Boom!!!
A violent explosion mixed with thunder made the entire Black Bulls' base shake three times.
Ryoma was jolted off his bed. He opened his eyes, and saw that dust was sifting down from the ceiling.
He changed his clothes, yawned, and walked out of his room into the main hall.
In the slightly chaotic main hall of the Black Bulls' base, several fresh scorched marks now adorned the walls.
"Ahhh! I just finished cleaning!"
Asta was running frantically at the edge of the explosion, holding a broom and dustpan.
Cleaning, laundry, feeding Yami's beast...
All the chores in the squad seemed to naturally fall upon Asta.
Noelle sat calmly to the side, watching it all. As a royal, she clearly didn't need to do such chores.
And Ryoma had no desire to participate in such meaningless physical labor. He'd rather spend that time finding the information he needed in the library.
However, he had gone on a mission the day after joining the squad, so he was still quite unfamiliar with many of the base's facilities.
Ryoma looked around, his gaze finally settling on the only man who seemed somewhat normal.
Finral was holding a cup of black tea, keeping his distance from the center of the battlefield.
"Finral."
Ryoma walked straight over.
"Ah, it's Ryoma. Good morning." Finral turned his head, revealing a gentle smile.
Ryoma waved his hand, getting straight to the point. "I wanted to ask, where is the squad's library or rather, the place where documents are stored?"
"Library?"
Finral's expression became subtle. He pointed down the corridor,
"Keep going straight down here, it's the room at the very end. But..."
His words were cut short by a voice.
"Ryoma!!!"
Whoosh!
A figure shimmering with electricity rushed in front of Ryoma at an astonishing speed.
Luck's face bore his characteristic look of ecstatic joy.
"Let's fight!"
Lightning crackled around him, his desire for battle undisguised.
"..."
Ryoma felt his forehead begin to throb.
Here he comes again.
Fortunately, it wasn't to the point where he had to face this guy's lightning blast the moment he opened his eyes.
"No time."
He uttered two words, preparing to bypass the battle maniac.
Luck's figure turned into streaks of electric afterimages, spinning rapidly around Ryoma,
"Let me fight! Come on!"
This guy was completely immersed in his own world.
Ryoma sighed helplessly.
Indeed, reasoning with such a battle maniac was futile. It seemed he would have to resort to a small trick.
"Alright." Ryoma suddenly spoke.
"Hell yeah!"
Luck's eyes instantly lit up, sparkling with excitement.
At this moment, a chilling cold burst forth from Ryoma.
Crack!
The moisture in the air instantly froze, and countless ice crystals rapidly converged around Ryoma. Beside him, a humanoid silhouette identical to him was quickly outlined.
Ice Clone!
"Want to fight?"
The Ice Clone tilted his head. He beckoned to Luck with a finger, a provocative curve forming on his lips.
"Then come chase me. Catch me if you can."
The instant the words fell, the ground beneath the Ice Clone's feet instantly burst with a layer of frost.
He transformed into an ice-blue streak of light, dashing towards the forest outside the base.
"Oh! Interesting!"
Luck's battle maniac instincts made him transform into a bolt of lightning without hesitation, chasing after him with a wild laugh.
Lightning Creation Magic: Thunder God's Boots!
With a flash of lightning, Luck's figure instantly vanished from his original spot.
Watching the two streaks of light disappear into the forest in the blink of an eye, Ryoma's main body finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Done."
He clapped his hands and turned to look at a dumbfounded Finral.
"Well then, senpai, I'll go to the library now."
With that, he walked towards the end of the corridor.
Finral watched Ryoma's retreating back, then looked towards the forest.
"He... he used a clone to lure Luck away?"
That works?!
...
A few minutes later, Ryoma stood before a door with a wooden sign that read "Library." The door was covered in cobwebs, and its hinges were rusted beyond recognition.
He reached out and pushed.
Creak—
As the door was pushed open, a complex scent, a mixture of dust, mildew, and old paper, assailed him.
Ryoma's lips twitched involuntarily. He immediately condensed a thin ice crystal filter in front of his nose and mouth before stepping inside.
The so-called "library" before him looked more like a storage room that had been abandoned for decades.
Bookshelves were toppled over, and countless books, scrolls, and parchments were piled on the ground like trash, forming small mountains.
The dust was thick enough to write on, and the corners of the room were covered in giant cobwebs.
"...I knew it."
Ryoma sighed, raising his hand to wave away the surrounding dust.
The Black Bulls, as expected, could not be judged by normal standards.
He began to trek through this ruin, his goal to find records about ancient magic, especially those related to space or time.
He rolled up his sleeves, and tiny ice crystals circled around him, automatically clearing a path.
Books were lifted, sorted, and placed on the shelves that were still somewhat intact.
Ryoma organized and browsed the contents of these books. However, most of the books seemed worthless.
"Collection of Expired Mission Reports," "Autobiography of a Third-Rate Magic Knight," "How to Cook Beasts—From Beginner to Giving Up."
He even found a large stack of "Charming Muscle Mage Monthly" that someone had hidden there. The man on the cover was striking exaggerated poses, showing off his glistening muscles.
"..."
Ryoma expressionlessly froze the magazine into a block of ice, then casually tossed it into a corner.
This was simply spiritual pollution.
After searching for quite a while, he unexpectedly found a tattered ancient text on the corner of a table.
Ryoma carefully pulled out the ancient text. The pages of this book were made of some unknown animal skin, yellowed with age, and the edges were incomplete. The writing on it was an ancient script Ryoma had never seen before. However, he could vaguely understand the information contained within.
The content of the book was fragmented and unsystematic, seemingly the research notes of an ancient Mage.
Space... coordinates... folding... anchor points... most of the content discussed some fantastical magic theories.
These scattered phrases mentioned space and dimensions.
Although the theories within were somewhat incomplete, for Ryoma, who possessed a space-time grimoire, he might be able to give it a try?
While his grimoire granted him this potential, how to develop and use it required him to explore it himself. And this ancient text just happened to provide him with a vague direction.
Ryoma's heart couldn't help but beat a little faster.
He carefully put away the tattered ancient text and continued to rummage through the piles of miscellaneous books.
Unfortunately, he found no other similar items.
However, just having this one book meant today had already yielded a very good harvest.