Chapter 99: Ashbourne Restricted Library [2]

Only as he approached the shelves did Ronan appreciate how expansive the library was.

The shelves stretched tall, packed with skill books, spell tomes, weapon manuals, and mana techniques.

Each spine bore a title and a small rank marker.

Most of them he was looking at currently were Rank 3 and above – skills far beyond what he could learn now, but still valuable.

He would have considered stealing one if not for the certainty that Vulcan would double check afterwards.

He moved deeper, and the ranks climbed higher.

Rank 4.

Only three rank 5 skills.

Skills that could reshape battlefields or dismantle armies.

He read a few of them.

Ashen Heart Refinement – Rank 4

A dangerous core-tempering method that burns impurities inside the mana core using internalized flame mana. Developed by Myron Ashbourne, it is a very precise technique that can cripple the core if used incorrectly.

Scorching Chain Dominion — Rank 4 Binding Spell

Creates flame-forged chains that bind both body and mana. The chains tighten when the target resists, making it useful for capturing dangerous mages alive.

Solar Funeral – Rank 5

Calls down multiple pillars of concentrated flame mana over a battlefield. Designed for war, it is effective at targeting large areas of space and burning everyone it touches to a crisp.

The other two rank 5 skills were locked, and Ronan didn’t see a way to unlock them.

The remaining rank 4 skills were good, and he briefly looked over them before realizing there was no point in investing too much time into looking into these skills, since he couldn’t take them home.

Those skills wouldn’t be useful to him anytime soon, but he remembered their names, in case they would be useful later.

Ronan turned the opposite direction and found the lower-ranked section.

He walked slowly as the ranks became lower and lower. Rank 3, rank 2, then finally, rank 1.

Instantly, he started browsing.

Most of them were useless. Simple augmentation spells. Beginner movement techniques. Basic combat forms designed for soldiers who wouldn’t amount to anything more than fodder on the battlefield.

The mana purification skills weren’t present.

It was at times like these where Ronan really wished he had just obtained the mana refinement leech like he had planned. If only the system didn’t interfere.

Ronan pushed that thought aside, looking through the skills again.

Most of the skills he read were combat skills.

Iron Guard – Rank 1

Hardens the skin for a brief moment by circulating mana close to the surface. Useful against blunt strikes, but weak against blades and spells.

Stone Fist – Rank 1

Reinforces the knuckles and wrist with mana for close-range punches. Simple and sturdy, best utilized for those with a sturdy base.

Needle Shot – Rank 1

Condenses neutral mana into a thin projectile. Accurate at short range.

These were all useless. Even if Ronan was looking for combat orientated skills, these wouldn’t help him at all.

But thankfully, he wasn’t. What Ronan was looking for was a little more similar to the mana refinement leech he’d been looking for, something to get him out of rank 1 as soon as possible.

A mana purification technique.

That was the only skill from Rank 1 he actually needed. Everything else would be inefficient compared to what he could gain at Rank 2 or through other means.

He searched shelf after shelf, scanning titles, descriptions, compatibility notes. There weren’t many purification skills among the Rank 1 collection, but there were a few.

Nothing caught his attention.

Then, finally, he found one.

Pain-Tempered Circulation Technique – Rank 1

The title alone warned him off.

Ronan pulled the thin manual free and flipped it open. The introduction confirmed what he feared.

The technique damaged the user’s mana pathways intentionally, forcing impurities out at accelerated speeds while the body healed. Faster purification, faster advancement, but at the cost of crippling injury if done wrong.

He closed the book, considering it.

Then he heard Aura’s voice.

"The Acheron clan had that technique as well. No one ever used it. It is effective, but it is only for desperate people and idiots."

She was right. It was too risky. One mistake, one miscalculation, and he’d cripple himself before the Demon Leech even finished him.

But when he looked back at the other Rank 1 options – bland, slow, safe.

He didn’t have time to be "safe."

395 days.

Ronan grabbed the technique.

Aura didn’t look surprised, as if she expected the decision he made and she walked away.

He could hear her faintly whisper "idiot" as she did.

+1 Affection [Aura Acheron].

Ronan walked towards the rank 2 shelves.

The shelves here were far more impressive. Combat arts. Advanced elemental manipulation. Bloodline-compatible techniques designed specifically for Ashbourne mages.

He scanned titles, dismissing most immediately.

Like the rank 1 skills, a lot of these were useless combat arts. But unlike the rank 1 skills, he could consider a few rank 2 combat arts. They would definitely be useful.

Then he stopped.

Steel Bone Armament – Rank 2

Ronan pulled the manual free and flipped it open.

The description was straightforward. Through repeated exposure to physical stress – fractures – the technique rewired the body’s natural healing response. Bones would grow denser, harder, and more resistant with each cycle of damage and recovery. Eventually, the skeleton would become as durable as forged steel, capable of withstanding blows that would shatter a normal mage’s frame.

The method was brutal.

Most mages avoided it because mana reinforcement already protected the body, making deliberate bone conditioning seem inefficient and masochistic.

But Ronan saw the real value immediately.

Steel Bone Armament would allow him to build an extremely solid base, which would transition and prove useful as he approached even rank 4. It was an extremely useful skill from the looks of it. He simply had to endure a little pain.

It also paired perfectly with Pain-Tempered Circulation. Both skills damaged him intentionally. Both forced growth through controlled injury. Together, they created a harsh training routine that would push his weak body harder than safe methods ever could, bringing results far greater than those methods too.

It was brutal, but quick.

That was what mattered.

No same magician would pick them both together. Perhaps one at a time, that was normal. But both?

One would have to be insane to consider it.

But Ronan was not insane, he was simply desperate.

I just have to be careful while preforming these methods. The pain I can handle. What I can’t handle it becoming a cripple because I wasn’t careful.

Ronan closed the book and tucked it under his arm alongside the circulation technique.

Two skills.

Both dangerous, but both equally necessary.

He turned back toward the elevator, satisfied.

"Done?" Aura asked.

When she got a simple nod, and transformed into a black cat again, hopping on his shoulder casually.

This trip proved to be very fruitful after all.