"At the time, I picked up a worn feather and ignored the green scales."
"It turns out those green scales carried the magical property I needed to break enchantments."
"But the magic was too faint. I needed to kill that serpentine beast directly to obtain fresher samples."
As soon as the words fell, Jean's eyes lit with understanding.
"This is a record about the Naga!"
Albedo nodded beside her, speaking in a low tone:
"The notebook states it clearly—the scales carry the magical property of dispelling enchantments… anti-magic."
"The Naga's scales possess anti-magic! Something I had never noticed. Perhaps through this, I can discover more ways to utilize Naga scales."
"Mr. Ryen, is there anything else?"
Seeing that Albedo had indeed drawn inspiration from the notebook, Ryen smiled with satisfaction.
He flipped to the next section and read softly:
"Notes on the Labyrinth."
"The swarms of mosquitoes in the swamp are irritating, but they seem suspicious."
"They don't appear to be natural creatures, and it's hard to find any role they play in the local ecosystem."
"I suspect they are the result of a curse."
"... Some passages are missing."
"Now, a protective ward blocks the path to the labyrinth ruins. I believe my guess is correct."
"The ward and the mosquitoes are actually one and the same curse, but I've never seen any curse with such a source."
"The curse appears so powerful that no single mage could have cast it. It must have taken the combined effort of several."
"If even one of the casters stopped channeling, the entire curse would fail."
Ryen glanced over the page, then closed the notebook and handed it to Albedo.
Albedo immediately flipped it open again, studying every detail with great care.
This notebook might provide countless new leads for his research.
After a moment of silence, he murmured:
"It seems the second section is research into the Lich Tower. The swamp mosquitoes are indeed a kind of curse…"
"A ward and a swarm born of the same spell… If we can obtain the protective ward, could we reverse-engineer the mosquito curse?"
"The Naga's scales carry anti-magic properties… but what effect do they have on elemental energy?"
"…There's much more written beyond this. But why can't I read it yet?"
Ryen shook his head gently.
"Most likely we'll need to defeat the Twilight Lich first. Anyway, does this notebook help you?"
Albedo nodded decisively.
"This notebook is my greatest gain today! If it truly records the insights of a powerful adventurer, then we will gain far more knowledge. And with it, far more ways to utilize rare materials!"
Ryen smiled softly.
"That's good. You keep the notebook. We'll continue exploring the Twilight Forest and unlock the rest of its pages in due time."
For everyone else, the notebook was just that—a notebook.
Only Albedo truly valued its worth.
Lumine looked at Ryen with bright eyes and whispered:
"Ryen, is that all? Nothing else?"
Ryen raised an eyebrow and teased:
"What more do you want?"
"A staff, of course! A staff!"
Lumine puffed out her cheeks and glared at him.
"I want a staff too!"
Ryen spread his hands helplessly.
"Staves? None for now. But there are things here you'll find exciting."
With that, he pulled two books and three scroll-like items out of the chest.
"This is…"
Lisa's heart leapt with joy, and she said eagerly:
"These must be spellbooks and spell scrolls, right?"
Ryen nodded with a smile.
"Exactly. One is an Intermediate Spellbook. The other is a Master-level Spellbook."
"Perfect timing. I'm not a fan of Fire Beetles, and Ganyu doesn't like Skeleton Druids. Once we find an Arcane Worktable from a Druid Mage, we can swap them out."
"And one more thing—spellbooks don't disappear after use. They can be bound again and again."
At that, Zhongli furrowed his brow in thought.
"So… these can be reused?"
"Correct." Ryen nodded decisively.
"As long as you have the right staff, you can cast the spells. The spellbook doesn't give you the spell—it binds the spell to the staff."
"Of course, since we don't yet have an Arcane Worktable, they're useless for now."
"By comparison, I think you'll be more interested in these scrolls."
He spread out the three scrolls in his hand and chuckled.
"Apprentice-level Spell Scroll: Summon Goblin."
"Intermediate Spell Scroll: Emberfire Cloud."
"The intermediate one, Emberfire Cloud, we should save for later. It's a powerful fire-type spell."
"As for this apprentice scroll…"
Ryen turned his gaze toward Albedo.
"This one's for you. Study it, figure out how exactly it channels power to release a spell and summon creatures."
Albedo's eyes lit up with curiosity as he accepted it.
When it came to spell scrolls, he had plenty of questions waiting for answers.
Noticing the last scroll in Ryen's hand, different from the rest, Ningguang asked softly:
"Ryen, what about that final scroll?"
Ryen's lips curled into a mysterious smile.
"The strongest—Master-level Spell Scroll."
"Cloud of Suffocation!"
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