Chapter 57 – Knowledge Exchange (Patreon)

After Lis didn't react to the second batch of books I gave him, I gave up on the book intimidation game. However, I was determined to find a solution where we wouldn't be reliant on each other for books. Despite Lis being a faster learner, I refused to let that discourage me. I knew that my learning was different, requiring more than just reading. I had to practice, which meant my progress was slower through the books Lis gave me.

The discrepancy in our learning speeds continued to bother me. The next evening, over dinner, I couldn't help but ask, “I know that you have the Mind Power Center and are a Researcher and a Scholar, but your speed seems too fast compared to mine. I'm about to finish the third book you gave me, and you've already finished almost fifty books. How can I increase my speed?”

“You can’t compare us. I have a high level of Clarity and Mind Index; you don't."

"How exactly does it work?"

"Clarity helps me understand things faster, better, and more thoroughly, you might say. Every evening, when I finish studying, I activate the Mind Index ability, which cross-references everything I learned that day with the rest of the data stored in my memory. It creates an overall picture instead of having lots of unrelated pieces of knowledge.”

"This is amazing!"

He nodded and smiled, looking smug.

After a minute, I asked, "Does Clarity also have special properties like Luck?"

"Of course, all of the special traits have two additional aspects: one is directional, and one is not. With Clarity, if there is a topic I don't understand because I lack knowledge, I can activate the first aspect and feel in which direction I can find the missing data. The second aspect is my favorite: When I read a text, and it doesn't matter what text, the important data appears in clear and dark text, and all the unimportant things, the unnecessary filling, appear in light, almost transparent text."

I just stared at him with utter jealousy. I had to find a solution for the book exchange, or he would leave me in the dust.

"Did you get the class you wanted?" I asked him.

"Of course not; I haven't done anything yet."

"What do you mean you haven't done anything? You studied almost fifty books!"

"Yes, I learned. But I did not take any actions in the real world that demonstrated this knowledge and made me eligible to receive the class."

"Is that why my Wizard class didn't go up with everything I learned?"

"Yes, we progress not from learning but from doing. But before we can do anything, we must first learn. You are now learning the basics of mana and magic. Once you gain sufficient knowledge, you will begin to do things with this knowledge, leading to an increase in your class's level.

"But I did actions! What about the ritual I performed?"

"First of all, your class is not a Ritualist but a Wizard. Second, you can't get double benefit from the Guidance, and you've already got the benefit: Rue as your familiar."

"What do you mean you can't get double benefits?"

"You can buy a hundred spells with points, but you'll never get the Mage class. You didn't earn it; you bought the spells through the skill the Guidance gave you—you benefited already. But if you clear dungeons and earn the spells as rewards and then use them, or apprentice to a Mage, at some point, you'll get the class from the Guidance. Why do you think I didn't buy the engineering skills, but I’m learning them the 'hard way'? I don't want to lose the possibility of getting the class I want. Alternatively, you mentioned that you were harvesting crystals from monsters. You will never gain a level from doing it; you already received the benefit: the crystal. But if you build a spell to harvest crystals, you'll get at least a level. Why? You did something that doesn't really benefit you, as you don't need it, but it benefits others."

“Makes sense. I never thought about it.”

At this point, Rue returned home utterly drenched, and I had to dry him. He made friends with all the kids in the neighborhood, so he would leave in the morning and come home only for dinner. Initially, some of our neighbors were afraid of him, but over time, he became the most loved dog in London. Very quickly, all our neighbors discovered that he was a bottomless pit, so they fed him, and judging by his breath, he found some neighbors to give him a beer almost daily. He was having a lot of fun.

______

After a brief search, I stumbled upon the reloadable Visa Prepaid card. I wasted no time, immediately heading to Amazon to purchase all the textbooks I could find, not just about engineering. I meticulously compared my collection with what I didn't have, ensuring I bought one copy for Lis of everything they had and copies for myself of the books I didn't have. If his mana rises through study, I was sure he would appreciate many things to learn. I then scoured other websites that sell textbooks, and I bought all the books I couldn't find before.

After a few days, huge shipments started arriving. I separated my books from Lis's and stored everything. After all the shipments arrived, I called Lis into the living room and told him, "Give me back all the books I gave you."

"Why?"

"It’s a surprise."

He didn't seem pleased, but he cooperated and returned all my books. After I finished putting away all the books, I started taking out box after box of books and said to Lis, "These are all your copies. There's not just engineering here, but every subject I could find a textbook on."

He looked at me with wide eyes and said, "Thank you so much!"

When I finished giving him all his books, I said, "Now I want my surprise. I know you can't give me your books, but I bought a copier, and if you agree, I want to copy all of them."

"Of course."

He took out more and more books, and I stored them in a separate corner.

For the next seven months, between my classes, I copied books and filed them in separate folders.

