On Monday morning, a professor visited him.
"Ninth Prince, you must do something about your guards. It seems they don't even know you're studying, and they were preventing me from getting here," complained the professor, who entered the classroom looking grumpy.
Perhaps he was the only professor who could complain like that in the Castle, especially in front of a prince.
"Professor Austin, it's been a while." Ryan greeted him. "Don't pay any attention to those guys. They have heads like blocks, so they can't memorize things."
Austin was a 60-year-old man with red hair. He was the history professor and principal instructor of the Archaeology and Past Sciences program at Evigheden Central University (also called Alterian).
He got along very well with Ryan because of his intense love of reading and studying history. He walked over and sat down before Ryan, smiling at him.
He completely forgot how grumpy he had been when he looked him up and down.
"I heard you became a Walker. I couldn't believe it, but now that I see you, it's even more amazing than I thought. How's it going? You're going to enroll in new classes, right?" he asked enthusiastically.
"Hehe, of course, professor," Ryan replied with the same enthusiasm.
"Hahaha." He clapped his hands. "It looks like our little librarian is finally going to study in the great libraries of the ruins. Good, very good." He took out a document and handed it to him.
The document listed all the university subjects, but Austin put his hand on it before Ryan could grab it. "Wait, not so fast," he said.
"Tell me." He brought his free hand up to hold his own chin, while with his other hand, he prevented Ryan from getting distracted from his question.
Ryan looked at him, shocked. "What thing?"
"What do you mean, what thing?" he grumbled. "What I asked you to investigate!"
His eyes blinked strangely. 'Investigate? What thing?' He didn't say it only because he knew this old man's explosive temper.
He searched his memory for a few short seconds and then came to a memory where Ryan was talking to the professor, and he was asking him to investigate something in the royal library.
It was something about the past... way in the past.
'Damn it, Ryan, how could you not have looked into it? You know how temperamental this guy is!' He complained to himself, insulting the previous Ryan, but he knew he didn't have time for that.
Professor Austin was already staring at him, suspecting he hadn't done it.
'Luckily for me, this is discussed in the novel,' he thought. At least he had that loophole, so he prepared to speak.
"Professor, it's not from the second era as we thought. It's something from the third era."
"From the third? From the Age of Decadence?" Perplexed, Austin tightened his grip. "What is it, exactly?"
"The world in the first era seems to be shrouded in fog, but it is said that, in the beginning, there were Three Kings who ruled everything: Antares, Zetoth, and Shelón," he said.
'Antares, Zetoth, Shelón...' Austin engraved those names in his mind to research them later. Although the information about them might not be in any of the kingdom's libraries, but in the ruins that have remained since then.
Ryan continued talking. "They left behind a remnant that lasted until the third era. Some call it 'The Calamitous Famine.' We found the symbol of the organization that worships it, the Castle of Blasphemy."
"Castle of Blasphemy? Where is that?" Austin frowned, trying to remember. He seemed to have heard of it before, but his mind couldn't quite reach it.
"I don't know. I only know that it could have something to do with Howling Mountain," he said.
"Howling Mountain?" He blinked a few times and soon understood. "I see. Certainly, places like that hold many secrets." Austin nodded.
"Anything else?" he asked.
"No, I couldn't find anything else. I'd like to find more, but the books from that era aren't very well preserved in the library."
Austin sighed. "It's okay, you did a good job. Don't forget that information, we never know when the past will help us avoid a calamity," he advised.
"Okay," he said, pulling his hand back a little. "May I...?" he asked, pointing out that he was still holding it.
"Oh." Austin withdrew his hand. "Go ahead. What subjects will you choose now that you're a Walker?" he asked, interested.
Ryan rubbed his wrist. 'This guy seems to forget that he's a high-level Walker,' he complained, then looked at the sheet they had given him.
"I'll only study the Walker branch, Spirituality, and Magic this time. The rest of the subjects..." He looked at Austin. "You'll help me pass them, right? It's not like I need them, I already know all that," he said.
Austin raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
Meanwhile, Ryan looked at him as if to say, "Please," and held his hands together in supplication.
Finally, Austin sighed. "Fine. But only if you focus entirely on your training as a Walker."
"Hahaha, that will be easy, professor." Ryan began to check several boxes. "The first part of the year, I will study Spiritual Projection, Spiritual Protection with the possibility of change, and the rest of the basic subjects in the Walkers, Spirituality, and Magic branch. How does that sound?" he asked.
"Hmm." Austin nodded gently, thoughtfully. "Not bad. You'll fill up your first six months, which is good for learning, considering you started very late."
After considering a few things, he nodded. "All right, I like that choice. Are you sure you only want to study that? Any other subjects?"
"No, that's all."
"All right, then." Austin stood up, grabbed the document, and put it away, ready to leave.
"Classes started today, so make sure you go as soon as possible. Even though you're a prince, the teachers will get angry if it's you. Besides, that girl has been a little stressful to appease lately, you should go. She only listens to you."
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