Book Eater

Chapter 6: What Does This Book Taste Like? (2)

Well, I won’t lose anything either way.

In other words, it was a matter of priority. Theo could choose to learn one more magic or borrow Gluttony’s wisdom. If he selected the wrong thing, he could just wait for tomorrow. As a result, there was no difference. He would be more worried if Gluttony suddenly started fasting. Therefore, Theo came up with a simple answer.

“Let’s do two books this time.”

.

He had something that he wanted to ask Gluttony. Theo grabbed [Ignition and Ignite are Different] and put it aside. Ignite was a rather useful magic for the 1st Circle, except that the difficulty was too high. Above all, it consumed less magic power than anything else. Despite Theo only having the magic power of a 2nd Circle, he would be able to use it 100 times. It was now time to pick the other book.

I think that all six books I selected earlier are good but… I don’t know yet.

He would leave it to Gluttony’s Appraisal rather than his own judgment. Appraisal magic was probably better than his own analysis anyway. Instead of being unreasonably stubborn, Theo extended his palm.

“Appraisal.”

The hungry tongue slipped out quickly. It moved over the six books lined up before it and started using Appraisal. As the books became sticky with saliva, the information entered his head. Theo looked at the essences of the books Gluttony had discovered with calm eyes.

[Fire Elemental Summoning]... eliminated. If I don’t have an affinity with the elemental, then I can’t make a contract with it, which means there wouldn’t be much point in summoning the elemental.

The mystery of making a contract with an elemental had been revealed thirty years ago, proving that it was impossible to make a contract with an elemental without having an inherent affinity. A magician who adored elementals had finally achieved success. He had opened the door to the elemental world with a magic circle and developed a way to make a simple contract. The [Fire Elemental Summoning] was a book from that magician, and Theo could summon the elemental with Gluttony’s abilities.

However, this book only gave him the magic to summon the elemental. Making a contract with the elemental and using its power was a different story. When Theo entered the academy, he had been told to give up because he had an elemental affinity of close to zero.

“It is a pity, but it can’t be helped.”

He had experienced this kind of situation several times already, so he had gotten used to getting rid of any lingering attachments without any fuss. It had been a week since he first began the strange cohabitation with Gluttony. Theo might be the academy’s magical dunce, but he had grasped this guy’s bizarre nature.

One, it was meaningless to feed Gluttony a book if Theo’s understanding was low. Two, no matter how high Theo’s level of comprehension was, it was impossible to acquire magic beyond his competence. Three, there was some magic which was useless even if he learned them. Four, eating the same book again wouldn’t give him anything.

… There might be other habits which Theo didn’t know about yet, but he never saw anything apart from these four.

[Fire Elemental Summoning] was an example of the third case. There were some spells that required an affinity if one wanted any proficiency. It was why Theo didn’t try to acquire white magic, which required divine power.

There’s a magic where castration is a prerequisite… Urgh, just thinking about it gives me goosebumps again.

Apparently, some lunatic in the east had done it to learn magic. Even Theo didn’t have the stomach to read through the pages. What had the person been thinking? Theo shuddered before moving his hand to his next prey.

The next book was [Circulation of Water] which would increase his water affinity but was put as pending for now. His understanding of [Enchant - The Basics] was lower than he’d thought. He would eat it after studying it a bit more, so it was eliminated for now. The vision enhancing spell, Hawk Eyes, had a side effect of gradually worsening his eyesight—eliminated.

Theo filtered through the books as he mentally dismissed them. Fifteen minutes later, there was only one book left in front of Theo. He remembered the title of the final book, so expectation filled his face. According to Theo’s conjecture, the value of the last book in the list was obviously the highest among the seven books he’d gathered today.

“Appraisal.”

Finally, the essence of the book popped up.

[Ballistics Magic]

[This book describes the application of magic missiles. It explains techniques to form compressed magic missiles and modify the shape of the arrowheads. The author, Alfred Bellontes, became a war hero with his magic missiles. The depth of the wisdom is superior to that of ordinary magic books.

* Your comprehension is very high. (97.2%)

* This magic book is rated Rare.

