Chapter 124: Records (2/4)

Antinora set down the "Automatic Shorthand Quill," gave him a brief explanation of how to use it, and then left immediately.

Zhao Xu picked up the magical quill. It looked no different from an ordinary feather quill, yet it was worth 1,750 gold coins. According to Antinora, as long as he awakened the "Scribe Scroll" feat, he could use the Dragon language to activate the quill, causing it to write exactly what he intended. Although it could only be activated once a day, its strength lay in its ability to operate unattended. Once Zhao Xu activated it before going to sleep, it would continue working until the entire spell was transcribed.

However, there was a prerequisite for it to become his: Zhao Xu had to activate the "Automatic Shorthand Quill" before the illusion projection ended. The precondition for activation was, naturally, that he had already mastered the "Scribe Scroll" feat. Posts on the forums about the misery of using goose quills to scribe scrolls had become daily occurrences.

Zhao Xu took a deep breath, focused his attention on the illusion projection, and began to contemplate the profound mysteries of scribing scrolls. Ever since he awakened the "Intuitive Caster" ability, transcribing spells into his mind had been as simple as eating for him. Those spell models were like stone tablets deep in a secluded forest; others had to climb the mountain with great difficulty, catch a glimpse, and then head back down to painstakingly copy what they had seen. Without going back and forth several times, they could never be certain if their understanding was correct. This was why ordinary mages had to spend a full day understanding a spell before transcribing it into their spellbooks, even though the actual act of writing it down took only a few minutes. As for consuming spells to create scrolls, that was a manufacturing process, which took anywhere from half an hour for a zero-level spell to three days for a ninth-level one.

Since the game's launch, most mages had spent their time on the tedious task of understanding and transcribing spells rather than fighting monsters, effectively acting as mere transporters of incantations. Otherwise, the "delete character" trend among mages wouldn't have gained such momentum. Initially, thanks to his "Intuitive Caster" ability, Zhao Xu transcribed spells into his mind as if he were taking a cable car to the mountain top with a camera—he naturally couldn't grasp the hardships faced by ordinary mage players. The claim that residents of Aether needed years or even a decade to complete their mage training was never an empty statement.

Slowly, Zhao Xu gripped his pen, dipped it in the special ink, and began to write on the flattened parchment, following the spell model in his heart. The object he chose to transcribe was "Read Magic," the very spell being demonstrated on the illusion projection. It was the simplest spell and the one most familiar to the general mage population. As his pen began to glide and trace, his heart gradually calmed.

In the plaza, many mage apprentices were scratching their heads in agony. Copying a pattern was easy, but imbuing the resulting scroll with actual magic was a different matter entirely. When a spell was successfully transcribed, the entire casting process—including the consumption of spell materials and experience—was infused into the scroll. This was why ordinary people who had never studied magic could use scrolls to cast spells, provided they had been trained in the "Use Magic Device" skill. The apprentices present, however, had not yet gained spell slots, so they were learning the "Scribe Scroll" ability primarily to copy spells into their spellbooks. Everyone had already mastered "Read Magic," the only spell that could be memorized without being transcribed into a spellbook.

For the apprentices in the square, this was more than just training; it was a competition. Most of those selected by the Floating City for this training were apprentices who had not yet begun this curriculum, making it easier to compare their progress. To incentivize them, the Floating City promised that the training would last three hours, and the first to successfully awaken the "Scribe Scroll" ability before the time was up would be awarded an "Automatic Shorthand Quill." The specific task was to transcribe the "Read Magic" spell they already had memorized into their respective spellbooks. Since they no longer needed to spend half a day understanding the spell, once they gained the ability, the transcription itself would be instantaneous.

The temptation of nearly 2,000 gold pieces caused an immediate sensation among the apprentices. Many novice mages from humble backgrounds were determined to use the quill as a prize to bribe their mentors and secure an assistant position to stay at the school. Those from mage families knew that if they could win, they would have a chance to enter their family's priority cultivation track. As for the players, most simply wanted to cash out the quill for gold to exchange for more practical supplies. Simply saving effort on transcription? They weren't that lazy.

