Academy Secrets

Three days passed. Day in and day out, I stayed in my room, reading and studying. I only left to eat. It was a disgusting experience, but I managed to finish everything. I sighed.

The journals consisted of more information than just research. For starters, it started at the Quartet War. As I mentioned earlier, this academy was placed on top of four intersecting borders. 

My country was the Kingdom of Magic, Glanddicia. It was the typical medieval mixed with an RPG type of country. It had a monarchy, but the Dragonborne clan had just as much power as the king, if not more. Mostly because the clan welcomed any family from any country as long as they were strong.

The other three countries were The Land of Beasts, Nachodia, The Flourishing Forest, Elvindesh, and the Kingdom of War, Granadore. The first country was a land that had a language similar to Chinese, and the second was where elves originated from.

The area where the borders of these countries meet was called the Sight of the Ancients. Researchers from these four countries wanted to research the history of this, but the war prevented them. Also, this land was supposed to be a government secret. A name forgotten in history, but the researchers dug it back up.

There was a bunch of history and technical stuff that was mad boring. I felt like I was back at college, learning things that I would never use again. However, after about three and a half books, I finally hit the jackpot.

In the game, the player could find artifacts and OP weapons if he came back to the academy mid-game. I always thought that they were hidden, but I was wrong. All of the weapons and gear were made here hundreds of years ago. The thing was, they could be easily remade now! This area was a gold mine for a magical material. Mythril! Not only that but for some reason, this location was one of many pockets of land across the globe that had high magic potency. That must have been why it was so easy to level up here.

I was looking over my notes when the first rays of the sun hit my face. Did I stay up all night again? Fatigue and stress suddenly hit me all at once. My head dropped on my desk as I fought the urge to sleep. I only had two days until the tournament. Tomorrow, they will measure the strength of all upcoming students to determine who will participate in the tournament.

I jolted up. The sky was a vibrant blue color. I heard students walking past my dorm. I must have fallen asleep. I could still feel the effects of lack of sleep, but I pressed on. It was time to return to the library.

I took my time walking... like I actually took breaks. I was really tired to the point that even walking was a pain. After my mission is complete for the day, I'll rest. After what seemed like hours, I opened the library's doors.

"Hello Sma… Oh my! What happened to you!?" Madam Minerva ran around the counter to check on me.

"The cost of growing," I smiled. "How are you fairing Madam Minerva?"

My head was aching in pain. Everything seemed so surreal.

"I-I'm well. I can see you finished the journals," She pointed at my bag.

"Indeed I did. They were really informative," I nodded my head. "Which brings up my next point," my brows narrowed. "I would like to…"

Slap!

"What is wrong with you!? Why are you destroying your body for something so temporary?" Tears filled her eyes.

I barely felt her slap, but there was a stinging feeling on my cheek. I looked at her. I was angrier than usual which might have been a side effect of my sleep-deprived self. I sighed.

"That's easy for an immortal like you to say. You can wait all of your problems out," I sighed.

She was shocked and took a step back.

"Just how much studying did you do?"

"You and your fellow researchers wrote most of your work in encrypted messages, but once I was able to break one code, the rest was easy."

I was already nodding my head, ready to fall asleep. The sting from Madam Minerva's slap was keeping me awake.

"I understand that you hid away the most dangerous of secrets, but please, I just need one. My word means nothing… but I need it… I have people to protect," I pleaded with her.

"You sound a lot like my hu… former colleague. I'm sure I don't have to explain it to you," She looked down as she spoke.

I only nodded my head. Their research caused a lot of deaths towards the end. Somehow, Madam Minerva became immortal, but that was nowhere to be found in the journals. I only knew that because of the game and context clues. It started as an innocent project and turned into a massive blood bath. Not even the journals could describe everything that went wrong. I could only imagine what it must be like being the sole survivor.

"You're right, I can wait out all of my problems... But I paid a steep price for this 'gift' of immortality," She looked up and stared at me. "Even then, why should I let our work into your hands? We paid for it in blood."

She looked angry. I reached into my inventory and grabbed a stone tablet. I thought this might happen, so I prepared payment a year in advance. As she looked at it, her eyes widened, and her complexion turned pale.

