"What else does one come to do in a Library?" Rem asked while stepping in and shutting the door behind him, Upon hearing his reply, Drew scratched the back of his head nervously and smiled.
"Read I guess," Drew said, "But it's quite a surprise to see you here, I figured you were already plotting a way to escape if things didn't go your way,"
Rem sighed as he began walking toward the first shelf that caught his eye.
"I prefer reading than planning of impossible things," Rem said, "Besides you're a Cavalier, aren't you? Why aren't you practicing?"
Drew shrugged his shoulder.
"By practicing, what do you mean?" Drew asked.
"Like honing your skills or something like that, you seem to be a pretty powerful guy," Rem replied as he arrived at the shelf.
"I see no reason for it, my skills are already honed to the maximum of their capability," Drew said with a shrug, "After all, I was graded D by the Cavalier institution,"
"And you own such a big mansion, hired so many instructors, have so many maids- it's hard to believe that you're not a Fake grader," Rem said.
A Fake grader was a Cavalier or Magus who faked their grades to refrain from attracting too much attention to themselves- of course, Fake graders were delirious psychopaths that killed their fellow Raiders which was why Rem didn't want to meet any of them too early although he had quite a theory to test out if he did meet one eventually.
"No," Drew said and flipped another page in his book, "This wealth was amassed by my Father, A former S-grade Cavalier, one of the few that are actually human. Even if I got graded badly by the Institution, I decided to make sure that others like you wouldn't be subjected to the same fate,"
Rem didn't stop looking through the shelf, staring at the titles of the book- in the end, no matter what, Drew was always going to be a good guy… If Rem was in his shoes, he would train all of skills to the brink and strengthen himself with this wealth before going for a retest- all of the training he would have done was not in vain and he would have gotten a higher rank as well, which meant higher missions which subsequently meant higher pay.
It would be more beneficial to Drew to invest on himself rather than investing on young children which were bound to fail at some point- they were only children after all, but Rem could see a positive side of this gamble… perhaps Drew could sense that they were all special, all except Cole in a way… Rem could sense no Soul energy from the boy but there was always a chance.
"Okay," Rem said with a shrug and pulled out a book from the shelf, he had to admit, the book was well taken care of – the cover was clean and Rem was sure that this library was being cared for by the maids every day, "Quite a lot of books are in here,"
"Yeah, you've barely scratched the surface of these books, there are quite a lot of them in here and even I haven't read them all yet," Drew said, "and I've been reading since I was ten,"
Rem's eyes momentarily widened in surprise as he stared up at the ceiling… the shelves were actually reaching the ceiling and Rem was now sure that it had been built a library.
"The books here existed a long time before I was born, telling of ancient folklore and stories about the world of the old," Drew said, "They are priceless possessions and I cannot give them away as easily as you think I could,"
Rem's figure trembled with excitement but he did his best to hide it, if these books existed even before Drew was born, there was always a chance that amidst the other books, Cavalier techniques of the old were also available… of course Rem would have to compare them to present techniques before he could ultimately make a decision.
With that in mind, Rem took a seat with considerably enough distance from Drew before flipping open the book he had brought down from the shelf- ready to enlighten himself by reading a book.
#####
Sun streaked through the window blinds in Rem's room and landed on his bed but the boy was not resting on the bed, rather he was putting on his Tracksuit.
'Drew wasn't lying about them being tales of the old,' Rem thought as he zipped up his tracksuit and stretched a bit- he had already freshened up and was preparing to head out too, after he finished his morning stretching to make sure his muscles became relaxed.
Just as Rem finished his stretches, a butler knocked on his door.
"Young Master Rem, you are required to be on the Fifth floor," He said, only for the door to open instantly and Rem to walk out-
"Already on my way," Rem said and the butler nodded, Rem moved by him and began his ascent through the staircase since his room was so close to the staircase.
The Mansion was about seven floors high and each floor had it's own purpose, Rem was sure either the sixth or seventh floor was Drew's living area but they weren't allowed in it. Today was just a simple lesson, on how to use Magical weapons like the Heavenly Crossbow that he had stored within his soul- this led Rem to deduce that he would be able to store his own magical weapon within his soul, bringing it out at any time and empowering it even further.
"Well I'm about to find out any way," Rem said as he arrived at the fifth floor and saw Cole leaning against the wall, his crimson hair covering his eyes and his breathing even, he had been here for quite a while.
"You're early, huh?" Cole asked, he pushed off the wall and smoothed his hair, "You're a newbie so you're probably trying to get some good points with the Instructors,"
Rem didn't answer, he had already gotten his good points at the first confrontation between himself and Cole… that was sure to shock the instructors into believing he had a lot of potential and their training to him would naturally be different.
"Let me give you a word of advice, The main Instructor- Instructor Martinez deals with Survival training, especially in the harsh terrain of the Dungeon where the situation could change at any time… I'd advise you to go for that course; after all, you lived in a town… A dungeon's harsh condition could be too much for you to handle," Cole said but Rem shrugged.
"I've already been in a dungeon before," Rem said and silence ensued as Cole stared at his face, his crimson eyes tracing for any hint of deception yet he could find none- Rem was telling the truth.
He cleared his throat and folded his arms.
"How was it in a dungeon?" Cole asked, doing his best to hide the surprise laced within his voice but Rem could see through it in an instant.
"A dungeon, huh? It was much different from what I expected, but it's certainly a different experience," Rem said, "But let me tell you, maybe you need Instructor Martinez's lessons more than I do,"
Cole gritted his teeth but the door pushed open once again, revealing another Cavalier- the Shapeshifter which Rem always kept his guard up against, he rubbed his eyes and yawned as he walked in.
"Couldn't that butler be a bit lower? Couldn't get enough sleep last night," Tobi muttered under his breath.
Rem stared at the boy… average looks, average height, average soul energy. It seemed strange that everything he did was slightly above average.
'Could he be faking it?' Rem wondered.
The energy resonating from his soul gave him off as a Monster, a pure monster if Rem sensed it right. Since he was faking his body, there was also a chance that he could be faking his energy output- if so, Rem needed to prepare himself much more before eventually facing off against the Monster.
"Tobi, quite a surprise to see you early," Cole said and sighed, "You're usually the last person to get here,"
Tobi stretched his arms and smiled at Cole.
"Partly because Bulter Seth woke me up, and partly because I was curious about the new guy," Tobi said while his gaze landed on Rem, "You truly are a strange one, aren't you?"
Rem shrugged.
"Strange? I believe you are the one that's strange," Rem said.
Tobi's eyes widened as he could see the thin green aura shrouding Rem's body, forming above his head like a halo…
'So he really is him, huh? The Next Monster Monarch,' Tobi thought while cracking his knuckles, 'It seems that my plans will have to accelerate a lot faster than I thought,'
-
Author's Note:
If you're enjoying the book so far, don't hesitate to add this to your library and throw in some power stones for me, and if you're feeling really generous- you can support me with a golden ticket or two, and a gift too!