Chapter 442: The World Inside the Book |
As Janna’s consciousness gradually regained clarity, she finally saw clearly the so-called 【World Inside the Book】.
The space around her was vast, towering, and endless. All she could see were enormous bookshelves—bookshelves filled with countless tomes and scrolls that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Her first reaction was that she had stepped into some kind of gigantic library.
「Bang—」
Along with the sound of a heavy object falling, a red-covered book sitting at the far right of the bookshelf suddenly slipped off and crashed to the ground, its pages beginning to flip rapidly.
「Swish—」
The flipping grew faster and faster until finally, the pages stopped on one that displayed a certain apprentice’s personal information.
「Hm? That’s—...」
Recognizing the familiar name written on the page, Janna narrowed her eyes.
Buzz—
A flash of light swept through the air, and the words on the page glowed. As a soft white radiance emanated from within the red book, a tall, thin figure wearing a crimson wizard robe materialized beside it.
「So it really is him—」
The one who appeared after Janna in the 【World Inside the Book】 was none other than her former rival in the 【Andrew-Gamp Transfiguration Trial】—
Louis-Tulan.
「Where are the others?」
After giving Louis-Tulan a brief glance, Janna’s gaze quickly moved away as she began searching the surroundings for the figures of Vivian and the others.
「They’re not here.」
After searching for a while, Janna realized that aside from Jose-Gold of Blackbone Grove, she didn’t see any other apprentices from Turin’s wizard enclave.
「Everyone present here has already comprehended a 【Law Fragment】.」
Other than Jose-Gold and the newly arrived Louis-Tulan, Janna also spotted a few familiar faces—Hela-Helheim, Kumbu-Thornspike, and Marquell-Storm.
Just like Janna, each of them had a small book-shaped “guiding spirit” floating nearby.
「Hello, 【Number One】. May I ask where the other Turin apprentices who entered the 【World Inside the Book】 with me are now?」
With a faint suspicion already forming in her mind, Janna turned her attention to the nearby being who called itself the “Guide Messenger,” 【Number One】.
「They are currently inside 《Song of the Hero》.」
《Song of the Hero》?
Hearing 【Number One】’s answer, Janna was momentarily stunned.
If she recalled correctly, the 《Song of the Hero》 was a tale about a knight stricken with an incurable disease who ventured through countless secret realms in search of the secret to immortality—
「Then why are they inside 《Song of the Hero》, while we are in this world?」
「Because the 【Lord of Wisdom】 has decreed that those not acknowledged by the 【Will of the Wizard】 must participate in the 【Hero’s Trial】. You, and everyone else here, are those recognized by the 【Will of the Wizard】—」
【Number One】’s words confirmed Janna’s thoughts.
Just as Lilith-Mag had told her before, the rules for this year’s 【White Tower Trial】 had indeed changed.
One of those changes was that wizard apprentices who had already mastered a 【Law Fragment】 no longer needed to take part in the same trials as those who hadn’t.
「That change might actually be a blessing for Vivian.」
After all, compared to wizard apprentices who hadn’t yet comprehended a 【Law Fragment】, those who had were overwhelmingly stronger—almost to a crushing degree.
If Vivian had encountered someone like Marquell-Storm or Louis-Tulan right at the start, her match would have inevitably ended in an instant—
「Swish—swish—」
As the sound of pages flipping echoed again, many unfamiliar wizard apprentices began appearing one after another within the book-formed realm of the 【World Inside the Book】.
「How strange—」
Watching another unfamiliar apprentice materialize right after Louis-Tulan, a trace of doubt flickered through Janna’s heart.
「When I arrived, there weren’t any other apprentices near the White Tower. Yet, these people are appearing here within less than a minute of my own arrival———」
Thinking of this, Janna voiced her question to 【Number One】.
「That’s because the flow of time in the 【World Inside the Book】 is different from that of the 【Material World】. One minute here equals one hour outside.」
So it worked like that?
Hearing 【Number One】’s explanation, Janna was both enlightened and astonished by the difference in time flow within the 【World Inside the Book】.
「Could it be that there exists a trace of the 【Law of Time】 here as well?」
Given that Victor-Allwise, one of the most powerful wizards alive, had mastered the 【Law of Time】,
Janna wasn’t particularly surprised.
「If the time flow of the 【World Inside the Book】 can be accelerated, that must also mean it can be slowed down compared to the 【Material World】. What a clever way to make efficient use of time.」
As moments passed, the frequency of books falling from the shelves gradually decreased.
Finally, the number of wizard apprentices within the 【World Inside the Book】 stabilized at thirty-two—no more appeared.
「So this year, only thirty-two apprentices have comprehended a 【Law Fragment】... that’s quite a bit more than I expected.」
In past years, the White Tower’s average acceptance number was around sixty apprentices, among which fewer than twenty had mastered any 【Law Fragment】.
But this year, the number had increased by nearly one and a half times.
「That means even though Turin is just a medium-sized wizard enclave, the number of apprentices who’ve mastered 【Law Fragments】 over the past two years has been remarkable——」
For instance, Richard-Eva, who mastered the 【Law of Blood】 last year, and both Janna and Jose-Gold this year—all hailed from Turin’s wizard enclave.
Together, they accounted for nearly six percent of all apprentices who had grasped a 【Law Fragment】—an impressive figure even compared to larger wizard enclaves.
Especially for Turin, where student numbers had dwindled for several years, this was a record-breaking achievement.
「Swish—swish—」
Just as Janna was lost in thought, the sound of pages turning rang out once more.
But this time, the one emerging from the pages of the 【World Inside the Book】 was not an apprentice—
It was a full-fledged wizard, radiating an overwhelming aura.