where a basic hexagram array glowed faintly with magical light on an unknown material.

"The most basic array," Muria felt a tinge of disappointment. As he prepared to turn the page, he was stunned to find that he couldn't move any of the remaining thick stack of pages.

"Interesting!" Muria smiled as he realized the book was no ordinary tome. Even though his strength was reduced when he transformed into a human form, he still possessed monstrous power—enough that failing to turn a page was a curiosity.

Muria closed the book and turned it over; its back was smooth, without the author's name.

"Whoosh!" Muria opened the book again, returning to the second page. He studied the low-level array flickering with faint magical light.

After a moment's hesitation, Muria touched a weak point in the simple array. "Boom!" The array exploded into specks of light, and the page turned blank.

Muria smiled, his finger ready to turn to the third page, but the paper remained immovable.

"That shouldn't be right."

"Muria, the array you just broke has reformed."

"Yes, I see that, Renata." Muria frowned slightly as he watched the same hexagram array reform on the blank second page, its faint light flickering mockingly.

"Why did it reform? Was the method wrong?" Muria flipped back to the first page, focusing on the frontispiece message. "The smallest force, the weakest point... perhaps what I found wasn't the weakest after all. Hence, the array reformed."

"Boom!" "Boom!"... "Boom!" Muria, seeing flaws everywhere, broke the array five times; it reformed four times until the fifth attempt, when he finally located the array's most vulnerable point and caused it to collapse without reforming.

As expected, once the basic array collapsed, Muria easily turned to the third page, where a slightly more complex array shimmered with faint magical light.

Seeing this new challenge, Muria's interest was piqued. He floated mid-air with Renata, focusing intently on breaking the array...

Time passed, and by the time Muria reached the thirty-fifth page, he could no longer turn the pages. The arrays became increasingly complex, the one on the thirty-fifth page being of golden level, vastly more intricate than the initial hexagram array Muria had started with.

Muria could identify this array's weak points and break it, but after three attempts, the array would reform each time. Unable to turn to page thirty-six, this indicated that he hadn't found the weakest point.

"Master Muria." As Muria wrestled with the golden-level array, a soft voice called from below. He looked down to see the golden-haired maid Sophia.

"Yes!" Muria glanced at Sophia, then back at the book in his hands, and asked, "How long have I been here?"

"You have been in the library

 for two days and one night," Sophia bowed slightly. "Master, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Hmm!" Muria looked at the page shimmering with magical light, feeling his lack of knowledge painfully. "Help me gather some more books on array studies into a few more space rings."

"As you wish, master."

...Transformed back into his titan form, Muria walked through the corridors of the Crystal Castle, Renata occasionally glaring back at the maid leader in dissatisfaction. Muria inspected the treasures on display around him, particularly interested in the items mixed with legendary metals.

"Gundam." Suddenly, Muria stopped before a hall displaying a giant magitech construct, as tall as an adult titan.

Observing the familiar V-shaped crest and the blue eight wings on its back, Muria's expression was stoic, but his emotions were tumultuous. What truly interested him was that the Gundam was constructed from high-grade metals mixed with legendary metals.

"How much legendary metal could be refined if this Gundam was melted down?" Muria pondered, a smile creeping onto his face as he looked at the Gundam's massive form.

"Let's go!" After a deep look at the Gundam, Muria walked out of the Crystal Castle without looking back. Then, wings bursting from his back, the Titan Dragon soared into the sky with Renata, heading toward Taiji Island.

...

Meanwhile, just as Muria left the castle, on a city in one of Erathia's sub-continents, the Gold Dragon Mother Atelis, transformed into a young girl and attending a meeting, looked up. Her golden dragon eyes gazed in the direction of her Crystal Castle, a smile playing on her lips.

"Little Muria, you finally got that book. It wasn't in vain that I created those two spells specifically for you based on your bloodline. Well, since the spells worked, I'll name them after you: 'Bewitch Muria' and 'Lower Muria's Wisdom.'"

Thinking of Muria, an inadvertent smile brightened her face, stunning all the humanoid beings in the meeting room—human knights, mages, half-elf archers... All the powerful attendees were distracted by the Gold Dragon Mother's smile.

"Cough, Lady Atelis!" The meeting's sponsor, a genteel middle-aged mage, coughed, his eyes fixed forward as he struggled to restrain his desire to gaze at the Gold Dragon Mother. "Did you think of something amusing?"

"Quite amusing," Atelis suppressed her smile, her expression neutral. She was well aware of her allure in human form. "The spell I left in the castle was triggered, and it worked very well."

"Your Excellency, has a thief sneaked into your castle?" A handsome young knight looked at the Gold Dragon Mother with undisguised admiration.

"No." Unmoved by the overt and covert looks of adoration around her, Atelis was accustomed to such attention. "It was triggered by my somewhat naughty son."

"Crack!" "Crack!"... At Atelis's words, a chorus of objects breaking echoed in the meeting room.

"Ah, so the rumors of your partnership are true," the middle-aged mage chuckled, his eyelids drooping to hide the disappointment in his eyes as he let the powder of what had been a teacup in his hand slowly fall.

"Surely Lady Atelis's child is as extraordinary as you," said a mage cheerfully, his chair cracked under the strain of his mental effort to keep it from collapsing.