Finding Answers

Blake watched quietly as Ian got sent away from the class. He was a little confused about the reason why the teacher who had earlier introduced himself as Elric, was so mad about it. Everyone knows that F-rank weapons are trash and these were definitely made by some low-rate forgers since it was only for training and not actual combat. There are also countless murmurs and comments calling them trash which Elric had ignored. It was perplexing that he got so mad at Ian.

"Is it because he's weak?" Blake thought.

"That gets rid of the trash," Elric said once Ian left, and then he looked at the rest of them. "I know there are a bunch of weaklings among you all but that kid was the worst of them all, that's why he left first. I'll make sure to weed out the rest of you guys as we progress. We don't need weaklings and civil servants after graduation. We need strong people who can defend this planet. Those are the only kind of people with value. The rest are just dead weight. Now go on and pick your weapons."

"Being weak sure is a problem," Blake shook his head as he continued browsing the wall. He caught Flint from the corner of his eyes holding a pair of short battle axes which also double as throwing axes. He was undisturbed by the treatment his roommate got. It was almost as if he didn't notice him.

************

Ian stopped in front of the door to the Grand school library. The library was segmented into five major floors.

The first floor was accessible by all three school years. It mainly contains history books, public knowledge, doctrines and records of the basic to intermediate beasts and their rares known. They were expected to know this information because they will be hunting these levels of beasts in their first year. The rares were more as a precaution so they don't get involved with one. It also gave information on the likely dungeons they would be exploring and their terrain, along with some random knowledge.

The second floor s accessible only by the second and third years. This floor contains skill books for students who possess anyone of the four elemental abilities available to the military. They would help the said students further their abilities and grow stronger. It also contains information on intermediate to advanced beasts and more theories about beast weapons and their forgery methods for those interested in blacksmithing. It also has the introduction and theory of Essence Awakening.

The third floor is only accessible to third years students and in this library, information on all ranks of beasts known can be found even though students are advised never to hunt above the advanced rank, which can only be hunted in groups depending on their strength. It also contains a section for those with the four elemental abilities to further improve their abilities, as long as they have pledged allegiance with the military or one of the four Pioneer families allied with the military. For the students, this floor is the most important as it also gives a guide to the Essence Awakening techniques.

The fourth floor is off-limits to students and only available to staff. Students are only allowed by invitation from staff and they are warned to keep the things they see there secret so not much is known about it.

The fifth and highest floor is only available to the top generals in the academy. No student has been known to have entered there in the school's history.

Ian pushed open the door and stomped inside, still filled with anger over his predicament.

"Welcome, Ian Yaeger," a female robotic voice greeted him as he entered. His watch lit up and an AI in the form of a hologram appeared from it. It was the face of a beautiful woman who had a sweet smile on her face, but the way she appeared from his watch reminded him of the system, causing him to grit his teeth in anger. "What would you like to read about today?"

"Any and everything you have on Chimera," he said through gritted teeth.

"Searching the database, please wait," the AI woman replied. She smiled after a few seconds. "I'm sorry but I could only find one book on Chimera."

"Do you have any books on exp?" He asked, remembering his other quest.

"Searching the database, please wait," the face again remained expressionless for a few seconds before smiling again. "Books on games and exp found. Which do you want?"

"Just give me whatever you think is best."

"Understood," the lady said. "The book files have been downloaded to your watch. You may view them as you desire as long as it's within the library walls. Files will be automatically deleted the second you step out of the door. Please note that your system watch's screen can only be seen by you unless you choose to make it public. Have fun reading."

Ian simply nodded as he made his way inside the library in search of a seat. He soon found one at the edge of the wall and sat down.

First, he took a deep breath in an attempt to prepare himself for whatever he was about to see, before tapping on the book icon with the name Chimera on it.

On the first page, it read;

"Not much is known about the chimera race. After meeting and researching a few, this is all I found safe to put down.

Chimeras are creatures infused with the genes of other creatures. In ancient history, chimeras are known to have had the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a snake, and can breathe fire. These animals which make up the chimera are more or less extinct or mutated now due to the invasion, but I've also observed a few humans who have been experimented on to fit this description.

For the human chimeras, I noticed they have a very short life span. They barely live more than fifty years and they barely managed to stay sane for twenty of those fifty as they tap into the different powers within them. These different genes and energies clash and repel each other, and in turn, hurt the vessel housing them.

Chimeras are fundamentally stronger than normal, and for the ones we had access to, they helped us during the war as long as we didn't get caught in the crossfire.

I don't know much else and no one might ever see this because chimeras went extinct after the first counterattack, but I felt like sharing this knowledge for the sake of it.

To whoever reads this, chimeras are not extinct like people say. Someone is making these things and I'm pretty sure they still are. No one would believe me but I'm sure they are. If they are allowed to run free for long, we might have an army of superior beings on our hands and it will be too late by then if they decide to take over the Earth. It would be even worse if they had time to improve and stabilize the energy."

"Ding!"

[Quest completed. You have found out information about the Chimera race. 5 exp points have been awarded.]

Ian didn't even notice the message even though he could see it from the shock of what he just read.

"I am....an experiment," he said as he tried to make sense of the new information. "Is my life already predetermined? Do I even need to try? Do I need to do anything anymore? I won't live long anyway. Who did this to me?"

But that wasn't the end of his problems as a new notification appeared in front of him.

[New information has been obtained on the Chimera race. A new detail has been added to the host's race.]

Ian hurriedly checked his status, wondering what he was going to find.

[Host: Ian Yaeger]

[Race: Chimera (Failed)]

[Sub Race: Human]

[Level: 2]

[Exp: 30/50]

[Energy: 75/100]

[VD: 10/100]

[Health: 15/15]

[Strength: 5]

[Agility: 6]

[Stamina: 5]

[As a level-up reward, host is allowed to enhance one stat permanently. LE and SE are exemptions.]

Ian couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the added detail to his race.

"As if the situation wasn't any worse," he thought. "You just have to rub it in my face."

He checked the other messages out of boredom since he didn't even know what to do next. He decided to read the book about games and exp instead of staring into space.

After a few minutes of reading, his eyes somewhat lit up from the information he gathered.

Ding!

[Quest completed. You have found out more about exp. 5 exp have been awarded.]

Ian didn't even pay attention to the message as the light returned to his eyes.

"I can get stronger," he thought as his eyes welled up with tears. "Maybe I can also increase my life span as I level up and control my power more. I can definitely get stronger."

Ian stood up immediately and hurried out of the library. Armed with new information, and the severity of his situation, he knew he had no time to waste. He only had one thought in his head.

"I need to focus on levelling up as fast as I can."