As Unwan walked on, he occasionally lost his balance. Perhaps that was only natural. Considering his wound, the fact that he was still alive was astonishing in itself.
Compared to the morning, far more people paid attention to him now. Of course, the wound in his abdomen and the grimoire hovering beside him played a large part in that. Still, most of the looks he received were filled with disgust.
'Yes, look at me with disgust. You have money, but I don't. You wear clean clothes, but I don't. You have status, recognition, attention, but I don't. That alone should be enough for you to despise me.'
'So?'
'But I have a rare grimoire and you don't. That's why you look at me like that. Because you regret that someone like me holds something powerful. Isn't that right?'
'How confident you are. They despised you even before this. So now it's because of the grimoire, genius?'
'Of course.'
'Rare grimoire, huh? And how exactly do you know that?'
'What if it isn't? If it weren't, I wouldn't stand out this much.'
'Sure… I don't know for certain.'
'But rare grimoires are usually the most powerful.'
'You seem to have forgotten. Grimoire of lighting are rare too, yet they're still first-tier.'
'But they have exceptional spells.'
'Maybe.'
***
Unwan kept walking. By now, much of his wound had healed. He no longer needed to press his hand against it constantly. Still, parts of his inner flesh were faintly visible, forcing him to keep his hand there regardless.
Eventually, he arrived at the Greater Spell library. The guards were still there, and light from the torchs spilled out from within. It was clearly visible now, the sun had already set.
It seemed the guards would be stationed there all night, which was exactly what Unwan needed. Putting on a practiced, artificial smile, he approached them once more.
— "Ah, you again?" one of the guards said. "Lose something this time?"
— No.
— Then I'm afraid you'll have to leave. You can't enter the grimoire hall twice in one day. More precisely, there's no point. You won't suddenly understand yourself in just a few hours.
— That's not why I'm here.
Unwan released the grimoire from his hand and commanded it to hover. A violet glow radiated out once more, and only then did the guards truly notice it.
In truth, Unwan had kept it hidden from afar precisely to avoid attention. That was why they hadn't realized what he was carrying earlier.
— "As you said before," Unwan said lightly, "it's thanks to you that I obtained a grimoire. Hahaha."
'Maybe.'
'Hey, that was my word.'
'None asked for your words.'
— If you got one, good for you. Looks like a rare grimoire, too. Either way, you should leave.
— No. There's something I want to ask...
At that moment, the person in charge of the Greater Spell library, Derang emerged from inside. He looked slightly delighted.
'Hm. Probably because of Adan.'
— "What's going on here, gentlemen?" Derang asked.
— "Good evening, Sir Derang," one of the guards replied.
— Thank you. So, is there a problem?
— No, nothing like that. I just wanted to ask where the nearest academy is.
Derang looked at Unwan. The smile on his face faded slightly. His condition was far worse than the last time Derang had seen him. After a few seconds, he spoke.
— Ah… the boy who wanted a job. What happened? If I recall correctly, our positions were already filled.
— Yes. But as you can see, I now have a grimoire.
Derang stared at it. Longer than necessary. As if trying to determine exactly what kind it was. Then, without commenting on it, he continued.
— Congratulations. Did you hunt a Night creature the moment you left the library?
Unwan let out a short laugh.
— No. I just had a disagreement with one or two people along the way. In any case, I need the location of the nearest academy.
— Hmm. An academy. A good choice. But I already explained all of them earlier.
— I'm sorry, but I wasn't here at the time. Could you repeat it?
Derang sighed, then asked seriously.
— The nearest one? Or the best?
'Is there really a difference? Knowledge is knowledge.'
— The nearest.
— Go straight down that road. When you see a large building, you'll know you've found it.
— Ah, thank you. Goodbye.
Unwan walked off in that direction, irritation faintly visible in his movements.
He knew none of the three wanted to speak with him any longer. And to be fair, he felt the same. What surprised him most was that the road Derang indicated was the very one Unwan had come from.
'How lucky I am.l
Then Derang's voice called out from behind.
— Wait a moment.
— Yes?
— Did you open the grimoire?
— Yes.
He had done so earlier, while his wounds were healing in the alley, not wanting to waste time. But it hadn't made him particularly happy. The pages were filled with runic script, none of which he could understand.
— Then can you tell me what symbol... more precisely, what number was on the fourth line?
'A number?'
— I'm terribly sorry, but I don't know the language of runes.
— Ah… unfortunate. Well, perhaps you'll learn it at the academy. Very well. Goodbye.
'Perhaps?'
With that, Derang walked away, as if his business with Unwan had completely ended.
Unwan stood there, thinking.
'Could that number indicate the grimoire's tier?'
He took the grimoire into his hands and opened it again. On the fourth line… There was indeed a number. Written in runes.
'Yeah. Damn...'
***
At last, Unwan reached the building that stood out from all the others. It looked old, but massive, large enough to hold perhaps a thousand people. Unlike a regular school, it was surrounded by tall stone walls.
'And what truly stung..'
It was barely a hundred meters away from the blind alley where everything with Dorgon had happened.
Unwan cursed himself for it. Then took the curse back. It wasn't his fault.
Only now did hunger finally begin to gnaw at him. Considering that his last meal had been two days ago, that was impressive. He wasn't thirsty yet, one cup of water would be enough.
'I like this effect of Great Water.'
Walking along the wall, Unwan found the gate. A massive double door nearly three and a half meters tall, with an iron knocker hanging at its center.
Given the time, it might already be locked. The sun had fully set. In a few hours, Night creatures would begin to appear. The streets were already growing empty.
Unwan wanted to get inside before that happened. He grasped the knocker...
And knocked.