Northern stopped in front of the librarian's familiar face and dropped the books on his wide table.
The man adjusted his glasses with a slight push of his index finger and looked up at Northern with a warm smile, dropping his quill pen as he dragged the books closer for inspection.
"You enjoyed my recommendations?"
"Ah... yes. They were very helpful."
Northern waited, a blithe expression on his face as he watched the man check the books he had borrowed against the written records and mark them returned.
The librarian's voice came again as he did his work.
"It is quite rare to find a student much interested in history, let alone a student of the non- Combative school. You seem to be an amazing person."
Northern smiled softly.
"I am an amazing person."
The man paused for a moment, glancing at Northern.
"Ohh? Peak self-esteem, is it?"
Northern shrugged indifferently.
"Just the truth, I guess..."
The man's eyes held a hint of doubt, but out of politeness and respect for the kind of school Northern was from, he hid it.
Still, he offered a word of advice.
"You should at the very least learn to be humble enough to accept compliments. Especially considering that there are many here that can be quite..." he cleared his throat, looking around.
"...you know, arrogant."
Northern looked around; every corner and space of the library was brimming with students in white uniforms. He sort of understood what the man was insinuating.
But it was nonsensical. The man did not know him and had a thinking capability too limited to understand what he meant when he said it is just the truth.
It really is just the truth.
Although he still had a long way to go before he sat at the pinnacle of the world, but for
sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen-year-old academy kids, he was peak!
The man finally finished with the last book and looked at Northern longer, his gaze drilling further beyond the enchanting blue eyes they met.
Northern lowered his brows into a small discomforting frown.
The man withdrew his prolonged gaze and tapped on the books he just marked.
"You can return them to the shelves you picked them from."
Northern nodded and slowly packed the books. The librarian's voice, however, came again.
This time more politely and calm.
"So... how do you know Professor Heimburger?"
Northern raised a brow, unsure what the librarian was getting at. He slowly rose with the books in his hand before responding.
"I don't exactly know him. Someone referred me to him through a letter..."
"Oh? That's cool," the man said shortly, looking away for a moment. His eyes seemed to restlessly survey around, hands tapping on the table in a soft, chilling rhythm.
Northern looked at the librarian with a strange expression rising on his face.
"Is everything okay, Mr. Francisco?"
"Oh! Sure, pfft. Everything is perfectly fine. I just have anxiety disorder, so sometimes I tend to make a lot of noises. Ha ha..."
Northern slowly nodded.
He had noticed it in the few times he had come to visit the librarian; Mr. Francisco's hands rarely found peace in stillness.
They were always busy; if his hands were not, his legs would be, or he was making weird beatbox sounds with his mouth.
Although silent most times, Northern had seen him lose track of how loud he was a couple of times.
It was none of his business though.
"Alright then... I will take my leave..."
He turned away and was about to take a step when the man's voice came again.
Northern dropped a tired sigh and slowly turned around.
"What is it, Mr. Francisco?" His voice tinged with a little bit of frustration.
"Actually..." the man started with a down tone. "I was wondering... would you mind telling me who recommended you?"
Northern squinted one eye at the man, looking at him with a dubious expression.
"Why would I tell you that, Mr. Francisco? If you love the Professor so much, why don't you just go to his office?"
The man flared up, his face contorting wildly-eyes darting, brows twitching, and lips quivering in a chaotic jumble of emotions as his voice cracked.
"What? Go to his office? Are you out of your mind?!" His words spilled out in a panicked rush. "No one-no one dares to go to Heimburger's office except when summoned! You think it's that easy? Do you even know who he is?!"
A part of Northern's face squeezed in irritation.
The librarian's expression seemed borderline hysterical. Northern knew from Annette that the Professor was actually a bigger shot than he made himself look on their first day of meeting.
A founder that had managed to survive till now. The only surviving of all three. When Northern thought deeply about it, he was like a relic of the academy. But wasn't that all there was to it?
"Yeah. Sure, whatever. But I can't tell you who told me," he made clear curtly and left.
The librarian was left standing in his flared state, watching as Northern's figure strode deeper into the vicinity of the library until he cut toward a corner and disappeared totally from his
Northern still couldn't help but be disgusted at the shameless bootlicking of the librarian as The returned the books.
Maybe there was something that enraptured the poor man in the old glory of the only surviving academy founder.
Northern did not care. The only part of Professor Heimburger's existence that he cared about was if he knew about the dungeon's existence... and maybe how he was still alive despite
Northern finished returning the books and stepped away from the shelves. Behind him was another bookshelf, but the space between was large enough for two people to walk without brushing against each other.
Clapping the dust off his hands, Northern looked down as the familiar panel appeared in front
[You have discovered Talent: Tearing Blaze(C)]
[Do you want to copy talents for 400 talent fragments?]