I became the slime toy of the evil dragon girl?

Honeydew Town is much quieter in the early morning than at night.

Sunlight pierced through the thin mist, illuminating the wine stains that had been scattered all over the stone path the night before.

The revelry of last night has subsided, and only a few early-rising vendors are seen strolling along the streets.

There were also several adventurers lying on the street, completely drunk, their underwear stripped off.

Ian was held in Lilith's arms, with Barbara quietly following beside him. The two of them disdainfully avoided the naked adventurer on the ground.

Barbara suddenly whispered, "The market is just ahead..."

Indeed, after turning the corner, a wide-open square appeared before us.

Most of the shops along the street have already opened for business.

Shop owners selling potions, magical plants, substandard weapons, and meat from unknown beasts were busy organizing their goods.

The air was filled with the smells of earth, raw meat, and herbs.

The sound of hammers clanging could be heard coming from the weapon shop.

"Let's go buy books first."

Ian gestured for Lilith to walk toward a small shop with a sign that read "Books and Quills".

As I pushed open the door, the copper bell on the lintel rang with a clear, melodious sound.

The store looked more crowded inside than outside. Both walls were lined with bookshelves reaching the ceiling, crammed with all sorts of books and scrolls.

In the center is a long wooden table piled with old, unorganized books.

The air was filled with the musty smell of paper, ink and dust.

The shop owner was an old man wearing a monocle.

Hearing the sound of the copper bell, he looked up, glanced at it, and then continued to bury himself in repairing the cover of a tattered book.

"What do you need?" The old man asked, head bowed, glancing at the customer in front of him with a perfunctory answer.

Lilith placed Ian beside the bookshelf and began browsing the bookshelf herself.

Ian glanced at the books displayed outside.

Most of them are various versions of "Legend of the Brave", "Dragon Cave Adventure Guide", "Radiant Holy Sword"... Just by looking at the titles, you can tell they are adventure novels.

The bookshelves further inside... are all filled with romance novels.

Lilith had somehow pulled out a copy of "The Legend of the Shadow Sword Saint" and was reading it with great interest.

She actually likes watching these things? No wonder she's so immature. Ian thought to himself.

At the very bottom of the bookshelf, in the dustiest spot, Ian finally found a few useful books.

Some basic magic theories, knowledge of magical runes, an illustrated guide to flora and fauna, and a "Geography of Erathia".

They're all basic knowledge, but they're just right for Ian right now.

He needs to systematically supplement the magical theoretical framework of this world, rather than relying solely on the existing spells collected through [Mind Manifestation].

For example, with the current [Spatial Magic Affinity], Ian can only use the inherent characteristics of spatial magic in a primitive and crude way.

They lacked a systematic theoretical foundation for magic to create their own spells.

There was no readily available spatial magic for him to use, like sitting on a mountain of treasure but having nowhere to spend it.

Ian quickly flipped through the books; the contents of these books had already been fully recorded into his consciousness during the "analysis" process.

It's like getting something for free!

Ian's jelly-like head nodded happily. The feeling of gaining knowledge without spending money was great!

However, there are too few useful books.

As a slime genius, this little bit of knowledge is hardly enough to satisfy me!

Ian jumped on Barbara's head and whispered a few words to her.

Ian needed her to ask the shopkeeper, partly because the old man was quite old and might die of fright upon hearing the slime speak...

The old man was engrossed in his own world when Barbara suddenly spoke up in a low voice, "Um... do you have... any really good books?"

The old man finally raised his head, glanced at Lilith and Barbara, and then looked outside the shop.

He pushed up his monocle, his cloudy eyes scanning Barbara up and down.

As if triggering some key word, the old man gave a meaningful look: "Where did you get the secret code for my shop, little girl... just wait."

He turned and crawled into a small compartment behind the counter, rummaged around for a while, and then came out carrying a thick stack of old books, slamming them onto the counter.

"These are all collector's editions!"

The cover was somewhat worn and had no information on it; it looked like an ancient manual that concealed some kind of amazing magic.

Barbara casually opened a book and read only two lines.

She cried out in surprise, covering her face with her hands, the skin peeking through her fingers as red as a ripe apple.

A Short Story After the Rain: The Orc and the Princess

It contains illustrations featuring various scantily clad women and suggestive poses.

She slammed the book down, her eyes filled with shame and indignation: "What...what is all this?!"

Lilith also curiously leaned over for a look, and her entire face instantly turned red.

The old man chuckled in a rather frivolous manner: "How about it? Pretty impressive, right? These are all limited editions that came from the capital."

"This isn't what we want!" Lilith gritted her teeth.

"Such a mature young girl?" the old man exclaimed in amazement. "Isn't that impressive enough? I have even more to say..."

"A spellbook!" Ian finally couldn't resist, mimicking Lilith's voice, then, remembering his newly acquired spatial magic affinity, added, "Preferably with spatial magic!"

The old man was stunned. He looked at Lilith. "Spatial magic... that kind of thing is hard to find."

The old man stroked his chin and thought for a while before turning around and going back into the cubicle.

This search took even longer, and a few coughs were heard, indicating that there was a lot of dust inside. It seems that this is truly a rare find.

A few minutes later, he came out carrying three thick booklets wrapped in oilcloth, with badly worn edges.

"These... I got them from a down-on-his-luck mage." The old man unwrapped the oilcloth, revealing a dark red leather book with a blank cover. "I don't know if it contains spatial magic. I tried selling it to a few mages, but they all said the contents were obscure and miscellaneous, or incomplete, and worthless."

Barbara opened the book, and indeed, some magic was recorded on the pages.

Ian's [Analysis] instantly went into full power.

A large amount of theory was poured into Ian's mind.

However… judging from Ian’s current magical knowledge, the things recorded here are indeed somewhat strange.

All the magic seemed to point to no definite result, and was full of randomness.

The categories involved are quite varied, but a small portion does indeed fall under the category of spatial magic.

[Analysis] I didn't gain any new skills after a while.

It seems that the information recorded in this book is indeed incomplete, but it is worth buying and studying.

Ian subtly gestured to Lilith to pay the bill.

Lilith picked out a few more novels, mixed with some encyclopedias, kingdom histories, and biographies of famous figures that might still be somewhat useful.

Lilith asked, "How much does this old book cost together with all of these?"

"You can have that tattered book; it's just taking up space anyway." The old man quickly tallied up the other books. "The rest... I'll take two gold coins from you."

"I'll buy it." Lily took out her money without hesitation.

The old man happily packed the ancient book along with the other books.

Just before leaving, the old man suddenly lowered his voice.

"By the way, miss, here's a friendly reminder. Don't reveal your spatial magic too easily; in the Ash Kingdom, you'll be captured and dissected..."