Living life outside of the main story could be quite exhausting.
I couldn't help but feel helpless, put in a position where I had no choice but to accept the always-changing situations.
"Eunghk!"
I pulled out the struggling librarian trapped under the bookshelves and put her on top of a table.
It had been fifteen minutes since a thunderous sound reverberated throughout the academic district, and a great tremor struck the entire student library.
Justifiably similar to an earthquake, the aftermath was just as enormous. The bookshelves had fallen all over, as did the books which had rolled over on the floor. The reading materials and even the consumables had become a mess.
Even the expensive magic tools had smashed into pieces, and the crystal orb, which acted as a light source, as well as all the candles, had gone out, rendering the library completely dark inside.
"Hey!"
"Egh—"
She seemed to have fainted, only mumbling randomly.
I thought about it for a while. I couldn't remember her clearly, but I had this weird feeling that I had seen her somewhere before. Considering I had played the game multiple times and still couldn't remember her, then she probably wasn't anyone important.
It was probably already past 9 o'clock, and there was no source of light left inside.
However, I spotted a sort of soft purple coming from inside the reading room. My eyes hadn't fully adjusted to the dark yet, but I was still able to roughly see it.
After looking at it some more, I was surprised to realize it was actually coming from outside the window.
I went over and opened it.
The student library was located on a small hill on the outskirts of the academic district, allowing me to see an entire view of the whole place.
There was a reddish pillar of light coming from the Student Center. It crossed over the sky above the academic district, triggering a spatial sealing barrier that circled around the whole area.
The earthquake was surely the aftermath of casting such large-scale spatial sealing magic. And the fact that it was coming from the Student Center made it clear.
"Hmm… Isn't this a bit early…?"
Either way, there was nothing to be flustered about.
Although I had been suffering from all sorts of hardships in Ed Rothstaylor's pathetic body, at least I had the advantage of knowing the information I knew.
"Hmm…"
I scratched my chin as I thought about it.
I didn't know if this was something I should be worried about, but there were still quite a few things I didn't quite understand.
The first of which was the spatial sealing magic activated by the high-ranking dark spirit Velosfer through Janica Faylover. Velosfer used the high-ranking dark magic Shadow Curtain to block off the entirety of the academic district from the outside.
It was an impressive barrier, but it was just a plot device to set the stage.
This was the Glaskan subjugation chapter. It was the episode that marked the finale of Act 1 and brought out all the all-star first-year students to join together and form a subjugation squad to attack the Student Center.
But if you were to use your common sense, you would realize that this shouldn't have been possible.
Glaskan was the most infamous high-ranking dark spirit among the elemental spirits. This shouldn't have been an issue solved by mere students. If the Student Center had been taken over, it should've been the faculty members and professors who would've obviously come to defeat it.
That was why it didn't make any sense. In order to create an episode where Taylor Mclore could manifest the Swordmaster's Skill, the developers made it necessary to block the faculty and professors from intervening.
Hence Velosfer's spatial-sealing magic.
It was a barrier that locked everything from the inside. This made it easy to realize the space was locked from the inside, but it made it hard for those on the outside.
And even if those from the outside were to recognize the barrier, it would still take them almost half a day to destroy the dark magic barrier using standard methods. The only way to quickly break through would be to use overwhelming destructive power.
But using such an ignorant method would seem impossible. Although, as this was Sylvania, there were a few people who should be capable of doing such a feat. No need to look that far, since Headmaster Obel would be able to destroy the entire barrier without even needing to examine it first.
But the high-ranking dark spirit Velosfer was cunning.
This event happened late in the evening when most professors had already returned to their private labs or homes.
It was already 9 o'clock, which meant only a few professors would've been remaining in the academic district, as the professors' private labs were grouped around their living quarters for convenience.
Either way, the Act 1 finale was a battle against time.
The goal was to defeat Janica Faylover before she could summon the highest-ranking dark spirit Glaskan before sunrise.
Even though it would be destroyed anyway if left alone, it still delayed time enough for Glaskan's summoning to complete.
I looked out the window and stuck my head out. It didn't seem like the spirits Janica Faylover had manifested were occupying the streets yet.
"I guess we haven't entered the first phase yet."
The flow of this Act's boss battle was as follows:
Gathering a Subjugation Force
Operation Reclaim the Student Center
The Battle at Training Hall's Corridor
Final Phase
Glaskan Subjugation
This would start now and would end before dawn.
Simply put, this was going to be extremely difficult. I couldn't help but pray for Taylor Mclore.
I had to run around like crazy during Phase 1. I felt like a real idiot running all over the academic district trying to find all the scattered aces of the first-years to bring them all into one place, all while having to subdue all the spirits on the streets.
"He should've met up with Ayla by now."
I was sure he'd have figured out the solution by now.
