The Scream of A Thousand Libraries Chapter 39: Chapter 39: The End of Bureaucracy (I).

Read chapter 39 of The Scream of A Thousand Libraries by Susangja on NovelPedia.

POV: RENATA SILVEIRA. ‘Finally, we’re finishing these blessed revisions’ It was as if the room carried both a weight of exhaustion and anxious expectation. We already knew that after that meeting, we’d be ready to dive headfirst into third-year content. There was no going back, when Professor Francisco came in, no one dared to speak. He had that gift of silencing the class without effort. He set the stack of books on the desk, adjusted his glasses, and said, with that firm voice that seemed to cut through the air: “Today, we’ll talk about mastery…” Almost by reflex, I grabbed my pen and took notes in my notebook; that concept was one of the keys to domination. It was always good to review, better pay attention. “Mastery, my dears,” he began, writing on the board. “It’s the application of the most important factor in any knowledge: time” The scribbled letters on the digital board appeared clearly thanks to the special pen tool used, neatly drawn. His handwriting seemed as solid as the content itself. “The more time passes, the more knowledge matures. And as knowledge, for us, is power” he paused, looking at each one of us. ”Then, we can conclude that mastery is the way time helps us mature that power” I heard a colleague whisper behind me, but soon silence returned. “I want you to understand the following: your control of magical energy improves over time. But don’t be mistaken. Time itself doesn’t increase your energy capacity, much less the strength of the enchantment. What determines the strength is mastery; remember that!” I frowned, trying to follow the line of reasoning. “So, what does time bring?” he continued. “Efficiency. Imagine two users of the same spell, let’s say a pyromancer, just for hypothesis” Before continuing, I saw him draw two little figures on the board again, with the intention of better presenting the concept using a diagram. Separated by a bar, both had symbols indicating flames beside them. “The beginner in mastery spends ten QPs to create a simple flame. Someone with intermediate or advanced mastery would create the same flame with eight QPs. Or six, or even less…” I pictured the scene: two mages side by side, one sweating to keep an unstable flame going, the other lighting an identical blaze with no effort. The difference wasn’t what they did, but how they did it. “There is, however, a limit,” he raised a finger, dramatically. “It’ll never be possible to summon without spending anything. Even in supreme mastery, there’s always a minimum cost” I wrote down that sentence with special care: there is always a limit. He set the board pen down and walked among the rows, hands clasped behind his back. “The fundamental aspect of power is mastery over the rules of enchantment. The deeper the knowledge, the greater the mastery. The greater the mastery, the better the control. And the better the control, the more profitable the long-term use of energy” My pen raced across the page, barely stopping. It felt as if the pieces were starting to fit together. “But it’s not only that,” he said, pausing by the window. “Mastery also expands the applications of an enchantment.” Curious glances crossed the room. He smiled slightly, as if holding back a good story. “For example, there’s a very talented coach, Cristiane Souza, probably one of the best futsal trainers in the world… When you think of something like that, what literary brands come to mind?” He walked through the rows again, this time returning to the front of the class. Noticing the silence from no answers, he chose to go on: “Many would think of brands of physiology books, strategies, or something like that… But actually, she’s a master of literary brands from The Hunger Games. The books taught her how to bring out the best in people… Interesting, right?” There were muffled whispers in class and even a giggle or two. I almost let one slip by myself. “So what can we conclude from this?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. While I finished writing, I even thought