On the Seven Towers

These days, Xiao Chen and Luo Ling come to the magician's study for several hours every day.

This unknown magician has a lot of books, but so far, all the books they have read are about history, war, art and literature. Although magic is also mentioned, most of them are related to it. Historical events, or articles and poems praising the greatness of magic, have absolutely no content about the nature and use of magic.

Xiao Chen put the "Art Style of the Moncayo Region" in his hand back on the bookshelf and took another book off the bookshelf. The title is quite attractive, it's called "History of the Black Dragon Empire's War". He flipped through a few pages, and a passage he came across caught his interest.

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"...Emperor Luca led the army to the territory of the elves, asking them to surrender to him, regard him as their Lord, and worship him every year. But the elves rejected this proposal and used natural magic. The woods grew wildly and became entangled with each other. It became an airtight high wall that soldiers and horses could not pass. Even the dragon knight could not fly to the top of the high wall. Luca asked the soldiers to chop down these trees with swords and axes, but the steel was not as hard as these trees; Luca. He also asked the soldiers to set fire, but the usually flammable vegetation could not be ignited anyway. Luca was blocked in front of the forest wall for three days until his ministers invited Master Grion, who used five more methods. Within a day, he used magic to refine a black beetle. When he put the black beetle on the tree wall, a plague of trees began. In just one day, all the trees that formed the tree wall withered and rotted. When the tree wall collapsed, the plague spread into the forest behind the wall. As more and more trees died, the elves became weaker and weaker. The emperor's army finally broke through the obstacle and began to conquer the elven kingdom... …”

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"Invulnerable, towering tree walls, black beetles that poisoned the entire forest in one day, these are so powerful, more powerful than biological and chemical weapons, it looks like a fairy tale no matter how you look at it." Xiao Chen read a paragraph to Luo Ling.

Luo Ling shook her head thoughtfully and said, "I think it's different from fairy tales. Most of the history books here have clear records and clear sources. You can see the specific years, places, people, circumstantial evidence, and relevant quoted historical materials. . I think the authenticity should be high.”

"I just think these examples deviate from the law of conservation of matter, which is unscientific. You see, this book says that Master Gracia used a horseshoe to transform a group of strong horses, allowing Emperor Lucca and his guards to escape Without being surrounded by enemies, this is already creating matter out of thin air. I would rather believe in the magic of raising a hand to blast a fireball."

"This is magic. What's so weird about it not being scientific? How do you know this is the same universe as ours?" Luo Ling asked rhetorically.

Xiao Chen couldn't refute, so he had to continue reading other books.

A long time passed, and the sun had turned to the west. The dim sunlight slanted across the bookshelf. Xiao Chen put another book back on the bookshelf and said a little tiredly: "We have read at least a third of the book in the past few days." I’ve read two books, but I still haven’t found anything really related to magic.”

"That's why there are always times when I don't want to read." Luo Ling threw a book on the desk. "There is always a lot more nonsense in the book than useful content."

"I heard that you are already an associate professor at such a young age and have broken school records. How can you not love reading?" Xiao Chen asked her with a smile.

"Don't equate learning with reading. You, an older graduate student, haven't understood this yet, right?" Luo Ling countered.

Xiao Chen spread his hands, "For people like me who have been around a lot in society, when I recall the school, the most impressive thing is that I can study peacefully."

"Be careful of reading books. Since you like reading so much, the row below is yours." Luo Ling pointed to a row of bookshelves in the corner of the room.

Xiao Chen was originally ready to say a few more words, but when he saw the row of bookshelves pointed by Luo Ling, he stood up thoughtfully. He retreated to the center of the room, carefully looked over the first bookshelf, and then frowned and said, "There's something wrong with that bookshelf!"

He walked to the bookshelf, pointed at the middle layer of the bookshelf and said: "Look at these two bookshelves, which are closest to the seats, but the two middle layers are empty, while the upper and lower layers are empty. It’s full of books. Why doesn’t the owner of this place put books in the most convenient place? Isn’t it true that such a place should be filled with the most commonly used and important books?

Luo Ling stood up and touched the empty place: "You mean, there are magic books here, but they have been moved away?"

"No...not moving away." Xiao Chen stared at that position and said firmly, "You know my eyes have acquired strange mutations. When I just looked at that position very seriously, I felt there was something there. There are layers of fog that seem to be there but not at all.”

"A blind trick?"

"It's much better than that. You've been touching it for a long time and haven't touched anything. You should be releasing some kind of seal, right?" Xiao Chen guessed.

"Star and Moon Badge!" The two said in unison.

Xiao Chen quickly took out the badge that unlocked the entire room last time. Concentrating on it, the badge glowed once again. He held the badge and moved closer to the bookshelf, and a strange and twisted ripple appeared in the air. Xiao Chen leaned his head forward, with the badge close to his forehead. He clenched his hands tightly, his knuckles were raised and trembling slightly, as if he was struggling to open a locked door.

