Looking at the parchment in his hand, Thorian took a deep breath before tearing it open.

Incomplete Legacy of Tza’har Part 1 Unlocked

You have unlocked the first part of Tza’har’s legacy. To access subsequent parts, you must advance your class.

Do you wish to access the rewards for the first part?

As Thorian was in his room with no one to disturb him, he nodded and thought, Yes.

The moment he confirmed his choice, Thorian was blinded by a flashing light. As he slowly opened his eyes, he found himself not in his familiar room, but within a chamber full of bookshelves.

Welcome to the first floor of Tza’har’s library.

As the notification disappeared, a shadowy silhouette emerged from between the bookshelves. The long silvery beard and piercing blue eyes immediately led Thorian to identify it as Tza’har’s younger self.

“Welcome, my disciple, to your rightful heritage,” Tza’har announced with a hearty voice.

“Tza’har, just what kind of place is this?” Thorian asked, looking around. However, as he stared into Tza’har’s eyes, he found them unresponsive. His whole demeanor did not even acknowledge Thorian’s question.

“I'm sure you have many questions, but unfortunately, I neither have the time nor the ability to have a long chat with you. This is but a fleeting fragment of my soul,” Tza’har explained. “However, I shall at least do my duty and explain to you what awaits within this library.”

“This is the first floor,” Tza’har explained as he looked back at the bookshelves. “Within these shelves, you’ll find numerous books. Most of them are about history, languages, and magical theory. But there are also skill crystals that would help bolster your power, as well as blueprints and recipes for weapons and potions, all fruits of my long labor.”

“The subsequent floors have fewer books and skills, but in terms of quality, they dwarf anything you’ll see here,” Tza’har continued his explanation. “I’m sure you already understand that you need to advance your class to unlock them.”

As he continued his explanation, Tza’har’s form became more translucent. He looked at his disappearing body and smiled, “Looks like I don’t have much more time left. So let me leave you with this one task: Reach the last floor of this library. Once you do, you’ll know how to gain the entirety of my legacy.”

With those words, Tza’har’s body fully faded. In its stead, only a notification remained.

You can now choose to buy any of the items present on the first floor.

Buy? Thorian raised an eyebrow as he looked at the last notification. He then let out a sigh and shrugged, I guess giving me all of these items for free would be considered unfair by the gods. Still, just having the option to buy them is good enough.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Thorian made his way to the first row of bookshelves. As he looked at the multitude of books that filled the shelves, he noticed a translucent energy surrounding them like a chain. The moment he touched one of the books, a notification appeared in front of him.

Would you like to buy “An Introduction to Magical Theory” for 3000 Arcane Coins?

Just a theory book is this expensive? Thorian frowned. In that case, just how much would actual skills cost?

Scoffing at the ridiculous prices, Thorian continued scanning the rest of the books in the row. Most of them covered theories and historical subjects, including diverse topics such as alchemy, magical herbs, magical ores, and the history of the island that would come to be known as the Thunderous Citadel. While much of the knowledge contained in these books was specific to Tza’har’s world, Thorian remained interested. The magical materials that proliferated in the world after the apocalypse's onset did not appear from nowhere—they were exported from the same worlds inhabited by the monsters.

Still, each of these books cost at least 3000 Arcane Coins, and although Thorian was not poor, he wanted to prioritize purchasing skills, recipes, and blueprints first.

Moving on to the next row, Thorian found it considerably less crowded with books. Upon examining the first one, he was greeted with a notification.

Would you like to buy “Minor Electrical Mana Cannon Blueprint” for 80,000 Arcane Coins?

What an absurd cost… Thorian’s eyes widened as he saw the exorbitant price. However, as his gaze shifted back to the name of the blueprint, his heart calmed and a wild smile graced his lips. This is a jackpot.

Without hesitating for a second, he confirmed his purchase of the blueprint. The energy that was chaining the book dissolved, and the book automatically opened. However, instead of being composed of pages, it was a wooden contraption that concealed a parchment in a compartment within.

Removing the parchment, Thorian confirmed its identity as the blueprint before slipping it into his pocket.

That’s one more automatic weapon for our watchtowers, Thorian mused. Now, we only need aerial barriers to be fully protected. But it’s still too early for that.

He then inspected the next book and checked the notification.

Would you like to buy “Lightning Pawguards Blueprint” for 20,000 Arcane Coins?

Pawguards? Is this a blueprint for a companion weapon?

Without skipping a beat, Thorian confirmed the purchase and checked the description of the blueprint. It was as he had expected, a companion weapon that fit perfectly with Harald.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The rest of the books in the row were also blueprints. A few were for companion armors, while the others were blueprints for standard weapons, boots, and armor. Although none were as expensive as the Mana Cannon, each still cost Thorian between 10,000 and 20,000 Arcane Coins.

Having bought all the books in the blueprint row, Thorian moved on to the next. However, after reviewing its content and finding only recipes, he decided to proceed to the last row.

I've already spent more than 300,000 Arcane Coins on blueprints. If I buy the recipes as well, I might not have enough money for the all-important skills.

Checking his personal resources, Thorian saw that he still had over 900,000 Arcane Coins left. Yet, with the blueprint prices as a reference, even such an astronomical amount might not be sufficient.

As Thorian checked the last row, he was surprised to find it more packed than any other. In fact, it held more books than even the theory and history section.

Touching a book on the shelf to his right, a notification immediately appeared:

Would you like to buy “Mana Manipulation Skill Crystal” for 100,000 Arcane Coins?

100,000 Arcane Coins? These prices just keep getting more ridiculous.

