civilwarnovels Chapter 3797 The School Doctor's "Daily Life" (2)
Chapter 3797 The School Doctor's "Daily Life" (2)
Chapter 3797 The School Doctor's "Daily Life" (Part Twelve)
The two entered the secret room one after the other. They quickly discovered that the decor was nothing like the opulent exterior, but rather more ancient and solemn. It was as if beneath the school's brand-new shell lay a far more ancient soul.
The further they went, the dimmer the lights became, and the more mysterious the atmosphere grew. The air became increasingly damp, with moss and vines sprouting from the cracks in the floorboards. After walking for an unknown amount of time, a very old-looking room appeared before the Batmen.
This is a tiny room of only a dozen square meters, with a low ceiling and many wooden beams supporting it, making it feel even more cramped and oppressive. It's completely different from the spacious and luxurious decor outside.
The decor here is simple: upon entering, there's a slightly worn desk, behind which is a chair showing obvious signs of use, and behind that are two rows of bookshelves filled with various magical tomes. Several empty boxes are piled in the corner. A chandelier hangs overhead, and an oil lamp sits on the desk; these are the only two sources of light, making the room quite dim.
“I think there’s a big problem here,” Arkham Batman said. “We need to look carefully.”
The main universe's Batman clearly agreed with him. The two began searching, but there wasn't much to search; it was mainly the books on the shelves. To their surprise, most of these books contained information on dark magic.
To be precise, these are some evil rituals, such as how to sacrifice corpses, how to start large-scale fires, how to corrode magical shields, and so on. Although they require a lot of energy, these methods do not seem to be aimless.
The crucial clue appeared on the desk. The main universe's Batman picked up a yellowed notebook. He opened to the first page and found the name "Brendis Saffir" written on it.
Batman opened the notebook and found it contained theories about Earth's magical defense network, which were clearly very difficult and obscure—at least Batman couldn't understand them at all. However, there was also a piece of paper on the table with a simple map drawn on it, showing the Earth's continents, with a dot of light on each continent.
While the main universe's Batman doesn't know much about Earth's magical defense network, he does know that similar planetary shields require energy nodes. Batman surmises that these points of light are likely nodes in Earth's magical defense network.
Among them, the point in the area of New York where the Americas—more accurately, North America—is located is circled, and several names are written next to it, the first of which is "Wang".
“Do you remember that book we saw before, ‘The 100 Most Famous Wizards in the History of Magic’?” Arkham Batman said.
"You suspect that this Saffir is one of them?"
"Otherwise, why would he have a secret room at school?"
The main universe's Batman pondered for a moment, then said, "The tables and chairs show signs of recent use, which means he's been here recently. We'd better not touch anything on the table and investigate his background first."
The two carefully put everything back in its place, making sure no trace was left—easy for Batman. They were confident that even if another Batman came, he wouldn't be able to tell they'd been there. Then they left the room.
Back in the library, instead of endlessly wandering through the restricted section, they began searching for biographies of figures in the wizarding world. However, the wizarding world seemed uninterested in recording such things, and they found very few. After searching for over an hour, they only found two books: one specifically about the Sorcerer Supreme, and the other, "100 Famous Wizards."
The main universe's Batman began flipping through the book quickly, but he couldn't find Saffir's name even after flipping to the end. He only found this passage in the afterword: "The magical world's glorious present is absolutely inseparable from the contributions of the great wizards. Due to space limitations and my limited writing skills, I was unable to write about them all. Furthermore, some forbidden names were not recorded."
“A forbidden name…” Batman in the main universe murmured to himself.
“This Saffir is probably a dark sorcerer,” Arkham Batman said, closing the book about the Sorcerer Supreme. “It says that after the Ancient One became the Sorcerer Supreme, one of her fellow countrymen also became a dark sorcerer. It seems there has always been a struggle between sorcerers and dark sorcerers in this universe.”
“What I’m more worried about now is why he would target a specific node in Earth’s magical defense network,” said the main universe Batman. “And his secret chamber is right inside the school, right under the Sorcerer Supreme’s nose, and there have been recent signs of activity. How did he manage to hide it from the Sorcerer Supreme?”
“That’s definitely something to think about,” Arkham Batman said. “I think he might be some professor.”
The main universe's Batman narrowed his eyes. He wanted to say it was absurd, but he also felt it wasn't entirely impossible. After all, the magical energy in this universe was far more abundant than he imagined, and mages weren't always in such a miserable state; it was perfectly normal for them to have magic that could disguise themselves as others.
"But who could it be?" Even Batman couldn't jump to conclusions. After all, he still lacked understanding of magic.
“Perhaps we can subtly hint at it to the Sorcerer Supreme,” said Arkham Batman.
“But he doesn’t want to see us at all right now. He has absolutely no patience for us.” The main universe Batman sighed and said, “It’s more reliable to talk to Schiller than to him.”
