Cramming

"First things first! You need knowledge, so far you're dumber than a brick," Van Dijk said with a dismissive wave of his hand, his eyes boring into Ludwig's empty sockets.

"Yes," Ludwig responded mechanically, the words slipping out before he had a chance to think.

"It's 'Yes, Master!'" Van Dijk snapped, flicking Ludwig's forehead with a sharp crack.

[-1 HP]

"Yes, Master," Ludwig replied, forcing the words through a veil of resentment. He had been called "Young Master" countless times in his previous life, a title of respect from the maids and servants back home. Now, the tables had turned. He was the servant, the underling. Though humiliating, it wasn't hard to adjust to this new role—at least not outwardly.

"Good, good," Van Dijk muttered as he scanned the room with a critical eye. "Sadly, I don't have anything here that can be considered 'beginner-friendly,'" he said, his gaze sweeping over the numerous tomes lining the shelves. Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small blue crystal.

"Sebas, Evan, you bastards, where are you?!" Van Dijk barked into the crystal.

A flickering holographic image of Sebas appeared, the necromancer's eyes wide with fear as he struggled to catch the crystal projection. "Y-Yes, Tower Master!" Sebas stammered, his voice trembling. Behind him, Evan's face was visible, looking even more nervous.

"Bring me all elementary books about magic," Van Dijk ordered curtly.

"Uh, what for?" Sebas dared to ask, genuine confusion in his tone. The Tower Master had no use for elementary texts, so the request seemed baffling. Evan, realizing the folly of questioning their master, immediately elbowed Sebas in the ribs. "We'll do so right now. What range? White Magic? Red, or Black?"

"Elementary for now. Elemental magic can wait. Just bring all you can get your hands on. Hurry," Van Dijk demanded, dismissing them with a wave that shut down the crystal projection.

"Let's wait for those two fools now. But tell me, what are your current abilities?" Van Dijk asked, his gaze returning to Ludwig with a mixture of curiosity and impatience.

"I have none," Ludwig replied.

"Strange, everyone should have at least one or two right after their birth. 'Inspect,'" Van Dijk muttered, extending his palm toward Ludwig.

Nothing happened on Van Dijk's end, but on Ludwig's side, an entirely different scene unfolded.

[Congratulations, you have seen how Inspect works. You can now use it to inspect the world around you, including its people!]

[Inspect: The ability to showcase another's information, including objects and materials.]

"Inspect," Ludwig muttered, almost involuntarily. Immediately, a window appeared before him.

Bastos Van Dijk

[Status Screen: Bastos Van Dijk]

Level: ???

Health: ???

Stamina: ???

Mana: ???

Intelligence: ???

Strength: ???

Dexterity: ???

Vigor: ???

Luck: ???

Class: Dark Archmage

Title: Black Tower Master

Your level is too low to fully showcase this person's status screen.

"What did you just do?" Van Dijk's voice was sharp, a slight chill in the air as he fixed his gaze on Ludwig.

"I used Inspect," Ludwig replied, trying to sound as detached as possible.

"That feels... awfully violating," Van Dijk said, rubbing his chin in thought. "And Inspect can only be used on inanimate objects to understand their purpose. you using it on people is...unheard of, Regardless, tell me what you saw when you used it."

Ludwig relayed the information, watching as Van Dijk's face twisted into a look of horror, disbelief mingled with fascination.

"What monster are you…? Your exploits are a violation of the world itself…" Van Dijk muttered, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Still, it is yours—an ability that only you can use. Don't ever use it on people stronger than you… you know what, don't use it on people, period. It will cause you more strife than good."

"Understood," Ludwig said obediently, though his mind was racing with the potential applications of Inspect. It was a powerful tool, one that could give him insight into his enemies—or his captors.

Not a moment later, there was a knock on the door. Van Dijk waved his hand, and the door creaked open, just enough to reveal Sebas and Evan standing nervously on the other side.