Since Thorian already had access to that skill, he wasn't particularly interested in it. While it could be useful to gift it to his comrades to help them potentially unlock better classes, he needed to prioritize his own power growth first. If he had any money left after securing his own skills, then he might consider acquiring this crystal for his comrades.

With that thought in mind, Thorian checked the next book, only to find the notification identical to the last.

Would you like to buy “Mana Manipulation Skill Crystal” for 100,000 Arcane Coins?

Furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, Thorian continued to check one book after another. There were ten Mana Manipulation Skill Crystals available for purchase, all neatly stacked in one section of the shelf.

Looking around, Thorian noticed this same pattern throughout the entire row. Books were neatly stacked into clearly defined sections that did not mix with each other. There were stacks of tens, fives, threes, while the rest were haphazardly organized much like the previous rows.

Scanning the rest of the stacks, Thorian predictably found the Elemental Manipulation Skill Crystals, each priced at 100,000 Arcane Coins.

Finally, after a lot of searching, Thorian discovered a skill crystal he did not yet possess.

Would you like to buy “Spinning Fire Arrow Skill Crystal” for 50,000 Arcane Coins?

Spinning… Fire Arrow? It looks like a variant of the standard one, though I’m not too familiar with it.

Skills that were variants of other standardized ones were a rarity throughout Thorian’s life. They only became more prominent in the latter half of his time in the apocalypse, when humanity’s powers had matured enough for magi to focus on mana manipulation techniques rather than just training proficiency in their high-level skills. Usually, such luxury could only be afforded once one reached the higher ends of the High-Magus tier; a task that took years for any normal human to accomplish in Thorian’s previous life.

Pushing these thoughts of times long past aside, Thorian confirmed his purchase of the skill crystal. Upon opening the wooden book, he found the crystal nestled within a compartment inside, as with the blueprints before.

Checking another book, Thorian looked at the new notification.

Would you like to buy “Gigantic Fireball Skill Crystal” for 50,000 Arcane Coins?

Thorian paused for a second as he read the skill name. Are all of these spells just variants of ones I already know? This almost feels like a puzzle.

While suspicious, Thorian couldn’t make heads or tails of what he should do next. As such, he simply checked another stack of books.

Would you like to buy “Concentrated Explosion Ball Skill Crystal” for 50,000 Arcane Coins?

Scratching his chin, Thorian made an observation. "All of these variants seem to just add one specific property to an already known skill. Is there some kind of meaning behind that?"

After purchasing the skill crystal, Thorian looked around for another set of books.

Would you like to buy “Fire Sword Skill Crystal” for 50,000 Arcane Coins?

Well, this one is interesting, Thorian smiled. It doesn’t seem to be an obvious variant of any standard spell that I know. Maybe it serves some other purpose? Or maybe I’m just finding patterns where there are none?

These questions were not something Thorian could answer immediately. As such, he pushed them aside, intending to tackle them once he was back in the real world where he could test these new skills. In the meantime, Thorian continued to check the rest of the book stacks.

The other skill crystals covered different primary elements than the first, but they maintained the same theme of variance. Of course, they also broke that theme in the same manner with Water, Wind, and Earth Sword Crystals. At this point, even if Thorian were blind, he would still notice that there was meaning behind these skills that Tza’har had left within his legacy.

Considering that these skills modify the standard one in one specific area, maybe they’re supposed to give me a blueprint on how to apply these concepts. Adding rotation to a spell, increasing its size, concentrating it, stabilizing it…

Feeling that he had grasped what Tza’har intended for him to do, Thorian smiled in satisfaction. However, he had already spent 800,000 Arcane Coins on all these skill crystals, leaving him with just over 100,000.

After a moment's thought, Thorian made his decision. He returned to the start of the row and bought the first skill crystal he was offered: Mana Manipulation.

Looking at the skill crystal, Thorian smiled as he put it into his overflowing pocket, alongside the rest of the blueprints he had amassed. He then made his way out of the library through a portal of shining light.

Opening his eyes, it took Thorian a second to adjust to the light of his room. In front of him, Nox was lying in wait with Magnus sitting by his side.

"Whoa, you really did teleport," Nox exclaimed as he looked at Thorian. "I was wondering where you disappeared to since your presence just randomly vanished."

Taken by surprise by Nox's presence, Thorian looked at him in shock for a second before smiling. "I was just gathering the rest of my rewards from the trial. I also brought something for you."

He then took out the skill crystal from his pocket and handed it to Nox, who looked surprised by the turn of events.

"Mana manipulation?" Nox asked as he looked at the crystal’s description. "But I am not a magus."

"There is no rule that says only magi can manipulate mana," Thorian shrugged. "Aura itself is but a specific application of mana, focused on strengthening the body and the weapons instead of conjuring spells."

Seeing that Nox was still not convinced, Thorian continued, "Do you remember our last spar, when you just healed?"

"Yeah, of course," Nox nodded. "I was completely outclassed at that time. You won without using any of your spells."

"That’s because I used mana manipulation," Thorian explained. "You can use this skill to make yourself faster and stronger at will."

"In that case, there isn’t much left for me to say," Nox smiled. "Thank you for the great gift, Thorian."

"You cheeky little thing," Thorian returned the smile before shifting his gaze outside. The two moons shone beautifully in the night sky alongside countless bright stars.

Feeling the scenery pull at his heart, Thorian looked back at Nox and said, "I know it’s already late, but do you want to go train with me for a bit? I’m on the verge of fully mastering an important skill."

Nox stood up enthusiastically and nodded, "Of course, I would love to!"