The Beast Guild was entirely different from how the Beast Hall was. In the Beast Hall, there was only two floor levels. Inside these floors were the different halls with their different purposes. The Book Collection Vault there just contained hard-to-find practical knowledge books.
However, the Beast Guild was different. The Beast Guild of the Junior Academy of the Gifted had six floors, and each floor covered everything according to the beast tamers' respective ranks.
The first floor had its Main Hall, 1-star Book Collection Vault, Book Tamers' Examination Hall and Hall of Will. The same went with the second floor.
In the second floor, there was little to no difference with the first floor. Only that this floor was in line with the 2-star rank. In the past, I'd already visited the first floor and acquired knowledge on beast taming of the 1-star level from every single book there.
After my earlier epiphany, I was quite confident that if I could have access to some of the books in the second floor, I'd be able to ace the 2-star beast tamers' examination.
Since I made the bet, it'd be best to dish it hot.
Not even sparing a glance at the boy who was about to spend on me, I asked for the direction of the Book Collection Vault and walked into it in wide strides.
In front of the hall, the door was shut close, so I had to knock. An electronic voice came from the door as a little plate protruded from it.
"Place your badge for access."
I dropped the badge into the plate without hesitation. A blue light appeared to be scanning the badge, and finally, the voice came again.
"Access granted, please retrieve your badge."
Immediately after replacing the 2-star emblem the middle-aged man had given me back on my chest, the door automatically opened.
What I saw next left my jaws falling.
"Ahh!"
Spirals and spirals of books covered my sight. There were several staircases of books. How was one supposed to read this under four hours?
* * *
In the second floor Main Hall...
"Senior, just who is that girl? And why does she have to be let into the Book Collection Vault with such VIP access? She's so full of herself!" Juan exclaimed with clenched fists.
"Young Master Juan, calm down. I have a reason for whatever I do. You know that I'm demi-human, right?" said the middle-aged man.
Juan arcked an eyebrow. "What does this have to do with this?"
The middle-aged man was known as Wangqing. And he was a demi-human with a cultivation realm of Meditation realm, which he'd been stuck in for over five years, and couldn't make a breakthrough. After he'd graduated from the Junior Academy of the Gifted, he was unable to gain the privilege of advancing his study into the Intermediate Academy of the Gifted, so he chose rather to be situated here in JAG and work full-time in the front desk of the Beast Guild, until he would make a breakthrough.
His clan, in particular, was Gifted with an exceptionally sensitive nose. Yes, he was from the same clan as Zhang Lu, the latter which had Gifted Stephanie with the Way of Disguise manual, and also her room predecessor. But unlike her, Zhang Wangqing was only from the side family.
He quickly explained, "I can't be any sure, but when that lass stepped in, I sensed an aura of divinity exuding from her. Even though she'd suppressed her cultivation aura quite well, she definitely couldn't conceal the aura of divinity from me."
Juan stared blankly. "Huhn... aura of divinity? What's that?"
* * *
Of course, on entering the library, I was oblivious to the conversation that had just taken place behind me. I was stunned by how much books were here. In truth, these books were over five hundred, if that wasn't an understatement.
Casting my eyes across the room, I realised that there was someone there. It was a girl with hair parked into two braids. She looked like a carbon copy of Juan, but I didn't have the time to consider her appearance. She smiled at me in acknowledgement before going back to her book. She was reading quite swiftly at an alarming rate.
'Just four hours,' I muttered within me.
Since I hadn't sufficient time, it also meant I should get started.
'Fingers of Knowledge!'
I spread out my hands and began to skip about. Whatever book my fingers touched would make its content known to me. I hadn't really done any exercise for a while, so this would work out as a substitute.
After going to the place where I could find basic knowledge, I absorbed all the knowledge there in just fifteen minutes because I was moving exceptionally fast.
Some books were just on insights and experiences some grand masters shared on their days as 2-star beast tamers. These experiences were quite enjoyable to scan through. But what was funny was that, dozens of them were flooding into my head simultaneously.
Rows of shelves after rows of shelves, stairs of books after stairs of books, I'd keep running and spreading my fingers against. At a time, I'd even challenged myself on the speed it takes me to finish a single stair of books or shelf of books.
"10 seconds, I can do better."
"Jeez... I passed by a wink, 9 seconds."
"Ugh... back to 10!"
"Great, 8 seconds, I broke a record."
It was quite fun at first. However, an hour later, I was already soaked with sweat all through. Even my hair wasn't spared. Still, I kept screaming in my head.
'Persevere!'
'Jeez... the knowledge is so exhilarating!'
Obviously, with this amount of knowledge, if I called myself "second most knowledgeable" in this second floor, none would dare to proclaim themselves first, without losing grandly.
The great thing about this Finger of Knowledge ability was that, wherever one author was flawed, another author's explanation would cover it. Due to difference in perspectives, it was normal for people to become confused after reading too many books on the same topic, so with this ability of balancing the knowledge, my knowledge could even be illustrated at perfect!
Two hours later...
Now this was what sweat looked like. If not for the fact that I was a cultivator, and that I had the self-revitalising technique from practicing the United Heavens method, I'd have long fainted.
* * *
The girl in the library was already startled shock. She couldn't take it any longer. Like... 'who ever skips in the Book Collection Vault?'
This girl had placed 3rd in the entrance examination, and few days after entering the academy, she'd been paying a visit everyday to the 2-star Book Collection Vault, paying huge sums of money just to be able to enter.
She came from a very wealthy family, and the boy outside, Juan, was her twin brother. They were also both classmates in the Tower of Cultivation. He'd come to wait for her to finish with reading, before he'd encountered with Stephanie.
She shook her dress as she stood up.
"Just what was this girl up to? Does this look like the best place to practice ballet. Plus, just see how she's sweating profusely... doesn't she have respect for the Beast Guild? Just you wait till you're done. If you don't give a genuine explanation, the principal would be hearing about this," she muttered to herself.
Comforted by what she'd just said, she went back to sit down, taking her twentieth book for that morning, immediately immersing herself into the pages.