Chapter 23 - The Mysterious Exercise of The Hale Family (1)

Nathan turned around and sent Theodore an inquiring gaze.

Theodore took the initiative to explain before Nathan asked anything. He showed his hidden necklace and said, "Teacher, my father left this to me. He said it could help open a secret room containing a crucial exercise to the Hale family."

Hearing his disciple's disclosure, Nathan narrowed as he fell into deep thinking. Although seriously injured, he believed his sense did not decline much.

He had already scanned through the house multiple times. To successfully remained unnoticed from his detection, the formation protecting the room must be of a very high level with a superb concealing function.

Nathan could imagine the value of this mysterious exercise just from its protective arrangements. More than his amazement at his finding, he was gratified by Theodore's courage and trust in him.

Nathan believed that with his disciple's intelligence, Theodore should be vaguely aware of the worth of the exercise, yet he still chose to disclose to him about it. He did not think it was an easy decision to make.

"Teacher, my father told me that I can open the door to the secret room by unlocking the lock hidden in a book in the library with this key," Theodore added. Since he had already decided, he did not hesitate to reveal everything he knew to Nathan.

He only concealed that his father did not tell him about this secret exercise, but he knew it accidentally from his previous life.

Theodore recalled his future self when his uncle forced him to leave the Colond City and the Sorrel Kingdom. At that time, he already knew about the extraordinariness of this house, so he searched through it, hoping to bring something precious that he could use in his travel.

While exploring the library, he found the secret lock in a particular old-looking but ordinary tome. He tried to get the exercise; unfortunately, a formation was obstructing, and Nathan's condition was critical that he could barely operate his mana.

His helpless miss of this exercise in his previous life was one of his regrets.

Theodore did not know what the exercise was. However, he witnessed some techniques that require a person to practice before establishing the mana user's foundation.

He would genuinely feel upset if this mysterious exercise had such strict requirements and he missed it. It was also why he gambled and told his teacher about its existence.

Theodore walked with his teacher to the library as he tried to stop his enthusiasm.

Nathan followed his excited disciple, who pretended to be calm, to the library along with The Impending Doom and The Misty Blade.

The two armaments looked around excitedly. As spiritual weapons, they could extend their sense to perceive their surrounding.

It had been years since they had the chance to leave Nathan's storage artifact. Most of their time there was to sleep and absorb the mineral Nathan brought to develop themselves. Although it was fulfilling that they could grow, it was also incredibly dull and boring!!!

...

After arriving at the library, Nathan asked, intending to help Theodore search, "Do you know the book's title that contains the hidden lock?"

"My father only said that the book looked ordinary and could not be pulled out of the bookcase." Theodore shook his head as he said. He briefly recalled and continued, "However, he told me it was in the bookcase at the corner near the windows."

Theodore's description significantly narrowed the scope of the search, as only two bookcases fit such a portrayal.

This library had one side full of big transparent windows displaying the views of the garden. Therefore, only two bookcases matched the description of locating in the corner and bordering beside the windows.

Nathan nodded in understanding. The two weapons, The Impending Doom Scythe and The Misty Blade, also swung themselves, intending to show that they understood as well.

They then separated to search through the bookcases. Theodore went with The Misty Blade to the left side, while Nathan moved to the right side with The Impending Doom.

Nathan and Theodore lightly pulled a book out before returning it to the original place to check. As for the two armaments, they condense mana, stretch it to a book, and cautiously pluck each document as a test.

Theodore pretended to inspect each book earnestly; however, he was trying painstakingly to recall the book's characteristics.

This hidden lock book left a deep impression on him in his previous life; however, he strangely could not clearly remember its appearance. Fortunately, he could still barely recall its approximate location.

Although Theodore was contemplating hard, he did not stop checking the books. He tried to pull out an old tome in a daze, only to find that he could not drag it out of the bookcase.

Realizing that he had found the search target, Theodore told his teacher excitedly about his discovery, "Teacher, I found the book!"

Nathan walked to his disciple's side while The Impending Doom and The Misty Blade flew enthusiastically to Theodore.

They looked at their target; It was an ancient-looking tome. Strangely, it could abnormally blend in with the many books without making people looking at it feel odd.

They helped Theodore clear the surrounding books. When he opened the book, they gathered around him to look.

Theodore flipped through the book quickly and found nothing abnormal until he reached the back cover. There were traces of a vague sketch of the Hale family's crest.

Theodore untied his necklace and put his pendant on the fuzzy drawing; their features fitted perfectly.

Suddenly, a brilliant light erupted from the book, the mana absorbed from the pendant opening a space gate nearby.

Looking at what happened before him, Nathan narrowed his eye slightly.