The next morning, Ethan woke early and made his way straight to the library. He held onto the faint hope that just one disciple, swayed by his publicity stunt in the dining hall, might come to enrol. But as he unlocked the great dusty doors and stepped inside, reality set in—his efforts had been in vain. Not a soul waited by the entrance, nor was anyone wandering the aisles. There was only silence and the scent of paper, dust, and ancient ink.
Ethan sighed and let go of his naïve expectations. How could anyone show up to enrol before the librarian even arrived? More than that, why would these disciples—trained from childhood to listen only to their masters' teachings—ever think to visit the library at all? Old habits, deeply ingrained in their culture, would not be broken just because he offered a membership discount.
He remembered how, back on Earth, Shirley used to drag him to their university library despite his reluctance. Most students would seek extra knowledge there, poring over textbooks or exploring different sources for better understanding. Of course, Ethan was a rare exception—he avoided libraries unless dragged by Shirley. But he had still observed their importance: places of discovery and problem-solving, places where curiosity lit a path.
Now he stood in an academy that had locked its own library for two hundred years. The absurdity gnawed at him—how could a site dedicated to cultivating wisdom be shuttered for generations, left to rot in darkness while the academy stumbled ever farther into decline?
Was it really just stupidity and neglect? Or was something deeper at play? Ethan's thoughts leapt to a more ominous possibility. If the academy had survived but the library had been locked, then maybe… just maybe… the reason for the catastrophic war two centuries ago was still hidden somewhere inside these shelves.
A chill skittered up his spine. Almost as if the system could read his mind, notification text flashed urgently in his vision:
User has obtained a clue related to the quest Mystery Of The Sacred Wind
Quest Completion Rate has increased
Quest Name: Mystery Of The Sacred Wind
Quest Rank: SSS
Description: 200 Years Ago, Sacred Wind Academy Was Attacked By A Group Of Powerful and Mysterious People. There is more to the story than what you heard.]
[Mission: Solve the entire mystery behind the attack on the Sacred Wind Academy
Quest Completion Rate: 20%
Ethan stared at the notification, dumbstruck. He'd only lightly suspected a connection, but the system had immediately rewarded his intuition. For the first time, his completion rate ticked up—a small, but thrilling, step in unravelling the secrets of Sacred Wind Academy.
With new determination, Ethan flung himself into a frantic search of the library. Each shelf, each pile of books, every nook and cranny was meticulously combed, his hands growing filthy with dust as the hours dragged by. Six hours passed in relentless effort, sweat running down his brow. Yet he found nothing that obviously linked to the war or its aftermath.
Frustration threatened to overwhelm him, but he did not let discouragement take root. "If something truly important was hidden here, it wouldn't be easy to find—even after all this time," he reasoned. Maybe a lucky accident was needed—so he continued searching, refusing to quit.
Just as he was ending his search, his hand brushed against a smooth, strangely cold crystal tucked between two ancient volumes. He hadn't actually been focused on the crystal itself; his attention was still scattered across possible clues and hidden artefacts. But the instant his fingers made contact, another system notification flashed into view:
Found The Personal Memories of Francisco Marshall
Does the user wish to store it in the Inventory?
A surge of excitement washed over Ethan. At last—a tangible reward for hours of effort. He recognised the name: Francisco Marshall, the renowned founder of Sacred Wind Academy, and, according to one of the books he had studied, a top cultivator lost in the war 200 years ago. Historic accounts relayed the tragedy—after the attack, later generations claimed the founder was the primary target, but the true motive remained shrouded in mystery.
Ethan quickly authorised the system to store the crystal in his inventory. The pieces fell into place in his mind: the library's closure, the forgotten crystal, the founder's central role in the ancient conflict. He wondered if the library's long abandonment was a deliberate act—a desperate precaution to keep the secret out of enemy hands.
His mind raced:
'If the library was closed for two centuries, why did the Academy still list a Librarian in their administration records? Was the war's final chapter never truly written? Did the attackers fail to claim their ultimate prize after all?'
'If they didn't succeed, could they still be searching? Could traitors remain within these walls, blending in with the students and staff?'
Before he could follow these suspicions further, another notification sprang up:
A Chain Quest has been activated for the active quest: Mystery of the Sacred Wind
Quest Name: The Invaders
Quest Difficulty: A
Description: In the seemingly peaceful 200 years since the war, nearly all failed to notice a vital detail. There are possible invaders secretly sent to locate the 'thing' tied to the conflict.
Main Mission: Find all the invaders and expose their evil intentions for the world to see before the academy falls.
Special Mission: A high chance of renewed attack. Stop the academy's collapse. If successful, rewards will be generous.
Warning: If the Chain Quest fails, the main quest is unaffected. If it succeeds, the final reward of the main quest is doubled.
Ethan sat back, breathless, his heart pounding with uncertainty. The implications terrified and exhilarated him at once. His cultivation base was still nonexistent—he hadn't even begun building the power to protect himself, let alone confront hidden enemies or prevent the fall of an ancient academy.
Was the system guiding him… or had it thrown him into peril, a lamb among wolves? Why couldn't it simply issue a gentle quest for incremental improvement, helping him train and grow first?
Ethan laughed, shaking his head at the absurdity. "Some days I wonder," he whispered, "is this System out to make me a hero… or just eager to see if I'll survive the story?"
Either way, a new page had turned. And its challenge, though daunting, was impossible to ignore.