"You can't be serious, Vermeer. If that's what you're doing, the Lynwick family is even more depraved than I thought. Do you really think that arbitrage is just a free first-order rune combination? ”

Noah narrowed his eyes, crossed his arms, and immediately heard the disgust in the woman's voice. No matter who Moxinian was, she didn't like him.

"It's a waste to use Linwick's resources for something unimportant like this," Noah said, putting on a poker face. "Why do I need their time when I have all the references I need here?"

Moxinian blinked, caught off guard for a moment. She quickly came to her senses, leaned against the counter, raised her eyebrows, and smirked.

"This is your new perspective. It's still stupid, but I don't think even you're stupid enough to bang your head against the wall for too long. I don't think you're going to have luck finding useful combinations in the library when you're at your level, but who knows. Maybe you'll find a new way to blow up a girl's skirt. ”

Gosh, I hate this guy. Is it that hard to be semi-decent? No wonder everyone hates me. What can I say about this?

"It's an old hobby of low taste," Noah said. "I'm looking for a better pastime."

Moxinian blinked for the second time. She squinted at Noah, then at some of the other teachers in the area, almost as if checking to make sure they heard the same thing. She rolled her eyes and pushed the counter open.

"No one is going to be stupid enough to buy this, baby Linwick. You are a disgrace to your family. ”

She strode away. Noah cleared his throat and glanced at the librarian. "So...... What about those books? ”

"Here it is, sir." The librarian said with his hand outstretched. The energy bursts through the fingertips and condenses into a small dot in front of the palm. It swells up to form a rotating disc of green and yellow light. He reached in and took out two thin books and placed them on the table in front of Noah. "With your current level, I'm afraid that's all you can get your hands on."

"Thank you," Noah said, picking up the book and nodding appreciatively. He tucked them under his armpit. "How long do I have to return them?"

"You can keep them until someone asks for their return," the librarian replied. "These particular copies aren't in high demand. I doubt you'll be fine. ”

Noah thanked him again and walked out of the library, trying to ignore the stares of the other teachers.

Is that the one who wants to kill me? Why do I have so many damn enemies? I really need to find some information about the Linwick family.

The journey back to his room went well, and the next day Noah was immersed in his reading. To his little annoyance, Moxie was right. They have so little information.

If he really was someone else, Noah suspected that they would be completely useless. For him, however, the amount of information in the pages is as small as water in the desert.

Despite the short nature of the books, Noah read each one several times to make sure he didn't miss anything important. When he finally looked away and looked out the window, night had fallen.

A soft blue-purple glow washed over the buildings outside, illuminating the plants with a ghostly glow. Noah blinked a few times, then rubbed his eyes and staggered back in his chair. He grabbed the paper he had been taking notes on and pulled it closer.

As he revised them with what he had learned, his quill scratched on the paper.

Runes both store magic and allow you to cast it. People can have seven runes. Once they are all full of energy, you can try to combine them. The resulting combination rune has the strength of all other runes, so combining a broken rune results in a broken evolution rune. Not being able to combine runes is terrible. Don't fail. Ways of Failure: Impossible Combinations, Lack of Strength, Rodent (?) ), lack of willpower. Once you have combined your runes, you move on to the next level and can form runes for that level without having to start from the previous one. I don't know how many levels there are in total. There are definitely differences in the runes. Runes are of inferior quality. There are basically significant differences between the levels in various aspects. The actual combination of valid runes is closely guarded. If I go around asking about them, people might get angry with me. You can release runes voluntarily, but you can't recoup all the energy spent on runes.

Noah puts down the quill and studies the fruits of his labor. It's not much of an improvement relative to what he already knows, but it's still crucial. At least he knew he could get rid of those low-level wind runes and replace them with something stronger.

Good. The to-do list is getting longer and longer. In the short term, I need to focus on being strong enough to keep myself alive and figure out who Linwick really is. I don't think I'll have as much trouble in class as I fear, but other professors have a completely different problem.

Noah stood up and began pacing back and forth in the room. For some reason, walking in circles seems to help the spirit juice flow better. On the one hand, Noah hoped that Vermeer would have at least a few friends so that he could keep asking questions, and on the other hand, he was glad that no one seemed to care about him in the slightest.

A yawn slipped out of his mouth.

It's time to implement the first step in my master plan: sleep.

Noah rubbed his nose with the back of his hand and walked into the bathroom. Luckily, Vermeer actually had a toothbrush and a stone bucket next to it, which Noah hoped was toothpaste.

He brushed his teeth, walked over to the closet, and rummaged through it. It's all the same clothes, over and over again. Noah touched his chin.

"Well, at least he's acting steady." Noah takes off his jacket and hangs it on a wooden hanger in the closet.

There was a loud knock on the door. Noah was stunned when he took off his shirt. He turned slowly, without making a sound.

Maybe they'll think I'm asleep.

The handle clicked, and the lock twisted and flipped over. Noah silently slipped to the door, grabbed the lock, and closed it again. The door rattled and paused briefly. When the lock started turning again, he grabbed the lock and prevented it from opening.

Someone shook the door, then let out an exasperated curse. A force slammed into the lock, wringing it out of Noah's grasp. When the door slammed open, Noah dodged to the side. He rolled to the side and tried to jump, but hit his head on the edge of the ledge.

Noah cursed a few times, then bent down. He squinted his head when someone walked into his room—and stepped straight on a pile of papers by the door. They lost their footing and fell with a loud bang.

Seconds passed, and Noah stared at the intruder's lower body. He straightened up and walked around the door to get a better look.

"Oh, shit," Noah muttered. A woman in her early forties was lying on the ground, a puddle of blood spreading above her head. She was dressed in a teacher's robe, but he didn't recognize her — not that he would recognize most people. Noah touched her leg with his foot. She didn't budge.

"Uh...... Are you okay there? Noah asked hesitantly. No response. He knelt down and pressed his head to her heart. There are no beats. Noah brushed his hair with his hands and forced a moan. ". Seriously? How incompetent can you go? ”

A loud crash came from the end of the hall. Noah jerked to his feet, but it was too late to try to hide or move the body.

,,. They're going to think I'm—

Moxie rushed through the hall, a gleaming green sword floating in the air in front of her. Her gaze swept to Noah's body, then back to him. They looked at each other for a moment.

"Things are not what they seem." Noah said weakly. He stood up, raised his hands into the air, and said: Not for free