Volume 3 Chapter 23: Inexplicable Murder

The reason why I accepted it so easily was not because I was confident of not getting killed. In fact, if an enemy filled with question marks attack me without even greeting me, I will definitely die instantly.

But, after looking at the quest objective, I smiled.

This quest was simply too easy. If you prevent me from dying, then I might face some difficulties.

However, as long as I were to make them think that I'm still alive, then it would be so much easier. After all, I'm able to resurrect freely in this academy.

Even if I was killed, as long as I appear after resurrecting and prove that I'm alive, then the quest will still be completed.

This is so simple.

Also, adding my current legendary disguise skill, this quest could even be categorized as 'Very Easy'.

"Looks like your guts are bigger than I imagined. Very well. If you are able to return to this bookstore at 12am tonight, then your mission will be considered complete. Before then, you are not allowed to ask for help from anyone. And, according to our analysis of your profile, as long as you do not ask for help, normally, people will not try to help you as well. Am I right?"

"You guys sure understand pretty well."

"We have no choice. There's only that amount of things about you we could understand. The report about you was only about a page long, after all, we have no records of your past at all."

"Is that so..."

Such a scary intelligence department... Why does it feel like the NSA?

"Alright, I will be going then."

After saying that, I turned and headed towards the toilet.

Using the Disguise Technique to change my appearance, and after changing my clothes, I used Flash Movement to immediately send myself into the toilet at the library that no one usually go to. And then, I headed out.

"12am in the night, huh..."

I looked outside the window. The clock on the academy building showed that it was 10am in the morning, so I had to wait for another 14 hours.

This is really a waste of time. Even though I finally managed to salvage some time to rest, I just had to get preoccupied with a weird quest like this one.

There's nothing I can do about it. Let's hurry and head over to a place where I can read about Lightning Magic. Although I did browse through books regarding elementary grade lightning magic once, and learnt the spells, but, I had never used them even till now.

After changing the red outfit into one with a deep orange color, I changed my looks into something similar to my actual face, but leaning it towards an European feel. After that, I headed towards the Lightning area.

The library is separated into 3 areas, the Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced area respectively.

And within each of these areas, they are further categorized into the different elements, and each element takes up an area.

Among them, Light and Dark Magic takes up the least space, as most of the related books were not allowed to be on display. Hence, other than basic introductions to these two types of Magic, there were no other books related to them.

Walking over to the Lightning area, I immediately headed into the sector which had books related to actual battles.

In this world, paper was created about 800 years ago. Hence, even till now, books are still widely used for recording information.

The bookshelves were filled with books written by different Magicians about their understanding of Lightning Magic in battles. Casually, I took out several of them. Leaning against one of the shelves, I started reading.

...

Paralysis...

Paralyzing the enemy...

10 minutes have yet to pass, and I slammed the book shut.

After reading about 10 pages, everything could be summarized into a single sentence.

Paralyze the opponent, and then strike him with your strongest magic spell.

Speaking of which, I was not able to find out the element of my opponents before the tournament began. If I knew, wouldn't it be easier if I had prepared equipment that could directly counter them?

For example, my earlier opponents used the fire element. If I had bought equipment that prevents burns, and had resistance against fire, there wouldn't have been a need to worry at all.

And now, as long as I prepare potions or equipment that prevents paralysis, wouldn't that do?

And to prevent any suspicion of getting help, I could only rely on those freaking expensive potions found in the stores at the academy. Damn it. If I complete this quest, my wish would be to be able to use the money in the country's treasury freely!

Oh well, let's look through the other books.

I picked up another book, and started reading again.

...

Even though this is a last-minute cramming session, however, there are still several important bits recorded in these books.

The ice element is a type of element with hard-on attack and defense. Usually, it's possible to use the sturdiness of an ice block to create offensive and defensive abilities. At the same time, it's possible to use Ice Magic to reduce the target's speed or even freeze him, and thus cause hindrance or even damage to the target.

While Lightning Magic is a type of soft, but flexible magic. As long as you're able to control it, Lightning Magic could be emitted out through any sort of gap.

Although it does not have a form, however, it's able to deal a lot of damage to the opponent.

And its attacks bring a paralysis effect as well. It's able to greatly hinder the opponent's tempo, and from there, overcome him and obtain victory.

One important point of Lightning Magic is that it is able to make use of various metal objects. It could even control the metal fragments in the surroundings and use them to attack.

Just how strong does one's control and judgment abilities have to be to be able to do that sort of thing?

But, since such a thing was already recorded in this book, it meant that someone was able to do it.

Thinking of the demonic transformation yesterday, I can't guarantee that my opponent tomorrow will not have such a thing prepared.

Since we're talking about the lightning element, didn't Lester create a deceleration equipment by making use of coiled wires? That's an example of using metals, right?

It would be great if there was such an example in the ice element reference books. Regarding the usage of Ice Magic, such books aren't available in the library.

Or maybe they're just unavailable in the Elementary Grade area. I might be able to see some of them in the other areas.

I looked at the time, and unexpectedly, it was already 3pm in the afternoon. That explained why I was feeling a little hungry. After all, I have not eaten since morning.

Alright, let's get something to eat. In any case, I had already gathered sufficient information today.

After placing the books back to their original positions, I headed towards the entrance of the library.

"Un?"

When I reached the first floor, I stopped. Because...

It was too quiet!

When I came in the morning, other than the fans gathered at the first floor, there were still some people in the library, including the teachers in-charge of supervising the library.

But...

Currently, there isn't even a single person!

I glanced at my mini-map, and there weren't anything suspicious shown.

Putting the mini-map aside, the nearest name away from me was at least tens of meters away.

Just what is happening?

Even if everyone here died, there should be corpses lying around, right? But there isn't even one at all?

Suddenly, beside my display avatar, a 'Poisoned' status icon appeared. I was surprised for a second. Then, I quickly opened my inventory window and tapped on the Poison Cure Potion.

There's poison in the air?

Seems like someone thought of a way to get the people out of the library, before unleashing a poisonous gas!

This is really a bold move. To think someone would act within the academy!

With 'Accelerate', I rushed towards the door. However, I immediately stopped after the incoming attack warning flashed. Dozens of daggers flew out in front of me and blocked my path!

My opponent's level is much higher than mine! Otherwise, I would have definitely been able to see the trajectories of the daggers!

Is it an assassin?

Even though I was still in disguise, the assassin was still able to recognize me. He's definitely not just any regular person.

And, this guy did not expose his figure even after attacking me!

Interesting!