Rivers of the Night - Chapter 229

Chapter 229: Silence Rules
Theron ignored the young woman, walking through the library with calm, unhurried steps. He didn’t detour a single time, taking any turns he did take with purpose. It was clear from a glance that he was sure of where he was going and not confused in the slightest.

He could hear the steps of the woman behind him. She had swiftly caught up and was now practically charging at him, and yet not at the same time. It was like she was channeling all of her forward momentum into downward pressure toward the ground instead, following after Theron with anger in her steps.

Toward this, Theron could only shake his head inwardly. He had already guessed that this young woman was likely one of the participants for the gathering of the academic stream.

No normal student would be allowed to be an acting librarian here. That came with a great deal of power.

Theron had to finagle his way to full access to this library. A librarian here had that by default. They had to not only be powerful but trustworthy.

Just by the fact she was at the desk, while it seemed like she was just some small-time receptionist, she was anything but.

When Theron saw her hostility, but realized that this hostility didn’t spill over into killing intent, he could only think of one reason why someone of this caliber would carry that sort of distaste around for him.

It was either that she felt he was too young and inexperienced and would likely lose them the round for the First Years, or she didn’t like how his focus was split between the academic and military streams.

The former case sounded ridiculous because he was a First Year, he was meant to be inexperienced. But Theron was quite young for a First Year of the Main Imperial Academy.

In Thistle Brook, there were still students like Sadie who were only 12 or 13 years old. But making it into the Main Imperial Academy was much harder. Plus, Noble Clans would hold their geniuses back until they were well prepared.

Just like Dean Pennel had said, Credits you gathered here carried a ridiculous amount of weight. Just graduating guaranteed you certain positions in high society. If a young noble joined too early, they would be at a disadvantage, and that would soon translate to the fall of a Clan over long enough periods of time.

This was all to say that Theron, who was only 14 years old, was actually two to three years younger than the vast majority of First Years. Plus, he didn’t have the systematic training a Noble Clan could give on top of that.

The skepticism and animosity of the young woman seemed warranted due to those reasons.

Theron came to a stop and the young woman almost crashed into his back.

‘Should be here.’

He looked up.

The bookcases of the library were shockingly tall. It felt impossible to get anywhere even with a ladder.

Rather than floors, the main library of the Imperial Capital was all on a single floor with a ceiling that was at least 50 meters tall. The bookcases themselves became the various “floors,” with each of them having various levels and ledges on them that attached rolling ladders.

From time to time, you could see students and teachers alike zipping by on these ladders and coming to abrupt stops at locations that interested them.

Theron waited until a ladder swung by and he grabbed it. There was some force behind it to be sure, but he held on firmly, his body hardly swaying.

‘Interesting…’

Compared to this, the branch academy felt far less dangerous and imposing. But it seemed that not only did this main library protect its information through formations and the like, but also by challenging you to have enough strength.

Theron began to climb, his movements smooth. He could only shake his head again when he felt the woman still following after him.

He was certain that she wasn’t supposed to be here, but it seemed that she didn’t care about her own job anymore. Then again, with her talent, she probably didn’t need to worry about much more than being scolded a bit.

The ladder came to an end and he reached a ledge. Theron frowned and looked down.

‘There’s a warp here… Fascinating.’

On the ground, the ceiling only felt 50 meters away. But right now, it still felt 50 meters away.

It was a very complicated application of Space Mana.

Theron continued to climb.

“Hey! Wait! You don’t have the authority to—.”

Theron passed right through a hidden barrier unobstructed.

The number of flying ladders increased at this point, but the number of actual people here had decreased. Suddenly, the ground felt hundreds of meters away, while the ceiling still felt like it was just 50.

Theron, though, had found what he was looking for. He plucked a book out of the shelf, shifted his position on the ladder, and took a seat right on the end of the ledge as though there was a drop to death down below his feet.

The young woman glared at him, still holding onto the ladder.

“How long are you going to pretend?”

“I prefer to read in silence,” Theron said calmly.

“If you think that—.”

“You’re a librarian here, aren’t you? Are you aware of the rules around silence? Or do I need to read them out for you?”

The young woman froze.

“You…”

Theron began to flip through the pages, his eyes scanning, but his Third Eye shifting even faster. He gained a sharpness to him that made any rebuttal the young woman might have had fall into an abyss of nothingness.

Then, minutes later, he suddenly closed the book, his eyes lost in thought.

‘Gale… Nothing to do with wind… Is that the secret?’

Theron drew a finger across the air, a stream of blue following it in a gorgeous arc. The Water Mana in the air moved toward him like it was being naturally funneled.

He was Water Mana, and Water Mana was him.