Arloum focused on his inner-body.

[Absorption T1]

‘It’s been a month since Zhen has been feeding me… and this thing showed no changes,’ he groaned.

On the first day of Zhen’s visit, he pushed his [Absorption] skill to 100%. However, even after another month of feeding, it showed no signs of evolving.

‘I can absorb life energy much faster than before, but now what?’ he twisted his leaves.

‘And where’s that brat, Zhen?! He’s been missing for a whole week! He’s just like Horlum!’ his leaves trembled in frustration.

Although his skill showed no signs of progressing, his body did. Now, he was two feet tall, with a few more branches and over a dozen leaves. However, his black and white leaves disappeared, leaving behind the bright, crimson red leaves.

At nightfall, his leaves would even glow in the dark!

‘TreeOfDarkness,’ he scoffed. ‘Isn’t this the demon’s tree of life? Wasn’t it called something else?’

Perplexed, he chose to ignore it. Even if he was the demonic tree of life, he wouldn’t care. But there’s one thing he knew for certain.

‘I’m not a tree of life, I don’t have access to the primal core. 'T means I can still create the battle tower and… Oh! Oh! I can move my roots now,’ he swayed his leaves, moving his dark energy toward his roots.

Then, as minutes flew by, Arloum’s body slowly lifted, revealing a slight gap between him and the boulder. Looking closely, there were a dense set of roots wriggling about below the base of his stem.

[Energy: 2/10]

‘Tch,’ Arloum clicked his tongue, retracting his dark energy. Earlier, it was the size of a baby’s first. Now, it was just a little bigger than a finger.

‘This damned energy…’ he sighed.

After maxing out his innate skill [Absorption], his extraction of life energy was enhanced. In exchange, his energy was also harder to replenish!

‘A whole day refills only a fifth of my energy…’ his leaves drooped down.

‘Where’s the pushov—I mean, my friend?! I need food. I must eat!!!’

----------------------------------------

In the dead hallway, Horlum hung his head as he strolled. His shoulders were lifeless, and on his hand was a book. “History of Legends,” a topic too advanced for his grade, yet he enjoyed it. But now… the book was heavier than iron.

As he walked, his eyes blurred, his mind whirling through wordless whispers. Even without anyone nearby, it felt as though someone was staring.

‘I did nothing wrong, why target me?’ he gritted his teeth, clenching his fists as he blinked away his tears.

Minutes later, he approached the staircase. Next to it were a group of elves chattering amongst each other. Seeing their platinum hair, Horlum paused, his feet stopping unknowingly. His knees couldn’t help but shake, and his chest heaved up and down as he breathed.

He stood, unmoving, and when one of the elves saw him, their face twisted. Whispering to the other elves, they all gazed at him, their faces betraying their disgust.

Before Horlum could react, the elves had already disappeared upstairs.

‘No, I did nothing wrong. What’s up with them?’ he took a deep breath, clutching his book and staring at the floor as he hurried forward.

‘It’s not my fault I’m a half-elf!’ he yelled to himself, rushing downstairs. Barely able to see in front of him, he wiped his eyes with his sleeves and kept walking.

The hallway wasn’t deserted like earlier, and each elf that saw him would engage in hushed whispers. Even though his ears weren’t as sensitive as theirs, their words still reached him.

“Hey, it’s that guy. Heard his parents seduced—”

“Shh! Don’t say such vulgar words! You’ll ruin your tongue. Ignore him.”

“Look, did he steal that book? Should we… report him?”

“Don’t bother with that thing. Let’s go.”

Horlum bit his lower lip, tensing up his throat to stop his hiccups.

‘I… I miss home,’ he thought, squinting his eyes into slits. ‘Mom, dad, why’d you leave us…? Brother… I miss you.’

“Haaa,” he let out a shaky breath.

Hugging his book, he closed his eyes and put his trust to his feet. His memory wasn’t the best, but he had memorized the way to the library.

‘They’d avoid something like me, anyway,’ he was sure of it.

After all, half-elves were freaks and filthy amongst the elves. They were treated like mutated cubs from a majestic lion, growing up fur-less and tooth-less.

