I was an apprentice in Ferren

Chapter 59 The Book of Legends (Happy Labor Day)

Unlike many other worlds, villains in the Toril universe don't all go to hell. Instead, they are assigned to either the Abyss or Hell based on what they did before they died. The former are chaotic, bloodthirsty demons, while the latter are devils skilled in deception who actively lure people into their traps.

The Abyss and Hell are both in the lower planes and have a border. The opposition between the factions and the overlap of their territories led them to launch an eternal war called the Blood War. Over countless years, the hatred between the two sides has become irreconcilable, and fighting when they meet is basically a basic operation.

But judging from this situation, our side should all be human. Could it be that Harua still has business in Hell?
Hearing DuPont's stammering voice, the man in the silver robe looked at DuPont. He frowned, and three silver-white arcane flames rose from his head. Soon, a look of astonishment flashed in his eyes, and the next second he was next to DuPont.

"You're DuPont, my apprentice at the academy. Need something from me?"

“Yes.” DuPont nodded, but then noticed that the man looked exactly like Lavoisier, whom he had seen before.

Although he didn't know the specifics, DuPont quickly took out a sack from his spatial bag and released the undead companion inside: "This is a child I found after defeating a cultist while carrying out a mission for the church. Its special abilities surprised me greatly. I think handing it over to the church might not result in a proper arrangement. Giving it to you might be a better outcome for her."

"A necromancer companion? You, an apprentice, stumbled upon one?" Lavoisier was somewhat surprised. "You're not very skilled, but you're incredibly lucky. You might not find a necromancer companion even once in ten years." He then frowned, looking at the necromancer companion whose eyes were filled with fear. "Are they around the academy? I've been quite busy lately, managing the simulation magic. Has Harua's moral compass dropped this low that ordinary people would maliciously abandon their children? The probability of creating such a thing is extremely low."

“No, that cultist doesn’t have a local accent.” DuPont denied this, then took out a staff: “This is the cultist’s staff, but I don’t understand what the symbol means.”

Lavoisier glanced at him and said disdainfully, "The followers of Uriel, the lord of ghouls, are all trash who have no one to care for them. These guys must be out of their minds to dare to cause trouble in Harua. Wait, a few years ago, the Undead Lord Okus died unexpectedly. Maybe someone was looking for a sacrifice for him. You killed him? A lone one?"

"Yes."

Lavoisier's figure flashed to the ground. He reached out and cast a spell, causing a rapidly flashing image. Seeing this, his undead companion hid behind DuPont's thigh. After a few seconds, he said with some surprise, "He's still carrying this little cutie?"

"Yes."

"Looks like you caught Judy's good luck. You even managed to run into such a low-probability event. But since there's an isolated case, there must be many other targets. The area around the academy needs to be cleared out."

As Lavoisier spoke, he saw a dragon's breath flash overhead. Impatiently, he released a bolt of lightning, which struck a passing red dragon, causing it to scream in agony. Then, a swift purple shadow slashed off its head, and the headless corpse fell directly through the protective shield. The sulfurous dragon blood drenched DuPont, who was unable to dodge in time.

“I must say this little cutie is indeed very valuable, and his appearance is very timely. This fortress is currently in dire need of necromancer laborers.” Lavoisier said, looking at DuPont: “Make a request. As you can see, the situation is very tense right now. I’ll give you a minute to think about it.”

“She wants to find her mother.” DuPont wiped his face. “She’s not my prisoner; she came with me willingly, and I agreed to it.”

Lavoisier glanced at the brat, then casually directed the purple shadow to chase after an approaching shadow: "Consider this her request for help. Make one yourself. You have 45 seconds left. Don't give me any of that fake politeness. My patience is limited."

"..." DuPont thought for a moment and said hesitantly, "I'm in third grade now and it's really hard to hand in my weekly assignments. How about you, Dean, exempt me from the assignments I have to hand in every week from now on?"

“That won’t do. Handing over the scroll is a requirement of the Harua Council.” Lavoisier directly rejected the idea: “Although your contribution is indeed significant, even if you find the superior artifact, the Nether Gold Scroll, and hand it over, we still won’t open the door. This is because it is the foundation of Harua. If it is shaken, those families will inevitably shamelessly use it, and then everything will fall into chaos.”

Dupont was even more confused after hearing this, but then Lavoisier shook his head, took a book out of his spatial bag, and tossed it to Dupont: "This is the Handbook of Knowledge. Reading it will increase your Perception by 2 points. Although Perception isn't very useful for mages, it's still useful nonetheless. I don't think I need to elaborate on its value. You finish reading it within a week and then give it to me, the one you saw earlier. Consider it your reward this time. What do you think?"

