Chapter 1: The Book of Truth (II)
Carrying the gravitational force from falling from thousands of feet high and the weight of a heavy metal book a foot thick, it instantly pierced the magic wolf’s skull. One corner of the Book of Truth touched the magic core, the source of magic in the wolf’s brain, causing its body to glow brightly. It drained all the energy from this fourth-tier magic core, which was invaluable in human society, turning it into a speck of light that vanished.
After remaining silent for countless years, the Book of Truth received energy replenishment upon returning to the primary material world of the unknown universe, instantly restoring some of its divine functions. Detecting the presence of highly intelligent, humanoid beings in extreme danger nearby—likely humans from this world, still in their most malleable teenage years—it immediately extracted their soul imprints and merged them with the soul of its contract holder, the nominal owner of the Book of Truth, implanting them in the humans’ minds.
It then used most of the remaining energy from that fourth-tier magic core to heal all injuries in the target’s body. After that, the spirit of the divine artifact entered the host’s soul space and fell back into silence.
Half an hour later, when the soul and body were fully reunited, Donald awoke from darkness and realized he was no longer in his original world. After some panic, Donald, who had absorbed the memories of his former body’s owner, understood his surroundings and the dangers he faced. Under the pressure to survive, he quickly calmed down and cautiously made his way toward the town. After a difficult journey, he returned to his home in a disheveled state.
He was now a 17-year-old noble youth, but not the kind who could squander wealth and act tyrannically. As a fallen noble family, the Melinna family now had only Donald as their sole heir. Although they held the hereditary title of knights, it was merely an honorary title. Their ancestral lands had been lost generations ago, and most of their remaining property and estates had been sold off. Without two mills and a workshop to support them, they could hardly maintain a noble lifestyle. Not long after Donald was born, his father fell for a villain’s scheme and lost his last remaining assets. Unable to bear the mockery from lesser nobles and wealthy merchants, his father died from heart failure due to stress.
A life of poverty and hardship led to the death of Donald’s frail mother a few years ago. Now, all Donald had was an old house in a commoner’s district and an old servant who, though equally lonely and poor, had remained loyal and raised him. Before reaching the age of eighteen, noble heirs like him could not obtain formal knighthood. For wealthy noble families with lands and estates, not having a formal knighthood title didn’t matter much—they could simply live as local gentry without rushing for it. But in Donald’s situation, with no land or connections, failing to become a knight would likely mean losing his noble status and unable to inherit the family’s three-hundred-year-old legacy of knighthood. Once his noble status was lost, it would be nearly impossible to regain it. Without it, opportunities like joining the army or working for another noble would be out of reach, leaving his future utterly bleak. His original body’s parents had died early, leaving him an orphan. Due to a lack of funds, he had never attended the kingdom’s knight academy, let alone had the chance to serve as a knight’s squire under any noble for proper training. Thus, his chances of passing the formal knightly examinations were virtually zero. Thinking of this, Donald couldn’t help but feel pity for the original owner of his body. “For generations, they’ve lived like commoners yet still clung to their noble status. Their family can’t even afford basic necessities. They’re reduced to this state, yet still try to maintain their noble pretenses in front of others. Instead of continuing like this, it would be better to lower their pride and work honestly like those commoners.” “At least that way they could live more comfortably, without pretending to be better than they are.” But perhaps the original owner’s memories and personality still influenced Donald, so subconsciously, he remained firmly committed to noble glory. As a result, his only servant and steward, Codd, who had raised him, didn’t notice anything unusual these days. “But this kind of life will end once I arrive!” Donald thought excitedly, for with the arrival of the new Donald came a miraculous treasure—a magical Book of Truth within his body that could change his fate. It was the very cause of his transmigration.
He discovered the miraculous effects of this Book of Truth on the third day after his arrival. As his physical condition began to stabilize, Donald got up at night, taking advantage of Old Cord’s deep sleep, and went to the study alone to search through books in an effort to learn more about this world. After all, although he had absorbed the memories of the original owner, they were rather chaotic, making it difficult to sort through them at first. Moreover, what could a 17-year-old boy who had never received noble education know about this world? With the thoughts from his past life, Donald decided to make the best of his situation and prepare mentally for future life.
When he turned on the light in the old study, he accidentally activated the only valuable magical device in the house—the elemental crystal lamp. It contained only the lowest-grade blank crystal, a defective item with minimal residual energy left after its elemental energy had been used up. In this world, such blank crystals were generally used for lighting or simple magic tricks that required little magic power, and only ordinary people or the poorest magic apprentices would use them. Yet even this lowest-grade blank crystal was enough to trigger a reaction in the Book of Truth, whose energy was extremely depleted after repairing the host’s body. By absorbing the faint energy from the blank crystal and converting it into weak divine power, the spirit of the artifact revealed its functions to Donald.
Seeing the faint golden metallic image of a book before him, with numerous summoning icons inside once it was opened, Donald was both astonished and delighted to find that those familiar figures were actually characters, units, and buildings from the large-scale fantasy strategy game he had loved most in his past life—Warcraft. At the same time, the Book of Truth responded to him, accepting the spirit of the artifact’s intent, and Donald quickly understood the purpose of these symbols.
