Chapter 126: Full-Table Spellcaster (4/4)

"Aren't we already at the Final Scroll?" Zhao Xu asked, astonished.

Antinoya did not answer. With her eyes fixed ahead, she said softly, "Go and lift the curtain."

"Mentor, which one is it?" Zhao Xu was now standing in the center of the twelve mirrors. He looked around and found them all to be identical; even the way the curtains were draped and the distance from the floor were exactly the same, as if someone had measured them with a ruler.

"I don't know which one it is, either. Why don't you try to deduce it?" Antinoya stood outside the circle of mirrors and said quietly.

Hearing this, Zhao Xu began to pace around in a circle, trying to find a clue.

"Fool, you're actually looking? If you could find a difference, the archmage who set this up would die of shame. Just pick one and pull it back."

Zhao Xu quickly turned around to explain, "Mentor, isn't it said that—"

Before he could finish, he shut his mouth and obediently walked over to lift a curtain. Even if a duplicate of himself appeared, who could it actually kill? The Mirror of Opposition was invincible in a one-on-one fight. If a powerful mage had infiltrated this place, they would indeed be scratching their heads. Given that teleportation was prohibited here, it was likely that conjuration spells were also blocked, leaving no way to summon minions to take the hits. Unless, of course, the opponent was a pair like them—one strong, one weak.

Realizing this, Zhao Xu didn't hesitate and pulled back a curtain. However, the Mirror of Opposition lacked any ornate or luxurious decoration; it was just a plain mirror, looking little different from contemporary manufacturing standards. Zhao Xu looked at his reflection, wondering if he had accidentally stumbled upon the mirror that served as the passageway.

Suddenly, the Zhao Xu in the mirror smiled. Then, the double climbed out of the mirror and began walking toward him.

"Disintegrate."

A beam of black light struck down, and the double that looked exactly like him vanished on the spot, dissolving into the void. Ryan had previously shown him a trick of using Disintegrate on an illusion; he wondered if mages had a natural affinity for that spell. Seeing Antinoya nod in satisfaction, Zhao Xu moved to lift the second curtain.

"No need."

After stopping Zhao Xu, Antinoya walked forward. "What I just taught you was the novice way. Now, it is time for my way."

"Mentor, if you wanted to teach me, couldn't you have just told me?" Zhao Xu said. "There was no need to waste a sixth-level spell. It's too dangerous; if you had accidentally hit me, I'd be done for. After all, the double and I look exactly the same."

"Don't you still have a Resurrection Stone?" Antinoya said playfully.

"Mentor, that's a Resurrection Stone! A Resurrection Stone!" Zhao Xu emphasized through gritted teeth.

"A Resurrection Stone? I don't have one of those. But I have a similar method," Antinoya explained. "I am beginning the casting now; pay attention."

Zhao Xu smiled, thinking she couldn't possibly actually strike him down. Suddenly, a mysterious power radiated from Antinoya. The entire space was instantly filled with a powerful repellent force. Zhao Xu felt extremely uncomfortable, his body falling into a hollow state. He realized immediately that he had no magical power left—even the backpack behind him felt lighter. He hurriedly reached into his bag's pocket, only to find he was touching the true internal structure of the Bag of Holding for the first time. Reaching in, it wasn't a dimensional space?

He understood immediately.

A sixth-level spell: Antimagic Field!

He was inside a legendary Antimagic Field, and Antinoya hadn't even let him see the casting gestures, so he couldn't even activate a basic Spellcraft check.

"Tell me, what are the effects of this spell?" Antinoya asked.

"Within the barrier of an Antimagic Field, spells, spell-like abilities, supernatural abilities, and magic items all lose their effects," Zhao Xu recited immediately based on what he had learned.

An Antimagic Field was the only way for a warrior to take on a mage. A mage caught in such a field was indeed at their weakest. That was why a normal mage would never let themselves easily step into another's Antimagic Field, or allow an enemy the chance to get close enough to cast it. Mages would even prepare countermeasures to stop anyone attempting to cast such a spell. The field's three-meter radius was its greatest weakness.

"Now that you know the effect, hurry up and lift all the mirrors," Antinoya said impatiently.

Because of Antinoya's spell, the Mirrors of Opposition had all become ordinary mirrors. Zhao Xu immediately went to uncover them one by one, asking, "But wouldn't the 'real' mirror also be suppressed?"

Before Antinoya could answer, the fourth mirror he uncovered provided the answer itself. The surface of the glass emitted a faint glow.