"The books," Van Dijk commanded, extending his hand without allowing them a full view of the room behind him.

Sebas handed over a ring, which Van Dijk examined briefly before nodding. "I still need more. Bring me books on history, theology, world maps, and anything considered novice level of education."

"May I ask why?" Sebas asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

Evan, realizing the danger in that question, delivered another elbow to Sebas's ribs, prompting a pained grunt. "As the Tower Master commands," Evan said quickly, pulling Sebas away.

"He's lucky to have a friend like Evan," Van Dijk muttered as the door closed. "Otherwise, I'd have made him a walking corpse a long time ago."

Turning back to Ludwig, Van Dijk tossed the ring toward him. "Begin by reading all of these, understand them, and I'll quiz you on them. Can you do it?"

Ludwig caught the ring, feeling a strange sense of freedom in the question. It wasn't an order, but a request. For the first time, it seemed he had been given a choice.

"I will try," Ludwig replied, but hesitated. "But..."

"But what?" Van Dijk's eyes flashed with irritation, mistaking Ludwig's pause for defiance.

"I do not know how to 'open' this," Ludwig admitted.

Van Dijk's brow furrowed. "Open? How did you know that the ring can be opened?"

The Dark Mage hadn't mentioned anything about the ring's true nature, yet Ludwig had deduced it was a storage ring. Could it be that Ludwig possessed some latent knowledge of magical artifacts? Or were his memories merely obscured from a mage as powerful as Van Dijk?

"I used Inspect," Ludwig lied. In truth, he had recognized the ring's function from countless stories he had read in his previous life.

"Ah, figures…" Van Dijk sighed, momentarily assuaged. "Anyway, put your mana into it, the same way you tried when mimicking my flame. It will reveal its contents to you."

Ludwig did as instructed, channeling his mana into the ring. A new window opened before him, showcasing hundreds of books. The sheer volume was staggering—an immense repository of knowledge, now at his fingertips.

"The only advice I'll give you is to begin reading whatever book you choose. Don't stop if you don't understand something. Keep going until you finish the book, then move on to the next. Once you've read all of them, start again from scratch. All that seemed mysterious will unveil itself to you later on," Van Dijk instructed, shrugging his coat on once more.

"I'll go and gather some tools to aid you in your progress. After all, finding and guiding a new pupil isn't easy. I'll return tomorrow. I expect you to have read at least two books by then; after all, the dead don't need to rest." He said this with a cruel smile, leaving the room and locking the door behind him.

Ludwig was left alone, faced with an overwhelming task—hundreds of books, each one a step toward understanding the world he was trapped in. This would take him months to read, maybe more. Yet, it was his only option.

"I guess I better start," Ludwig muttered to himself. "They say knowledge is power, and right now, it's all I have."

He picked up the first book in the pile.

[Magic Circles: The Correlation of Magic and Body, by Algad Hcil]

Ludwig scanned the first page, and it felt as though his mind was a dry sponge finally being drenched in water. He absorbed the text, each word imprinting itself into his memory.

{Magic exists all around us. It is what we feel, breathe, eat, and experience. It is the miracle of life and death, the force that animates our world.

Every strand of grass, every drop of water, every piece of rock holds within it a tiny spark of magic. While living beings have long overlooked this fundamental truth, believing magic to be the domain of mythical beasts it was not until the emergence of the first casters that we began to harness and manifest this power in various ways.}

Ludwig's mind drank in the knowledge like a man dying of thirst. The book described the first uses of magic: to bring rain, to aid in farming, to warm hearths on cold nights. It was a tool of aid, of creation, until humanity discovered its potential for destruction and conquest. Magic evolved, and with it, so did the need to categorize and control it.

{Thus, we devised a system to grade magic, to comprehend its various forms and potentials. This is where the correlation of magic and the body becomes essential.

First things first, Magic Circles—what are they, how do we create them, and what is their purpose?}