Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

448  Arcane Secrets

Adam's pupils constricted and he involuntarily glanced at Daneli. The elf nodded in confirmation, "Elrick mentioned that you had something important to talk about with him, so he came all the way here to Ravenfell. I'll leave you two alone."

With that said, he turned around and walked out of his personal library, leaving behind his departing words, "Don't forget to attend the formal dinner after the ball dance and the musical performance."

After the elf had left, there were only Adam and Elrick left alone in the library, as well as the sound of the crackling wood from the fireplace.

"So you're the new recruit I've constantly been hearing about, eh?" Elrick chuckled as he took out a long smoking pipe from his space-type storage ring.

Adam walked toward the fireplace, taking his seat at one of the high-back leather chairs. "Oh? What are they saying about me?"

"Not much." Elrick took a seat beside the youth. He lit the tobacco and inhaled deeply. "Your methods are quite vicious, they say."

Adam scoffed. "Are you going to lecture me about how I should have spared that couple's lives?"

"Huuu." Elrick exhaled a small cloud of smoke, his lips curling up into a smirk, "On the contrary. I quite like your methods."

Adam glanced at the middle-aged man with slight surprise. "Anyway, how did you even hear about what I did back in Acryon? Even Daneli didn't know until I mentioned it to him."

"I'm a handler, it's my job to know," replied Elrick in a laidback manner, not explaining further.

He then glanced at the raven-haired youth and faintly smiled, "Why do you wish to learn rune magic? There are a few runesmiths in our organization, you can simply commission them."

Adam shrugged. "I just wish to learn rune magic. No reason really."

"No reason, eh?" Elrick chuckled. He deeply inhaled the tobacco and then started breathing out smoky rings. "Well, it's not entirely impossible."

He paused for a moment and stated, "I'm sure you've heard of the saying - give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime."

Adam deeply looked at the man before solemnly nodding. "I understand that everything has a price."

"It's easy to talk to sensible people like you," Elrick chuckled lightly.

"But before you hand out missions, I need to ask you something," said Adam with a serious expression.

"Go ahead." The man gestured as he discarded the brunt tobacco from the pipe and put in fresh leaves.

Adam took a deep breath and asked, "How much knowledge does the Brotherhood have on rune magic?"

"Rest assured, the amount of arcane knowledge we have, you won't find it anywhere else in this world," Elrick confidently said.

"Yeah, but rune magic?" Adam asked again.

"Haa…" Elrick shook his head and sighed. "You are really underestimating the capabilities of our organization, Adam."

"No, I just want to be sure before I fully commit to whatever mission you're about to give me," Adam flatly said.

He paused for a moment before continuing, "There are enough textbooks on rune magic to ensure that you can gain a solid foundation, to say the least. The rest depends on your ability to learn and put it into practice."

"Alright then—" Adam was about to ask what the mission was when Elrick interrupted him.

"I'll let you in on another thing," said the middle-aged man with a smirk. "We also have notes on rune magic personally written by the founder of the Brotherhood!"

"What?!" Adam abruptly got up from his seat, gazing at the man with an expression filled with disbelief. "The founder was a runesmith?!"

He had always been curious about the mysterious Magus who had founded the Twilight Brotherhood. But so far, he knew nothing about him.

"It appears so." Elrick shrugged.

Sensing traces of skepticism in the man's voice, Adam pressed, "What do you mean 'it appears so?' Have the higher-ups in the organization not read his notes or what?"

"The thing is, the founder's notes are written in a language that he seemed to have invented all by himself. These notes haven't been fully decrypted and translated by our members despite how long it has been in our possession."

Adam's pupils constricted as he thought to himself, Written in a language invented by him? That doesn't make any sense. Why would he leave behind something for his successors and not tell them about his language? Unless…

"The founder didn't want these notes to be accessed by the future members of the Brotherhood, did he?"

"Huhu, you're right about that," Elrick chuckled. "During his lifetime, the founder recorded many things in his journal that he had written in this mysterious language. There are many such journals in the Brotherhood's main vault.

"There's even a rumor in the brotherhood that these notes contain arcane secrets that would allow the reader to grasp the profound mysteries of the world. Hehe, alas, the vast majority of his journals have been yet to be deciphered."

Contain arcane secrets that would allow one to grasp the profound mysteries? Adam was extremely interested in these journals now.

Unfortunately, they were written in a language invented by the founder, so the youth didn't have great expectations.

Yet, he couldn't help but ask, "If I complete the mission, will I have access to the founder's journal that contains his insight on rune magic?"

"Certainly, I can put in a request." Elrick nodded. The next moment, his lips curled up into a smirk. "But what do I get out of it?"

Adam was instantly wary. "What do you want?"

"Huhu, no need to be on guard," Elrick chuckled. "Rest assured, I'll only ask for something that is within your capabilities. Who knows? Maybe a large batch of potions, perhaps. In any case, I will let you know at a later date." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Adam thought for a very long time before replying, "Alright, I agree. But if it's too risky, I will not do it."

"Alright, it's a deal then." Elrick smiled. "In addition to the reward of arcane textbooks on rune magic, I'll also add one of the founder's journal—"

"Wait a minute." Adam gestured for the man to stop when he thought of something very crucial.

"Do you even have the authority to choose my rewards?"