Soon, the hushed voices came to a stop, and his foot hit a wooden surface. Flinching, he opened his eyes, being welcomed by a tall door carved with intricate patterns.

‘Finally…’ he sighed in relief, pushing the doors open.

As it creaked, the underground labyrinth of bookshelves on the other side was unveiled. To the side, an elf was reading a book in silence.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The elf opened his mouth.

“Name?” the elf asked, prompting Horlum to look over.

‘It’s the librarian,’ Horlum thought, a bit relieved. The librarian was aloof and seemed out of place, even amongst the elves. He didn’t bother with anything, nor did he care about anything, except for books.

“...name?” the librarian repeated, making Horlum jolt and mutter an apology.

“Horlum Schavenaem,” he said. The librarian nodded and waved his hand.

“Go in, don’t make noise,” the librarian said as he reached for a pen, jolting down Horlum’s name on a book without even looking.

‘Does he ever take his eyes off of books?’ Walking off, Horlum wondered, never seeing the librarian do so.

The library was built before the kingdom of Yuriel was founded. According to history, the first king of Yuriel built it during his youth.

‘Because of the wars back then, he built a labyrinth and a stronghold… In the end, the labyrinth was repurposed into a library, and the stronghold became part of the academy.’

Horlum let out a small smile, wiping off the sweat on his forehead.

His thumping heart gradually cooled down. Walking deeper and deeper into the library, the scent of books calmed his mind. Between bookshelves, there would be tables and chairs scattered around, and some would be occupied by elves. Elves who ignored his existence, absorbed in books.

‘It’s safe here,’ he chuckled soundlessly.

Like him, all elves were bookworms who thirsted for knowledge.

A while of walking later, he found an empty table sandwiched between two rows of towering bookshelves. There were spirit plants that looked like white and red fuchsia growing around the bookshelves. With neither sunlight or water, they lived off of residual energy from whoever stayed in the seat.

‘It’d make anyone nearby think slower and enter an unusually calm mood… but that’s just perfect. I can’t believe no one uses this spot,’ he licked his lips, plopping down on the chair.

As he sat, the back of his uniform and pants clung to his skin from the sweat.

“Hm?” he blinked, smelling a light, strange scent in the air.

‘It smells good… but what does it smell like? It reminds me of honey and flowers.’

“U-uh?” A startled voice came from behind him.

Eyes snapping wide open, he turned back. There, an elf stood, staring at his sweat-soaked clothes and the now sweat-stained chair.

Squinting, he scanned the elf with dazed eyes. The eld had long, platinum hair tied to a ponytail, wearing the standard male uniform of the academy—white long sleeves and a pair of dark-green pants. His eyes, glossy like amethyst crystals, were hidden behind a pair of thick, round eyeglasses.

“S-sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you,” the elf hurriedly turned around, walking away.

“...wow,” Horlum stared at the elf’s back for a while, silently rubbing his nose shyly.

‘Did he get here first? He has that scent…’

Shaking his head, he stood up, taking out a dry white towel and wiping the chair dry. Taking his uniform off and hanging it on the back of the chair, he yanked a spare shirt from his bag. Wiping his body dry, he changed into the spare shirt.

‘Hooo, that feels a lot better,’ he smiled, sitting down and stuffing his wet uniform inside a separate, smaller bag.

‘Where was I? I read until I fainted last night. Hopefully I didn’t forget anything…’

Flipping through the thick book of the “History of Legends”, he settled on the three hundredth thirtieth page.

‘Ah, here it was! I knew I had a good memory,’ he smirked, reading with his eyes.

However, he couldn’t read more than one paragraph when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning his head, he saw a familiar, tall elf.

“Teacher Kier,” he greeted, making the tall elf halt and look at him, even though he was blindfolded.

“Horlum, it’s nice to see you in the library. What are you reading?” Kier asked, walking toward Horlum.

Seeing him taking a seat, Horlum opened his mouth

“Does teach know about this book?” he asked, showing off the book cover.

Kier hummed, his smile everlasting. “History of Legends, is it?”

Kier’s brows slightly furrowed, though Horlum didn’t notice, his eyes glued to the pages.

“Why are you reading this, Horlum? Do you like history?” Kier asked.

Horlum scratched his chin.