I discovered an interesting phenomenon: I knew that technology and mana did not work together, but the level of conflict was higher than I expected. I tried to copy a runic language book, and after I pressed Start to copy the first page, the copier died. I still wasn't sure it was the book, so I bought another copier. This copier also died. I tried a workaround and took a picture of the page with my mobile phone. The phone died.

I knew my camera was good with magic, so I inserted a new film and photographed the book's pages. The film became all scrunched up during the development process as if someone had chewed on it. It was annoying. A lot of books I put aside had magic circles and rituals, so it looked like I wouldn't be able to copy them the easy way.

I examined all the books with runes, magic scripts, magic rituals, and circles, and they were different. The paper was very thick and saturated with mana.

I went to an office supply store and bought all kinds of thick paper. I came home and tried to saturate the paper with mana. No matter what I tried, the paper crumbled into tiny specks. After searching the internet, I discovered parchment. I purchased a package and attempted to imbue the parchment with mana. It worked!

Further investigation revealed that some parchment is made of real leather, and some is made of artificial leather. I didn't want to take a chance, so I ordered large packages of parchment from anywhere that stated it was genuine leather.

That's how I spent the next five months: going to classes, saturating parchment, and copying books with a copier or by hand.

A week after I started copying books by hand, Lis saw me doing it and asked, "Why do you copy books by hand?"

"Because these books kill the copier."

"Of course, runes and magic scripts always contain mana, so they will obviously destroy an electronic device. But why don't you buy a spell to do the copying? You have enough points now."

I was embarrassed and said, "Because I didn't think of that..."

He laughed and went back to studying.

I checked the spell list, and there was indeed a list of copying spells. One of them was "Copy Magical Text," which cost three ability points.

The next two months were filled with fighting classes and copying.

I finally finished copying Lis's entire library; the whole process took me over a year. By now, I had completed most of the fighting lessons. I continued with each lesson until I got the ability and leveled it up a bit, then moved on to something else.

During this time, I discovered Udemy and Skillshare in one of my internet searches. It wasn't just a gold mine; it had diamonds, too. We stopped looking for workshops and switched to online courses. By this point, I had 58 ability points, and Lis had 80+ because of all the previous workshops I had done.

After another three intense months of online learning, I had 85 points. Lis had 93; with all his studying, he had less time to spend on the Internet. I also kept restoring weapons, conjuring documentation as my mana allowed, and selling them in antique shops.

________

I was ready for my second spiral, and this time, I packed the rings tightly, not only in the power orbs but also in the channels leading to them.

Second Spiral Completed

Quality: 92% 

Yes!!

I took a day to rest; the creation process of the spiral was very taxing. I unraveled the first spiral and rebuilt it with the tight rings.

Second Spiral Completed

Quality: 93% 

Double Yes!!

Before that, my regeneration was 3 mana per minute, or 5 mana per minute with additional mana absorption. After the two spirals, my regeneration jumped up to 7 a minute. If I added the absorption aspect to my channels, it would go up to 8 and sometimes to 10.

It took me a few days to realize the reason for the difference in numbers; after a few hours of regenerating, the mana in the area was thinner. Because the change was gradual, I didn’t notice it before.

________

I was starting to get restless and was looking for a way to occupy myself while not on the computer.

I reorganized my Storage and donated a lot of the clothes. They didn't sell well in Shimoor; household goods were much more popular.

I sorted all the textbooks in boxes by subject, cleared a lot of space in my bookcases, and filled them with fiction books.

I started visiting pawnshops, selling gold coins, and buying jewelry.

I bought more musical instruments and spent points on learning to play the flute, violin, piano, saxophone, harmonica, and lute. In the piano section, I also found skills to tune and upkeep a piano, and I bought both. I purchased five of each of the instruments I could now play, visited music stores, and bought every sheet of music I could find, from classical and opera to rock and heavy metal.

I remembered the "mana dead zones" you can create, bought five of the best laptops I could find and 20 external hard drives (10TB each), and started buying music and movies online.

I found a porcelain dishware company going out of business and bought their entire stock.

I visited flea markets and thrift stores to buy metal cookware.

Finally, I had enough. I was too restless to stay in one place for too long. In Shimoore, I got used to traveling and moving from place to place. After thinking about the UK Gates with the danger signs for a while, I decided to take a chance. I had no intention of traveling there; I wasn’t suicidal. But I figured that if I cast Invisibility at myself and popped in and out to gain the Gate number, I’d be fine.

That evening, I told Lis, “I want to go to the Gates on this island to raise my Gate Traveler class. Want to come with me?”

He shuddered and said, “I have no intention of going near that horrible place. I won’t stop you, but please be very, very careful and don’t venture from the Gate. You should be in and out in less than a minute.

“Yes, Dad, I promise.”

He laughed and asked Rue, “You’re going with John?”

I had no idea that Rue could express "Duh" in a feeling so expertly.