"I have promised you benefits in return for your blood," Claudia said. "I always keep my promise. Therefore, I allow you to access my library, but… I only allow you to get one book. You cannot take a peek at each of them. You can only read their titles and then pick one."
"Alright," Tom replied.
Claudia looked at him up and down. "Even though you already learned a legendary skill, that is still not enough for what you about to face in the future. You need a skill that makes it hard for someone else to kill you."
"How did you know I learned a legendary skill?"
"Doesn't matter. Hino, bring him there."
"Yes, big sister!" Hino grabbed Tom's finger and bring him into a hallway.
As they were walking, Hino looked at Tom and asked: "Big brother Tom, do you like sister Claudia?"
"Do I like her? Hmmm, I am not sure. Well, I don't hate her."
"Emmm, sister Claudia seems to really like big brother a lot."
"You think so?" Tom wondered what of Claudia's behavior made Hino think that way.
"Un." Hino nodded. "Big sis Claudia rarely talks with anyone else. She barely even look at them in the eye."
"And you think she likes me because she do those to me?"
"Hino never saw sister Claudia let anyone touch her before."
Tom thought about it but then shook his head. "She just wants my blood. You see, I have a special type of blood and she greatly benefit from it."
"Hino doesn't see it that way. Hino believe sister Claudia really really likes brother Tom."
"So you think I should wife her?" Tom said jokingly.
Hino's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea big brother Tom. You should wife her. I am sure she will agree."
Tom chuckled. "She is a very powerful teacher of the best university in the entire kingdom. Not to mention she was a member of a powerful mysterious family that nobody wants to mess with. Why do you think she will agree to marry me?"
"Emmm, because sister Claudia likes brother Tom?"
"It's not that simple. You are still a child Hino. In the adult world, we don't really use feeling to affect our decision. Feeling is not a very effective measurement for us to do something. After all, feeling is a temporary think. For example, say you are feeling hungry, but if someone is willing to give you a powerful treasure, are you willing to hold your hunger for a day?"
"Ummm, Hino probably would."
"See. Now you get it. Most of us will choose to hold our hunger because we know by doing that we can get a higher feeling of pleasure later on by suffering today," Tom explained.
"Say that miss Claudia really likes me. She won't probably marry me despite that, because she know she can marry someone with an even greater status than me which would enable her to receive more status, wealth, and resources."
"Is every adults like that? They marry someone who can give them the greatest benefit?"
"I think so."
"That's… boring. Hino wants to marry someone that is kind, lovely, and fun to play with. Hino wants an adventure!"
"An adventure?"
"Yes! Hino wants someone that can bring Hino to explore new things every day! It's okay, if he doesn't know a lot of stuff. We can learn together!"
That statement reminded him of his adventure with his wives. Climbing the Mount Fargon, sailing through the sea, getting into the World Tree, and so much more.
That was a fun time. They made camps together, cook together, eat and sleep together.
Well, not saying that it wasn't fun here, but he missed those days sometimes.
"I believe you are right, Hino. We should bond ourselves with those who are kind and adventurous. And maybe not just an adventure of exploring new cities or traveling around, but perhaps adventure through life, trying new things, learning new stuff, solving problems together with smiles and laughter."
"Has brother Tom experienced that before?"
"Maybe." Tom smiled.
Hino was slightly confused at that answer, but she was quickly distracted. "We are here!"
They entered the library, but Tom did not see any books. Instead, glowing words floated in the air.
[Barbarian Codex]
[Scroll of The Lion]
[Voice of Covenant]
[Frostward]
"Hmmm, there are many skills here, but none to my liking."
"Ah, Hino was told to recommend a movement skill book."
"Movement skill book? You mean skills that will help me escape?"
"Un! Not only for escaping, brother Tom can also use it for setting up an attack."
Tom nodded in agreement. Though he was quite agile, he did not actually have any agility skill book. Most of his skills were for offensive purposes. And he loved it since he could easily defeat his enemies with overwhelming power. He had so many offensive skills, but he only use some of them.
"What book would you recommend?"
"This one." Hino pointed.
[Cat of The West]
"That book? It doesn't seems very powerful."
"The Cat of The West book is a good agility book," Hino said.
"Does it let me move around like a cat or something?"
Hino pouted. "It's not like that."
Tom chuckled. "Alright alright. I will pick that one then."
A book appeared in Tom's hand.
[Cat of The West (Epic)]
[Would you like to learn this skill?]
"It might take you a while to learn this book, big brother. Even Hino took a while to learn it."
"Yes," Tom said. Suddenly, Tom's body lit up and all kinds of magical runes appeared on his body for a few seconds.
A moment later, Tom bent his knee and he vanished from the spot. Appearing atop a balcony before vanishing again and reappearing on the ceiling.
Hino watched Tom appear and disappear over and over again with shock in her eyes.
Lastly, Tom appeared in front of Hino.
"This skill is not bad."
"Big brother, how did you do it!?"
"Do what?"
"How did you learn the skill so fast?"
"I guess I am a fast learner." Tom smiled.
Hino looked at him in awe. "Big brother, we should tell sister Claudia of your talent. If she knows your talent, she will agree to marry you."
"Why do you want me to marry her so bad?"
"Ehh… she kissed you and you even touched her… so, shouldn't you two marry?"
"Uhh… she did that just to warm my blood."
"Ehh!!!"
Tom laughed. "You shouldn't think much of it, Hino. You will understand a lot of stuff when you grow older."
Suddenly, the door to the library opened, and Claudia entered. "Have you picked yet?"
"Yes, I have," Tom replied.
"Which one did you pick?"
"The Cat of The West."
"Good one. You will need that in the future."
"You keep saying that. What will I face in the future anyway?"
"The school is going to held a competition. It's officially 50,000 years since Withokere University has been formed."
"What? The university is that old??"
"Why are you so surprised? Besides, it's not very old compared to other things in history."
Tom accessed the Mechanicum's database and confirmed that the University of Withokere had existed for around 50,000 years. Apparently, not much stuff was known about its history. Most of them were lost, because wars, battles, betrayals, assassination were commons. The Kingdom of Withokere had went through many dark ages and golden ages. In this era, and the last few era, the kingdom had thankfully went through more golden ages than the dark ones.
"What competition?" Tom asked.
"Actually, it's not just Withokere. All the top universities in Ezo, Presbuton, and Tarford will participate. They will send their best students in a competition, but before that happen there will be a small and quick competition in every university to decide who is the best."
"I am not interested in joining," Tom said.
Claudia squinted her eyes. "The grand competition will be held in a spirit realm."
"Spirit realm? Are you serious?"
"Yes. It's a mysterious world with possible different laws and rules than ours. Perhaps, you can find something useful in there that might help you break through Adamantite Rank."
"Spirit realm… now that interest me."
"Train as hard as you can. You might fight Russam to a draw before, but he never stopped improving on his strength. He also has a big brother that wants to defeat you more than anything."
"Nerdam Biv? The number one student in Withokere?"
"Yes. Do not underestimate him. He is the number one student for a reason."
"I never underestimate my enemy." Tom smiled.
"That is good. For the next few months, I will summon you here."
"What for?"
"I have found a new method to increase your strength and mine. It's a very effective technique despite you being far weaker than me. But thanks to your blood, I can grow in strength as well."
"What kind of technique is it?"
"Dual Cultivation."
"…Oh."