Upon receiving the legendary book with its gold foil stamp, DuPont's heart pounded, but he still asked hesitantly, "Dean, are there any books that increase intelligence?"

"What a pipe dream! That thing is only available in the Parliament. If you can get it from the Church, I'll be impressed." Lavoisier said, opening a portal. "Alright, take this broken stick of yours. If you don't want to use it, you can take it to the Church and maybe exchange it for something useful."

"Yes." DuPont responded and put the Handbook into his spatial bag. After thinking for a moment, he took out the food box that had previously contained braised pig's trotters: "Dean, this is a braised dish that Judy and I researched. It's mainly pig's ears and trotters. Would you like to try some?"

“Just leave it there. We’re very busy here and may not have time to eat.” Lavoisier said, gesturing with his finger. The next second, his undead companion was already beside him: “What’s your name? Where are you from? As long as you’re obedient, I’ll do my best to help you find your family.”

The undead companion seemed frightened by the incessant bombardment. She looked at DuPont, but was interrupted by Lavoisier: "Don't look at him. If I can't find him, he'll have even less of a chance. He's already showing some common sense by leaving you here. If he'd encountered a sillier guy, he probably would have sent you straight to hell to find your mother."

DuPont nodded silently, acknowledging this. The undead companion, somewhat downcast and confused, said, "My dad used to call me Sweet Bean. As for my home, I've forgotten a bit. I only remember it was near a forest. We often ate fish there, and I heard them say that the area was quite unsafe."

"The nearest one should be Misty Valley, or maybe Samaras. I'll check your memories then, and finding your family shouldn't be difficult, but whether they're still alive is another matter."

Hearing this, the undead companion burst into tears, but Lavoisier was clearly not a parent who would spoil a child. He simply silenced her with a silencing spell and looked at DuPont: "Alright, you should go now. The situation is tense, and I don't know how long this protective maze will last. With your strength, if the maze breaks, you'll probably die on the spot. You can consider coming here to hang around when you have the strength of a high-level mage. Don't come here now if there's nothing to do. I'm not in the mood to take care of children."

"Yes." DuPont sighed inwardly. Sweet Bean was lucky to become a necromancer companion, but the probability of this creature forming was extremely low. He wondered how many other children had died in vain. "Alright, listen to Dean Lavoisier. He will definitely ensure your safety and provide you with a comfortable environment. As for your family, I will take care of them when I go out to train. Even if they have become bad people, I will spare their lives and bring them to you."

Sweet Bean stopped crying after hearing this, but she tugged at his sleeve, clearly reluctant to part. DuPont patted her head and said goodbye before leaving.

After DuPont left, Lavoisier also lifted the silence spell and looked at his still-dazed undead companion, coldly saying, "Alright, stop pretending. You've been dead for who knows how long, and you can only fool a greenhorn like him. Besides, you've been traveling with cultists and you've seen plenty of dead people. If you keep pretending with me, I'll slap you across the face."

"Oh." Sweet Bean was indeed obedient after hearing this, but she made a request while being a little shy: "I will definitely listen to what the mage says, but if I do well, can you help me change my body?"

“Fine, but first tell me what that cultist did.” Lavoisier sneered. “And in Urisen’s attempt to resurrect Orcus, were you just a bystander?”
-
The Handbook of Mastery: This book contains magical words that record methods for training intuition and insight. If you spend a cumulative total of 48 hours studying its contents and training according to its methods within a maximum of 6 days, your perception and perception limits will increase by 2. Afterward, the Handbook of Mastery loses its magic and will not be restored for a century. Holding this legendary book, DuPont felt his heart rate was probably around 150.

Rumors circulate that these legendary manuals are miracles created by the Netherian Archmages thousands of years ago. Some say they are gifts from the gods, while others believe they are the work of the Abyss Lords and the Demon Grand Dukes. They are said to be incredibly powerful, granting an additional 2 points to one's innate attribute simply by reading all the contents. The six books correspond to six different attributes, making them easy to read even for someone with a low intelligence.

Regardless of the rumors, nothing could dampen the popularity of this legendary book: just reading it once could increase one's innate attributes by 2 points, making it a sure-fire way to make money. This made the legendary manual extremely rare and valuable. Although there were quite a few in existence, it cost tens of thousands of gold coins to even glance at it, a price comparable to that of a legendary piece of equipment.

