Turning Pages and Taunting

Several royal youths were quite surprised. Judging by his attire, Borne did not belong to the court mages, and this was their first time seeing anyone other than a court mage inside the Grand Library.

They knew very well what this implied. Temporary passes held by outsiders were only granted to those who had made significant contributions to Netheril, earning them the right to hold a temporary pass.

Most outsiders who gained entry to the Grand Library eventually ascended to the upper echelons of Netheril.

However, when they got a clear look at Borne's appearance, and especially after confirming his identity, their facial expressions became extraordinarily vivid, filled with a complex mix of emotions.

Anyone belonging to the younger generation living in Seviourton had heard the illustrious name of Borne Eolum!

Borne Eolum was as flawless as the legendary "child of someone else"—a favorite of the Goddess of Magic, the youngest arcanist, a business prodigy, an associate alchemy grandmaster, and a long list of other titles.

Consequently, any child with even a sliver of talent would be compared to Borne. No matter how outstanding a child's achievements might be, the moment they were placed side by side with Borne, they instantly appeared mediocre, making people feel that their accomplishments were nothing special and hardly surprising.

Nowadays, this comparison extended not only to peers in the same grade, but even to those who entered the academy long after Borne.

Imagine pouring your heart and soul into mastering a spell or an arcanum, only to proudly show it off to your parents, teachers, or classmates, right before they casually remarked, "Back in the day, Borne Eolum did this and that, and he mastered it so much faster and better."

How would you feel? That state of mind was far beyond merely terrible!

Moreover, as Borne's strength grew, this trend began to apply a blanket "taunt" across the board. His status as an arcanist, in particular, was a resounding slap in the face to countless people. How must those spellcasters feel who had spent decades, or even fifty to sixty years, without even managing to cross the threshold, or remaining mere novice arcanists?

The valedictorian of each generation at Gilles Academy was always the most dazzling topic of conversation—veritable celebrities.

This current generation, in particular, hailed from a family of warlocks, making them doubly newsworthy. Yet now, bathed in the glaring radiance of Borne's shadow, who even remembered them?

Borne had practically redefined the very concept of a "genius" single-handedly.

In front of Borne, who dared to call themselves a "genius"? Even the older generation had to weigh their words carefully before praising a junior; the title of "genius" was no longer thrown around casually.

That explained the expressions on the faces of these royal youths—it was the classic psychological projection of "academic slackers" confronting an "academic overlord." Even the tall young man who had already advanced to the high tier gazed at Borne with extreme caution.

Although his mortal transition was not yet complete, his basic high-tier perceptual abilities were already in place. He finally understood the evaluations his "teachers" had given Borne, and even felt that his teachers had underestimated him. There seemed to be a terrifyingly vast reservoir of power suppressed within Borne's body.

Just now, when Borne had cast a casual glance in his direction, he had sensed an overwhelming threat. That was simply unbelievable, especially considering Borne had not yet broken through to the high tier.

***

Most libraries do not directly publicize incantations and complete casting formulas; acquiring such knowledge required specific contributions or a heavy price.

Stories in knightly tales where the protagonist plucks a spellbook from a library containing hundreds or thousands of spells are utter nonsense.

Transcendent knowledge meant much more than just magic. Magic alone encompassed a multitude of disciplines and contents. Later, after the division of the eight major schools of magic, it was established that no mage could involve themselves in more than two schools during their lifetime, because each school branched into several sub-schools. No matter how powerful a spellcaster might be, they could never master multiple schools simultaneously.

Borne had no immediate need for spells; academic reports and experimental logs were his targets this time.

Because time was limited, Borne could not afford to read and digest information slowly as he did in the academy library. Instead, upon picking up a book, he rapidly flipped through the pages.

Given Borne's inherent prominence, his bizarre behavior made it impossible for him not to attract attention.

"What is he doing? Is he just here to flip through books?"

A royal youth asked quietly.

"He must be looking for something specific,"

replied a curly-haired man nearby.

"It doesn't look like he's searching for data; his expression is just like someone actually reading,"

another countered.

Just as they were murmuring amongst themselves, the high-tier young man spoke up.

"It looks like speed-reading and rapid memorization. According to records, some individuals are born with extraordinary eidetic memory, and through subsequent training, they can rapidly retain massive amounts of information."

The high-tier youth stared intently in Borne's direction and said, "Borne Eolum won the affirmation of multiple scholars at a very young age, even earning the title of polymath. One of those scholars happens to be my teacher."

"What?"

"How is that possible?"

Exclaimed the nearby youths in lowered voices.

"However, while temporary rapid memorization is possible, transcendent knowledge carries wondrous magical properties. Spellcasters in the past have attempted memory training with such individuals; ordinary information works fine, but when it comes to transcendent knowledge, the amount they can retain is only slightly better than an ordinary person's. Moreover, people with this innate talent are generally entirely unable to learn magic—it seems almost like a curse!"

Hearing the young man's words, the others immediately questioned why Borne was an exception.

"I am not entirely certain whether he possesses that specific talent,"

the young man said helplessly.

