Morin took the small notebook from the soldier, dusted off the black soot, and immediately exposed the somewhat damaged cover underneath.
Flipping through it, Morin found that this was another one of the High-Level Mage's spell notes, similar to the manuals confiscated from the two Mage Apprentices. It contained research insights, casting experiences, and other information about various spells.
As Morin looked through it, the system timely provided a prompt.
[Incomplete Personal Training Manual (High-Level) × 1, obtained]
This prompt also reminded Morin, and he immediately instructed the others to search the vicinity for any other 'trophies' left by the High-Level Mage, especially any magical equipment or spell scrolls.
Unfortunately, apart from this spell notebook, the group found no other valuable items.
"Tsk, the drop rate is poor. He was somewhat of a mini-Boss in combat power, yet he didn't drop anything good…"
After grumbling disappointedly, Morin did not linger further, and quickly led his group away.
The 'Zeppelin-class' Armored Airship L30 continued to circle slowly above the city, like a guardian deity for the forces below.
The huge searchlights on its lower deck constantly swept across the city, like a behemoth patrolling its territory.
If a special red flare fired by Saxon soldiers was spotted, the airship would provide fire support with its MG08 heavy machine guns after the observer confirmed the target through binoculars.
Compared to the more destructive 203mm naval cannons, machine gun fire was easier to control, so it did not require the special arcane flares for guidance.
The scattered troops in every corner of the city also gradually re-established contact.
Treating the wounded, counting prisoners, and rallying the troops—everything proceeded in an orderly manner.
Morin and his group carried Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig on a stretcher and returned to the temporary field hospital in the rear.
This elite detachment of the Teutonic Knight Order had paid a huge price in this brutal battle.
Of the twelve 'Siegfried Type 1' Armored Knights that sortied, only Ludwig survived after two rounds of fighting.
The other pilots, along with their machines, were permanently left on this foreign soil.
On the other side, the 16th Brigade Headquarters quickly established contact with the Armored Airship in the sky via high-power wireless radio.
They learned from the airship's Captain that the enemy outside the city had completely retreated and would likely be unable to organize an effective offense again for a short time.
This news meant they could finally rest and lick their wounds.
As the sun set and the sky grew darker, Morin, forcing himself to stay awake, finished arranging a series of mundane tasks for his soldiers, such as counting casualties and collecting ammunition supplies. Then, dragging his exhausted body, he found a relatively clean spot on the ground at the 3rd Platoon's temporary resting area and sat down.
Soldiers were everywhere, sitting or lying down, all covered in gunpowder smoke, their faces etched with numbness and fatigue.
No one spoke. The air was filled only with the low groans of the lightly wounded who did not need to be in the field hospital, and the crackling of the bonfire.
"Hans!"
Morin habitually called the name of his orderly, Hans, planning to ask him to inquire about the situation of the 1st Battalion Headquarters to see if the unit could be recalled.
However, after calling the name, there was no response for a long time.
Morin looked up suspiciously, about to check if the young orderly had slacked off, when Corporal Bowman next to him quietly reminded him:
"Platoon Leader… Hans was killed in the previous fighting."
Hearing Corporal Bowman's words, Morin fell silent completely.
For a moment, immense sorrow and fatigue engulfed him like a tide. He just sat on the cold ground, feeling all the strength drain from his body.
A moment later, he took out the cloth-wrapped package that Captain Hauser had slipped to him before his sacrifice.
His trembling hands slowly opened the cloth.
Inside the package was an exquisitely crafted wristwatch and a neatly folded note.
Engraved on the back of the watch was a line of text: "To My Beloved"
Morin unfolded the note. Written in Captain Hauser's coarse yet forceful handwriting was:
"If I fall in battle, please give this watch to my wife and tell her that I love her."
In this instant, the faces of Captain Hauser, Hans, and all the other soldiers who had died in the fighting, whose names he couldn't even recall, flashed through his mind one by one.
Morin truly realized the cruelty of war for the first time, a lesson he could not have learned on a training ground…
The cruelty of war was also reflected in the losses among officers and soldiers.
After two brutal battles, his entire 3rd Company was left with only him as an officer, along with Klaus, Bowman, and a few other non-commissioned officers.
The number of combat-capable soldiers was only slightly more than a single full-strength platoon, meaning the entire company was effectively crippled.
Forcing himself to calm down, he found the few surviving messengers in the company and asked them to try and contact the 1st Battalion Headquarters.
As communication within Seville gradually resumed, the messengers quickly made contact with the battalion headquarters.
After resting for a while longer, Morin gathered the remaining strength of the 3rd Company and rendezvoused with the main force of the 1st Battalion.
However, when he led his soldiers through several streets and arrived at the 1st Battalion's main area, he found that things were not much better there.
The entire 1st Battalion had also suffered heavy losses, with casualties roughly estimated at sixty to seventy percent, and most of its officers killed in action.
In the battalion's temporary command post, Morin met with Major Thomas, the Battalion Commander.
The Major was fortunate to have survived, though his condition was far from good.