Taylor Mclore's childhood friend Ayla was well-versed in Spiritual Studies. And with all that spiritual energy flowing around the Student Center, she would have already told Taylor Mclore what was going on.
The students needed to start working together from now on to defeat that monster of a dark spirit Velosfer. Because the moment Glaskan gets summoned, the damage to the whole academic district would be indescribable. That's why gathering all the people who would help at the Student Square was needed.
The soft purple I could see outside the window soon changed into an ominous dark red. The chanting to summon Glaskan must've already begun.
And it was clear who was doing it.
The cute Elementalist star student who was admired and loved by all the second-years—that's who.
"Looking at it from here, it's quite the scene."
Taylor Mclore should already be right next to the Student Center the moment the barrier magic was cast.
The barrier's mana flow exploded, creating a reddish curtain covering the starless sky. It was large enough to cover the entire academic district.
It could obviously be assumed that a large-scale event had begun just from seeing the barrier.
Be it Glaskan or something else, I was sure Taylor Mclore would figure it out and solve it. Even if I just spent my time here sitting around reading books, this whole thing would eventually end.
There was no reason for me to go out there and suffer. It would be better if I spent my energy and efforts on building my cabin instead. Getting unnecessarily involved could only get me hurt or suffer one way or another.
Plus, I didn't want to go where all the important characters in the story should be gathered by now. My biggest weapons were knowing the future and having inside information. Getting myself involved and creating an unknown variable would be like stupidly giving up my powerful weapons.
"Wait…"
However, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
"Isn't this the time for that thing?"
I sat on top of the library table, looking at the imposing barrier.
I remembered something from a strategy article I read a long time ago.
If you intend on investing in your Alchemy or Spiritual Skills in the future, it will be beneficial to improve your Spirit Understanding and Spirit Resonance during this phase.
"That's right!"
The final stage of Act 1 was where dozens of spirits that signed a contract with Janica Faylover would manifest and show up. There would also be a large number of Fluid Spirits.
It was an opportunity to improve my proficiency in both the annoying Spirit Understanding and Spirit Resonance at the same time.
Spirit-type skill proficiency could only be accumulated through contact with a spirit. Whether it be through communication or contact, there needed to be an exchange with the spirit to increase one's proficiency. Combat experiences were great for filling up this proficiency.
The problem was that ordinary people couldn't even see a spirit, unless they were lucky enough to be born with a tremendous amount of Spirit Resonance like Janica Faylover.
The only way for ordinary people to come in contact with a spirit was with those manifested by an Elementalist.
Spirit-related skills had such an exclusive requirement that acted like a difficult barrier. But the chance to easily overcome that difficult barrier is here, in the final chapter of Act 1.
Because Janica Faylover was an Elementalist who manifested many spirits during this stage, this was somewhere you could accumulate a lot of combat experience through defeating them.
It would be foolish of me to just sit around while an event as generous as a pot of gold was handing out experience points right around the corner.
In addition, this would be an actual battle.
The amount of experience I would get was going to be very different from the type I would gain from mock battles throughout the school curriculum.
My top priority right now should be to defeat as many spirits as possible and focus on my own growth.
"I shouldn't have been spacing out."
I quickly jumped off the table and opened the door, ready to leave, when the apprentice librarian lying on the table caught my eye.
"Hmmm…"
I didn't think there would be any danger in being inside the library building, but just in case, I picked up a piece of parchment and a quill that I saw scattered about.
"Don't panic when you wake up. And stay right here. Everything should be over before daybreak, so you should stay calm and block the entrance. And don't provoke the spirits. Always think about your own safety first and don't hastily move about."
Hmm… it didn't feel right just leaving one note behind.
It was unlikely for a wandering spirit to invade the library's reading room and suddenly start attacking a sleeping girl, but there was still a possibility. If she were to get unnecessarily hurt or her life got ruined… living with the guilt would leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
I picked up a blackboard that had fallen over in the corner and grabbed a piece of chalk that was lying around. Then I wrote the same thing again, only in large letters, just in case she missed my note on the paper.
I covered all the windows before leaving, making it less dangerous since the spirits wouldn't be able to see inside. I also took a blackout curtain lying around and roughly covered the exit, as it looked to be too wide open. Doing this, I hoped the entrance could be hidden and escape would be possible if she needed to.
Covering everything made it a little bit darker inside. But since I wrote my note on the board, she should still be able to see it.
It should be fine now.
I hurriedly ran towards the hallway. There would be an event to gain lots of experience starting soon. I needed to move quickly.
I should be able to easily handle Fluid Spirits, even Elemental Traces. I should even be able to defeat a low-ranking spirit if I really tried.
As the player, I had to prioritize how to defeat that monster Velosfer over my own growth, but now, thankfully, there was someone who could take that responsibility and handle all the hardships and adversities for me.
Taylor Mclore.
He could just figure it out and take care of it.
It would probably be a lot of work…
Well, good luck to him!