* Once ingested, the proficiency of Magic Missile will increase greatly.

* This is the original copy which was written by the author. There is a low chance to absorb some of Alfred’s experience.]

Indeed, its contents didn’t betray his expectations.

“No, wait a minute. This book is the original?!”

Theo was shocked to read the final line in the description. Magic books were usually created by an author, who then allowed copies to be made of the original. Everything from the cover to the contents would be copied completely using magic. Therefore, it was very hard to distinguish between the original and the copies. The originals were hidden by those who hated having a value added to knowledge by collectors. If it wasn’t for Gluttony’s abilities, Theo wouldn’t have known that the book in front of him was the original.

Alfred Bellontes… He had been born approximately thirty years ago as the third son of King Bellontes. Magic power didn’t accumulate naturally for him, and he only became a master of battle magic after cutting into his bones.

Magic Missile was only a 1st Circle spell. Alfred had killed dozens of knights and hundreds of magicians with this shabby spell. He’d died at the end of a long war, but he’d become renowned.

Alfred Bellontes wrote [Ballistics Magic]! If book collectors know about this copy, it would be worth a few thousand gold, even covered in dust.

Theo removed the dust carefully. If he were to prove its authenticity, this book wouldn’t be piles of paper but an item more expensive than gold bullion. Yes, if it was possible to prove it. Theo’s excitement subsided at the thought.

“... No, there’s a problem even if I can prove it.”

In the first place, this book was owned by Bergen Academy. Although he was feeding the books to Gluttony, he planned to put back copies of the books which were eaten. If Gluttony didn’t threaten his life, then he wouldn’t have taken the books. In some ways, it could be called a struggle for survival. However, taking Alfred’s book was simply stealing. It wasn’t seeking knowledge as a magician or saving lives. As a noble, Theodore Miller couldn’t throw away his pride. He would rather feed it to Gluttony than exchange it for money. His worries lasted for a while, but his decision was quick.

“Eat, Gluttony.”

The tongue popped out without any hesitation.

Slurp!

Gluttony grabbed [Ignition and Ignite are Different], and it was sucked into Theo’s left hand.

[Ignition and Ignite are Different has been consumed. Your comprehension is very high.]

[* After ingesting, 1st Circle spell Ignite will be acquired.]

A familiar wave flowed into his body as he received knowledge about ignition magic. At this point, Theo could create a small fire in the air. Since it was only 1st Circle magic, there wasn’t that much information, and the wave soon calmed down. It was similar to eating bread, but Theo was satisfied. Gluttony’s meal wasn’t over yet. The unsatisfied tongue snatched its next prey.

The original [Ballistics Magic] written by Alfred Bellontes. It was the moment when a precious book with the same value as gold bullion would disappear forever.

Gulp!

There was a moment of silence. Theo waited for the change with a more nervous expression than usual. It was the first Rare rated book he had fed Gluttony. It was also the original copy of a famous war hero’s book. This food would definitely be worth more than ordinary books.

When Gluttony had eaten four books at once, Theo had experienced a massive headache, so he closed his eyes and prepared for the aftermath.

Now, come on!

[Ballistics Magic has been consumed. Your comprehension is very high.]

[Your proficiency of the 1st Circle spell Magic Missile has increased significantly.]

[An original copy has been consumed. The synchro rate with Alfred Bellontes is being checked… You are at an appropriate level. You can absorb some of Alfred’s experience. The episode will play for twenty-one minutes and thirty-five seconds.]

[Synchro is starting.]

“... Synchro?”

Theo only had a moment to wonder what that word meant when...

Kiiiiing-

There was a sharp ringing sound! The sound cut through his eardrums and made him dizzy. It felt like he was being pulled out of his body. His mind felt like a weak blade of grass under that suction. In the end, Theodore’s mind was sucked into the palm of his left hand.

He fell into the darkness and reached the faint stars. This was the remnant of the memories contained in Alfred Bellontes—no, in [Ballistics Magic].

***

Around forty-five years in the past, on the frontlines of the Bellontes Principality...

Theodore Miller opened his eyes.