One arm was suspended by a sling around his neck, and his head was wrapped in a thick layer of bandages, only his eyes and mouth exposed.
"Report! Second Lieutenant Morin leads the remnants of the 3rd Company back to unit. 3rd Company Commander Captain Hauser and all other officers were killed in action…"
Morin stood at attention and reported in a hoarse voice.
Major Thomas looked at the young man, a hint of sadness in his tired eyes. He sighed deeply:
"I understand. Second Lieutenant Morin, thank you for your hard work. You are temporarily in command of the 3rd Company. Wait for further orders. Now, take your soldiers and get some proper rest."
"Yes, sir!"
Since the 3rd Company now had only slightly more men than a single full-strength platoon, and most of them were non-combat personnel from the quartermaster and field kitchen units.
With the assistance of Klaus and Bowman, Morin's command work was not too busy.
This finally gave him time to examine the one thing he had ignored since the fighting began—the newly appeared [Magic] tab on his system panel.
Late at night, the firelight danced in the temporary civilian quarters used as a barracks, reflecting off the tired and numb faces.
Morin sat in the room designated as the temporary Company Headquarters—of course, there were only a few people left in the Company Headquarters now. After Klaus took Bowman and the others out on patrol, Morin was left alone in the room.
He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into his mind, and opened the brand-new [Magic] tab.
Rows of light blue text quickly scrolled across Morin's field of vision, appearing to be some kind of event log.
[You killed a 'High-Level Mage Apprentice' (5th Level 3rd-Circle Evocation Mage)] [You have been contaminated with 'Spell Plague'] [You have gained Casting Ability] ['Spell Plague' contamination has been cleared] [Magic System has been unlocked] [Current Caster Level: 0] [Available Spell Slots: None] [Spells Mastered: None] [Can use Personal Training Manuals to increase Experience and Level]
The string of "None" left Morin momentarily stunned. Did this mean that after all this unlocking, he was still a blank slate?
He patiently continued reading. The [Magic] tab displayed a large amount of information, and the [Information] tab also contained entries related to 'Magic,' providing detailed explanations.
After a quick scan, Morin realized that the 'Mages' of this world seemed to follow the spell system of the classic IP 'Dungeons & Dragons' (DND).
Mages could cast a limited number of spells of different circles each day, which depended on their level and [Spell Slots]. Furthermore, they needed to prepare these spells the night before.
The higher the level of the Mage, the more Spell Slots they possessed, and the higher-circle spells they could cast.
The reason he was able to unlock this system seemed to be because he personally killed the High-Level Mage Apprentice.
However, only he seemed to have undergone this change. Corporal Bowman, who killed the other apprentice with him, did not appear to have become a Mage.
After spending a considerable amount of time roughly reading through the magic-related information, Morin felt like he had just raw-dogged a rulebook…
And there were still quite a few confusing points.
First, in his impression, DND Mage Spell Slots were associated with the Weave and the Goddess of Magic.
But from the current information, neither of the latter seemed to exist in this world.
The [Spell Slots] in this world are automatically gained when a human awakens as a Mage, and the method of using them was gradually figured out by generations of Mages…
Second, there was the 'Spell Plague' in the event log.
According to the relevant records in the [Information] tab, Mages in ancient times could study spells from different schools of magic, and that period was the zenith of Mage power.
However, 243 years ago, a 'Spell Plague' suddenly and inexplicably emerged from the Magic Crystal Mines, spreading only among Mages.
Mages with higher magical proficiency were more severely affected by the 'Spell Plague,' eventually turning into monstrous spell-casting abominations.
This wave of 'Spell Plague' directly killed a large number of High-Level Mages, causing a massive decline in the overall strength of the entire Mage community…
After extensive verification by Mages at the cost of their lives, it was eventually discovered that specializing in a single school—especially learning only one school for high-circle spells—could effectively suppress the effects of the 'Spell Plague.'
Therefore, the Mage community currently only uses spells of 3rd Circle or lower that are barely 'common.'
For spells of 3rd Circle and above, Mages will only focus on one specific school.
Of course, if you want to use spells from other schools, it's not impossible; you just have to be willing to spend a fortune on magical equipment or high-level spell scrolls…
But his own system seemed to have directly cleared the 'Spell Plague' contamination on him?
"Could it be…?"
"I can learn spells from different schools without limitation?"
"By Gd, if I can learn spells from every school and also benefit from the school specialization features…"*
This discovery increased Morin's interest in the [Magic] system.
His attention quickly shifted to the three notebooks recovered from the bodies of the Mage Apprentices and Eldridge, which the system had defined as [Personal Training Manuals].
[Do you want to use 'Personal Training Manual (Basic)' × 2?] [Do you want to use 'Incomplete Personal Training Manual (High-Level)' × 1?] [Estimated promotion to 3rd Level 2nd-Circle Mage after use]
"Aren't these just the experience books from World of Tanks (WOT)? Did they stitch that in too?"
Morin was momentarily taken aback, then silently chanted in his mind.
"Use!"
(End of this Chapter)