Opening the door, Roderic walked into the room. He grimaced as the smell of blood reached his nostrils.
Shifting his gaze, he saw the four students fighting against one another, trying their best to kill each other as always.
He clapped with his hands loudly to announce his entry.
"Alright, this is enough! The class has ended!" He felt a slight regret as he would have liked to let the young ones fight each other as long as possible, thus becoming stronger, but unfortunately, his boss, Elysia, was right. There was a real danger of dying from overexertion.
Hearing his words, the four students collapsed on the ground as they felt the room heal their wounds.
"So? How did I do?" Zaroth asked weakly as he shifted his gaze to Roran.
Roran smiled, "Not bad considering this was the first time you used two weapons at once, but your coordination is a mess. You'll have to work on that." Experience new stories on My Virtual Library Empire
Taking a few minutes to rest, the four stood up and went outside.
"So you want me to go to the library?" Zack asked as he glanced at Zaroth.
"Yes, I'm telling you, there is nothing more calming than reading a book in silence!"
"If you say so,"
Zaroth smiled, seeing that Zack had agreed, and shifted his gaze to Roran and Lily. "What about you guys? Will you come along?"
"We can't, we're busy," Roran answered.
"Maybe next time!" Lily spoke as she waved before the two disappeared from view.
Zack sighed. "Okay, lead the way."
*****
"So this is it, huh?" Zack exclaimed as he glanced around the massive library.
Zaroth raised an eyebrow. "What, haven't you been here before?"
Zack looked the other way, embarrassed. "I… no, I haven't," he admitted.
"No worries, everything has a first time. Okay, let's see… what should we read?"
"No, I'm okay, I'll find something for myself to read," Zack spoke as he headed to the upper floor.
'Well, if he says he's fine, I have to leave him alone, I guess,' Zaroth thought as he began searching for a new book to read.
"This one looks good!" The book was named 'The Art of Daggers,' and considering that Zaroth had decided to learn how to use them, it was surely going to be a good read.
He picked up the book and headed to the reading room.
Placing his hand on the doorknob, he felt his heart beat faster. 'Would she be here?' he wondered.
Pushing the door open, he entered the room and scanned the area. There were a few students, which was a surprise, as usually the reading room was almost always empty with the exception of him and…
"She isn't here…" he sighed in disappointment.
'It was a pity. I hoped Midnight was here…' he thought, but there wasn't much he could do. So he sat at an empty table, opened the book, and began to read.
'There are multiple ways to wield a dagger. Some hide the weapons and use it only when the time is right to stab the enemy in the back. Others use it in conjunction with another weapon. For example, it is common for a swordsman to have a dagger in their non-dominant hand.
And there's also the option of wielding two, which would require you to get close to your target to injure them. As such, we will also talk about how to increase your running speed, as this will be helpful later…'
Zaroth was focused on the book, diligently reading it and absorbing the information as much as possible.
Even before the tournament had started, he had come to the conclusion that there were tons of techniques for him to learn. But there was just one problem.
He lacked talent.
And even if he didn't, he would still need a lot of time to learn everything a fighting skill has to offer.
So to save time, he would learn about 80% of the fighting style and disregard the rest.
Rather than achieving true mastery of a subject, he would become proficient in countless areas.
With time, the more things he became proficient at, the more potential paths would open to him, or at least, that was the plan.
There was a saying, "Jack of all trades, master of none."
But what most people didn't know was that this wasn't the whole saying. It was,
"Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than master of one."
This was his goal to becoming stronger. This wasn't just an idea that had come randomly in his head.
In the future, when he fights the gods, they, as the gods themselves, would be the pinnacle of all existence. For instance, what would happen if Zaroth was only able to fight with a sword, and what if he fought against a god who was a master of sword fighting?
The answer was simple. He would lose. He wasn't dumb enough to think that he would be able to surpass the gods in their specialty, they were the gods, after all.
But in that scenario, what if Zaroth wasn't only able to use a sword? What if he was able to use every weapon there is? And if one added magic into the mix as well…
He smiled darkly as his eyes narrowed.
Even by just reading a simple book, he was able to feel himself becoming stronger, as the techniques discussed in it would be applicable if he fought with a spear or sword as well.
He was interrupted as the chair across from him moved. Zaroth shifted his gaze only to see Zack.
Moving his gaze to the book, he read the title, 'A Princess in Distress and the Forsaken.'
Zack saw the grin on Zaroth's face and grimaced as he asked, "What?"
"Nothing…" Zaroth scoffed, "It's just that I didn't expect you to read romantic stories…"
Zack took a deep breath, trying to hide the fact that his face had become a bit red from embarrassment. "I'm here to relax! Don't judge me!"
Zaroth shrugged. "Alright, alright, I'll leave you alone."
A silence befell them as they focused on their books.
In contrast to all the things that had been happening to and around Zaroth, he found it refreshing to have a moment of peace.