“I guess,” he grinned, thinking about a certain plant.

Back then, when he found a rotting seed and threw it under a boulder, he never guessed it would sprout. It even ate dead animals!

“I love reading about… spirit plants and trees of life,” Horlum said, his eyes unknowingly curling into a smile.

‘The little plant isn’t a tree of life, is it?’ he inwardly wondered, before shaking the idea off.

‘No way. It should be a spirit plant. But who knows?’ he snickered silently.

“Trees of life?” Kier repeated, his voice a little higher than before, his lips parting slightly.

Then, faking a cough, his smile returned. “The trees of life, have you read about the elven tree of life?”

Horlum nodded. “It’s the Elfrid Tree, right?”

Kier’s smile widened slightly. “Yes, the Elfrid Tree. It’s, it’s where all elves came from. Do you want to know more about the Elfrid Tree?” He asked, his voice slightly feverish.

Horlum shuddered, slightly tilting his head.

Shrugging his shoulders, he said with a shy smile, “I didn’t know you studied the trees of life too, teach.”

Kier chuckled, his lips forever upturned. “No, I only care about the Elfrid Tree. How is it, are you interested?”

“Erm,” Horlum smiled wryly, looking a bit sideways.

‘I want to refuse but… something feels off,’ Horlum discreetly peeked at Kier’s blindfolds.

‘It feels like he’s staring at me with ten eyes.’

Shaking his head, he breathed deeply. He looked at Kier, only to see the latter smiling in amusement, his head resting on his hand.

Horlum blinked, laughing in embarrassment. “Sorry, teach, I got distracted.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kier waved his hand, “so? Are you interested?”

Horlum hummed. “Um, I like reading about all the trees of life, not just the—”

“That’s fine,” Kier butted in. “Since you’re interested in the trees of life, knowing more about the Elfrid Tree is good, am I right?”

Horlum gulped, thinking about it before nodding slowly.

‘I guess it won’t hurt to know… But, does he worship the elven tree or something?’

Kier didn’t care about his thoughts. As soon as Horlum nodded, he clapped his hands.

“That’s great! Once upon a—”

“Ah, wait! Teach,” Horlum hurriedly stopped him.

Kier frowned for a moment before sighing, his smile returning as if it never left.

“What is it?”

Horlum apologized a few more times. “I’ve got to go home early today, teach. Can you tell me about Elfrid in the classroom next Monday?"

Kier remained silent, nodding his head and standing up. After bidding goodbye to Horlum, he promptly disappeared into the bookshelf maze. Horlum let out a breath of relief.

‘I guess that means I can’t stay here now… I just got here, damn it.’

Glancing at the book, which he hadn’t read one page since he sat down, he bit his lip and continued reading.

‘Just one more page, last one! Teach shouldn’t come back so quickly.’

Reading in a hurry, he barely managed to finish one page when he heard heavy footsteps coming toward him.

‘Ahhh! Such a waste!’

Grumbling inwardly, he grabbed his bag and stood up, wearing it on his back. “Horlum? You’re still here?”

Horlum nearly jumped, turning around and seeing Kier behind him. As usual, the tall elf wore a smile.

“I was just reading—ahem! Packing up, teach!”

Kier shook his head, flashing a smile at Horlum before walking away. On the other hand, Horlum stared at the book with longing before closing it. As he reached the entrance, he approached the librarian near the door.

“Here you go, I didn’t damage it.”

The librarian nodded, taking the book with one hand while holding a small booklet open in another, reading silently with his eyes. Horlum watched in envy.

‘If only I can rent books and take them home during weekends…’

It was friday, and he was required to return all the books he borrowed from the library. Otherwise, he’d be fined with a penalty. Thinking back to Kier’s offer, he inwardly clicked his tongue, cursing softly.

‘Teacher Kier is good, but… it was suuuper uncomfortable earlier. It’s like I was eating mud…’

Lips in a flat line, he exited the library, not noticing an elf staring at his back. The elf sneered, rubbing his lips in thought.

“I thought elves were fragile. Is it because he's half?” he hummed, walking toward the librarian.

Sensing him approaching, the librarian furrowed his brows, closing the booklet in his hand.

“What do you want?”

The elf laughed softly.