“It seems that by sacrificing energy and soul fragments, one can convert them into divine power and soul imprints, thereby summoning various creatures, items, and buildings from Warcraft into this world, making them real entities.”
“Can one really summon all the beings from the game?”
With this surprising realization, Donald thought that if he could summon bases, units, and powerful heroes from different races, all under his control and obedient to his commands, wouldn’t he be able to easily rule this world?
Yet when he saw the cost required to summon higher-tier creatures and powerful beings, Donald felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, waking him completely up.
“As expected, there’s no reward without effort. Hoping for free gifts is a foolish idea!”
The summoning methods described in the Book of Truth were divided into four categories: ordinary summoned creatures, permanently summoned creatures, character skill exchanges, and the summoning of building units and items.
Ordinary summoned creatures only required some basic energy, a small amount of soul power, and the summoner’s mental strength as a medium. The first thing Donald thought of that met these conditions was the magic beast cores.
The Book of Truth explained that the residual soul imprints in magic beast cores could endow summoned creatures with intelligence, but once the energy sustaining them in the cores was exhausted, the creatures would vanish completely. Thus, they could only be used as materials for ordinary summonings.
It was also possible to continuously supply energy to maintain the existence of summoned creatures, but the enormous costs were likely beyond even the means of a wealthy merchant guild, so it was better to reserve them for critical moments.
Even the most useless small animals and the lowest-level laborers from various races required at least one first-tier magic beast core to summon, and they had a limited lifespan—after all, the residual soul imprints were incomplete, and the cores’ energy was very limited. Once depleted, the summoned creatures would disappear.
There were also permanently existing summoned units, but although there was no limit on their number, creating such creatures required extremely precious soul power to succeed. As for the source of soul power, magic cores from lower intelligent beings could not replace it. Donald had no idea how to obtain this yet, so it might be impossible for a long time. To reach the level of interacting with souls, one would need to be a special professional of intermediate or higher rank at the very least.
As for other inanimate buildings and items, elemental crystals and all similar energy crystals could be used for summoning. Since summoned items resulted from the transformation of energy into matter, they could exist indefinitely, though the cost remained high.
What Donald values most is the ability to exchange for the last type of character skill. As the contract holder’s strength increases, according to the world’s strength grading system, upon reaching each level, they can use energy crystals corresponding to that level to exchange for the seed of any character skill from the summoning list—whether it’s a hero of a certain race, a military unit, or other wild creatures. Of course, most divine spells and skills related to summoned creatures are excluded, as divine power comes from deities. The deities mentioned in the Book of Truth, who originate from the history of magic beasts, are fictional; before they are summoned, they cannot grant mortal beings divine spells on behalf of real deities. Summoned creatures are also fictional entities, and without sufficient soul power and life force, it would take a tremendous cost to create life out of nothing. Everything in this world, whether material or energy, must follow certain laws for mutual transformation. Without a being like the Book of Truth, which is akin to a creator, it is impossible to create life unless one comprehends the laws of creation. Even for a divine artifact like the Book of Truth, creating life requires a huge price. This is the setting established by the Book of Truth through collecting the world’s rules and information. Mages need magic beast cores and elemental crystals to draw energy for their own use, whether for casting spells, crafting equipment, or setting up magic arrays—these are all indispensable. Both are essentially non-renewable resources and important strategic reserves, and the countries on the continent strictly regulate their transportation and sale. As a result, their prices remain high. One standard cube is the universal volume unit in this world, roughly the size of an inch square. Even the lowest-grade blank crystal of this size costs at least three Silver Moons, which is equivalent to the income of an average family for two months. A lower-grade elemental crystal, which is superior to blank crystals, costs at least five Gold Solars. As for magic beast cores, lower-grade cores are generally inexpensive; the lowest-grade ones can be purchased for a few Gold Solars each. However, if calculated by actual volume, lower-grade magic beast cores are slightly cheaper than lower-grade elemental crystals. The reason lower-grade elemental crystals are more popular than lower-grade magic beast cores is that the residual fragments of magic beast souls in magic beast cores are considered impurities by mages. Due to the influence of soul power, their effectiveness is somewhat inferior to that of elemental crystals formed from pure elemental energy.
AdvancedWorld of Warcraft crystals are exactly the opposite. The higher the level of theWorld of Warcraft before death, the stronger the spiritual power in the crystal left behind. Such crystals, when used as the core of casting equipment, endow the equipment with more spirituality, enhancing its power. Therefore, advancedWorld of Warcraft crystals are actually more valuable than pure elemental crystals.
One Gold Sol is equivalent to ten Silver Moons, and one Silver Moon can be exchanged for a hundred of the lowest-grade Copper Horns. These three are the most common currencies in this world, which, according to Donald’s understanding from his past life, are gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins.
The Merlin family, lacking a source of income and relying solely on their old servant Kord to sustain them from half an acre of land in the backyard, couldn’t even afford three Silver Moons unless they sold the last valuable things they had. In other words, they couldn’t even afford the lowest-gradeWorld of Warcraft crystals, and the energy contained in the available blank crystals was too low to be useful. This prevented Donald from verifying whether the magical powers of the Book of Truth were real, which is why he decided to go back to the Green Cloak Forest not far from the town to hunt forWorld of Warcraft.