"You're from the Crimson Generation, right? Then there's no need to explain," I smirked.

The tablet had my name on it as well as a drop of my blood. It was basically an old-fashioned contract of this world, but the consequences of breaching it were much more severe.

Madam Minerva stared at the table before looking up.

"There should be nothing so serious for you to use this cursed method…"

"If I am going to take the time to do something, I'm going to make sure it gets done. One way or another," I fought the urge to yawn. "With all due respect Madam Minerva, you have my word that I will not exploit nor share any information about you, your research, or the Sight of the ancients," Told her my terms.

I felt like I was taking advantage of her emotions… I might have been. Regardless, it was true that I only wanted one thing from the secret floor of the library. I only mentioned the Sight of the Ancients to let her know that I knew a lot more than a few secrets.

After a few moments of thinking, she sighed. It was clear that she was uncomfortable, but she motioned me to follow her. We walked towards a corner of the first floor.

"I feel like regardless of what I say, you will find the bottom floor with or without me. So here," She tossed the tablet back to me. "I don't need to add any more weight to my conscience."

I caught the tablet. Since it was useless, I broke it in half, causing it to disintegrate. Madam Minerva stopped at a bookshelf. She tapped a few books, causing them to glow. After she entered what seemed like a pattern, the wall of books slowly faded, showing a staircase.

"Come now," She instructed.

We walked down the stairway. Torches lined the way that lit with a blueish-green hue as we walked past them. At the end of the tunnel, we entered a room. There were numerous artifacts, weapons, and other trinkets. My inner nerd was getting excited as I recognized most of these items. I wanted to shove them into my inventory.

"Take what you want," Madam Minerva grimly said.

"I may be ambitious, but I'm a man of my word."

I walked over to a display that had a single ring. It had a golden base with a sapphire-like material in the middle. There were engrossings and decorations on it that showed that a master craftsman worked on this. I tapped on the case three times before taking the ring.

"You even know how to disarm the traps," Madam Minerva scoffed. 

I walked past her. 

"I'm done."

"Huh!? Why that ring? It was a failure," She was surprised.

"One man's trash is another man's treasure," I smiled at her.

"You really are like him in more ways than one," She sighed. "Fine, take it. Just know, with age, comes wisdom and power. Don't make me regret this," she warned me.

"Trust me, Madam Minerva. I won't."

A purple glow mixed with the blueish-green hue from the torches.

Ding! Minerva Saffi's character log updated!

Interesting. We parted ways. The sun was setting by the time I exited the library. I felt like I was building an unhealthy habit of visiting people at night, but I had no choice. I walked over to the wealthier side of campus. I knocked on the door of a friend.

"What do you want?" Sonia gave me a smug look.

"I need help," I answered.

"No."

She began to close the door, so I tossed the ring inside. I waited a moment before the door swung wide open.

"WHERE DID YOU GET TH…"

"Sshhhh…" I pressed my finger against my lips. 

Sonia's eyes were glowing showing that she was scanning the material of the ring. I was sure she could see the skills that the ring had.

"This is a more behind-the-scenes kind of thing. Can you keep it down?" I sighed.

"Fine, but what could you want me to possibly do? This is way out of my league." She glared at me.

"If you just follow everything I say, everything will be fine. I already have everything you need."

I would have done it myself, but I found out that there were limits to my class. Each class had unique features that made them distinct. For example, alchemists could scan materials and weapons as well as embed skills into equipment. Their main trait, however, was to fuse and separate skills and magic. Theoretically, I could learn that skill with Hermit Wiseman, but I wasn't able to perfect it to the same degree. I didn't want to run the risk of losing the ring altogether.

"And why would I trust you? You look like you are barely standing," She was still skeptical.

"Good question…" I thought for a moment. "I'll be your number one supporter between you and Donkor," I gave her a thumbs up. "And if I can get my hands on this, who knows what else I could do…" I sold my offer to her.

"Deal," she didn't even hesitate.

"I'll be back tomorrow then… I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea," I walked away. "See ya."

"You better not be lying," She closed the door.

Now that was out of the way, it was time to catch up on some well-deserved rest.