Searching for gold is not easy, especially in a place filled with trash... But sometimes, something will pop up from one of these bookshelves that I used to peruse. 

Suddenly, my eyes catch something twinkling from the old bookshelves. 

A really big book about the size of a language dictionary, the cover has wornt out but the book has a date attached. 

1970... Holy cow! My parents hadn't even born at the time!... I think. 

The book has a hard leather cover that looks strangely maintained and read, there's nothing else in the back aside from the author name. 

Shame that it was scribbled out by some pen, but I'm going to buy this regardless. 

Going to the counter, I plopped the book down as the owner of the book store raises an eyebrow. 

"How much for this? " I asked as he checked the book. 

"Hmm... This must be one of the book that was traded back then... Just take it kid, consider this something of a birthday gift. " He said as I nodded confusedly. 

"Wait, didn't you already gave me one yesterday? And also I'm technically an adult so... "

"What? Don't like being called a kid? You're barely legal Ralph, don't expect too much from that. " Then he shooed me away from his book store. 

Damn old man, it's not like age is an appropriate measurement for maturity, I've seen way older chumps being as mature as a toddler. 

Well, I guess it's time to waste the entirety of my summer doing nothing but reading I suppose. 

Walking down the cracked road of the 27th lorte, I found myself in the shopping district of the town. 

Advertisement were laid everywhere, vending machine and high end shop started appearing as I moved to the more tourism part of town. 

Taking the bus 78 back home¹Bus have numbers that indicates which route they are going., I looked at the extensive railroad tracks as the traffic lights turned red. 

Might as well read the book while waiting. 

The secret guide to magic... How interesting, this was made in 1980? Didn't back then people hated technology proclaiming them as satanic? How did an actual book like this exist back then without any backlash? 

Like I cared! It's an old book that is probably filled with the rambling of a madman and that's the thing making this intriguing. 

Opening the first page, it contained a brief fictional history of the few mages there are and how there's no witch anywhere. 

It then complained about the lack of women in the wizard world proclaiming about how the author will send everything to hell and I'm the one reading this should be grateful that this book will make me a good enough mages to make his dream comes true... A world of perverts. 

And I quote "The man and woman will be set free of their idiocy as our kind will rise above the status quo, rise above the rules that humankind set themselves, rules of physics and society, rules that limits our imagination. To hell with those old farts! For they created a world of greed and misery, children starve as men and women worked hardbreaking labor only to repeat those same labor over and over again in the span of one week! It's insanity! Children of the future! I have devoted the rest of my life in these tomes, recording information for every single kind of magic! These knowledge is useless for me as I have exhausted every single bit of my magic left from my body, I have put my remaining magic powers in the book, you need to only say this sentence out loud! " 

"I have promised for a better world in my vision. " Saying that quietly, I was kind of hoping this would work... But oh well. 

Nothing actually happens, which is to be expected but why did I get a bit pissed off just because it didn't work??? 

Whatever, putting the book in my backpack, I began to read the other book I had. 

Normally I would whip out my phone and started playing games, but I'm in the mood for some books right now. 

Continuing reading the book, my eyes kept flickering to the tome that I put aside. 

Eventually, I put the book back to my bag as I got off the bus and walked. 

Walking back home, I had a terrible urge to grab the tome and read it immediately, like some sort of an itch that won't go away. 

Noticing my own weird needs, I began to suspect that the tome may be something more than just a simple stack of paper... 

'Did I just get cursed??? ' I thought in my own mind, though the chances are zero to none, it still wasn't out of the possibility in my headspace. 

Returning back home, I greeted my parents absentmindedly as I raced to my bedroom. 

No time to think about anything else... I'm about 30% sure that this book is the real deal. 

Opening the book, I flipped to the second pages. 

"Mana is everywhere and nowhere at the same time, it's merely a potential waiting to be unleashed. " Reading the lines of the book out loud made me realize something. 

I didn't read out loud, in fact I always read silently whatever book it is but... This tome forced me to read it out loud... 

Interesting... That's pretty cool, but that also means I cannot quietly study this at the back of the class... 

Reading the book, it discussed more about the theoretical potential in mana and how to harvest them. 

To do this you must have mana yourself, you also need to have a mana heart by basically creating a second heart inside of your body. 

Eh... I don't think I can do that... There's also an alternative? 

There is a lot of alternative, magic circle which requires nothing aside from the magic in the air, to full fledged cultivation that was improved by the author. 

Instead of taking qi, chi, or something like that, it took mana. 

It's literally just a conversion thing... After reading it, I doubt I could make one but... I should experiment with these further. 

In the tome there's one technique that took my attention, not only being recommended by the author themselves, it also has a negative quality that I actually liked. 

It hides your magic forever. 

You can still use magic but people can't really know for certain how powerful you are. 

The tradeoff is that your body will be stronger, your mana reserves would be more, your magic affinity would even increase passively, your mind will be faster and smarter... It's basically an improved human body... But, since the wizard world revolves around the disciple-master relationship, they forbid this technique because it would hinder their growth more... I don't have a master so this is perfect for me. 

"Dinners ready! " My mom shouted from below as I was reminded of my life. 

Looking at the clock, I definitely gotten absorbed in the theory crafting and spent about five hours dedicating myself to this tome. 

I massaged my forehead as I sighed... This book is going to be my obsession this summer. 

Even though I knew the story and lore inside the book is not real, it's still incredibly captivating for me... It feels real, like something an old wizard wrote centuries ago. 

The fact that the book feel so authentic in itself is so cool, the leather page was built with the utmost care, the writing style is distinct and entrancing as if it's actually written by someone rather than typed into a computer. 

There's so much love and care put into this book that I can't help but fell in love with it, the little drawing on the side, the small interjection of worldbuilding in the book, the fact that it has a built in strip of feather to mark where you are in the book, is such a cool experience. 

I even wrote a journal because this book literally recommended for me to do it, that's how much commitment I put despite being a couch potato. 

I'm going to have such a great time with this...