This price is obviously not cost-effective. For most adventurers, it's not as good as buying a few more rare-grade equipment to improve their character. However, this world is never short of rich people. For those large families, whether it's training key members or heirs, as long as spending money can provide a stable improvement, it's undoubtedly a profitable deal.

This is even more reliable than giving someone a full set of luxury gear.

This world is not a peaceful era. If you have low strength but wear a lot of good stuff, there is a high probability that you will be targeted by some evil organizations to kill and rob you.

From this perspective, Lavoisier's decision to give this to him was quite one of valuing talent.

That's a really discerning eye! They saw right away that I'm a talent, much better than that idiot Benjamin.

However, to be honest, this manual for enhancing perception is somewhat useless.

For mages, intelligence is definitely the best, and physical constitution is also quite good. Perception is not useless, but it is not very useful.

Unless one's innate perception reaches a level beyond the extraordinary, it is likely that it is not as useful as prophetic magic. Furthermore, when it comes to distance and time, perception is completely outclassed by prophetic spells, and it can basically only be used in adventures and battles.

But for DuPont, this is not a bad choice.

He really lacks that kind of perception to acquire a new career.

DuPont's current perception is only 10 points. Even if there is room for growth in the future, it is estimated that it will not increase much. The most famous professions that require perception are undoubtedly priests and druids. Rangers and monks are also must-haves for warriors. After reading, his perception will reach 12 points. With further physical growth in the future, he may be able to reach 13 or even 14 points. He will no longer be a perception-immune person.

Even if it's just a simple 12 points, although it's not high, it's still enough to get a professional start. If you spend two or three years honing your skills at the church, you might be able to listen to the holy chants and become a level 1 priest. Although there's no hope of promotion through the regular channels, you have your own system!

Becoming a member of the church has many benefits, far exceeding those of a magician's apprentice. If you don't want to serve in the church, you can travel and receive subsidies. When you get older, you can choose to retire like Judy and Wildstone, and you can even consider becoming a pastor in a remote place.

He'll set up a choir just like the church here, with pretty mothers singing, ugly mothers playing accompaniment, and motherless children doing odd jobs. He'll use the church's name to ruthlessly exploit the people—no, I mean, to supervise whether the students are truly devout.

Ah, just thinking about it is exciting.

As for whether this handbook could be exchanged for items of equal value with the church, DuPont didn't consider it at all.

The perception manual in his hand was an absolute treasure to the priest, but he had no background and couldn't possibly hand it over in exchange for another book.
That's probably just wishful thinking.

Although I'm not worried about Lavoisier's things being stolen, this legendary manual can only be used once every hundred years. For an organization like the Magic Church, which has developed for thousands of years, the right to use the legendary manual is probably already fully booked. As soon as the usage time is up, someone will probably reserve it. How could it be such a coincidence that he gets a different one?
Thinking about this, DuPont really wished he could go back and finish reading the book immediately, lest things change if he delayed.

Lost in thought, DuPont returned to the beach. However, unlike the previous lively scene, there were only three more people on the beach this time, and DuPont recognized two of them.

High Priestess Dorothy and that young pastor named Angel.

The other was an old man sitting in a chair wearing a dark blue robe. He looked kind and gentle, like a retired old man.

The group was taken aback when DuPont suddenly appeared. Lavoisier, however, was still lounging on the beach chair with his usual nonchalant attitude. When he saw DuPont, he took off his glasses and said, "Hey, DuPont, come here for a second."

Upon hearing this greeting, DuPont knew it was inappropriate, but since he was the junior, he had no choice but to go over: "Hello, Dean, hello, Pastor."

"Priest my foot! This old man next to me is the High Priest of our Northwest Academy. But how do you address him? Lord of Arcane Arts, huh? That's quite a prestigious title."

"Hehe, Dean, you're joking. This is just a little bit of favoritism the lady shows towards us good-for-nothings. Everyone knows that the mages are the lady's true backbone."

The old man lowered his eyes as he spoke, but unexpectedly Lavoisier laughed and said, "I'm just a simulacrum, what use am I to you? But this kid named DuPont should have seen Lavoisier in person just now, who knows, he might be carrying what you're looking for."

Upon hearing this, the three pastors, young and old, all looked at DuPont, causing a cold sweat to break out on his forehead: "Haha, could it be that you're here for...?"

"The Handbook of Knowledge, a legendary book that can enhance perception." The old man made no attempt to hide the truth, stating directly, "According to the church's records, this book should be available for reading tomorrow. We brought it specifically to exchange for valuable items. I wonder if this young friend..."

　The author doesn't take holidays, so please give me some votes!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)