The ranking war ended like that. At least for now.

None of the wounded students were treated and that included Ric.

Only those with critical injuries like Ric were given blood to help speed up their regeneration.

Arlo and the others also retreated for the day.

While they were not physically injured, the mental exhaustion was weighing down on them.

After all, they faced an enemy group that was greater than them countless times.

When the ranking war ended, some of the second years wanted to approach Arlo's group, but before they could, the principal had already approached them, so they had no choice but to leave.

The principal offered the trio various supplies of blood from various animals and even humans.

Of course, only Arianne could choose to receive such a reward, as Arlo and Joe were not vampires.

They were not meant to be in the academy in the first place.

In the end, Arianne refused the offer. After all, as the princess of the royal family, she had her own supply of blood, one far better than the Academy could provide.

The principal told them they would be receiving far more cultivation materials than the other students. But those would be given to them personally by Julian in their next class.

The last reward was something the trio didn't expect, but Arlo welcomed joyfully.

They were each given a ticket to not only enter the first-year library but even access the second floor.

Arlo showed a rare expression of happiness.

He still remembered Scarlett's advice to him. It was just that he hadn't had the time and opportunity to even ask about the library.

But now, he could. He mentally made a note to spend tomorrow in the library.

However, what surprised not only Arlo but even Arianne and Joe was that even after granting them the supposed last reward, the principal didn't dismiss them.

Instead, he seemed to be hesitating about something.

Arlo noticed that Arianne was starting to lose her patience, and could explode at any moment.

She already hated the principal guts, and honestly, Arlo believed it was a miracle she was even willing to listen to the latter.

So without any hesitation, he quickly hastened the principal:

"Is there anything you need?"

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A myriad of emotions flashed on the principal's face, but after a moment he sighed and relented:

"There is one more thing."

He said before bringing out a golden ticket.

"This is supposed to be only given to the first position. But..." he slowly handed it out, "...it will be given to you three this time."

"What is so special about it for you to lose your composure?" sneered Arianne.

The principal grumbled, "With this ticket, not only can the first position attend the second year's ranking war, but he or she can even issue a challenge to any second year during the ranking war."

After saying that the principal face's steeled as he seemed to have made his decision.

Never once has a golden ticket been granted to more than one student at a time.

He tried to retract his hand, but it was too late.

With a whoosh, Arianne snatched the ticket and ran away.

"Haha! I can finally meet a challenge!" only her joyful voice lingered in the hall.

The principal sighed as he slumped his shoulders.

"Haha! We will take our leave then."

Arlo said before similarly running off. Joe followed behind him like a shadow.

In the massive training center, only the principal remained.

He looked lonely.

.....

Next day.

Arlo arrived at the Academy's library.

He was alone this time, as Arianne was more interested in how to use the golden tickets. Joe decided to follow her, as he would rather ask around for information on the golden ticket than sit in the library which is nicknamed the Ghost Hall.

Any vampire that entered that building wasn't even allowed to use their spiritual energy to communicate.

So it was as silent as a graveyard.

Immediately after entering the building, Arlo saw an old man sitting behind the counter.

The old man raised his head up.

He observed Arlo for a moment before stretching out his hand.

"Ticket?"

Arlo immediately handed the library ticket the principal had given him.

What surprised Arlo was immediately after he handed the ticket over, the old man tore it into two.

"You have the whole day to use the library. You can also access the second floor if you want."

After saying that, the old man lowered his head and concentrated on the book he was reading.

Arlo looked at the torn ticket on the counter, 'Seems it is only a one-time use.'

He looked around the first floor and after a while, he nodded mentally.

The vampires must be a race that appeared not too long ago.

The first floor as huge as it was only had two massive shelves filled with books.

The rest of the floor was occupied by chairs and tables where any visitor could read quietly.

Arlo looked at the flight of stairs that headed upward.

He decided to first check the second floor.

Over one hour later.

Arlo walked down the flight of stairs as he returned to the first floor.

A look of disappointment was etched on his face.

The second floor only had one shelf. And after using almost one hour of his time, he realized nothing he needed was on the second floor.

The majority of the books were guides on how the vampires could cultivate. There were even personal notes from vampire experts.

However, all of those were useless to him.

The building had three floors, but he didn't dare to head to the third floor, as while there was nobody on the second floor, for some reason, he felt like the old man at the counter could observe his movements.

After coming back to the first floor, Arlo realized there was practically no other person in the building except for the old man and him.

Of course that was without counting the last floor.

He started going through the books on the first floor, and three hours later, Arlo smiled as he took three books and sat before one of the many free tables.

While he didn't find any book on how the vampires came into existence, he was satisfied with the books before him.

One of the books was about the vampire's abilities and their strong and weak points.

Another was about the history of the Darkblood Academy.

While the last was the most important one.

Arlo decided to start with the last one as the book was very large and thick.

He doubted if he could finish reading the book even after spending the entire day.

Throwing the unnecessary thoughts to the back of his mind, Arlo read the title of the book which was written grandly in black ink on the front cover.

"The Nine Great Vampire Clans!"