Chapter 254: 1.5-35

Pan Yingjie felt speechless; hundreds of people come to this library on a weekly basis, and not one of them in all of his years working caused quite the calamity to the place as that child did.

It wasn't only surprising that it happened in the first place; it was mysterious, as well, because there is no way that child could have caused the bookcase to fall. Even with the boy climbing it the way he did, it shouldn't have felled, not with his master's talismans placed on it.

Those types of talismans can last up to ten years at a time, so unless there was some kind of tampering, those enchantments shouldn't have failed.

'Was it the power of the book that meddled with my master's talismans?' This was Pan Yinjie's first thought, but he quickly discarded it. He knew that this book didn't even have 1/10 of the power his master possessed. 'Than what could have happened?'

'You still didn't figure it out?'

Grabbing his head in pain as a sharp booming voice echoed throughout his mind. The librarian started to glance around wildly, "Master, is that you?"

Pan Yinjie couldn't believe it; he hasn't heard his master's voice in hundreds of years since the man went into seclusion after the great monster war.

'I see that you have been neglecting your training. You no longer can handle my inner voice.' An orotund voice states with apparent disappointment.

"I'm sorry, Master," Pan Yinjie says while clutching his head. "With no other disciples to practice with, my inner mind has deteriorated.

'That will soon change.'

That short sentence enlightened Pan Yingjie, and he finally understood that the fallen bookcase was his master's doing. He should have known that was the case; how else would the book be discovered so simply.

"So it was you who lured that child to the book? But why him? Even though I saw some elements within him, that would make him worthy of it, but he is still a child."

'Haven't I taught you to never judge a book by its cover. Although that boy is just a child, he has the most enormous fighting spirit that I have ever come across for someone at that age. As soon as he walked into the library, I felt it, and it awoke me out of my seclusion.'

"He is that strong?" Pan Yingjie asked, slightly confused. The boy didn't seem all that powerful to him, but then again, that was why he was the disciple and not the master.

In a secluded temple made out of jade located behind the library walls, an old man sat stroking his long white beard. His bald head gleamed in the candlelight; standing up, he dusted off his orange and green Kasaya robe and walked over to a large bronze bowl filled with water.

The old man waved a calloused hand over the bowl, and the clear liquid started to change. Similar to a television screen, the water broadcasted in real-time what was happening inside the library.

Using his hands as a guide, the old man commanded the water to show him the young lad of interest. Watching the furry-eared boy quick movements as he reshelved the books on the bookcase, the old man knew he was right to test this one.

'Yes, he is that strong, and not just physically but mentally as well.' The old man replied while continuing to watch the boy. There was something about him that made him hope he could complete the book task and become his new disciple. 'When he finishes the task you gave him, don't forget to give him the book.'

"I won't forget master," assured Pan Yinjie. He really hopes that the boy won't fail this first task and let his master down.

'Also find out more about the Dryad the boy came with.'

Confused as to why his master cared about someone so irrelevant, Pan Yinjie had to ask, "Why do you want to know about him?"

'Just do what I asked!' demanded the old man, turning his attention away from the furry-eared boy to the leafy-haired man who was reading.

He didn't quite understand why he was curious about the Dryad either; it was just something about the man that felt familiar, and he needed to know why.

~

[Time left: 28 minutes 38 seconds]

Glancing at the quest timer, Melting Snow realized that it had been barely ten minutes since he had disconnected the call with Drifting Cloud and started putting the man's plan into action. With excellent results, he would say if he was one to boast.

Just in those few minutes, he had already filled six out of the twenty shelves that the bookcase had. The seventh shelf should be just as easy to fill, but after that is when the problem of reach will start.

Luckily, he thought of a solution for this; although he can't climb, he could still jump. Times like this, he was grateful that he chose the beastman class, a wolf type at that.

When he was with his brother's team for those few weeks, he learned something useful while running a dungeon with them, and that was he could jump really high.

And he didn't mean when he runs and jumps, no he was talking about a standing jump.

Melting Snow learned that he could propel himself upwards to extraordinary heights if he tried, which made him curious. So he did some research and discovered that male wolves can run up to 56 kilometers (35 miles) per hour and jump up to 3.6 meters (12 feet) in real life.

He was astounded when he found out about those statics and couldn't wait to test it out. However, the opportune moment to do so never came up, and he never had the chance to give his jumping height a thorough overlook.

But as he stared up at the higher shelves of the gigantic bookshelf, a smile appeared on his face because he knew he got the chance to do so now.

In blur like speed, Melting Snow quickly filled out the seventh bookshelf before he turned his attention to the eighth. Taking a deep breath, the boy bent his knees and jumped.

Whoosh

Melting Snow's body flew upwards higher than he intended, completely passing the eighth self and landing at the sixteenth one.

"I didn't even put that much effort into that jump," Melting Snow muttered once he was on the floor again. "This might be harder than I imagined."

After wasting four minutes to practice his jumping, Melting Snow finally got the hang of how much force he had to put into his jumps to get him where he needed to reach. Now he was definitely ready to finish this quest.

[Time left: 24 minutes 12 seconds]

With determination in his eyes and two books gripped tightly in his hands, Melting Snow once again jumped. Reaching the targeted shelf, using his lightning speed, he swiftly places the book smoothly on the shelf before checking the book count.

Seeing how it didn't move, he took it out and tried the book in his second hand before falling down back to the ground where the stacks of books were and started testing each of them one by one until the number changed.

He continued to do so until that shelf was utterly filled before moving on to the next one.