37: Maysfield Uriah

Bang!

As the sound of the door closing faded, Lister looked down at the yellowish-brown Wizardry scroll on the table.

Touching it gently, he could feel that the parchment used for the scroll was definitely the finest sheepskin.

It also emitted a faint fragrance, seemingly from some kind of protective spice.

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It was clear that its production was very meticulous.

Slowly unrolling the scroll from top to bottom, a vast amount of Pedan Kingdom script, resembling tadpoles, met Lister's eyes.

The text began:

'Greetings, destined one. My name is Masefield Uriah, and I am a wizard. If you don't mind, please take some of your precious time to read my account.'

'I was born in a poor small village in the north of the Pedan Kingdom. My parents passed away one after another when I was young, so I was raised by the kindness of the villagers.'

'But these good times did not last. When I was twelve, the village was attacked by Orc Race, and I became the sole lucky survivor.'

'Overcome with grief, I once thought of suicide, but in the end, I couldn't go through with it because I was afraid of death.'

'Lost and wandering, I eventually arrived at Fernia City and began six years of hardship. During that time, I worked as a handyman, a carpenter, a vendor, and so many other jobs I can no longer remember.'

'Until the year I turned eighteen, I met the most important person in my life, my mentor Perrin Herman.'

'He was the most famous wizard in Fernia City. And I, a lowly commoner, became his student simply because I found the money he dropped and returned it to him.'

'I once asked him why he took me as his student over such a small matter, an honor that many children of nobility could only dream of.'

'He said: Being a wizard is not actually a noble profession, but it does have its threshold—not talent, not birthright, but the good virtues a person should possess.'

'From then on, I kept those words in my heart. On the path of learning Wizardry, no matter what temptations I faced, I always remained true to my heart. Eventually, I became a wizard as powerful and prominent as my mentor Perrin, even surpassing him.'

'However, not all wizards possess the heart to uphold good virtues. At some point, many wizards gradually went astray. They attempted to gain power through more extreme and faster methods, as if driven mad by demonic control.'

'During that time, I encountered many such wizards. They no longer felt human to me. The evil and eerie aura they emitted made me feel exceptionally repulsed and uncomfortable, even fearful.'

'But I did not advise or stop them. Eventually, the kingdom's judgment descended, and as a wizard myself, I could not escape the consequences.'

'I was wrong.'

'But the profession of Wizardry is not at fault. Just like a sword that has killed countless people, the good or evil lies not in the sword, but in the person who wields it.'

'Therefore, I hope the destined one who obtains this scroll can uphold the heart of good virtues and not repeat the same mistakes.'

'This scroll records the Wizardry I have learned and researched throughout my life. I hope you will use it for the right path after learning it.'

'The account of Wizard Masefield Uriah.'

"Uphold the heart of good virtues..." Lister murmured softly to himself.

After reading this account, he felt a sense of sadness in his heart, though he didn't know exactly why.

Once his emotions settled, he began to reflect.

From the account, he speculated that the wizard Masefield likely lived shortly before the Witch-hunt events.

As for Fernia City, where Masefield resided, it was still an important city in the north.

However, these were not the most important points. What mattered were the wizards who had gone astray and become like demons mentioned in the account; this was something the official kingdom records hadn't mentioned.

"As if controlled by demons..." Lister looked at these words, a chill rising in his heart.

Do demons really exist?

Shaking his head, he quickly dispelled the unpleasant thought and looked at the contents further down the scroll.

Introduction to Wizardry:

'Wizardry and Magecraft differ in the source of their power. The former relies primarily on contracts, while the latter relies on sensing. However, the ways they are used are largely similar.'

'Compared to Magecraft, Wizardry has lower requirements for Spiritual Power talent. Therefore, as long as one's talent isn't too low, anyone can learn and practice it.'

'However, everything has two sides. Things that are easy to learn in the beginning will inevitably have diminished effects. Fortunately, Wizardry has more categories, so as long as one learns many of them, quantity can make up for quality.'

'I'm ashamed to say that I have learned many diverse types of Wizardry in my life, but they mostly lean toward self-protection, supplementary abilities, and the like. I am not very proficient in powerful offensive methods.'

"So, if the destined one wishes to learn stronger offensive methods, you will have to seek them out yourself."

Contractual Arts:

'Beast Contract Borrowing Art: Using oneself as a medium to form an equal sub-contract with a beast or magical beast. The magic power of the contracted beast is transmitted to the contractor through sub-space. As long as the beast lives, the magic power remains, with no side effects. spiritual mark—Red circular beast mark.'

'Plant Contract Borrowing Art...'

Protective Arts:

'Magic Shield: By releasing magic power, a shield is condensed in front of the body that can block various energy attacks. When condensed to a certain degree, the shield can cover the entire body. spiritual mark—Blue circular shield mark.'

'Magic Reflection Net...'

Enchantment Arts:

'Weapon Enchantment: By releasing magic power, a layer of magical force is attached to the weapon, effectively increasing its hardness, toughness, etc. The more magic power added, the stronger the effect, though it also becomes easier to damage. spiritual mark—White circular implement mark.'

'Body Enchantment...'

Incantation Arts, Illusion Arts... The scroll was very long and contained a lot of content. Lister couldn't finish reading it all in a short time, but no one would complain about having too much of such things.

The more he read, the more excited he became. The scroll contained all kinds of different categories of Wizardry. More importantly, they were all accompanied by Magic Learning Marks, making them much easier to learn than through text alone.

Although they were mostly defensive, for him as a knight, they were definitely the best gift.

Not to mention learning them all, if he could master just a few, such as Enchantment, to imbue his weapons and armor with magic power, his combat strength would be greatly enhanced.

He could already imagine the frustrated look on his enemies' faces in the future when they couldn't even break through his defenses.

"As expected of a wizard who was famous even back when the wizard profession hadn't yet declined."

Lister praised from the bottom of his heart, his eyes firm as he said, "Senior Masefield, rest assured. I won't claim I'll make it shine brilliantly, but I certainly will not let your Wizardry be shamed."