Without wasting any more time, Ethan quickly picked up the box and tucked it securely under one arm, instinctively positioning himself so it remained hidden from view. His eyes darted around the otherwise empty library before he briskly headed back toward his dorm. Classes were still in session, which meant the corridors remained mostly deserted, and he intended to make full use of that opportunity before students began pouring out.
He wasn’t stupid enough to let anyone catch him carrying something like this.
Judging by the way the box had been hidden beneath stacks of neglected books on the lowest shelf, only two possibilities came to mind. Either it contained a treasure so valuable that the academy didn’t want anyone discovering it easily, or it held something so dangerous and forbidden that it had been deliberately buried where no one would think to search.
Whichever one it was...
He intended to find out.
The moment he reached his room, Ethan slipped inside and immediately shut the door behind him. Just to be safe, he locked it once... then locked it again, only allowing himself to relax after hearing the reassuring click of the second lock. With a quiet sigh, he placed the dusty box carefully on the floor before lowering himself opposite it.
"Alright..." he muttered while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Now how the hell does this thing work?"
His inspected every inch of the box.
It looked ancient, yet not a single part of it appeared worn enough to suggest it had been abandoned for years. There wasn’t a keyhole anywhere on its surface either. Instead, a faint golden seal stretched across the lid, almost as though invisible chains were binding it shut.
"A seal?"
Frowning, Ethan cautiously reached out and touched the glowing golden pattern. The instant his fingertips made contact—
Zap!
"Ow! Fuck!"
He jerked his hand back so quickly that he almost fell over backwards, cradling his tingling fingers while glaring accusingly at the innocent-looking box.
"What the hell?"
His fingertips still buzzed unpleasantly from the shock.
"Why the fuck is this thing locked like some legendary treasure chest? Just how important is this thing and how am I supposed to open it?"
His shoulders slumped in disappointment. He had finally found the book that could change everything, only for it to be locked in the most ridiculous way imaginable.
"...Great. So much for getting my hopes up."
Just as that thought crossed his mind, shimmering words slowly materialized above the box.
Ethan froze.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
Opened them again.
Then blinked twice more.
"...I’m not imagining things, am I?"
The glowing words remained exactly where they were.
Swallowing lightly, he leaned closer and began reading.
Every Guide who has sought this book must first answer one question.
Which of these do you believe is the truth?
A Guide’s awakening rank is absolute and can never be changed.
Or...
A Guide’s rank can be surpassed through one’s own effort.
Ethan frowned deeply.
"What kind of bullshit question is this?"
His brows knitted together as conflicting thoughts immediately filled his head.
Every academy textbook he had skimmed through earlier insisted that the first statement was the correct option.
Yet...
The inscription written on this very box implied the complete opposite. Even the principal’s warning about improving his rank suggested there had to be another path.
"So what exactly am I supposed to believe?"
One side had to be lying.
...
No.
Maybe both of them were.
Ethan scratched the back of his head in frustration before letting out a helpless sigh. "Seriously... how the hell am I supposed to know which one’s right?"
His gaze lingered on both choices for several more moments before he shook his head helplessly.
"If I’m being honest..."
"I don’t believe either of them yet."
Click.
The sound echoed softly through the room.
Ethan’s eyes widened as the floating words also vanished. At the very same moment, the golden seal dissolved into countless tiny specks of light before disappearing completely, and the box slowly opened on its own.
Inside rested a single old brown book.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
"...Seriously?"
Ethan stared blankly at it for several seconds.
"I got it right?"
Still slightly dazed, and half expecting another trap, he cautiously reached inside, lifted the book from its resting place, and gently opened the worn cover.
The very first page contained only a short sentence.
If you’ve successfully unlocked this box and are now reading these words, then congratulations.
Truth was the key required to remove the seal. There was never a correct answer to the question itself. I merely wished to know whether the person seeking this book would cling to blind beliefs or honestly admit the limits of their own knowledge.
If you answered honestly... then honesty is a quality worthy of inheriting my teachings. It is the virtue I, Aster, value above everything else.
Ethan blinked several times.
"So that was the trick..."
A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips before he eagerly flipped to the next page. The title immediately caught his attention.
Aster’s Compression Training — The Guide to a High-Density Mental Sea and Rapid Rank Advancement.
His heartbeat quickened and wasting another second, Ethan eagerly began reading.
According to Saint Aster, modern Guides had misunderstood cultivation from the very beginning.
The moment a Guide awakened, their Mental Sea possessed a fixed capacity. Once that space was filled with spiritual energy, it could absorb no more. Every academy therefore taught the same conclusion—that a Guide simply had to wait months or even years until their Mental Sea naturally adapted and underwent another awakening before it expanded.
Saint Aster called that method the greatest mistake in modern Guide history.
Instead of waiting for the Mental Sea to grow on its own, he proposed an entirely different path.
Compress.
Rather than allowing spiritual energy to remain loosely scattered throughout the Mental Sea, every strand of it had to be gathered together and compressed into a denser form.
The amount of spiritual energy never changed. Only the space it occupied did.
If one hundred units of spiritual energy could normally fill an entire Mental Sea, then after compression those same one hundred units might occupy only the space of ten.
That meant the Mental Sea wasn’t truly full.
It still had room to absorb more. So the Guide would continue absorbing spiritual energy from the surroundings.
Compress it.
Absorb more.
Compress again.
Repeat.
Again.
And again.
Each cycle packed increasingly greater amounts of spiritual energy into the same Mental Sea until, eventually, it held several times more power than it had ever been designed to contain.
Only then...
Unable to withstand the overwhelming pressure any longer...
The Mental Sea would be forced to evolve and expand on its own.
No waiting years, relying on luck or praying for another awakening.
Growth would become the inevitable result of reaching the Mental Sea’s limit. The more Ethan read, the brighter his eyes became.
"This..."
"This is actually possible..."
If Saint Aster’s theory was true...
Then everything the academy taught was wrong.
More importantly...
It meant he truly had a chance to become stronger.
Without wasting another moment, Ethan hurriedly flipped to the section detailing the cultivation method itself. A determined smile slowly spread across his face as he straightened his posture and drew a deep breath.
"Alright..."
"Let’s get this started."