39 Elidia’s Righteousness (1/2)
Arnin entered the large room known as the library. Large bookshelves stood in hundreds of rows, stairs leading to an upper floor which contained even more books. It was much larger than even the village that he came from.
The doors shut behind him and Xillar was gone. He was left in peace to discover the books he needed himself. Although there were many students in the library, what surprised him even more was that even teachers roamed through the area.
He headed towards the large circular desk that sat in the middle of the large library. It looked to be made of an orangy yellow wood. The color, however, was more on the darker side than the light. It fit perfectly with the dark oak floors and walls.
Approaching the front desk, he found a young man standing tall like an arrow. He looked to be around the same age as Revi, and also had a strong cultivation, Essence Manifest - Sky. He wore a white scholarly robe and had a small braid on the left of his face. His skin was uncommonly bronze, however it looked unique and somewhat captivating. His mature face, with his beautiful honey eyes really made him stand out. (Author note: Revi is the leader who Arnin dragged around when he was trying to find his home. His first appearance is in chap 30)
Arnin approached this man with a small smile. The handsome man noticed Arnin coming his way and smiled back towards him. ”How may I help you, young man?” His way of speaking was very professional, not showing a hint of contempt or mockery.
”I am looking for cultivation manuals.” Arnin answered calmly. Since the other party was asking him directly, why should he waste his time with unnecessary chatter?
”Ah! Alright, would you first give me your Identity card so that I can check what levels of the library you are authorized to have access to?” The man extended his slender hand in front of Arnin. His pearl white teeth showcased themselves in their utmost glory when he smiled, however Arnin found something weird about the man in front of him. He didn't feel annoyed the way he did for Fae, rather he found something peculiar and interesting about the man in front of him. He couldn't help but inwardly smile because of this feeling. It was all too familiar.
Arnin pulled out the card from his sleeve and handed it over to the man. The latter took it with a smile and inserted it into a crystal sphere that sat on his left. Arnin decided to ignore the man for now and also looked at the orb. Because of his small height, he had to stand on his toes just to get a good look. If someone were to know that the little boy who could barely see over the counter was a Demon Lord reincarnation, then they would probably spit out all the blood that was in their body.
As Arnin intently watched the sphere, the number '2' flashed by. ”Alright, you are allowed to scope through the floors one and two. Here, let me lead you to where the cultivation manuals are.” The man stepped out from behind the desk. He handed Arnin's card back to him and waved for him to follow. Arnin put the identification card back into his sleeve and began to walk behind the man.
”What does one require to be able to get onto the second floor?” Arnin asked, confused. From the way Xillar spoke, he assumed that he would only get access to the lowest floor, but that didn't seem to be the case.
”You should already know that the Moth group is much smaller than the Butterfly group, right? Well, the academy decided to build one large library in the Moth group and allowed any student, no matter their group, to enter.” The man explained slowly. Arnin only smiled as he listened to the man and carefully examined his smiling face.
”Isn't there a rule stating that Butterfly group members are not allowed to enter the Moth building? This library is in the Moth building, so how do they get access?” Arnin was somewhat perplexed. Although he was somewhat shocked to find such an extravagant library in the Moth building, he still assumed that the Butterfly group had their own library because of that rule.
”It is true that the Butterfly group is not allowed to enter the Moth building, however the library has more than one entrance. The academy built a portal that links the first floor of the library with the Butterfly building.” When the man began to speak about the portal, Arnin couldn't help but feel somewhat shocked. Although portals weren't considered a large thing in his previous life, he never expected to find one in such a small academy. Not only that, but when he roamed around as the Demon Lord, he had run into various types of transportation portals, however the core of each of these portals was related to one's understanding of space.
'Seems like someone has a good understanding of space to create a transportation portal.' Arnin continued to listen to the man, waiting for him to answer his first question.
”Well, because the Butterfly group is able to come to access the library as well, the academy created another rule. The Butterfly students have to pay once for access to the first floor of the library, while Moth students are allowed to enter the first floor for free. Only highly talented Moth students are able to access the second floor right away.” The man looked at Arnin with a hint of respect. Arnin smiled in response to the respectful gaze, however in his heart, he put on a different expression.
”Since you are able to access the second floor as well, I will ask you to choose whether you want to go up right away or if you want to look over the manuals on the first floor first?” The man asked Arnin when they finally came to the staircase that led upstairs.
Arnin pondered for a moment before deciding he wanted to check out the manuals on the first floor before going up. ”Let me check out the manuals that exist in the first floor. I will head up after checking those out.” The man looked at Arnin and hesitated for a moment.
”Umm, if you don't mind me saying, but I don't recommend looking at various types of cultivation manuals. If you want, I can help look up some specific ones for you, so that you can narrow the number of manuals you would have to look through.” It was a known fact that if one looked at too many cultivation manuals, their path could stray. This would be very detrimental to future growth and in a worst case scenario, it could halt one's cultivation progress. The reason behind this was that each manual focused on a certain pattern in cultivation, and if one looked at too many, then they would begin to compare and might even try to combine the different methods. This would cause them to lose focus and would stop their cultivation path.
”It's alright, I know what I am doing. Just take me to the section where I can find the cultivation manuals.” Arnin showed an expression of smiling that wasn't really smiling, when he spoke to the man.
”Well, if you want to, then I can't stop you. My name is Surk, and you're Arnin, right?” The handsome man named Surk looked at Arnin with a smile.
”Yeah, my name is Arnin. Lead the way to the bookshelves that contain the manuals.” Arnin knew that his student identification card showed his name. However, it showed only some information, nothing private.
Surk led Arnin to a place where Moth students were gathering and discussing with bright eyes. ”These five rows contain all the cultivation manuals of the first floor. You can look through them and just give me a shout when you are ready to go to the second floor.” Surk pointed towards the many large bookshelves that contained hundreds of books.
”Where are the Butterfly students? If they can access this library, where are they?” Arnin was confused because he couldn't see any Butterfly students.
”The Butterfly students don't get access until tomorrow. You will see them roaming around everywhere after the lectures tomorrow.” Arnin nodded his head and walked towards the bookshelves. If they weren't here yet, then that wasn't bad for him. He liked silence.
The man continued to smile at Arnin's back. A hidden glint flashed through his eyes, but quickly disappeared. 'Arnin… Foro? Hehe!' Surk inwardly laughed as he walked away.