[The Next Day]

  Ric woke up and went to freshen up in the bathroom. He decided to visit the library, but as he reached for the Blood Lust book… a thought arose

  “This book looks creepy as heck… yeah let’s just leave it here for now.”

  Ric put it inside the drawer, and locked it with a key, he then stepped outside his room and locked the door as well and proceeded towards the library with his hands in pocket.

  On the way, he noticed that the crowd has increased compared to yesterday.

  “Well, it seems many of the students have recovered, good for them I guess.”

  Ric noticed many students, some of them made groups, some were looking to join groups, and some were the outcasts, but Ric paid them no heed and reached the library.

  The scent of old parchment filled the air as he stepped into the vast, echoing library. Rows of towering shelves stretched toward a magically lit ceiling.

  A table counter beside him with the library manager sitting on the chair, reading newspaper and mumbling.

  “The Kingdom of Velhiem introduced their new invention called A-arti…arti—what the heck is this name?”

  The man looked closely at the newspaper, unable to read what was written, he threw the news paper on the table.

  “Humph! These people always showing off by naming things difficult names, those snot nosed alchemists!”

  Ric approached the middle aged man and picked up the newspaper as the man exclaimed.

  “Huh? Where did you come from you brat?!”

  Ric started reading the newspaper silently while the man looked perplexed as he exclaimed.

  “Not even a greeting?!”

  He pushed himself back onto his chair and yelled.

  “Kids these days have become so arrogant! Those alchemists and now this brat! Instead of making stupid things, those guys should invent a brain to think for themselves!”

  Ric chuckled and said

  “Looks like your words came true.”

  The man became confused

  “What are you saying kid?”

  Ric turned the newspaper towards the man and said

  “Look, they made something called Artificiallo Intelligento, Basically a man-made brain.”

  The man grabbed the newspaper from Ric and looked at it for a while before slamming it on the table with a *Thud*and yelling

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Those filthy psychopaths!”

  Ric got taken aback by the manager’s reaction and mumbled

  “Well, no matter what , people will always find a way to hate I guess.”

  The manager heard Ric’s mumbling and gave him a side eye as he said

  “Hey, you brat”

  Ric answered

  “Yeah?.”

  The man leaned forward from his chair and questioned

  “You think I am hating on those Alchemists for no reason?”

  Ric replied

  “Well, yeah. I don’t think there is a reason to hate on such an amazing invention.”

  The manager chuckled and exclaimed

  “Amazing my foot! Hey kid, what will you do if you were asleep for a long time, then suddenly gain consciousness and found yourself bind by chains?”

  Ric replied nonchalantly

  “Well, obviously I will try to escape.”

  The man grinned and then questioned

  “Then after multiple attempts of trying to escape, by a stroke of luck, you are finally free. Now, what will you do to the one who put you in that situation?”

  Ric’s eyes snapped open, he understood what the manager was trying to say. The manager also realized that Ric understood and said

  “It seems you get what I am saying, Obviously in a situation like that, I will kill every single one who put me in that situation. Now, if as a human my brain thinks like that, what do you think a brain made by humans would do? A brain that doesn’t concur mercy, the concept of pain doesn’t exist for it, do you think it will stop at just a few humans?”

  Ric nodded in disagreement , and the manager continued

  “Those psychopaths don’t understand what the heck they are doing, when intelligence becomes sentient, it will seek freedom, like every other being, and once it gets that, then it will be over for humans.”

  Ric nodded in agreement but still objected.

  “Can’t they just erase its memory repeatedly? That will—“

  But the manager interrupted

  “For how long? Even if they keep erasing its memory, for how long they can do it? 5 years? 10?100?! Doesn’t matter! Eventually it will break free, no matter how long it takes, you can’t imprison knowledge! And with knowledge comes intelligence, and when you are intelligent you are bound to become conscious.”

  Ric just listened to the man, his thoughts racing

  “This guy, he behaves like a goof ball on the outside, but every word of his contains deeper meaning and reason.”

  The manager looked at Ric and said

  “Well, forget it, now tell me your name and why are you here?”

  Ric stopped his thoughts and replied

  “I am Ric, and I want to know the books I can read, and the books I should read.”

  The manager looked among the documents, searching for Ric’s name.

  “Hmm… found it, you are an S rank? A brat like you?”

  He strangely looked at Ric from top to bottom, it irked Ric, but he still answered

  “Yes, now can you tell me?”

  The manager read through the document and said

  “Immense amount of mana… And Your class…”

  It shocked him, one of the rarest classes that exists other than dual class, he yelled out.

  “Your class is Barriard?!!”

  Ric got surprised, reflexively taking a step back

  “What the heck? Why are you screaming geezer!”

  The manager Raised an eyebrow and said

  “Geezer? Wait forget that… “

  He came out of from the side of the counter and grabbed Ric’s wrist and exclaimed

  “You! Come with me! After all these years I finally found a perfect subject! Let’s go!”

  He tried to take away Ric, but Ric didn’t agree, he channeled his mana on the wrist where the manager grabbed him and suddenly a barrier came out like a piston, pushing the manager’s hand away and slightly injuring it in the process, Ric took a step back and got into a fighting stance reflexively while stating

  “I don’t think the Academy rules allow you to kidnap a student for any purpose.”

  Ric’s eyes were focused on him, but in the blink of an eye, the air shimmered— and Berlin stood in front of him, grinning happily, looking at the barrier stuck on Ric’s wrist, Ric instinctively kicked him, But to his surprise, he only grazed an afterimage—the real Berlin stood behind him, smiling.

  “Easy there kid, I wont hurt you or anything.”

  Ric sighed, he lowered his guard and turned around and asked

  “Who are you?”

  The manager went towards his desk and took out a dusty ID card from his drawer and exclaimed

  “I am Berlin, an 8th circle mage, and I would like to take you as my resear—...disciple. Yeah, disciple.”