A female mage player named Luna held her quill, her hand trembling. Watching the spell model being explained on the illusion projection, she felt as if she could hardly breathe. She hadn't originally been on the selection list; it was arranged for her by "Aiswesi," a warm-hearted player she knew in the Floating City. Luna was a professional studio gamer who played for money. Her studio frequently targeted popular online games, focusing on early-game setups, snowballing, selling gold, and carrying clients. This time, the studio leader believed *Aether* would be a massive hit, so they sold off their other accounts at a discount and poured all their energy into the game. Yet, to this day, not one of the spellcaster characters their studio prioritized had graduated. Everyone was helpless; within a month of launch, *Aether* had shattered the livelihoods of countless studios. Even as high-level gamers, they couldn't understand why they struggled just as much as ordinary players. In desperation, the studio leader had ordered Luna to delete her Ranger account and switch to a mage. Luna happened to be lucky—or perhaps she was well-suited for the mage path—as her spawn point was the magical Floating City.

However, after entering the city, she faced only setbacks. The NPCs were more arrogant than those in other mage academies and ignored the players. Among the players, aside from a few uniquely gifted individuals, most were driven by fierce competition. It wasn't until she met Aiswesi that Luna felt some warmth. But she feared she would waste this opportunity that Aiswesi had fought to get for her.

Luna looked around the plaza; many others were just as lost as she was. Among the player base, the fastest anyone had mastered "Scribe Scroll" was half a day. Three hours was perhaps a joke from the start—a mere piece of bait dangled by the Floating City. Thinking of this, Luna sighed even more deeply. Unlike other plazas surrounded by walls, this one felt like a fortress tower, with rows of rooms behind the second and third floors that remained pitch black and impenetrable. Luna suspected that the high-level NPCs of the Floating City were watching them from there.

"I can't take it anymore. Three hours? How is that even possible? If I were that talented, I wouldn't still be a student today." A male player who had managed to sneak in reached his limit, threw his pen down, and stormed off.

Beyond the pressure of self-study, the fact that everyone was competing in a plaza watched by countless eyes—with some already starting to practice—crushed people's spirits. The male player couldn't understand why a stupid game could drive him to the point of a mental breakdown. Sitting on the other side, the native Aether mages, who had undergone years or even decades of training, were fully focused on the "Read Magic" incantations they had long since memorized. They, too, were under immense pressure, knowing this wasn't just about a quill, but a chance to leap over the dragon's gate.

Aether had developed for millions of years. The presence of the gods meant that, without external interference, the world remained stable. However, this also marked the beginning of rigid class stratification. Everyone knew that mages were powerful, which made becoming one increasingly difficult. These native mages didn't have the unique advantages of the Earth adventurers who arrived at the Floating City without any tests. Many from mage families had to defeat their own siblings just to earn a spot to study there. Those who failed had to settle for minor association academies in nearby towns.

Even under great pressure, they dared not vent in this place. Seeing someone break down, Luna knew she shouldn't feel schadenfreude, but she couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. Often, one didn't need to be better than others; simply knowing that someone else was just as bad provided comfort. As the male player left, Luna prepared to pack up, determined to tell her boss that she really couldn't play a mage.

Suddenly, the lights in the entire plaza flared up. Everyone was startled and began to look around. Then, their gazes became fixed, as if they had turned into statues. On the illusion projection ahead, a single sentence appeared:

"An Earth adventurer has successfully awakened the 'Scribe Scroll' feat and successfully transcribed a 'Read Magic' scroll. Time taken: 22 minutes. The competition is over. The Earth adventurer will be awarded the 'Automatic Shorthand Quill'."

"Look, behind!" an apprentice exclaimed.

Everyone turned to look at the second floor, which had been pitch black. The floor-to-ceiling window of one room had become transparent, and they could faintly see a man in mage robes pushing the door open and leaving.

"How is that possible?"

This was the question in everyone's heart. The apprentices, familiar with the strict rules of the Floating City, knew that anyone appearing on the second floor must also have been a novice to "Scribe Scroll," otherwise they wouldn't have been competing with them. But what was the record for the fastest awakening of "Scribe Scroll" in the Floating City?

"But how could it be so fast to transcribe a zero-level spell?" a faint voice asked.

The apprentices gasped. The individual had transcribed a scroll that required half an hour to complete, not a spellbook entry that took only a few minutes!

"Subtracting the dozen minutes of explanation at the beginning, that means the person only took six minutes!"

The apprentices who knew the inside story were left speechless. How could it be?

"Before the Cataclysm, when the Weave rules hadn't changed, transcribing a zero-level spell scroll indeed took six minutes," a pale-faced mage apprentice whispered.