"Then let's go see Dr. Schiller."
“He’s probably even less willing to see us now.”
The two sat in the library for a while before leaving. But the library soon welcomed two new guests: Schiller and Mephisto.
“Okay, listen, this is the script for the second part.” Mephisto walked ahead, backing away as he gestured and explained the script to Schiller.
"As the first-grade final exams approached, the young mages would receive library cards. They could come to the library to borrow books and prepare for the exams. But at this time, a severe natural disaster struck the little girl's hometown, and she wanted to find a solution, so she set her sights on the restricted book section."
"The other two main characters had no choice but to accompany her on a nighttime stroll. Together, the three of them obtained the librarian's seal and entered the restricted book section one night."
Following Mephisto's words, the two arrived at the forbidden book section.
“‘Suddenly!’ Mephisto raised his voice, pointing to the bookshelf beside him, ‘one of the clever little ones suddenly noticed that the color of the books on the shelf was a bit strange, seemingly exactly the same color as the chandelier above the registration counter…’”
At this point, he turned to look at the bookshelf, about to point to the books on it and say something, when he suddenly froze.
The bookshelf he pointed to was filled with large, gray volumes, all black and white, without a single color.
A question mark visibly appeared above Mephisto's head. He went around to the other side of the bookshelf, but there was no color there either. Then he went back, and the question marks above his head multiplied.
"Where are the books?" Mephisto was completely baffled. "Chris told me that all the props in the school were already set up, so why aren't there any books? Shouldn't they be on this bookshelf?"
He circled around again, then searched the entire restricted book section, but still couldn't find any colored books. Finally, at his wit's end, he dragged Schiller to the registration counter and said, "Fine, it's not a difficult mechanism anyway. Open it for me!"
Mephisto pointed, and a hidden door behind the counter opened. He continued, "Behind this lies a huge secret: the dark sorcerer Sapphire is not dead, and he plans to attack the New York Sanctum during his second year..."
The two entered the secret chamber together. The door closed. Mephisto strode to the table, picked up the notebook on it, and said, "This is the first time Saffir's full name appears in the movie. The young mages don't know who he is, but they infer from the books on his bookshelf that he might be an evil dark mage. And one of the main characters deduced from the amount of kerosene consumed in the kerosene lamp that he might have been here recently."
“And then this,” Mephisto said, holding up the map, “this is a map showing the location of the Earth's Magic Defense Network Sanctuary. The New York Sanctuary is circled, a hint at Saffir's plan. The names next to it are the mages guarding the New York Sanctuary, the head of which is the Archmage King. The junior mages will see him in meditation class the next day; they'll try to get more information about Saffir…”
"Wait a moment, Professor." The Batman from the main universe quickened his pace, calling out to Wong, who was about to leave the classroom, and then said, "There are still some things I don't quite understand about meditation. May I ask you for some guidance?"
Wang smiled and said, "Of course, but it has to be over before 10 o'clock. I'm not a full-time professor; I have to go back to the New York Temple to keep watch at noon."
The main universe's Batman recalled the name on the map and said, "Are you referring to the New York Sanctum of the Magic Defense Network? That must be very important, right? I'd better not keep you any longer..."
"No, no, no, there are other archmages there. It's just that the New York Temple offers takeout, and the food is better than here, so I usually choose to eat there. There are still two hours until 11 o'clock, enough time to solve your problem."
The main universe's Batman understood immediately. Wong's words revealed a lot of information: for example, the New York Sanctum should be located in a bustling area, otherwise it would be difficult to find many takeout options; Wong is Asian, and his English accent suggests that his native language might be Cantonese or Hokkien, possibly indicating he is from Hong Kong; his preferred cuisine is likely Chinese food, proving that the New York Sanctum is not far from Chinese communities.
“No, I insist on confirming your lunch time. It wouldn’t be good if you were late for lunch,” Batman said, then heard Wong say, “Alright, we’ll have lunch promptly at 11:30.”
Batman thought: Wizards don't need time to travel; a teleportation portal and they're there. That means the delivery will take about half an hour. The New York Sanctum must be somewhere within half an hour's delivery time, on a street with many Chinese restaurants.
Although Batman doesn't go to New York often, he has a general idea and quickly narrowed it down to a few streets. After eliminating various potential dangers, he was basically able to pinpoint the location of the New York Sanctum.
But he didn't rush to ask about Saphir. Instead, he patiently inquired about meditation while discreetly observing the great mage and quickly sketching out his profile in his mind.
Generous, tolerant, and highly skilled—that was Batman's impression of the King. He believed this sorcerer was unlikely to be Saffir. So, after finishing his questioning, he went to the dining hall with Arkham Batman to discuss their findings.
Guess who this fire will eventually burn?