In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen magical notifications appeared on the status panel.
Lyle slightly raised his eyebrows. It was the first time he had seen so many spells appear at once.
However...
Upon closer inspection, he realized that all of them were first-tier spells, completely non-offensive in nature. Some were even zero-tier life magic spells.
"Teacher."
"Teacher."
"Teacher..."
A chorus of voices greeted them as a group of spellcasters looked up, acknowledging Bellory Vanov Gregory Bertkin's arrival. Their gazes, however, quickly shifted toward Lyle, who was unfamiliar to them.
Sensing their attention, Lyle inclined his head slightly, doing his best to maintain a friendly smile.
Bellory descended the stairs, casually waving his hand to signal the group to continue their work.
"How much do you know about the process of crafting magic scrolls?" Bellory asked in a calm tone.
Absolutely nothing.
Lyle remained silent.
"Heh."
Bellory chuckled, his voice carrying a strange and enigmatic undertone. "Many people spend years trying to master the second-tier spell Papermaking without success."
"But there are a select few who grasp it with ease and can even cast it flawlessly."
"A difference in talent, I suppose."
As he spoke the last few words, his voice softened, as if he were muttering to himself.
So, it's true.
"Papermaking is related to magic scroll crafting?" Lyle mused internally, feigning a surprised expression.
He had already suspected this, but now that it was confirmed, he still found it unexpected.
What puzzled him even more was how easily Bellory was willing to share this knowledge—bringing him directly into what was clearly the heart of a major guild operation.
"It seems you truly know nothing."
"To be precise, only second-tier Papermaking is related to scroll crafting."
Bellory glanced at Lyle with an indifferent expression before continuing:
"No need to look so surprised. The methods for crafting first-tier and second-tier magic scrolls are not exactly state secrets among the major nations."
As they descended further, Bellory gestured toward the spellcasters in the hall. "The scrolls you purchased earlier were made by these people. How did you find them?"
Lyle absorbed the new information while responding, "They worked well enough."
"No need to spare their feelings."
"They're producing nothing but common goods—mediocre first-tier magic scrolls with no offensive capabilities, yet their failure rate remains ridiculously high."
Bellory's voice was calm, but his words were merciless.
Just as he finished speaking—
Boom!
A loud explosion echoed through the hall, accompanied by a surge of uncontrolled magical energy. A faint burnt smell filled the air.
"Ah!"
A startled cry rang out. Not far from Lyle, a spellcaster was thrown to the ground by the shockwave.
Though the mage appeared unharmed, likely protected by a defensive spell, they looked disheveled.
The hall fell into an awkward silence as every set of eyes turned toward the source of the commotion.
The mage's face turned bright red with embarrassment, and they lowered their head, not daring to meet Bellory's gaze.
"Useless fools, wasting materials."
"What are you standing there for? Get back to work!"
Bellory's voice remained level, but his words carried undeniable authority.
Immediately, the spellcasters lowered their heads and hurried back to their tasks.
No wonder there's a strange burnt smell lingering in the air.
Lyle glanced around with a knowing expression. He also realized that the front hall must have been soundproofed with magic, as no disturbances reached outside.
"You may not know much about scroll crafting, but you've heard of alchemists, haven't you?"
"A competent alchemist must have extensive knowledge of herbs, their properties, combinations, and secret formulas."
"With enough study, even an average person can produce potions."
"But magic scroll crafting is different—it has an inherent barrier to entry."
"If becoming an alchemist is a difficulty of one, then crafting magic scrolls is a ten."
Bellory's tone was matter-of-fact as he continued:
"This isn't an exaggeration. First, you need to be a spellcaster."
"If you want to craft a scroll for a spell, you must already know how to cast that spell. But a spellcaster's time and energy are limited."
"Crafting a second-tier magic scroll requires mastering a second-tier spell. The higher the tier, the greater the difficulty. At that point, effort alone isn't enough—only talent matters."
"On top of that, you need to master the crafting techniques, or you'll end up with disasters like the one we just witnessed."
Lyle frowned slightly. Is magic scroll crafting really this complicated?
In YGGDRASIL, he had never paid much attention to scroll crafting. But at least from the perspective of this world, the process was clearly an extreme challenge.
Just the level restriction alone was a massive hurdle preventing the production of higher-tier scrolls.
"Thank you for the explanation," Lyle said.
"Come with me."
Bellory turned and walked deeper into the workshop.
Lyle followed closely behind.
Soon, Bellory stopped before a middle-aged mage who appeared to be in his forties.
The mage stood beside a stack of pristine, white sheets of paper. Their smooth texture and faint magical sheen were unmistakable—these were sheets crafted using the second-tier spell Papermaking.
The mage carefully selected ten sheets and placed them into a container filled with a translucent, golden liquid.
As the paper soaked in the solution, he quickly retrieved a piece of parchment and placed it into the same container.
"Scroll Fusion!"
A soft white glow flashed—
In an instant, the parchment and the enchanted paper fused, transforming into a thick, grayish scroll.
Letting out a small breath, the middle-aged mage turned to Bellory with a respectful nod. "Teacher."
Then, noticing Lyle, he gave him a friendly smile.
At that moment, new text appeared on Lyle's status panel:
[New Skill Discovered: Scroll Crafting]
[Requirement: Spellcaster class. Condition met.]
[Spend 1 skill point to learn?]
No production-class requirement?
A flicker of surprise crossed Lyle's eyes.
In YGGDRASIL, scroll crafting belonged to the production class category—
Professions like Alchemists and Artificers specialized in it.
But here, it was completely different.
That means... this method of scroll crafting is something humans developed on their own!
"Learn."
Without hesitation, Lyle mentally confirmed the skill acquisition.