"What, but I was only one day late!" A voice of a student was heard by Asher as he entered the library.
"The fine will be 150 GP. I will not say it again," one of the librarians at the main desk replied.
"B-But, fine, but can I reissue this book," the student started discussing.
Seeing from his clothes, it was obvious he was a senior year student.
And not just him, many students could be seen here and most of them were senior year students.
Reading books at the Great Library cost GP if you were not one of the rankers or the student council members.
Asher entered through the large hallway and he arrived at the main desk.
The receptionist looked up and recognized the person before her.
"I want to enter the restricted area," Asher said, looking at her.
"Ah, yes, I need to create an entry for you," the receptionist quickly started working.
Asher's presence attracted many eyes.
"Is that him?" Some people started recognizing him but nobody approached him.
"Your entry is done, you can use your ID bracelet to enter the restricted area," the receptionist replied.
Asher turned as he passed through an area filled with big rooms, that had various shelves with numerous books.
Most of these books were available to all the students that were studying at World Academy.
They could be read easily, but spending time required GP and this made many people use their time in the Great Library efficiently.
Most people present here were either busy reading, or if they had enough GP, they would take the books to their rooms to read them peacefully.
But there were two areas of the Great Library that were only available to certain people.
VIP area: this area could only be accessed by the top 50 students of each year and the professors of the World Academy.
And then there was the restricted area, where only the Rank 1 student, or the Student Council president, including the Three Star professors, could enter.
Most of the professors that were either 1 Star or 2 Star were working at World Academy for years to get promoted to 3 Star so that they could enter this particular section of the Great Library.
Apart from old elite families, not many people held the various documents from the history of mankind.
Not only those, but books written by various people who had achieved great things were kept in this section. In his previous life, Asher didn't get to enter the restricted area because he never reached Rank 1 and he didn't need to as well.
The restricted area of the Great Library only held books that either had records or journals of the past, or research papers of various people. But Asher was only concerned about medical journals and all of them were available in the VIP section.
World Academy didn't need to restrict access to such books as potion making, herbology, etc.
The restricted area was made to hold knowledge that was judged that only a few should see.
Most of this research was gathered from fallen elite families throughout history and those people that wanted to share their knowledge with the future generation.
Asher looked at the white stairway that led to the third floor where the entrance of the restricted area was situated.
He walked on the stairway and soon arrived at the third floor.
This floor was empty as no one had entered it at this moment.
Asher arrived at the third floor and he could sense that every staff member present here was at least an A Rank hunter.
He walked on the large third floor, as it was also part of the VIP section, but this part was only accessible by the rankers.
Asher arrived at the old-looking man who was sitting in front of a peculiar gate that stood out from the various bookshelves that were present there.
The old man closed the book in his hands as he looked up and saw Asher, who was standing in front of him.
"ID," the old man asked Asher.
Asher showed his ID bracelet, and the old man pointed at the crystal that was present in front of the gate.
Asher then pointed the ID bracelet at the crystal as he heard a robotic voice.
<Identity Confirmed, Access Permission Found>
"Remember, you can only read the books inside. Taking them outside is prohibited and you can only spend 120 hours inside each month," the old man said.
"And each book has a protection charm so make sure you don't damage them, as strict actions will be taken against you," he explained.
"You can enter now," the old man waved his hand as he picked up his book again.
He was the head librarian of the Great Library, so his job was to make sure that all the rules were followed.
Asher stepped forward as the runes lit up from the crystal and the door opened, revealing a pathway to the restricted area.
Walking through the straight pathway, Asher could see that not much technology was used in this section of the Great Library. But the abundance of runes that were present showed how strict the security was.
Asher soon arrived at the end where he saw various staircases that had labeling on them.
From Magic Spells to Sword Arts, to Records of Events in the course of History. Various sections held various books that held great information inside them.
"Rune Arts," Asher muttered as he saw the staircase that took him towards the particular section of the restricted area.
Soon Asher arrived at a massive room that had books all around him.
"So one of these books holds the rune that unsealed my sword," Asher said as he looked around him.
He remembered the time during the end of the first year, when he was training with Xander Demarcus. Professor Neyman entered the training facility as he wanted to talk with Xander.
"Vice Principal Xander, it seems you are busy right now," Neyman said with a light laugh.
Xander stopped his lecture with Asher as he looked at Neyman.
"The lesson stretched more than needed," Xander replied, as he hadn't noticed the time.
"It seems you are enjoying teaching," Neyman said, but Xander just gave him a strange smile.
Neyman noticed Xander's expression, but his eyes drifted towards Asher who was leaving the room with a black sword in his hand.
"That's an interesting sword you have, mind if I take a look?" Professor Neyman asked.
Asher had a calm look on his face. He remembered Neyman, as he had once tried to teach him when he was young.
"Sure," Asher handed Neyman the sword.
"Hmmm," Neyman gripped the hilt as he started observing the dull black blade.
"Did you get it at the auction?" Neyman asked.
"Yes," Asher replied.
"Interesting, these are the same runes," Neyman's eyes widened.
"Can I have this sword?" Neyman asked as he looked at Asher.
"Of course, not for long, just a week," Neyman changed his words, thinking Asher might refuse.
"You can, but what do you need it for?" Asher asked.
It was not hard to notice Neyman's serious expression when he was observing the sword.
"It's related to a book I read recently about runes," Neyman replied.
