Luca stared at the book for a good minute, wondering how to proceed from here. On one hand, it was a book, something he valued dearly. Most commoners didn't care to learn how to read. After all, there's very little one could do with the knowledge of reading.
But he knew better than to have that attitude. Any person who took the chance to learn could upgrade their status easily.
This was his goal for saving so much money. He already knew how to read, which was why he was able to get so many high-paying jobs in the first place. His original plan was to purchase the expensive books on finance and become something of an accountant for a nobleman or a tax collector for the government.
But the strange experience from a minute ago made it clear to him that he could no longer be satisfied with such a life, even if he became wealthy and gave him a considerable position in society.
Still, the words on the bottom of the large book made him pause a little
"By Magnus Crowley; the Emperor of Heresies"
That wasn't exactly a name someone would just hand themselves. Luca had never heard of this Crowley figure, due to the Empire's censorship, but the word heresy wasn't something you just threw around.
"Calling yourself an emperor is already a crime worthy of treason. What would be the punishment for calling yourself the Emperor of Heresies?"
He wasn't sure, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't a little curious about it.
A small greedy glint appeared in his eye as he remembered what the knight, Haider had done to his home. And how the mage had appeared in his home, and the intimidating cloud of dust she floated on. And even the Eye of Truth that Bishop John conjured.
Luca wanted all of those powers.
Without any further thought, he flipped open the book and began consuming the words quickly.
It read:
"To my successor. The sudden turn of events should be as shocking for you as it is for me. If my divination was correct, you should be at the heart of the Empire, in Astor."
Luca stopped reading with a stunned expression on his face. This Crowley could actually divine this information! This only motivated him to continue reading further.
"...Marie, my student, should also be dead according to the predictions made. Unfortunate, but a necessary sacrifice to transmit the legacy over such a long distance."
Crowley was truly ruthless. It turned out that the powerful female mage was only one of his students, and he used her as a mere vessel to transport the mysterious legacy.
"I'm probably trapped within the Star Prison if I had to resort to such a crude method of reaching you. It seems the experiment to contact those Spirits has failed. I wasn't able to Scry a lot, but if the divination was correct, you have no previous knowledge of magic. In that case, pay close attention to the words written in this text. This is The Path."
From this point forward, Luca stopped thinking of all the unknown terms being thrown around in the introduction and focused all his attention on the actual explanation of magic.
After what seemed like hours, he was able to get through what Crowley said was the "foundational" information. Everything after was rituals or spells.
According to the book, magic was powered by the stellar rays that lingered in the air from the cosmos, as well as the energy obtained from what was known as the Veil. The Veil was actually the weird expanse Luca stood in at the moment. Or more specifically, it was the cosmos above with the millions of stars and other unknown lights.
The Veil was the only thing separating the physical world from thousands of other mysterious spiritual planes. The Veil was made up of things called Glyphs that formed the fabric of the universe.
Those "stars" in the sky were actually millions, if not billions, of glyphs, some known and unknown, that formed the basic building blocks of the universe itself.
Ancient humans with higher spirituality had unconsciously appeared before the Veil, staring at the stars and unlocking these glyphs, which allowed them to control the stellar energy from the Veil. This was the origin of mages as a whole.
Now, everything that had happened made more sense to Luca.
When he reached for a star earlier, he accidentally triggered the awakening ceremony for Initiate Mages, who could barely be considered actual mages. They weren't even officially on the proper hierarchy.
A normal person could become an initiate by unlocking what is called the "Foundational Glyph"; the stronger the Foundational Glyph, the stronger the Initiate would be.
He peered carefully at the strange symbol rotating around the dark energy and instinctively knew what it meant.
It was three arrows in a circular formation facing towards the middle, with a dot inside. Luca instinctively knew what it meant. It was nearly the same word he'd spoken out before:
"Convergence"
As he said that, the expanse below the veil rumbled slightly but settled quickly enough.
"How fascinating," he murmured.
Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to replicate that in real life. Initiates couldn't cast spells verbally and had to use materials and tools. That didn't deter him, though. If anything, it made him a little more excited for some odd reason.
Foundational glyphs weren't the only ones you could use; they were simply the only ones carved directly into the mind of the user that reflected their nature. Foundational glyphs would be easier to use and carve, while others would be harder to use and weaker too.
The book came with an instruction manual of glyphs and spells, which was lucky for him. The process of finding glyphs from scratch was incredibly dangerous even for higher-ranked mages.
Furthermore, glyphs in themselves could be separated into groups, which, when combined, developed into the schools of magic. The schools of magic were Astromancy and Divination, Elemental, Summoning, Alchemy, and finally the School of Sealing.
Luca could feel himself itching to start practicing magic properly, but he had to hold himself to be patient.
He went through the book further and read through it patiently, even if he didn't understand all the concepts mentioned. Finally, there was a set of instructions for a ritual as well as a small warning on the final page.
"Child born under the star of Mercury. Do not attempt this ritual until you're ready to advance to the 1st Degree."
There was also another ritual entirely, as well as a glyph. This one was small and also came with another note.
"Be wary of your behaviour before the Church and the Inquisition. You are currently but a speck of dust in the universe. Your energy waves should be unstable. Carve this glyph into an item of yours and cast this spell to hide your energy waves."
The note doused immediately made him calmer.