Principal Valerius saw Renn standing across from him, neither moving nor speaking, so the principal asked curiously:
"What is it, Renn? Why did you stay behind?" Valerius asked, resting his hand on his chin.
Renn took a breath and asked, "What do you know about Aeren?"
Valerius had expected this question, but not from Renn. "I know he's involved in killing Amara Calvess and possibly in kidnapping Princess Elenya."
Renn stared at Valerius and said, "You know nothing."
Valerius stared back and asked, "What do you mean?"
Renn didn't elaborate and left the office. Valerius watched him go but didn't pursue or force him to explain, knowing that sometimes silence was the best answer.
After his meeting with the Principal, Aeren explored the academy and headed to the library. He remained there from day until night, and when the moon emerged in the sky, Aeren left the library. He positioned himself in a reclining pose against the academy's protective barrier—to anyone who might have seen him, it would have looked like he was sleeping in the sky.
Aeren stared at the dark sky with empty eyes. He had seen the sky countless times, yet he still wanted to look every time—as if he was still trying to find something.
After sitting on the new protective shield and gazing at the sky once more, Aeren disappeared.
He walked along silent, empty roads toward the Royal Palace. After an hour of walking through the quiet night, he saw the massive palace structure close to the city. Guards were stationed everywhere, vigilantly watching their surroundings.
Aeren entered through the main gate, and not a single guard noticed him. As he walked deeper into the palace grounds, he observed his surroundings—it was like a beautiful paradise with different kinds of fragrances filling the air. These scents would attract anyone to want to live in this place. The palace grounds truly looked like earthly bliss.
There were many powerful people around, individuals who looked strong enough to build their own guilds and create places where they could live peaceful lives elsewhere. Yet they still served a king who rarely gave them adequate compensation or status.
Aeren continued walking toward the palace and saw a large door. He stared at it for a few seconds, then entered like a ghost—as if the door didn't even exist.
Inside, Aeren saw a massive hall that could easily house ten thousand people. There was a throne positioned above a flight of stairs. He looked at the throne briefly and then ignored it, moving toward a silent area accessible only to the royal family.
Aeren had noticed during his last visit that something was missing—the hall had felt too empty. He placed his hand in the air and found nothing, then took blood from his pocket, let it drip into the thin air, and waited.
After a few minutes, space cracked and a massive door appeared.
Aeren pushed the door open with a heavy crack—it was as heavy as a train, but he managed to open it and stepped inside to see...
A library.
This wasn't just any library—this was an entirely different dimension of books. It was like a world made of books, and wherever Aeren's eyes wandered, books seemed to find him. He wasn't alone in this space; ghosts were everywhere, desperately trying to leave. But when they saw Aeren, they panicked.
The spirits rushed toward the door, but it closed before anyone could escape.
"FUCK! We lost our chance to leave this place!" one of the ghosts shouted.
"Fuck you, bastard! You should have let me run first!" a second ghost said, punching the first one.
They fought among themselves for hours while Aeren ignored them completely and began reading the books he wanted to examine.
Aeren started with his first book, "Mana Control," then moved to another and another. The other spirits watched in shock at Aeren's dedication to reading.
Eventually, one ghost decided to approach him. "Hey, newcomer. Why are you reading books here?"
Aeren looked at the ghost, ignored him, and returned to reading.
The ghost's rage flared at Aeren's reaction, and it moved to strike him. But the moment it tried to attack, the ghost disappeared entirely—half its existence simply vanished as it accepted some fundamental truth.
The other spirits saw this and were frightened for a moment, but they didn't understand what had happened to their companion. From their perspective, it had simply died or disappeared, but they sensed this was somehow connected to Aeren. None of them dared approach him after that.
Aeren ignored all the ghosts and monsters throughout the library. Some monsters were so enormous that their foot alone was large enough to travel from one world to another in the void. But in this library, they were just big monsters with oversized bodies.
Aeren began to think he had entered some different world, seeing new things while still searching for books to read throughout the vast space.
He was peacefully reading with a book in his hands when a spirit approached him like a fly, hovering around him. Aeren did nothing. After a few seconds, the fly-like spirit settled on Aeren's shoulder and also began looking at the book's pages.
Aeren spent two to three days in that place and had barely scratched the surface of the available books. When he looked around the dimension again, he disappeared from sight.
Aeren emerged from the palace as morning arrived around him.
He looked around and saw people everywhere, appearing happy and laughing. He thought to himself, I only spent one night in the outside world.
Aeren saw the sun—like a white moon but with bright light and more beautiful than the moon itself.
When he checked the time, he realized he was already late for class.