Chapter 48: Library
Later that day, following his rigorous training session, Atticus consulted his device to guide him towards the library.
With the 1st years granted a week to make their specialization choices, Atticus had given the matter careful consideration and ultimately settled on the beast division.
He felt that fighting magical beast would provide him with valuable fighting experience and contribute to his overall strength.
He had attempted to access information on beasts through his device, but it directed him to the library.
Atticus was looking for information about the various breeds of magical beasts inhabiting the area. Although he had read books detailing magical creatures during his lessons at home, he remained cautious and sought to ensure he was well-informed about any potential unfamiliar creatures in the region.
The library was a vast repository of knowledge encompassing history, magical creature breeds, and more in Eldoralth.
Atticus entered the library and was surprised to see it devoid of people. He noticed a woman with white hair sitting behind a counter, engrossed in a book.
'It's still weird to see people with white hair everywhere. It's like we're in a cult or something,' he mused to himself.
Approaching her, he greeted her with a neutral tone, "Good morning. I'm here to look for a book about beasts in this area."
The woman didn't look away from the book and replied, "Section D, second floor." Atticus nodded his thanks and went towards the elevator he had noticed when he came in.
He entered it, and as prompted, he scanned his device. The light turned green, and the elevator began moving to the second floor.
He was greeted by a vast expanse of bookshelves stretching out in every direction. The hushed atmosphere was palpable, with soft murmurs of turning pages and the occasional sound of a chair sliding against the polished floor.
People sat scattered throughout the area, engrossed in their reading, their focus unbroken even as Atticus entered.
There were more people on the second floor compared to the deserted first. He kept moving and eventually, he noticed a signed at the top of a section that says 'D'. Then he entered and started looking for books about beast in the area.
Atticus found a book titled 'Local Fauna' and began reading. Inside the book, he discovered numerous beasts commonly found in the area.
Some were familiar from his previous studies, but there were also new creatures he hadn't encountered before. The book provided details about their habitats, weaknesses, and descriptions.
With his sharp intellect, Atticus absorbed this information rapidly, only needing a glance to store it in his memory. After about 3 minutes, he finished reading the book and selected another one.
After an hour later and multiple books read, Atticus felt satisfied with the knowledge he had gained and decided to leave the library.
As Atticus made his way out, he couldn't help but notice the lingering gazes, especially from the second-year students. With his perception, it was easy to see the numbers displayed on their device. 'Are they angry i beat up one of their own?' he wondered.
Brushing off the attention, he continued on, ignoring the curious onlookers. Once outside, he realized it was already growing late.
Feeling the pangs of hunger, Atticus decided to grab a meal and retreat to his room to make up for the disrupted mealtime earlier. He headed towards the cafeteria.
As Atticus stepped into the cafeteria, an eerie atmosphere settled around him – darkness and an unusual silence filling the space.
His perception sharpened, already detecting the people laying in ambush. The door behind him swung shut, sealing his exit.
A group of boys suddenly surrounded him. Atticus noticed that the first numbers displayed on the devices of all the boys were 1, indicating that they were first-year students.
Despite the unsettling scenario, Atticus remained composed, his calm demeanor a stark contrast to the tense environment that enveloped him.
A sudden voice cut through the silence, its chilling tone echoing in the space, "Do you really think I would let you go after what you did?"
Atticus's attention focused on the source, and he recognized the boy he had beaten up earlier. Despite the visible healing, the boy's face was still wrapped with bandages.
'Wow, he healed quickly. Magic potions are really something. I kind of want to hurt myself to try one out,' Atticus pondered, thinking about the effect of magic potions. He had been meaning to try one out, but as he had never gotten hurt, he couldn't.
Atticus was not at all worried about the situation he was in. He was an intermediate+ rank! Why would he be scared of a few novices?
The boy's frustration was palpable as his anger boiled over. 'How dare he ignore me!'
His shout rang out, "Hey! Attack him! The one who brings him to his knees in front of me will get double the points!"
One of the first year surrounding Atticus exclaimed, "Add it to the contract!"
He gritted his teeth, muttering "Fucking bastards," as he added some modifications to the contract.
"There, I added it. Now beat him up!" With those words, each of the boys received a notification that the contract had been updated.
They grinned and turned their attention towards Atticus.
'A contract? Sounds like a way to make deals with people. As he couldn't attack me he decided to hire first years, huh? I really should learn more about this camp,' Atticus deduced.
He then calmly asked the first years, "Are you sure about this?"
"Sorry about this, the points were just too good to let it pass. You might be strong, but you won't be able to handle all of us. I'd advise you not to resist," one of them replied.
They were present when the convoy brought him and knew that he had a high status in the family, but they weren't worried as whatever happened in the camp stays in the camp. No one could intervene as long as a rule wasn't being broken.
While Atticus could choose to retaliate after camp, well, let just say, they weren't thinking that far ahead.
'I guess they should be safe. Their devices should protect them if anything goes wrong,' Atticus thought.
He initially found it weird that they were allowed to fight unsupervised. Regardless of the threat of punishment, accidental deaths could occur. It was only after consulting his device that he discovered the reason behind it.
The devices were fitted with potions that would be administered if they sensed the user was in danger.
They also had a built-in shield that would deploy if it determined that the user's life was at risk from outside interference. As a last precaution, they would teleport the user straight to the infirmary if the shield was broken, as long as they were within the camp.
The Ravenstein family had invested significant resources into the Raven camp to create a suitable environment for the growth of their youths.
The camp's perimeter was fortified with high-grade illusion and protection runes to ensure security.
Additionally, a grandmaster-ranked individual was always present in the camp to maintain its defenses and await reinforcements in case of an attack.
While only a Paragon-ranked individual could easily breach the camp's defenses, the surrounding area was equipped with artifacts capable of detecting such a powerful presence.
This provided ample time for the Ravenstein's Paragon to arrive through the camp's portal.
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