"However, Borne Eolum is indeed deeply accomplished in memory techniques. He pioneered special mnemonic methods. The 'Chain Method,' 'Loci Method,' and 'Rhyme Memorization Method' that we use today were all proposed by him. Combine that with a spellcaster's formidable spiritual power, and achieving this near-innate capability is possible."

"How is that even possible? How old was Borne back then? He had just entered Gilles Academy not long before, right?"

"It is incredible, but it is true. Two years ago, my teacher encountered a 'book-flipping' child in the library of Gilles Academy. If the scene before my eyes weren't an exact match for my teacher's description, I would never have known that the memory techniques currently circulating in academic circles were all proposed by him."

Only then did the high-tier youth fully comprehend the expressions his teachers wore whenever they mentioned Borne.

Only now did his companions realize that such a background story existed. This guy was already an utter freak, yet he still possessed "achievements" they had never even heard of. If it were any of them, they would have long since grabbed a megaphone to broadcast it everywhere, desperate for the whole world to know they were geniuses.

Yet Borne, after "releasing" several peculiar memory methods, had remained entirely silent and low-profile, as if it had nothing to do with him at all.

As time ticked on, more and more people turned their gazes toward Borne.

Especially the "learned" court mages, who could tell at a single glance that Borne was not merely flipping pages, but genuinely reading—just at an accelerated pace.

When a spellcaster is deeply focused, their spiritual power projects outward through their eyes, manifesting just as it does during spellcasting.

Soon, court mages from the outer areas heard the news and arrived at the Grand Library. Borne cared little about being observed like a monkey in a zoo. When he decided to come here, he had already prepared himself for an audience. Being watched while working was normal; if no one watched him, he would have found it rather awkward. Still, he hadn't expected the court mages to be just as gossipy as the students at the academy.

The knowledge archived in the Grand Library was indeed of a higher caliber than the academy's library. Many of the academic reports and experimental researches in the academy were limited to the proficiency levels of novice or intermediate spellcasters.

Although low-tier spellcasters possessed many ideas and flashes of insight, constrained by the depth of their knowledge, much of their work remained at a rudimentary stage.

The experimental data and reports collected in the Grand Library featured meticulous research. Even if many directions differed and might offer little immediate help to Borne, they constituted extraordinarily precious materials. Whether for drawing analogies or for conducting in-depth research later, they possessed immense reference value.

As Borne rapidly "flipped through" the pages, the progress bar for the sixth-tier new arcanum slowly advanced. Though the pace remained sluggish, at least he could glimpse a glimmer of hope.

Unfortunately, the biochip could only input information through Borne's eyes; sweeping the library with spiritual power to instantly scan an entire book, a bookshelf, or the whole library was impossible.

Still, this pointed toward a future upgrade direction for the chip: interfacing the system with spiritual power to enable scanning could drastically reduce the time required.

At that moment, a commotion rippled through the surroundings, and Borne instantly perceived several intense strands of "malice" directed at him. He did not even bother to lift his head, instantly guessing the culprit and choosing to ignore them entirely.

Because transcendent knowledge imposed a heavy burden on mental capacity, even with his formidable spiritual power, Borne could not sustain uninterrupted "reading" indefinitely. This process closely resembled "reading" a Golden Scroll; operating mental faculties at overload would literally fry one's brain.

However, unlike a Golden Scroll that forcefully imprinted itself into the mind, Borne simply switched the chip into "input" mode once his mental stamina neared depletion, treating his eyes like cameras to directly "burn" the images into the chip's storage.

Consequently, Borne began "flipping" his books even faster, leaving the onlookers dumbfounded. Borne felt no obligation to explain himself; with so much rare material available, not "copying" as much as possible would mean squandering the trip.

Estimating his visual field, Borne realized he could cover up to three books simultaneously.

Since he could store the information first without processing it through his conscious mind and read it slowly later, Borne directly manipulated multiple hands to flip books concurrently.

Borne's book-flipping behavior was already bizarre enough, but now he was directly controlling three books at once. This had long since ceased to be a matter of defying conventional logic.

"Borne, what on earth are you doing? Knowledge is sacred and solemn; this is not a place for circus tricks!"

Seeing Borne's actions, Leonard finally lost his patience and stepped forward to reprimand him.

"How I read is my own freedom; it doesn't affect anyone else, and besides, I possess a valid pass."

Borne said, waving his temporary pass in the air.

"On the other hand, you lot, with so much idle time to stare at me, would be better off spending that energy delving into magic. With all these years, your court mages have only produced Lord Charles as a higher arcanist. You've truly wasted such a vast repository of high-tier knowledge."

Borne's words pierced deeply into the hearts of many present, and what made them even more hateful was that Borne's eyes remained fixed on the "books" before him the entire time he spoke. Combined with his remarks, he exuded an attitude of complete and utter disdain for them.

It was the ultimate "group taunt." Instantly, even more glares of pure fury locked onto Borne.

Had it not been for the binding rules of the place, Borne likely would have been swarmed and beaten up on the spot.

Of course, not everyone was consumed by rage. Several royal youths felt boundless admiration for Borne's "overlord-style" dominance, with the younger ones staring at him with literal stars in their eyes.