Something suddenly slid past, then sat down beside them with a heavy thud! Mimi jumped, but Petra just leaned away, looking at this big sister who suddenly appeared!
Mm, upon closer inspection, it was a girl, no, it was the exact same girl that had passed them in the hall earlier in the day.
This was a short, young woman with thin arms. She had long white hair tied up into a long braid that reached down to the ground. She had shifty eyes and two long ears that drooped down, with a large, puffy pom-pom protruding from her butt.
As she shimmied her way into the group of girls, she found her way behind Petra, where she decisively ducked down and used Petra's head as an obstacle to block someone's line of sight. Her long white braid swung behind her back as she looked around like a thief attempting to avoid detection.
Then… she looked down at Petra!
Without hesitation—
Paku!
She grabbed Petra, wrapping her hands under Petra's arms and lifted her off the ground like a little doll.
Petra: "…"
Mimi: "…"
The big sister leaned in and whispered through clenched teeth.
"Don't move…!"
Petra blinked, looked up, nodding slightly with an emotionless face.
Seeing the lack of worry, the girl frowned slightly, feeling that something was off, but didn't dwell on it.
This troublemaker, this unnamed big sister, slowly shuffled sideways, attempting to blend into the group of girls while holding Petra awkwardly in front of her like some kind of shield. From a distance, she almost appeared to be part of the group, only with white hair, which was, in all fairness, very conspicuous!
Mimi watched Petra be abducted, but instead of reporting it, she just continued to nibble on a cracker…
If one were to ask her if she was worried, she would probably think about it, tilt her body, then ambiguously shake her head, and respond with something like—
Mm, no, perhaps… not very much?
As for the reason? Well—! Indeed, this little girl could tell that Petra was very strong!
As for how Petra felt about her current situation?
Petra, being carried, calmly continued chewing on the sandwich that was half-hanging from her mouth. From behind, the two large pillows gave her a comfortable place to rest as she ate.
Time passed…
Some time later, the female guide clapped loudly.
"Alright, girls! Gather up, we're moving again!"
The scattered children quickly grouped back together.
The strange big sister gently pressed down on Petra's head, crouching down. Following the flow of feet, they left with the group…
The tour continued!
* * *
Archive Hall—
The Archive Hall was a massive space that served as the heart of the Royal Academy!
In this room, the density of spiritual energy was no different than a high-grade spirit stone mine.
From the moment one stepped inside, the sheer scale of the space became apparent at a glance. The marble halls of the school transitioned into towering walls of runic dark wood that rose several stories high, twelve in total, each six meters in height, leaving the upper level of the Archive Hall with a massive seventy-two-meter-high ceiling! Every level was lined with densely packed shelves that climbed far above one's head, disappearing towards the vaulted ceiling, and an open balcony faced the center of the room on each level, with countless small lounge sets scattered around the space.
Leather-bound books enchanted with magic filled these shelves, their spines arranged in neat rows that carried the quiet weight of a full millennium of accumulated knowledge!
In the center of the chamber, a grand staircase descended down to an even lower level, which appeared as a reading floor, elegantly splitting into two curved railings before reaching the ground. From there, several smaller walkways branched outwards beneath the towering shelves, forming a labyrinth of sturdy tables, long ladders, several staircases, and an uncountable number of reading desks that had been scattered among the endless stacks of books.
Even Petra felt a flicker of awe as she looked around.
Her mind turned, and quickly thinking about it, there was definitely some kind of spatial magic involved!
There had to be!
There was no way that the academy's interior could contain a space this large, especially within the confines of Llynun. Even knowing this, expanding the interior of a room through spatial magic was no simple matter, which was the source of Petra's awe.
Learning spatial magic alone was extremely difficult, and to even begin studying it, a practitioner needed to possess 'dimensional sense' and an 'innate affinity' for spatial magic. After that came many years of cultivation and self-training, both targeted at the body and mind.
These requirements alone had drastically limited how many people could even attempt to learn spatial magic, but finding a teacher was even harder!
Mm, anyways…
Throughout the entire Cross Continent, aside from the four Nine Story Mage Towers, there were almost no other examples of large-scale spatial expansion spells like the one in this room!
The Sky Tower specifically studied Spatial Magic, but the ability to expand space 'permanently' in an area was an extremely high-level technique! That was why spatial artifacts like the mobile tents had a lifespan, they would self-destruct after they ran out of energy.
As for 'spatial rings' and 'storage pouches,' that was a completely different topic altogether...
-
As Petra walked deeper into the Archive Hall with the tour group, her eyes flickered with interest.
It had been a long time since she sat down and read.
Recently, she had been far too busy 'training'…
Looking around, her attention was quickly captured by the endless sea of books. If she weren't worried about being discovered, she would definitely sweep through this entire library with her mental energy and collect every book she could find and add it to her Inner Library!
Mm, perhaps later…. Maybe when she was leaving…
Mm…? Suddenly, Petra felt something strange.
It was a faint aura, and it was coming from somewhere below, far, far below…
She paused slightly, thinking for a moment.
After sensing it again, Petra suspected that it was the source of the dense spiritual energy that was filling the Archive Hall. Looking ahead at the path the tour guide was taking, it seemed like the group was slowly moving towards the direction of that aura.
For some reason, the feeling of it seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite tell why.
Petra narrowed her eyes slightly.