"You are correct, but artifacts are an exception," Antinoya said, stepping forward to observe the glowing surface.

Zhao Xu looked at the mirror and could only smile bitterly. Artifacts in the Floating City were subject to inflation, too. He had seen three of them in a single day. At that moment, the repellent pressure dissipated, and Zhao Xu felt his spell slots return. Antinoya had dispelled the Antimagic Field.

The feeling of regaining his power made Zhao Xu breathe a deep sigh of relief. No wonder people said a great man cannot go a day without power. Having been without his magic for only a few seconds, he had felt empty and hollow, stripped of all ability. Though those spell slots weren't overwhelming, they gave him a tremendous sense of security.

Wait.

Zhao Xu suddenly looked at the girl in front of him. Antinoya had just cast an Antimagic Field, which meant she had also lost her magic, right? Why wasn't she panicked?

"Don't look at me with such an intense gaze, or I might think you have ulterior motives," Antinoya said, her back to him as she studied the brass artifact mirror.

Zhao Xu then remembered that Antinoya had said she used Extended Spell to keep "All-Around Vision" on herself every day. From any angle, she had no blind spots. Looking at her from behind was no different than looking at her from the front.

"Mentor, what are you doing?" Zhao Xu asked, changing the subject.

"Decoding, then casting a legendary spell," Antinoya explained.

She then began to chant the incantation in a formal manner, which made Zhao Xu feel somewhat strange. Having spent so much time with Antinoya, he often felt that she didn't need spells, incantations, or gestures to cast magic. Suddenly, the mirror erupted with yellow light, and Zhao Xu was pulled in by a massive gravitational force. In an instant, they both vanished.

Once the curtains were no longer held by human hands, they fell back into place. Then, all the curtains in the room began to move automatically; the slight discrepancies caused by Zhao Xu's movements were smoothed out, and the floor began to rotate like the gears of a clock, the mirrors constantly shifting their positions, waiting for the next visitor.

***

When Zhao Xu opened his eyes, he found himself in front of a massive circular library, with countless books stacked layer upon layer into the heavens. Above their heads was a giant planar astrolabe.

"This?"

It had only been half a month; Zhao Xu certainly wouldn't forget. When he had once sat upon the Throne of Arcana and traveled through the river of time to see the Third Goddess of Magic before she became a deity, it was this very scene. He had even described it to Antinoya, explaining how he had misunderstood that female mage.

"Welcome to the Final Scroll," Antinoya recited her welcome to Zhao Xu.

Now, Zhao Xu understood. Antinoya had brought him to the Final Scroll, guarded by their organization, which recorded all the magic in the world. He hadn't expected the scroll to manifest as this gargantuan library. In that case, these books stacked to the sky were all individual spellbooks.

"Here, you only need to speak the name of a spell, and the corresponding book will fly to you for study. You can now copy all the spells you wish to learn into your mind," Antinoya said with a smile.

Zhao Xu hadn't expected that the strictly guarded Final Scroll would be accessible to him so easily. Even the fact that he could copy these spells for free didn't move him as much as this opportunity.

"Don't just stand there, close your eyes, and the spell list will appear in your vision," Antinoya urged.

Zhao Xu followed her instructions, and upon closing his eyes, he saw a dark void with tiny specks of light; slowly, the names of spells began to emerge.

"There are so many first-level cleric spells here," Zhao Xu exclaimed in awe.

Given how much the Goddess favored him, he had only known the core first-level spells at the start. Now, he was seeing a whole string of them, meaning he was almost entirely free of constraints.

"Wait, aren't the unique spells for Rangers, Paladins, and Druids appearing?" Antinoya asked.

Zhao Xu smiled. "They are."

But as soon as he said it, he added with a hint of disbelief, "Mentor, you aren't trying to tell me I can learn the unique spells of those classes, too?"

In arcane magic, Wizard and Sorcerer spells are largely the same, but there are a few exclusive to Sorcerers. For example, "Wings of Cover," which Antinoya had used to defend against his spells, was a second-level Sorcerer-only spell that a Wizard could not learn. Divine magic was the same; most could be learned by both Clerics and Druids, but Clerics, Druids, Rangers, and Paladins each had their own unique lists. Every class had its own specialized spell list. Now, Antinoya was telling him that the Archivist's spell list included all divine magic?

"Not just that," Antinoya continued with a clear, melodic laugh. "It is all arcane magic and all divine magic. Archivists can learn it all, including those spells exclusive to Sorcerers. That is why we are called Archivists, the 'all-list' casters. This is the true power of an Archivist."