As the whispers echoed through the library, Aaron and his men's faces turned red with shame and humiliation.
Just by looking at the situation, it was clear they were ganging up on a defenseless kid, and what the kid said had rallied the martial students against them.
Mahika noticed other nobles looking in his direction with mockery and disgust. They didn't even bother lowering their voices.
"I didn't know Mahika was that kind of guy."
"But I'm not surprised. You can tell he's into the same gender. Just look at those eyes—disgusting."
"He even stooped so low as to try something with a kid."
Nobles loved to step on one another, and they weren't about to miss this chance to humiliate Aaron.
None of them questioned why a kid was even in the library. They were more focused on the commotion than the kid's status.
Mahika finally had enough. He stared at the kid with killing intent. "You! I'll make sure you won't leave this place alive!"
"Are you threatening me?" Apollo asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hell yeah, I am!" Mahika snapped, not caring if others heard him. Then he turned to his men and waved his hand. "Let's get out of here!"
Apollo didn't say another word and just watched them leave as the crowd parted.
Looks like I'll have to fight them soon, Apollo thought, though he wasn't the least bit worried. He had already gauged their cultivations, which were far below his. In fact, he was currently the strongest person in the room. Unless another Qi Condensation stage cultivator showed up, he was confident he could defeat all the martial students there.
Seeing that no more drama was unfolding, the crowd dispersed, returning to their own business.
Apollo shook his head and proceeded to the second floor. To think that just trying to go up a floor would cause such a scene. It was as if fate was pulling strings to make him bump into these people. Not that he minded—it was satisfying to see those ego-filled young masters humiliated. It was a sense of fulfillment he would never tire of.
The beggar arrived on the second floor, and the moment he stepped in, his eyes were drawn to the sight of scrolls and books floating on circular platforms. There were also doors along the walls, with some students lining up to enter. This piqued Apollo's curiosity.
Glancing up, he saw stones embedded in the ceiling that illuminated the floor with a dim light. Turning to the corners, he noticed white-robed men standing still, their eyes constantly scanning the area, as if afraid to miss a single detail.
The first floor didn't have these white-robed men, likely because the content there wasn't as valuable.
Apollo wanted to find some flashy techniques to add to his arsenal of special effects and increase his strength. As he gazed at the various scrolls and books, his eyes burned with excitement.
What if I learn all of them? Will I become overpowered? The thought sent his excitement soaring.
The second floor housed battle techniques and cultivation techniques, but Apollo wanted to learn everything. He walked over to the nearest scroll and began reading, but soon realized it would be pointless to learn them all.
The first technique he read wasn't flashy, and the book said it would take a year to fully master. Apollo was confident he could learn it in just a few weeks, but it still wasn't worth the effort. He moved on to the next one. Like the first, it wasn't flashy and wasn't very good.
He turned to a scroll that described a cultivation technique. After reading it, he shook his head and placed it back. It was a technique that capped out at the 4th Step of the Foundation Building stage, which he had already surpassed.
Shaking his head, Apollo continued to flip through the techniques, his actions causing the martial students around him to raise their eyebrows. Some approached the white-robed men, asking why they weren't taking action against the unruly kid who was only glancing at a few pages before moving on to the next one. It seemed like he was just playing around—well, he was a kid, after all.
However, the white-robed men remained still, not making any move. The martial students had no choice but to back off. Although some were unsatisfied, they knew better than to mess with the white-robed men. Furthermore, they realized that things weren't that simple. A kid suddenly causing a scene, and the white-robed men ignoring it? Clearly, the kid had some status backing his mischievousness.
In no time, Apollo had flipped through at least a hundred techniques. He let out a sigh as he placed the last scroll back on the shelf.
"Have I become picky with techniques?" he muttered with a bitter smile.
Of all the books and scrolls he'd read, none had impressed him enough to bother learning them. Most of them were good, but Apollo felt like it would be a waste of time to try. The reason? Time. He would lose valuable time if he tried to master all the techniques on this floor. Sure, he could revise some of them to make them stronger, but Apollo realized it wasn't worth the effort.
Then an idea popped into his mind. Should I just go straight to the top floor and learn the strongest technique? The more he thought about it, the more determined he became.
Why waste time and effort on weaker techniques when he could focus on the strongest ones? And it would definitely be worth it if he could revise some of those.
With this thought in mind, he left the area and headed straight for the third floor—the floor where Gail said she would be.
After a minute of walking, he arrived at his destination. The number of books here was much smaller, probably around three dozen, and they were glowing, unlike those on the second floor.
Apollo didn't immediately begin his usual flipping spree. Instead, he set out to find Gail.
At the same time, Mahika and his men landed in a courtyard from their Water-Attributed Falcons.
"Argh!" The moment Mahika landed, he immediately lashed out at his surroundings, punching and kicking the air. "I hate this! I hate this! I swear I'll kill that kid! How dare he frame and humiliate me—me, from the great Callum Family!"
His goons didn't dare utter a word. They could only lower their heads, not out of fear of Mahika, but because of someone else.
"Did someone frustrate you?" a voice echoed.
Mahika turned toward the sound. In the middle of the courtyard, where flowers bloomed, sat a woman at a table, holding a cup of tea with wisps of steam rising from it.
"Senior Sister! I need your help!"