Chapter 14: The Dictionary

“No no, let go, you’re choking me. I’m fine, I’m just in a bad mood,” Ace struggled weakly.

“Oh, oh.” Marina quickly let go of Ace. “What is it? Did some girl reject you?”

“I am still a child,” Ace said, displeased. “I have been working on a dictionary recently, and some difficulties cannot be solved right away, so I am in a bad mood.”

“Mother doesn’t understand what a dictionary is, but I know my son is the smartest and will definitely solve it. Now, hurry up and eat dinner; I will clean up,” Marina said with a doting expression.

Ace had finally lifted a corner of the mysterious veil of the supernatural world. For the first time, he began to write a diary in this world, using the script of his past life.

In the diary, he meticulously recorded the formula for Ace’s version of the Wisdom Potion, the formula for the poison, the data from the mouse experiments, and the dosage and changes from consuming the medicine. Finally, he wrote in his diary:

“Although I successfully achieved Mind Interference with Matter, I cannot explain this phenomenon. I must not be addicted to the pleasure of gaining supernatural power; I should calm down and think.

Which specific ingredient in the Wisdom Potion plays the decisive role? Are there alternative or better competing products? Why can mental power interfere with matter? What exactly are Monsters? Why do they have supernatural power? What is the essence of the supernatural? Why did I travel between worlds? Why are the two worlds different?

I should ask ‘why’ many times. Although I cannot answer these questions now, as long as I persist in objective and neutral research, one day I will uncover the truth of the world and answer all the questions above.”

After a few days of experimentation, Ace discovered that if he overused this mind-like ability, he would suffer a splitting headache. However, after each full use, the ability would improve somewhat. Through continuous experimentation, Ace developed a crude method for strengthening mental power, which he called the Five-Step Meditation Method.

It involves using mental power to move as many different types of objects as possible until the mental power is near exhaustion, then stopping and resting with a blank mind. Then, eat a large amount of meat and maintain a state of emptiness. Mental power will recover faster, and its limit will increase slightly.

Essentially, it is similar to how mortals train their bodies. Physical exercise achieves the goal of strengthening the body through high-intensity training and balanced nutrition. Mental power can also be trained this way.

This should only be the crudest method. Perhaps supernatural creatures have better methods. Perhaps he needs to capture some living low-level Monsters with special abilities for experimentation, Ace thought.

He was already quite impatient, but the time was still not right. After all, he was not yet an adult, and his fighting skills were not perfect. He was not qualified to be a Monster Hunter, and acquiring live low-level Monsters was even more difficult because his wallet was too thin.

Ace calmed down and decided to finish compiling the dictionary first, promote it to the Ministry of Culture and Education through Teacher Peter, and strive for the city-state’s reward.

After the significant increase in mental power, Ace’s overall comprehension, associative ability, memory, and reaction speed all greatly improved. In the past, he could only roughly remember information after reading it carefully once. Now, he could quickly recite and understand the whole text after just one read, and he grasped many things immediately.

Peter had said many times that Ace’s progress was based on long-term accumulation and that it would be a pity not to devote himself to scholarship.

At the end of October, at Peter’s villa in the First District, Peter and Ace completed the final proofreading of the first edition of the Universal Language Dictionary of Common Vocabulary.

The book’s cover read, Co-authored by Peter and Ace, and the title page read, “Dedicated to every seeker of knowledge and lover of wisdom.”

Looking at the newly finished dictionary, even Peter, who was usually quite serious, showed a satisfied smile.

“This is a book that will change the way people learn, a very fundamental tool book. We, teacher and student, will leave our names in the history of the Medimus City-State. As this book slowly spreads, scholars in other city-states will also know and praise us.

From today, you are a qualified scholar. I will apply for scholar status for you at the Ministry of Culture and Education, and you don’t have to worry about the matter of Citizenship,” Peter said kindly to Ace.

“I am very grateful for your help, Teacher,” Ace replied with a slight bow.

“This is an epoch-making masterpiece, practical yet important. The Goddess of Wisdom said that reading good books makes people wise and humble, and full of confidence; books are the source of wisdom. This dictionary will redefine learning; it is the ship for beginners sailing in the ocean of knowledge.”

Galio, the Chief Educator Officer, highly praised the dictionary’s creation. He was very satisfied with the Universal Language Dictionary of Common Vocabulary, co-authored by Peter and his student.

Romon’s long-standing concern, Citizenship, would also be resolved. Ace received the gold city-state contribution medal from the Ministry of Culture and Education, equivalent to the great merit of beheading 100 enemies. He was simultaneously recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Education as a city-state scholar, a special public office that enjoys a special stipend and high status. He was also rewarded with a two-story villa with only a front yard in the First District. As long as he maintained this status for three full years, Ace could become a formal Citizen.

Ace’s family moved into the First District. Romon looked at their new home in the First District, and tears uncontrollably welled up in his eyes.

The thing he could not achieve, his son had done for him. The glory of his ancestors had not been lost; starting with Ace, the family would be Citizens for three generations. Marina was also extremely excited. Her son’s status was increasing, and his abilities were growing. As a mother, she felt very proud.

A few days later, in Peter’s study.

“Ace, you no longer need to pay tuition. I believe you can graduate now. The standard for my disciples to graduate is passing the city-state’s professional examination. I think you can easily pass the city-state language professional examination and obtain the language practice badge. Of course, if you still want to study medicine, I will recommend you to study medicine under Telos, the city-state’s best physician, early next year.”

“I will take the language professional exam, but I still hope to become a great physician, to save lives and heal the wounded, which is my lifelong ideal. I heard that at Physician Telos’s place, one must start as an apprentice, and I may not have enough time. I hope to hire a physician to teach me exclusively three days a week.”

Ace already had a stable special stipend and could afford the cost of hiring a private tutor.

“Haha, don’t worry. You are a city-state scholar, after all. How could you become an apprentice again? I will speak with Telos. You will go to his place to specifically study medicine three days a week, with no need for chores. However, the tuition might be quite expensive; it won’t be free like for an apprentice.”

“I will follow your arrangement. Teacher Peter, I have a suggestion. The dictionary is of great significance to knowledge seekers, and many people will certainly need it. Even if we strictly forbid it, we cannot prevent unauthorized copying. Why not simply make the dictionary public at the Ministry of Culture and Education, allowing everyone to copy it for free?”

“That would certainly facilitate the dictionary’s spread, and we would gain considerable fame, but we would lose the deserved profit, which doesn’t align with my philosophy.”

“I have a way to make up for our loss. After observation, I found that Nobles often use their coat of arms to sign and seal. Why don’t we apply this method to books? Instead of handwriting books, we can carve woodblock prints of the dictionary and print it directly. This is both efficient and standardized. As long as the woodblock is correct, all printed dictionaries will be accurate. If the workmanship is fine and the price is reasonable, who would copy it themselves?”

“Ace, you truly have so many wonderful ideas. Sometimes I really want to crack open your head and see what’s inside. We can jointly invest the capital. How about you manage it, and we each take half the profit?”

Peter was never an old-fashioned or aloof person. He had enough business acumen to see that this was a good path.

(End of this chapter)