Chapter 162 Crimson Shade [2]

Chapter 162 Crimson Shade [2]

I was tired. Rubbing my eyes, I looked around. I was standing in front of the library again.

Every part of my body ached. The side effects from the 'water' had yet to be completely alleviated.

Furthermore, the sudden shifts in temperatures put heavy stress on my body.

'.....This is even worse than regular training.'

I'd usually be tired after training, which was extremely intense, but this was something else.

"You're here early."

Coming from the other side was Leon. With glaring black circles beneath his eyes, he walked over with a hunched back.

'Looks like he didn't have it good.'

In fact, he looked to have had it worse than me which was surprising.

"How are you feeling?"

".....Not good."

Leon replied while leaning his hand against the wall of the library building.

"I-Uekh!"

I stepped back. VIsit n0(v)eLb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience

He looked like he was about to puke.

Raising his finger at me, Leon's face scrunched up. He was struggling to keep himself from puking.

Staring at him, for a moment, a dangerous thought crossed my mind.

My hands started to tingle and my face twitched.

'Just one wouldn't hurt, right? It's only to see if he can puke...'

I bit my lips and shook my head. No, this-

Opening my eyes, I noticed that Leon was staring at me. His eyes were bloodshot and his expression looked grim. It was almost as though he could read my thoughts.

He shook his head.

"Spare me."

"..."

I licked my lips.

My body started to tremble again.

Leon's eyes turned more bloodshot.

"What do you ca—"

"Bleeergh!"

He puked.

The words that were about to leave my mouth stopped and I looked at him in confusion. Leon continued to puke for the next couple of seconds before he went on to wipe the corner of his mouth.

"D-done."

At the same time, he glared at me.

".....I didn't say anything."

"You were about to."

"But I didn't."

"Because I beat you to it."

"Tsk."

I clicked my tongue.

What a pity.

Either way, looking around, I saw that we had created a bit of a commotion. Without hesitation, the two of us entered the building.

There weren't many people inside just like last time.

The surroundings were dimly lit, and the librarian stood behind a wooden desk with a book in her hand. Taking note of our appearance, her brows creased a little. It looked like she remembered us. In the end, she didn't say anything else and I sighed in relief.

Thankfully, what I did last time wasn't enough for her to completely ban us.

Taking a seat, I looked at Leon.

"Let's continue where we left off."

".....Yes."

Still glaring at me, Leon turned his back and headed for the botanical area. On the other hand, dropping my stuff on the table, I headed for the Monster Classification area.

There were over a thousand different books in front of me.

Thankfully, a major part of them had illustrations which made it a lot easier for me to skim through.

'It's too bad the librarian doesn't know much.'

I had asked her yesterday if she knew anything about the Tree of Ebonthorn, but she shook her head. It was for that reason that we had no choice but to look for the information for ourselves.

The Guilds didn't grant us access to their library, and I doubt anyone would bother helping us with the information given how busy they were.

In the end, this was the only way.

Flip—

Casually flipping through pages, I looked for any clues.

What surprised me the most as I looked through the pages was the amount of monsters that were logged into them.

The numbers were ridiculous.

"Huam."

Leaning my back against one of the shelves, I continued to flip the pages over. The more I flipped, the sleeper I became.

There were so many books, and yet, not a single one had the thing that I needed.

"Not this one as well."

I had just placed another book on the shelf when I paused.

"....."

Looking at the other side, two yellow eyes met my gaze. Standing on the opposite side was Aoife who looked at me with a strange look.

"....."

"....."

"Tree of Ebonthorn."

"Hm?"

Aoife glanced at me.

I kept my gaze on the book.

"You asked me if I needed help. I need information on that."

"....."

Taking note of Aoife's silence, I looked back to meet her eyes. With a subtle frown over her features, she looked to be in deep thought. Then, as if sensing my gaze, she focused her attention back on me.

"Why are you looking into that?"

".....Are you going to help me or not?"

"No, it's..."

Aoife closed the book in her hand.

"....If you need the information desperately, I know of a way."

"Oh?"

I closed my book.

"How?"

"Did you forget who I am?"

"Ah."

"I can just go to the Guilds and have them tell me anything that they know about it. If you give me an hour, I'll be able to get all the information."

"That quickly?"

"Yes."

Wow.

....I didn't know how to feel. Staring at Aoife, I suddenly realized something.

'Princesses are really useful.'

"Are you thinking about something rude?"

"No."

I kept my face from changing. However, inside, I was shocked.

How in the world did she know?

I was just about to say something else when all of a sudden, the color around me started to change, turning a shade of red.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. In one moment, the world was normal, and in the next second, everything had turned red.

"Uh?"

All heads flicked towards the windows.

There I could see the people outside looking up at the sky with pale faces. Some even pointed at the sky while others started to run back.

I stared at the scene for a few seconds before Leon appeared a few meters ahead.

He looked to be on high alert.

Looking at us, his gaze fell on Aoife for a brief moment before he looked back at me. With just a glance, we all knew what was going on.

How could we not when we had gone under training for it just today?

That was when Leon slowly muttered.

"Crimson Shade."

WOOOM~

An ominous pulse swept the station.

"Ukh..!"

"Kh!"

A scorching heat suddenly enveloped the surroundings.

It came so fast and so suddenly that hardly anyone had any time to react. Thankfully, we were quick to react due to our training.

Without hesitation, I channeled my mana and the heat dissipated.

A cool sensation wrapped over my body.

Still, my expression was grim.

I knew that I wouldn't last more than an hour like this.

"Akh!!"

"H-help!"

The screams of the people outside rang. While a major part of the people here were superhumans who were stronger than me, there were some weak civilians who were natural citizens of the place.

They were unable to protect themselves from the sudden heat wave.

"Haaa... Haaa..."

With a rough breath, I looked at the crimson world around me.

I had just turned to look at Leon when I suddenly realized that I couldn't move.

Lowering my head, I stared at my feet and my entire body shuddered. Covering my ankles, and reaching for my knees were a familiar set of roots.

Unlike before when they only covered my ankles, they had now reached for my knees.

Tangling my legs, they kept me from moving.

"Ukh!"

I tried to move, but my body remained fixed on the spot.

"Haaa... Haaa..."

My heartbeat started to quicken, and notifications flashed before my very eyes.

?| Lvl 2. [Fear] EXP + 0.05%

?| Lvl 2. [Fear] EXP + 0.02%

Before I knew it, fear had started to root deep within my mind.

One that grew worse with the red that covered the world.

The Crimson Shade had fallen.