As Theron opened the library early on a weekend morning, the academy was sparsely populated. He went towards his desk and checked the catalog for the book and took a copy from the storage instead of taking it from the shelves. Most of the books in this library were mostly common ones and the ones that were important were not here so there were copies.
He sat at the desk and started reading the book. There were not many who visited the library so he had a good time reading the book.
Seraphina Veridale, the only daughter and the the hope of the Veridale family, entered the library to return the book she had borrowed the day before.
She had red fiery long hair, beautiful hazel eyes, wore a knee-length skirt with flame-like patterns, a well-fitted short-sleeved top, and a thin golden belt on her waist. She was very beautiful and enchanting that drew attention wherever she went.
She went into the library towards the desk towards the boy who was the librarian. He wore a simple yet slightly oversized blue shirt that hung loosely on his frame. His attire, while clean, hinted at a lack of attention to personal appearance. A pair of black trousers were fastened with a belt. His black hair was disheveled and covered his gray eyes while his figure was skinny. This person was focusing on the book he was reading and didn't notice the person who had arrived.
Silently watching him absorbed in his book, Seraphina felt a hint of amusement. This boy who seemed adrift and lost just yesterday, was now focusing on a book as if his future depended on it. Even though She couldn't see his eyes clearly with his bangs, she knew that this person was really focused on this book. She waited for a moment before coughing.
Startled, Theron almost lost his grip on the book, as a startled gasp escaped his lips. The pages rustled, threatening to slip from his fingers but he managed to get a hold of it. A slight flush colored his cheeks as he glanced up, meeting Seraphina's gaze with a mixture of embarrassment.
"I'm sorry if you have waited for long"
"No need to apologize. It's quite impressive to see someone so engrossed in a book."
"Oh, it's, uh, it's just that I got fascinated that I lost track of time. Can I help you with something?"
Seraphina chuckled softly as she said
"Actually, I came to return this book"
"Oh, it seems you are returning it before the due date. Did you finish it already?"
Seraphina had a troubled look on her face which Theron noticed,
"Yes, it was such an umm… interesting book that I couldn't put it down and before I noticed, I finished it"
"I'm glad that you enjoyed it" "Thank you"
"Well then, until next time"
She said as she turned to leave, the soft echo of he footsteps fading in the quiet library. When reaching the entrance,
'Whew, I'm glad that he didn't talk about the book'
'Hmm, the cover of the book, was it something related to swords'
She thought as she remembered the scenes
'I must be imagining things'
'How would a person from a mage family learn swordsmanship and second of all he doesn't even have a martial bone'
Inside the library, after Seraphina left the place, Theron sighed a relief as he sat down at his chair.
"Well, that was embarrassing"
"I didn't expect her to come today"
Theron had checked the catalog and saw that no one was returning their books today. So, he was engrossed in his reading and didn't notice her.
"Why did she come though" 'Oh wait, I know'
He seemed to have remembered a bit about Seraphina. He didn't remember everything about this word but it seems to be coming back to him slowly. Soon, he finished reading.
[Quest Completed]
[Rewards: Space ring x 1, Rift key x 1, AP(Affection points) x 20 ]
[Affection board updated]
[Seraphina Veridale]
[Favorability: 0.05%]
[Emotion: Curiosity]
[30 Affection points gained]
After seeing this, he thought for a while. If this was really what he thought of, then he will need to be readied to face anything that would come in the future. Since coming to this world of magic, he wanted to be stronger. Of course when he thought about the protagonist of the story and such, he didn't want to support the person or follow under him. The protagonist was another person and he was him, a mob and helping such person might create danger for himself and he didn't have power to protect himself. What he wanted was strength and the power to change his fate even if the future would be changed.
'This affection thing is related to the heroines'
'I don't know the reason why I got this thing but it seems to be the key in changing my fate'
'What would happen if the affection was 100%'
He thought of something and his face turned red for a moment before getting back his composure.
— — —
(Back inside his room)
'If its like that, I will need to attack… ahem, I mean save the heroines from the ravenous protagonist'
'Its not like they have met yet so its fair, all is fair in love'
'But without power I am still just a mob' The system hadn't given him anything to make him stronger he thought, which reminded him of the rewards which he got from the quest.
'A space ring'
"This is a bit expensive on the market" He took out his phone and checked it and saw that it was indeed expensive but not too expensive as the space was not that large. The other one was a rift key which was something he had never heard of before. He knew about rifts, rifts were tears of space where monsters from another realm come forth and bring ruin but they didn't appear prominently in the early parts but they were part of something later on.
The last one affection points, he had a total of 50 right now and wanted to see what he could get in the shop but was disappointed and came back because the things he could buy with his amount right now were not really good so he just closed the shop.
[Quest has arrived]
[Would you like to accept the quest "Training"]
[Yes] [No]
He accepted the quest.
[Quest: Training]
[Description: Before using the knowledge from "Swordsmanship basics" to train, the body must be stronger]
[Requirements: 100 x push-ups, 20 km Jog, 50 x Squats, 5-minutes plank, 10 x pull-ups]
He didn't know what he would gain out of just training himself physically since he didn't have a martial bone but since it was a quest and he would gain rewards out of it, he just decided to do it.