The library didn't differentiate between Aura Knights and Mages. So he could freely access all the books there and learn as much as he wanted to.
If he spent some time understanding magic and aura before trying to grow stronger, then he felt it would be better for him. Unlike traditional mages, he never had a formal education that put him on the right track.
The only problem with that was that he would have to spend a lot of points and time to do that. He had already blown so many points on the pass that he was currently using.
After browsing through a few bookshelves, he started to get a sense of the place and where things were in the place. But he couldn't afford to spend too much time since he wanted to check out the second floor.
He ran out of the first floor and went to the ground floor. He ran to the staircase that led to the second floor. He showed the person his pass and quickly went up the stairs.
He got up and saw a very similar layout to what he saw on the first floor. He spent the next hour exploring the library and looking at the titles. Once he was done with all that, he left because he didn't want to be overcharged for doing nothing.
He had spent 7000 points on the one pass just to explore the library and judge whether it was useful. His verdict was that it was worth it. It could even be worth more than the entire 900000 Starcoins that he had spent to enter the academy.
Once he got out of the 2nd floor, he took his card from the man and asked a question before leaving.
"Do I have to get the passes from the Point Shop every time before coming here?" He asked.
The student shook his head. "No, it's just there for people who want to buy them for other people. It's generally for gifting purposes. You can just give your card here and pay before you enter the library. If you pay here, it's better since you will be paying per minute instead of per 2 hours. It's also cheaper than paying for a pass."
Leo realized how dumb it was to be paying for every two hours. At the same time, it was very interesting that people with more points could just buy it for other people. That would mean that students could theoretically pay real money to these students to get them to buy Library Passes for them.
At this point, he was considering that as an option if he ran out of points, but pushed it to the back of his head. He could afford at least 20 hours in the library with the points he had. If he spent 2 hours a day, that would last 10 days.
After deciding what he was going to do, he left the library. He went back to the Mission Hall.
Because he was with people he knew, he was very tame when he took his mission. He was not planning on going all the way to finish just a single mission. He was planning on finishing around 5 of them and just waiting 5 days before giving them to get the points.
He could spend the time wasted going to the forest on training instead. Once he took the missions he made his way to the forest.
While Leo was spending his time in the library, the people he made acquainted with each other were having an interesting day.
When Marcus and Lyra offered to take Madison with them to the forest, she was overjoyed. But when she realized what it meant she was starting to regret it.
Compared to both of them, she had a lot less stamina. She was starting to fall behind on the way to the forest itself. She was exhausted by the time they entered the forest.
Once they entered the forest, she got ready to hunt the monster and got two weird looks from Marcus and Lyra.
"What?" She asked.
Lyra looked at Marcus, asking him to answer.
"Well, you are getting ready to fight," he said.
She nodded. "Yes."
"But you don't have anything to fight. What are you getting ready for?" He asked.
She stuttered. "Well... normally my dad's guards bring the magical beast to where I am so I can fight it," she said.
Lyra let loose a chuckle. Madison immediately protested with a blush.
"You are a noble. There's no way that you know how to do this," she said.
Lyra smiled. "Because I am a noble, I am trained in the best ways to hunt Magical Beasts. That means that I am aware of how to track Magical Beasts and know when to retreat as well." She said.
Madison turned apologetic. "Sorry, I snapped. I was just very let down because I was feeling too odd in the group. Can you tell me what to do?" She asked.
Lyra nodded her head. "That's a good attitude. Now, what you want to do is get rid of your sword and look around. Look for traces of a Magical Beast. Since this is the outermost forest, it is most likely only 1st Circle Magical Beasts." She said.
Madison nodded and looked around. She couldn't find anything immediately striking. She kept looking but didn't see anything. Lyra guided her from the back.
"If you don't see anything, move forward into the forest. The deeper you go, the more likely you will find a Magical Beast." She said.
Madison followed her lead and slowly walked forward but still didn't see anything.
"Am I supposed to look for something?" She asked.
"Tracks in the mud. Broken branches. Dung. All of these are remnants of Magical Beasts," he said. "Animal tracks are the most common out of all of these."
She nodded and looked down. She immediately saw a range of animal prints.
"There's a lot of them. What does that mean?" She asked.
"It means there's a chance that there is a beast nearby. You just have to find it," Lyra said.
She looked around and had her hand on her sword, ready to attack. After venturing forward a few yards and staying there for a few minutes, she finally spotted movement.
She immediately lunged toward it, but a hand held her collar, stopping her from moving forward.
"Lesson 1 was learning how to find a Magical Beast. Lesson 2 is judging whether or not you can stand a chance against it." Marcus said. He released the collar and she stumbled forward.
Behind the trees, a leopard slowly came out to look at who was entering the forest. It was a Flame Leaf Leopard, a Late-Stage 1st Circle Magical Beast. It would have shredded Madison in seconds.
Lyra and Marcus released a little of their aura, scaring it off immediately. Meanwhile, Madison was dejected. She had worked so hard to find a Magical Beast only to find out that it was too strong for her.
"So, how long will it take me to actually find a Magical Beast I can fight?" She asked.
Marcus sighed. "At your current state? I think it's better if you don't find one at all."
