The Adventurers Guild.
As a hallmark institution of Orario, countless familias had risen and fallen, yet the Adventurers Guild alone endured without fading away.
What's truly curious is that this iconic guild isn't housed within Orario's most iconic structure—Babel Tower.
Rumor has it that Ouranos, the god who established the Adventurers Guild and forged Orario into the dungeon city it is today, resides deep beneath the guild. Using his divine authority, he suppresses the Dungeon, preventing its monsters from swarming up to the surface.
Of course, the exact details remain unclear—after all, Alice had only been in this world for a few months.
But according to the records kept in the Guild's archive, this was how Orario's history was described.
Compared to the autobiographies and tall tales written by adventurers—likely during bouts of chuunibyou—that filled Babel's library, the books in the Guild's archive felt far more grounded and reliable.
It had to be said, for an archive aimed at novice adventurers, Alice had actually discovered quite a few excellent resources here.
For example, introductory guides to swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat.
There was even a beginner's manual on magic—though the magic system described within was completely different from what Alice practiced.
Still, the guides on swordsmanship, martial arts, and even weapon usage were quite well done. Even if they only covered the fundamentals, for someone like Alice, that was exactly what she needed most.
There was one crucial point to consider:
Why had Alice, who possessed knowledge of an entire hidden realm of fantasy—Gensokyo—chosen to focus solely on Doll Magic and the Seven Colored Magic, rather than more seemingly powerful arts like Taoist Immortalism or other esoteric practices?
Familiarity with doll crafting and elemental magic was part of it, but the more important reason was…
Well…
Everything else was just too advanced.
As mentioned before, much of the knowledge from Gensokyo was simply too profound for Alice to grasp directly.
Doll-making and Seven Colored Magic were among the rare disciplines in her inherited knowledge that included actual foundational teachings.
Other skills—like the Hakurei Shrine's martial arts, the Scarlet Devil Mansion's fist techniques, or Hakugyokurou's sword style—were recorded in her memory as incredibly powerful, and Alice was certain she could learn them… eventually.
But to master those arts, she first needed to strengthen her body and grasp the basics: how to throw a punch, how to grip a sword, how to wield a blade properly.
In short, Alice had access to a vast arsenal of advanced skills, but each one required a long list of prerequisites—foundational techniques that, for some reason, were missing from her knowledge.
Whether the one who created her had omitted them intentionally or simply forgotten was unclear. But judging from the memories of those beings—who seemed to be born with immense power—it was probably the latter.
To them, those basic fundamentals were probably as natural as breathing.
It was the same for Alice: wielding magic was an innate ability, something she never had to consciously learn. Her progress in doll-making and spellcraft had been remarkably swift.
With the foundation she had from Gensokyo, the magic guides in the Guild's archive seemed almost childishly simple to her.
Concepts like "spiritual energy" and "magical power" were often conflated here. While the two were related—complementary, even—they were not the same thing.
Magical energy flowed within the body.
Spiritual power was the strength of the soul.
Spirit could influence and control magic; magic could, in turn, enhance spirit.
Though intertwined, they should never be treated as identical.
Yet in this world, it seemed everyone believed magical power was the same as spiritual energy. When a person exhausted too much magic, their spirit also dwindled—a phenomenon that hardly ever happened to Alice.
Even if she drained every last drop of her magic, her spiritual energy would remain intact. She might feel tired, but she would never collapse unconscious.
'I wonder what high-tier magic looks like in this world…', Alice mused, frowning slightly as she read.
From what she could tell, while every person—every race, even—could possess no more than three innate magics, with some special workarounds allowing limited use of additional spells… the hard limit was three.
In exchange for such limited capacity, the power of those spells ought to be extraordinary. Alice hadn't seen high-level magic herself yet, but from Eina's descriptions, Riveria of Loki Familia could apparently wipe out all life within hundreds of meters using a single spell. That sounded impressively strong.
And yet, when Alice recalled the battles back in Gensokyo—where power was restrained and spell cards were used—those fights still felt far more intense and explosive.
Somehow, she couldn't help but feel that the magic of this world…
Was kind of weak.
"Sigh…" Alice let out a soft breath. She had initially hoped to learn something from this world's magical foundations, but the differences were too vast—there was nothing she could really adapt or borrow.
When it came down to it, the magic system here wasn't really designed for learning through study. Most races seemed to rely on leveling up through their Falna to acquire unique innate magics, rather than studying and mastering spellcraft the way she had.
Still, it wasn't as though she had gained nothing.
The introductory books on combat and weapons were genuinely useful for where she was now.
And her biggest find by far…
Was the book she was reading right now: An Easy-to-Understand Guide to Divine Script.
Seated at a desk, Alice had stacked on her left a pile of books she'd deemed useless. On her right rested a few volumes on basic combat—foundational knowledge that mattered.
Magic could solve many problems, but there would always be situations where spells weren't enough. In those moments, close-quarters combat and swordsmanship would be essential.
Hakugyokurou's two-sword style had excellent technique.
The guard of the Scarlet Devil Mansion also possessed formidable fist arts—well worth learning.
"An Easy-to-Understand Guide to Divine Script? Oh, this was written by Lady Hera back in the day. Are you planning to learn this, Miss Patchouli?" Eina's voice suddenly chimed in from behind.
"!!!" Alice jumped slightly, then shot a half-exasperated look over her shoulder at the sudden appearance of the guild advisor.
"Ahaha… sorry, sorry! I keep forgetting to announce myself," Eina laughed apologetically. "But if you want to learn Divine Script, Miss Patchouli, I don't know a ton, but I can read the basics. Would you like me to teach you?"
"Please!" Alice responded immediately.
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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