After a while, a book and two scrolls slowly appeared in a corner of the bookshelf. Xiao Chen shouted: "Take them down quickly!"

Luo Ling did not dare to touch it with her hands, so she pulled out the dagger from Xiao Chen's waist, slapped it horizontally on the bookshelf, and swept the books and scrolls to the ground. Xiao Chen let go of the badge and collapsed on the ground without any strength.

"This seal is so strong, my head is about to explode!" Xiao Chen covered his head, closed his eyes and leaned on the desk.

Luo Ling walked over and squatted next to Xiao Chen, gently rubbing his temples with her hands. Her eyes glanced at the book, but when she saw the title, she was startled, and her hands became heavy, pinching Xiao Chen until he screamed.

The name of the book is "The Shadow Scroll of the Sea of ​​Knowledge", written in four large Chinese characters.

After a while, Xiao Chen recovered. He opened his eyes slightly and said, "I can feel that some scrolls and books are sealed in the bookshelf, but I tried my best and could only lift a corner of the seal."

Luo Ling didn't answer and handed the book to him. Xiao Chen was equally surprised when he saw these four words, "This world is indeed inseparable from the earth! It's actually in simplified Chinese... The title of the book is also very classical. , kind of like a martial arts secret book.”

He held the thirty-centimeter-square book in his hand and looked at it repeatedly.

It is very similar to a magic book in a fantasy game. The outer cover is made of an unknown red leather, and the four corners are inlaid with metal. Although it looks very old, the leather and metal are well maintained. The strange thing about this book is that its cover is very thick, as wide as a finger, but the main page seems to be so thin that it is almost invisible between the two covers. There is also a buckle on the back cover of the book, which locks the pages. The four words on the cover were written very vigorously and powerfully, no less than the inscriptions Xiao Chen had seen.

Driven by curiosity, Xiao Chen couldn't wait to open the buckle and flip the cover. What caught his eyes were many signatures. These signatures were scattered all over the title page. Xiao Chen saw Chinese names, such as "Zhao Qitian" also has a Spanish name written in Chinese, such as "Agrecio Grion", and a foreign language name that is all spelled out with letters.

"These should be the previous owners of this book." Luo Ling read the names. "There are relatively few Chinese names, only seven or eight. There are about ten Spanish names written in Chinese, and the remaining more than twenty are all It’s spelled with letters.”

"Judging from the order of arrangement, everyone used Chinese in the beginning, but in the end they all changed to Spanish. Our previous guesses were reasonable. Not only is this place connected to the earth, but the Chinese have been here a long time ago." Xiao Chen recognized these names and then turned the page.

There is only one line on the following page, also written in simplified Chinese characters:

My disciples from the Tower of Dreams can only read this book when their mental power reaches the state of concentration.

"Tower of Dreams?" The two couldn't help but look at each other when they saw this sentence. They both saw the doubts and worries in each other's eyes. Xiao Chen thought for a while and reached out to continue turning the page, but Luo Ling held the page down.

"No!" she shouted.

"Try it and just take a look." Xiao Chen gave her an affirmative look.

Luo Ling shook her head and said: "It's too dangerous! What does it mean to have mental power reach the state of concentration? What are the risks if it is not reached? What will happen after seeing it? We don't know anything and we can't take risks like this."

"You are too nervous. Maybe you haven't achieved it, but you just can't learn anything. It's just a book, relax." Xiao Chen said lightly, but the will he expressed was firm, "Besides, we already know that this is a magical world. If you don’t understand your opponent, you will have no future. You see, there must be the first one to catch the enemy.”

"We still have schools, there are so many people, we have science and technology, guns and ammunition, you don't have to rush to shoulder that kind of responsibility. Everyone's future belongs to everyone. Who do you think you are, Xiao Chen?" Luo Ling Still refused to give in.

"I'm not that old, I just took a step first. When I encountered that white light, I was changed. That white light strengthened my mental power, opened a door to the world for me, and gave me a chance. Being in contact with magic and being able to use the flame dagger and the star and moon badge, no one is more suitable than me to try it now. The more we learn about the world, the better our chances of survival will be. A short-sighted ant might be trampled to death without even realizing it," Xiao Chen insisted.

Luo Ling was a little sad, but also looked at Xiao Chen with admiration, "Maybe we can wait a little longer until your mental power is stronger..."

"Don't you know that many boys have dreams of becoming magicians? I really can't wait." Xiao Chen blinked at Luo Ling and moved her hand away. He turned around so that Luo Ling couldn't see it. When I came to the content of the book, I calmed down and turned over the pages.

Luo Ling could only see the strong colorful light emanating from the book, which made Xiao Chen's face change in light, a bit like being illuminated by neon lights at night. But soon her heart was tightly clenched, because Xiao Chen kept turning the pages of the book and never moved again.