Rod hesitated for a moment.
Should I slap him in the face, or use my special technique?
He glanced at Kashan and thought to himself, there's no need to use my special technique for just a team leader.
Even though he felt a bit weak from overusing his Spiritual Energy just now, covering one arm should be no problem.
"Alright, then."
Rod raised his hand, and Spiritual Light appeared at his fingertips, quickly spreading over his arm and extending to his shoulder blade.
"There, now do it for me."
Rod said briefly and suddenly realized that everything had gone silent around him.
Looking around, everyone was stunned; Wayne's mouth hung open, unable to close, and the green-haired guy bragging about his "Spirit Merging Technique" had his jaw almost dislocated.
Kashan's eyes were wide open with incredulous shock flooding her lake-blue irises, all the pride on her beautiful face had vanished.
"You, how do you have so much? Why didn't Teacher Karaman mention it during class? I mean, when did you awaken it?"
This naturally born team leader sister was so surprised she was almost speaking gibberish.
"Just now," Rod answered casually.
"That's impossible! Using Spiritual Energy takes a long time..."
"Nothing's impossible."
Rod was slightly irritated, thinking that slapping faces wasn't very effective; he would just go for his special moves next time.
"What does our little bit of Spiritual Energy amount to? It's just like dust, not even as bright as the scattered Spiritual Power Light floating in the air. What's so strange about me mastering such a tiny bit of power?"
For some reason, that statement worked wonders.
Kashan nodded, "Alright, I'll go with you and get it done."
She turned around and raised her voice, "There are no classes this afternoon. Everyone is to assemble in the common rest area at two o'clock hour at noon for continued training. I'll be using Moon Sleep Dust, and everyone must attend."
"Oh—"
"Understood."
"Fine."
The response was quite enthusiastic, and though it was Kashan's first day on the job, she seemed to have already established some prestige.
But some people weren't quite convinced.
Wayne muttered, "I was saying I'd go to 'The Fairy's Homeland' to try the Blue Lamp Grass Fruit Bubble."
The green-haired guy was also discontent, "What's the use of hard training? Obviously, all you need is to Spirit Meld with Teacher Karaman, just like Rod must have done to gain his Spiritual Energy. He's too crafty; it should have been me filled with Spiritual Energy, but instead, he saw so much and stole the inspiration that should have been mine. I should have paid more attention!"
Wayne yawned hugely, paying him no mind.
All he wanted was to graduate peacefully and then join the relatively safe City Defense Army, earning a decent salary to bring his family from Black Bull Village to the Royal City. That would complete his dream.
The idea of striving hard for a moment of glory wasn't even within his consideration.
Let alone the green-haired guy's nonsensical theories.
----
With Kashan's help, Rod quickly obtained an "Academy Pass."
It was the document that allowed free entry into the Jinwoosi Academy.
With it, Rod could now enter Jinworth's library and look for the books he needed.
Before leaving, Kashan asked, "Aren't you coming this afternoon?"
"No, I won't. I've said that I want to study."
Kashan nodded, "Studying is good too; knowledge is our second life. But do it in moderation and don't exceed your limits..."
She prattled on for quite a bit, but Rod didn't listen to a single word, his mind already on the library and the unknown texts.
When she finished her long-winded speech, Rod quickly ran off to the library.
It was a large building by the lakeside, its pure white walls reflecting the lakelight, giving it an artistically serene atmosphere.
Most of the passersby were senior students and teachers in dark robes; there were very few freshmen like Rod.
Stepping into the library, a sense of tranquility engulfed him, making one's breath lighten.
Rod approached the library administrator, wanting to borrow all the books related to text.
Of course, the administrator did not agree, but he gave Rod a "Language Encyclopedia" and "Evolution of Text," directing him to use the catalog to find the books he truly needed.
Then, Rod tragically discovered that he recognized only a very small portion of the text in these two books.
"This guy is truly ignorant."
Rod muttered to himself and had no choice but to borrow a "Universal Language Introduction Dictionary" to help him continue reading.
Thus, the nightmare began.
All afternoon, Rod stayed in the library, learning the universal language and studying the two books with the aid of the dictionary.
It must be said that the variety of written languages in this world is truly extensive, perhaps because history has been obscured in the dark for too long, there are over a hundred different ancient languages alone.
Until it got dark, he still hadn't identified the type of writing from his dream.
Having no other option, Rod sought help from the librarian—he had originally not wanted to display those words.
Unfortunately, after examining them carefully, the librarian also shook his head.
"I do not recognize these characters, perhaps they are some newly discovered ancient language."
Rod's heart sank, but he still asked with a glimmer of hope, "Does anyone else recognize them?"
The librarian shook his head: "I'm one of the members researching ancient languages at the academy, and I can distinguish all the known ancient languages. The academy definitely has no record of this language."
"So what should I do?"
"You can contribute all your copies of this writing to the academy, and they might organize experts to study it, but both the timeline and results are uncertain."
Without a second thought, Rod refused: "That doesn't seem like a good idea."
The librarian was not bothered and continued, "You could also find a collaborator who is interested in researching with you, sharing the results between the two of you. If the Royal City discovers the significance of this ancient language, you both could receive a generous reward. This language bears some resemblance to ancient languages, so you could use this 'Ancient Language' as a reference."
Rod hesitated for a moment, then borrowed the "Ancient Language" with the intention of investigating on his own first.
Just studying a few sentences using the dictionary shouldn't be too hard, right?
By the time he returned to his dormitory, it was late into the night.
Although the difference between day and night wasn't significant, the Black Fog enveloping the skies of Royal City made it seem like midnight at any time, but the people still distinguished between day and night.
This was evident from the clock hanging above the dormitory.
They divided the day into four clock hours: Morning, Noon, Evening, and Night.
Each clock hour was further divided into four quarters.
There were a total of sixteen clock hours in a day.
Now, the time shown by the clock was the third quarter of Evening.
Which was roughly equivalent to about 10 p.m.
Rod closed the door of his dormitory and began studying "Ancient Language."
This was an excruciatingly painful task. It was like needing to study Russian with materials in English when you are not proficient in English—a double pain, a double difficulty.
Rod felt his head was about to split, but for the sake of his own safety, he persevered.
Fortunately, for some unknown reason, he felt a natural affinity for these characters, and as he translated, flashes of Spiritual Light appeared in his mind, giving him a vague understanding of their meanings and helping him make the correct translation choices.
Even so, only halfway through the night, roughly the equivalent of three or four in the morning, did he have some preliminary results.
The text on the dark red star was:
Dark Devourer.
State: Constant Burning.
Star Energy: Soul Erosion.
Quantification: Dark Abyss, Eternal Fog, Ancient Russia Blood.
Strength: Medium.
Description: Falsities in dreams, ultimate ideals, wings that surge when falling, the remaining sharpness on the long sword. She was born from humanity's most noble ideals and died from humanity's dirtiest desires.
——
And the blood-red text on the back of the Obelisk was:
Invasion!
Invasion!
Invasion!
After three sunsets, the Nightmare arrives!
Dead Soul Return to Silence, Spiritual Energy endures forever!