Chapter 78: Library

After entering the library and witnessing its interior, Vincent felt awe and amazement at the stunning inner furnishings of the library.

"How can a library that looks ordinary on the outside be so extraordinary on the inside. This place is just awesome!"

An exclamation of astonishment escaped Vincent's lips.

From the outside of the building, the library of the military academy seemed like a typical run of the mill building that could be seen in every city of planet Earth, yet from a mere glance at its interior furnishings, Vincent's eyes widened in admiration for the person who created this place, as this place seemed like a cyber fantasy library that came right out of the creator's imagination.

The library didn't contain even a single shelf, as a matter of fact, it didn't even contain a single book visible to a person's eyes. Vincent could only see a lot of tables and chairs placed on both the floor and the roof. As for how they were sticking upside down to the roof without falling on the floor, Vincent believed that it's either a wonder of anti-gravity technology or a unique type of magic that has changed the center of gravity of only the roof region of the entire building, such that the things placed in the roof will be pulled towards itself, rather than falling down to the floor due to the gravitational pull of the ground.

There were a lot of long spiral pathways as wide and tall as a 1000 page book, crisscrossed all over the library in a chaotic but orderly arrangement, one end of the spiral pathways seem to vanish inside the walls on each side of the building while the other ends split apart into dozens to hundreds of parts of similar shape and size and the end of each of these parts stretched to the reading tables placed all over the place.

Although this was Vincent's first time seeing such a place, he shrugged off the amazement and wonderment as it was eating out at his brain, and he then walked to one of the tables and sat down on the chair just like the other students who were here instead of attending classes for reasons of their own.

After a few moments, once Vincent scrutinizing gaze scanned every inch for clues about how the library works, he inserted his student ID card into the card slot seem at the corner of the table.

‹ Identity has been confirmed ›

‹ It has been confirmed that you're a student participating in the nurturing plan ›

‹ Your privilege level is 3. You have obtained level-3 preferential treatment ›

The students of the beta class have a privilege level of 1. The students of the alpha class have a privilege level of 2. The privilege level decided different aspects of a student's life, such as the benefits a student can obtain from the academy and the things which they can access by using their student ID card.

‹ You can legally read as many books with no restrictions as you like ›

‹ You are authorized to obtain two restricted books free of cost ›

‹ A privacy barrier has been erected around you to provide you and the others mental comfort. No one outside of the barrier can see what you do or hear what you say. You may read the book as loud or as low as you want as it won't disturb someone else ›

‹ Please pick the books that you want to read by using the panel in front of you. The system will automatically transport it to your location within three to ten seconds by using the spiral pathways connected to your location ›

Instantly, a holographic panel showing a catalog of different books and a small summary of each book opened in front of him.

"Sweet stuff, can't believe it's real," Vincent said as he tapped away at the panel to search for books related to poisons, detoxification, and uncontrollable transformation that affects demi-human.

Suddenly, rows of information appeared on the holographic panel.

In a single glance, Vincent could see over a hundred books on the subjects he mentioned. He perused through the newly appeared catalog slowly with eyes squinted to reveal a thoughtful look.

When Vincent saw that most of the books were being sold for more than 100 contributions points, his eyes widened as he felt that the sellers are either driven insane by poverty or the book contains impressive knowledge.

However, he didn't bother wasting time on reading the catalog of restricted books as they were costly. A single one costs more than a few hundred contribution points. The ones that were cheaper were deemed to be not much better than the unrestricted books by Vincent.

"It's better to skim through a few unrestricted books. If I don't find my answers in there, I can always earn tons of points and obtain answers from the restricted books." Vincent thought.

Immediately, Vincent filtered the display to show unrestricted books that could be read free of cost.

The holographic panel now showed lesser books, but all of them were free.

He proceeded to pick a few books that looked like they could contain answers to his questions.

In the very next moment, a lot of books were transported to his table through the spiral pathways, and along with them came a few announcements that only he could hear.

‹ Dear student, please deposit the book inside the container after you're done reading ›

‹ The books must not be damaged in any way ›

‹ You must never lend the books you purchase or obtain to others, even if they are your friends ›

The restricted books were sold by peoples that make their daily earnings through royalties. They earn a certain portion each time someone purchases their book containing plentiful knowledge. The revenue earned from this method was split between the virtual trading platform providers, the military academy, and the seller.

‹ The book must be returned in a week if you don't have special permission to keep the book forever ›

‹ If any of the above-mentioned rules are broken, you'll be punished with a monetary fine ›

"I understand." Vincent nodded. His eyes landed on a book that could contain the answer to fight back poison potent enough to affect an awakened like Old Miller.

Ding, Dong.

Vincent was about to read books on poisons and detoxification to find a way to detoxify poison that affects even an awakened when a melodic ringtone rang out of his card, forcing him to look at it. He took out the card from one of the card slots and saw that instructor Theodore is calling him. He tapped on the green icon to answer his call.

Immediately after, a holographic screen displaying the instructor standing on top of a mountain opened in front of him.

"Hello, instructor. I hope you're fine," Vincent said in a friendly tone.

"Hi. As you can see, I am fine. Thanks for asking though," Theodore said as he waved his hands towards him. "How about you? I hope you are not homesick like most of the others, haha."

"Well, I am in peak conditions," Vincent replied with a smile on his handsome face.

It wouldn't be a lie to say that he was happy to hear so soon from the instructor that has amazed him again and again.

"That's great. Anyway, what are you doing right now?" Theodore asked with a somewhat serious look on his face.

"Self-studying in the library," Vincent replied as he showed his surroundings to the instructor.

"I see… it's good to see you working hard already. Keep up the good work." He praised as his lips stretched back to reveal a smile of admiration.

"Instructor, can you tell me the real reason as to why you called?" Vincent said with a look of anticipation on his face.

Theodore voiced a sound in agreement and said, "The instructors of the weapons practicing class will hold a special competition today. I don't know about the specific details of the competition but it will be good for you if you join the event and perform better than the others."

"You mean to tell me to gain clout in the academy by using this event as a stepping stone and garner attention performing better than the others, right?" Vincent asked with a calculating smile.

"You're on the mark. Do your best to win the competition!" Theodore showed him thumbs up before continuing, "See ya later,"

"Bye!"