Richard goes through great struggle to obtain a book left for him by Baraccus, a great wizard from the past. The book entitled "Secrets to a War Wizard's power" is a means for him to understand how to use his gift and therefore is in essence the solution to major problems. When he obtains the book, its pages are blank and Zedd informs him that Baraccus left it blank to illustrate the meaning of the phrase "rule unwritten". Using this knowledge Richard reasons that the "Book of Counted Shadows" could not be the key to the boxes of Orden, and that the Sword of Truth was the only way to harness Orden's power. As far as the knowledge within the book was concerned, there was "nothing in it", much like Richard's "Secrets to a War Wizard's Power". The Sword of Truth, representative of its namesake, was key to life.