Library Ghost Stories

Matthew quickly arrived at the second floor of the library; there weren't many people there today.

He returned the "Introduction to the Structure of Basic Fire Magic," but didn't rush back.

With some time before dark, he planned to search the library to see if he could find any knowledge that could be used to improve the [Burning Hand].

He went to a bookshelf that contained books related to the fire element and started looking through it.

Although there are restrictions on the bookshelves, each book has its own independent description.

"This book, 'Elemental Fire: The Deconstruction of Rune-Driven Energy,' appears to be a study of the fission mechanism of the fire element."

At that moment, a voice interrupted Matthew's thoughts.

"This book involves the analysis of advanced fire element runes, so I suggest you wait until you reach the intermediate apprentice level to read it."

Matthew looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was the ponytail-wearing young man who had sat opposite him last time.

"Long time no see, Matthew."

Matthew was a little confused; he didn't remember knowing the ponytail-wearing young man in front of him.

Upon seeing this, the young man couldn't help but chuckle. "It's me, Dolan. Don't you recognize me?"

Matthew opened the system and checked the information of the ponytail-wearing youth.

Name: Dolan Felix

[Physical Fitness: 6]

【Mental Power: 30】

[Ingredients: 71% water, 12% protein, 9% fat...]

[Unrefinable: The item possesses its own consciousness.]

Dolan...?

Matthew quickly flipped through his memories, and a long-forgotten face suddenly overlapped with the person in front of him.

Dolan and Matthew were newcomers of the same era. Although he was born a serf, he had a good talent for wizardry and became a junior apprentice in less than a year.

Although Matthew and Dolan were not very familiar with each other, they had talked a few times. At that time, Dolan was dressed in tattered clothes, had dark skin, and gave people a dull feeling.

But his current image is vastly different from back then; his entire demeanor is different. He is now neatly dressed, wearing round-framed glasses, giving him the appearance of a scholar.

And most importantly, his mental strength actually reached 30 points.

The requirement for a novice apprentice to advance to an intermediate apprentice is a mental strength of 30 points, which means that Dolan in front of us is a genuine intermediate apprentice.

Matthew snapped out of his reverie and said, "Dolan? I remember now."

Dolan gave Matthew a gentle smile. "I heard you were sent to the Winter Realm some time ago. I thought I would never see you again."

"I never expected you to come back! Congratulations!"

"Just lucky," Matthew said, offering no further explanation.

Matthew felt that Dolan was different from before; he used to be taciturn, but today he was unusually enthusiastic.

"By the way, I saw you lingering near this fire element bookshelf, so I guess you're looking for related books."

"I recommend you borrow the books 'Elemental Runes and the Laws of Thermodynamics' and 'The Nature of Fire,' which will be very helpful for beginners."

Matthew nodded. "Thank you."

"I have to go now. If there's anything you don't understand, you can come to me later. However, you'll need to pay a certain amount of magic stones based on the value of the question."

Watching Dolan's departing figure, Matthew felt a strange, inexplicable feeling.

He glanced at the hourglass in the center of the library and found that the sand was at the fourth mark.

If the sand is at six degrees, it is nighttime.

There's a strange story about the library: you must leave before dark, and especially avoid going up to the sixth floor.

"There are still two ticks before it gets dark." Seeing that it was still early, Matthew decided to look around some more.

"As long as you leave the library before dark, you'll be fine."

……

At that moment, Dolan, who was walking towards the library, revealed a cold smile.

"How pathetic, to be targeted by a guy like Mold."

"I'm sorry, Matthew, but blame this thing for being too important to me."

He had no interest in the conflict between Matthew and Molde; he simply agreed to do Molde a small favor, for which he would receive a parchment as payment.

Dolan stroked the parchment in his hand and suddenly smiled.

A strange pattern, resembling an eye, was drawn on the parchment with twisted lines.

"Good luck, Matthew."

……

After searching through the library, Matthew finally decided to borrow "Elemental Runes and the Laws of Thermodynamics" and "Elemental Fundamentals".

One book introduces how to manipulate the fire element using runes and the properties of energy transfer, while the other introduces the nature of the elements.

"Perhaps starting with these two books can provide a direction for improving 'The Burning Hand'."

Matthew looked out the window and saw that the sun was still high in the sky. It wasn't too late yet, but he didn't plan to linger.

But when he came out of the bookshelf, he found that there was no one left in the seats on the second floor.

The apprentices who were sitting at the desk when I came in were all gone.

"What's going on? The library is empty so early this morning?"

He had a bad feeling. He glanced at the hourglass in the center and found that the mark on the hourglass was at the third quarter.

He breathed a sigh of relief, "There are still three quarters of an hour until it gets dark..."

"Wait... three marks?"

He clearly remembered that when Dolan left, it was still two-quarters dark, but now it was three-quarters dark. Was this time reversal?

Something's wrong, something's very wrong.

"No wonder there's no one here."

Matthew looked out the window; the sun was still hanging in the sky, and it was clearly still afternoon.

After becoming a wizard, Matthew was able to deduce the passage of time by observing the speed of changes in matter due to his powerful mental strength.

But he didn't find anything unusual.

"Could it be an illusion? When exactly did this happen?"

Matthew immediately thought of Dolan; the other man's unusual behavior aroused his suspicion.

"He must have done it; no wonder he seemed a bit off earlier."

"But now is not the time to think about that; we need to get out of here quickly."

At that moment, Matthew didn't have time to think and immediately walked quickly towards the stairwell.

He went down the stairs and quickly reached the bottom.

Matthew breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as we get out of here, we should be fine."

But when he walked through the rows of bookshelves to the exit on the first floor, he found that there were actually more bookshelves on the first floor.

Matthew frowned and walked forward, only to find that the familiar front door had turned into a staircase.

He glanced at the sign on the wall, which showed the number three.

"What's going on? How did I end up on the third floor?"

"There's only one staircase in the library. If this is the staircase, then where did I come down from?"

Matthew hurried back and found that the place where the stairs used to be had now become a wall.

He knocked on the wall in front of him but found nothing unusual. Then he opened the system.

【Name: Wall】

[Ingredients: Sand, soil, stones...]

[Refinable components: ...]

The information provided by the system told him that it was indeed a wall.

Matthew crossed the bookshelf again and returned to the other end, checking the system along the way but finding nothing unusual.

At that moment, Matthew stood at the top of the stairs, hesitated for a moment, and then continued walking down the stairs.