It was an enigma to her.
Mm, she would just have to wait and see!
The group continued advancing deeper into the Archive Hall…
-
The nameless big sister bunny carried Petra into the depths of the Archive Hall.
From a distance, it almost appeared as if she was simply escorting a younger student, though the way she hunched forward slightly and kept glancing over her shoulder made her 'act' far less convincing.
Petra, meanwhile, dangled carelessly in her arms, deadpan, slowly slipping down as the nameless big sister's grip began to fail. Petra, firmly pressed between her breasts, sniffed as her eyes peered over the rim of the nameless girl's arms, flicking her nose to brush away the dangling hair with a dull expression.
She hummed!
Although there was an overwhelming sense of stranger danger, Petra had to admit, the view was nice from up here! As for why this big sister was not questioned, that was because she wasn't the only student to join this little group of cuties!
After she had slipped into the group, a few other students who were holding back proceeded to copy her.
As they moved further into the hall, the immense scale of the Archive Hall began to be felt. Even moving from one section to another took a long time.
Students moved quietly between the towering shelves. Some climbed tall ladders that leaned against the bookcases, carefully sliding from row to row, while others sat at the long tables scattered throughout the lower floor, their heads buried in books while their pens scratched across paper.
Petra watched with interest as a small wind elemental floated past while 'carefully' carrying a stack of books nearly as tall as itself within its body.
Not far away, an enchanted book suddenly floated up off a table and glided lazily through the air toward a nearby shelf, lazily returning to its designated spot like a large butterfly.
Further ahead, a group of 'older students' quietly argued over a spell circle that hovered above their desk, its glowing lines shifting as they debated the proper rune arrangement to optimize the spell.
Petra bobbed by, giving all of this a perfunctory glance as she continued to slip down. At this point, the nameless big sister was practically holding her by the head…
On one balcony above, a robed professor dusted off a massive globe that slowly rotated on its own, faint magic circles shimmering across its surface. Petra looked up, watching everything with interest as the nameless big sister continued to sneak around the railings.
She quickly adjusted Petra's position, then proceeded forward.
-
Eventually, after some time, a familiar voice echoed through the Archive Hall…
"Ok everyone, gather here quickly, clap-clap!"
It was Arthur.
He stepped onto one of the central walkways, adjusting the large goggles resting around his neck.
The frightening auntie gave him a polite nod before stepping aside.
Arthur glanced over the group of girls… then very deliberately avoided looking at Petra, who was dangling in the shady big sister's arms.
Inwardly, he thought, what a terrifying duo…
He seemed to know who this woman holding Petra was…
"…I'll take over from here," he said calmly to the group.
After everyone had gathered again—
Arthur clasped his hands behind his back.
"This Archive Hall is one of the most important locations within the academy," he began to speak, his voice easily carrying across the chamber. "Many of the books here date back centuries, and some even predate the founding of the academy itself, which, as you should know, means that they come from outside the continent, written before the migration of humans to the Cross Continent!"
As he spoke, he casually guided the group of girls towards one of the largest staircases leading down.
"When I was a student here, I spent most of my time either in this grand hall… or hiding somewhere in the building, trying my best not to fail my written exams because I learn too quickly… Hahaha!"
He laughed!
He laughed loudly!
Petra: "..."
Arthur looked back in confusion, expecting that joke to have hit harder—
But he only received countless blank stares…
Arthur: "..."
"Ahem!"
He continued…
"Eventually I learned that practice is just as important as learning," he lightly added. "Most students only realize that after they make several 'very painful' mistakes. One must find a proper balance between learning and understanding, making sure to practice and experience what they have learned!"
The group climbed the staircase, rising level after level, exploring space after space, until they reached one of the highest balconies in the library.
"Ahem, alright… moving on…" Arthur cleared his throat!
This continued for some time, and the girls were systematically taken through all the main areas in the room. After slightly over an hour, they had returned to the bottom, even finding themselves at the lowest level of the hall. Here, Arthur stopped before a heavy wooden door. This door was located at the end of a small corridor with no roof, indented in the floor, and with a short set of stairs leading down.
Dong!
He pushed it open.
Just beyond the doorway lay a 'small' circular chamber.
It was constructed with the same theme as the library, with dark wooden walls and a scholarly aesthetic, but there was an additional indescribable atmosphere that was hard to explain.
Petra's nose twitched.
Looking forward, she discovered that in the center of the room floated a sphere of swirling blue light.
The air here felt different.
Not only was it denser, but it also felt 'stronger!' If one needed to describe it, it was like the room was more compatible with mages, allowing for a better manipulation of spiritual energy. If a spell was cast here, Petra had no doubt that the spell would carry more 'weight'…
Mana flowed through the chamber like a quiet river.
Not spiritual energy, no, 'Mana!' Not only was it pure mana, which was the combination of spiritual, elemental, and natural energy, but this mana seemed to carry all the elements, allowing for an unimpeded manipulation regardless of the spell! In other words, it didn't matter what your affinity was, all spells were treated equally when using this pure mana.
Several massive runic rings surrounded the floating sphere, rotating slowly in carefully constructed and tuned patterns while rune-engraved stone pillars channeled the energy outwards into the library, no, the entire academy above!
"This," Arthur said with an almost fanatical voice, "is the academy's artificial 'Mana Well!'"