Chapter 337 - 310: I’m Done Learning. Is There More?

Chapter 337: Chapter 310: I’m Done Learning. Is There More?

After Lloyd finished reading the baffling record, he looked up and asked:

"Professor, this is..."

"A minor figure who never made a name for himself in history, but whose traces were later discovered."

Professor Hazled replied.

"But he doesn’t seem to be the first paleontologist to come into contact with the Twist, was he?"

Lloyd pressed on.

The professor’s formless body nodded, and he answered:

"That’s right. Although we haven’t managed to assemble a clear timeline, he was definitely not the first, nor even the second, person from antiquity to attempt contact with the Twist. He was simply quite lucky and acquired immense power through a relatively easy process."

"Hmm... From the description here, his mental state gradually became abnormal after he gained power, but it doesn’t look like it was caused by Spiritual Contamination?"

"Correct. Based on our analysis, we speculate that he experienced these events before the apocalypse."

"Hmm..."

Lloyd hummed in acknowledgment, finding himself lost in thought.

’He didn’t quite understand why Professor Hazled would show him a record like this.’

’Was it to demonstrate the power of the Twist? Or was it a reminder not to let immense power go to my head?’

’Probably both, I suppose?’

’As for whether contact with the Twist could lead to insanity?’

Lloyd didn’t even entertain the thought. Or rather, he subconsciously dismissed such an irrelevant issue.

’I can check my status on my panel every day, and it’s always been perfectly normal, so I definitely have no concerns in that regard.’

Professor Hazled, however, was still reminding him in a grave and earnest tone:

"You must learn from his lesson. Do not repeat the same mistakes."

"Yes, I will remember."

Lloyd nodded and replied.

’Pride and arrogance lead to madness. I’ve always understood that.’

"Good. Rest for a little while, and then I’ll show you the third document—the last one for today, provided your mental state can still handle it."

The professor added kindly.

"I’m fine. I could read several more, no problem. I don’t need a break."

Lloyd replied, brimming with confidence.

’Forget resting. He even felt this timid, piecemeal approach to learning was completely unsatisfying.’

"Is that so? Alright then. Let me see where your limit is."

As Professor Hazled spoke, he produced another page of Forbidden Knowledge and placed it on the desk in front of Lloyd. Then he added a special warning:

"Don’t force it. If you can’t take it anymore, give up immediately."

"Yes, don’t worry. I’ll be fine."

With that, Lloyd lowered his head to look at the new knowledge.

[Ding! Madness Value +100]

[Ding! Madness Value +100]

[Ding! Madness Value +100]

’Yes, yes! Now *this* is more like it!’

Compared to the history and cautionary tales from before, this page was the real deal. It contained someone’s in-depth analysis of the Twist, along with their notes and experiences in its practical application.

Judging by the handwriting, it must have been written by that arrogant Mage from the first record.

While the man’s skill in Magic wasn’t anything special, his research and understanding of the Twist was enough to surprise Lloyd.

Unlike Lloyd, who used it like a rigid, predefined skill where a specific input led to a specific function, this Mage’s approach was far more flexible and spontaneous.

To make an analogy, Lloyd was answering a multiple-choice question, matching the problem to one of the provided answers: A, B, C, or D. This arrogant Mage, however, simply crossed out all the options and wrote in his own answer.

For Lloyd, it was as if a whole new path had been illuminated. ’So you can "play" with the Twist like this?’

Furthermore, compared to Lloyd’s somewhat crude methods, this Mage’s thinking was far more detail-oriented.

Take, for instance, using the power of the Twist to defend against an incoming fireball.

Lloyd’s option would be to deflect the fireball’s trajectory, causing it to hit some innocent bystander...

The Mage’s solution, however, was to Twist the fireball into a rose, which would then disintegrate mid-flight into a few fluttering petals, leaving his opponent stunned by the mysterious, artistic, and elegant display.

’So cool!’

Lloyd was incredibly envious.

However, achieving such a magnificent Twist effect wasn’t something he could learn from just one or two pages of Forbidden Knowledge.

In fact, even after devouring ten pages of Forbidden Knowledge in one go, Lloyd still hadn’t gotten the hang of it...

This level of detailed manipulation was clearly a complex, high-end technique. It might even involve altering an object’s fundamental properties and state of being—a concept daunting enough to make one’s skin crawl. It obviously wasn’t something Lloyd could master in a short amount of time.

’Looks like that guy had the skills to back up his arrogance...’

Lloyd sighed to himself, then looked up at Professor Hazled, who was floating in mid-air, and said:

"I’ve finished reading all of it."

"Er..."

Despite having no physical body, the professor somehow gave off a palpable sense of awkwardness. After a few seconds, he finally replied:

"There’s no more..."

"Huh?"

"You’ve finished reading the teaching material for the next two months..."

"You’re not kidding, are you?"

The professor seemed to freeze for another long moment before giving a figurative shrug and replying:

"I’m starting to think *you’re* the one joking with *me*... Do you really not feel any Spiritual Contamination?"

"It’s fine, I guess? I can handle it."

After Lloyd spoke, his inspiration perceived something odd. The professor’s invisible form had begun to... tremble?

Then he fell completely silent, no longer responding to Lloyd.

’Did something else come up that he needs to deal with? Or maybe he’s gone to find more Forbidden Knowledge?’

’It couldn’t be a tremor in his Cognition, could it?’

’The professor is the mentor of a Saint, a great being who has seen it all. His Cognition can’t be that fragile, can it?’

Lloyd had complete faith in Professor Hazled, so he waited patiently to see if he would bring out more Forbidden Knowledge.

Taking advantage of this time, he secretly glanced at the panel prompts.

’How did I only level up twice?’

’As expected... Toward the end, the Madness Value gains started to drop off sharply, eventually trickling down to a paltry +1 here and there...’

’It wasn’t quite ’better than nothing.’ It felt more like the knowledge was stubbornly insisting, ’Hey, I’m dangerous Forbidden Knowledge! I cause Spiritual Contamination! Don’t you take me so lightly!’’

Fortunately, the Knowledge Fragment yield was decent: ten pages of knowledge for ten Knowledge Fragments.

However, there were no skill fragments at all...

’That wasn’t too surprising. The concepts involved were on a very high level; they probably couldn’t be so easily converted into skill fragments for me to master.’

’So... is there any more knowledge or not? I’m waiting, and it’s urgent!’

Lloyd waited for another ten-plus minutes before he felt the professor in mid-air return to normal.

"Ahem... I had a small matter to attend to. I was away for a moment."

"Yes, I pretty much guessed that."

Lloyd thought his guess was spot on.

"Well then... let’s end today’s lesson here. Go back, take your time to organize and digest what you’ve learned, and make sure to get plenty of rest."

"Huh? But it’s only been a little over two hours?"

"That’s more than enough. For a subject as profound, obscure, and dangerous as the Twist, two hours is a very long time. The most important part is for you to consolidate and digest it on your own. Don’t be impatient... That’s all for now. I have other matters to attend to."

After Professor Hazled finished speaking, his form simply vanished.