The senior students watched as Kairos took their precious dark copper plate and kept it in his Time-space ring.
Their hearts ache with the loss, but nevertheless, after that display of unsurmountable might, none of them dared to confront Kairos about it.
They couldn't have known that their precious artefact actually meant little to him. It was the research value that he had fancied. If these research students knew, they would have thrown themselves at his feet, begging him to return the plate and offering books in return.
But, Kairos had no reason to return it. Those that dare to raise their arm should be prepared to lose it.
Kairos twisted the handle to the library. When the door is about to open, the access emblem on his body sparkled for a moment, reacting to some unknown authentication device before allowing him entry
Curiosity immediately gripped him.
"This could be a convenient device to implement for my dragons' lair and the Crystal Valve."
Kairos did not move from the entrance as he searched for the device. When he found a stratagem carved in a small hollowed space within the pillar, he started studying it right there and then. Though it is entirely hidden, it is impossible to escape his sharp senses.
Though he had sealed his Soul Perception, not only for combat but also for every day uses, there is one exception that he permitted himself; That, when he noticed something had gone out of place, he may use his Soul Perception to further discern his target.
In the first place, his purpose of sealing this ability is to reduce his dependency from using it to protect himself. There is no reason to make his own life difficult if he already noticed something wrong by himself, and the purpose of using it does not clash with his intended training.
The instructors and other senior research students that are in the library stared at this new student weirdly.
"What is he doing?"
"He's just standing by the door like an idiot."
"My goodness, who gave such a blockhead the pass to enter?"
"Oh, maybe he felt overcome with emotion when he came into this sacred land? I was overwhelmed when I first stepped in this place."
"Haha, that's because you're such a lousy second-rate Stratagem student, you couldn't believe that the instructor has a spare access emblem for you."
"Y...you!! If I'm second-rate, then you are third-rate for dancing naked in the library after falling into my illusionary Stratagem!"
"I... I haven't get back at you for this... you... d... dare bring it up?!"
Each instructor is given only three emblems to be given out. To give one more student the rights to access this library, one emblem must be taken back. Therefore, it is a competition among students of every class to reach the top and be granted the status as a research student.
Meanwhile, Kairos noticed a teleportation ward embedded within the Stratagem by the door. Those that enter this place without the emblem would be forcefully thrown out. The rest of the array is made to bypass most concealment techniques and identify intruders. Both the detection ability and the teleportation rune caused Kairos' heart to race, they are things that he had never seen before.
He finally entered the library moments later, after completely memorised the hidden teleportation ward.
Though there are a number of students and instructors looking at him in this place, he couldn't find a librarian that could direct him. Unfamiliar with how a library operates, Kairos started his research from the first shelf of books. But as he was looking the titles, an ancient looking man appeared next to him.
"Lord Kairos," He politely began.
Kairos looked up from his book and saw his Formations & Arrays instructor smiling at him.
"Instructor," Kairos, not catching the man's name previously because he was late to the class, greeted him briefly.
The instructor with wispy white hair stared at the books that the young Earl are holding, and he asked, "What are you looking for?"
"Instructor, does this library have any Time-space stratagem books?"
"Ah, you are already at the stage of the Transcendent elements? They're at not kept at this level. Go to the third floor."
"Thank you for your help, instructor."
"My pleasure, Lord Kairos. I hope you will find what you are looking for."
Kairos, feeling there is something odd about this instructor, gave the older gentleman a stiff nod.
He didn't notice anything out of place when he first received the library access token and did not think much of it. After all, in Kairos' possession, he already has the access token to the Runic Library, therefore getting another access did not seem like a great deal.
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But when entering this place, he realised how treasured the library token actually is.
The Runic Library access emblem was given to him by a genuinely impressed instructor who openly shown his favour towards Kairos. But the Formations & Arrays instructor was, instead, acting suspiciously helpful to him.
"Thank you. Do you have something else you want from me, sir?" Kairos looked at the instructor directly then asked without beating about the bush.
"Hahaha! I'm glad you asked. Sounds like you already realised that something is going on. Lord Yue is the one who instructed to let you gain access to this place. He also asked how are the fifteen doing?
And, he invited you to pay him a visit when you have the time."
Without hearing the answers to those questions, the instructor gave Kairos a nod and moved away, leaving the boy with his thoughts.
It had been on Kairos' mind, why did the Devilheart house partner with the Steel Rose family instead of their superior, Lord Yue's family? Likewise, who was the one who helped his fifteen disciples in finding their Soul Slips?
Now, the answer has been revealed, but their benefactor is the person he had least expected.
Though Kairos considers the Dark Gods family which belongs to Lord Yue, an enemy, he knows that he still owes the man a great favour.
The instructor did not stay to hear if Kairos would be visiting Lord Yue, but there was also no need to; Lord Yue already knew that with the boy's character, his invitation would not be turned down.
When the instructor left, Kairos understood he had been thoroughly evaluated, and he could only shake his head with a helpless smile on his face.
"Looks like I have to meet a tremendous monster, face to face."
He knows that whatever Lord Yue intents, the meeting would not be a simple one. In a way, it is far more dangerous than an audience with the Emperor. At least, the sovereign has the interest to act reasonably to preserve the hearts of his countrymen. But Lord Yue, on the other hand, do not and in fact, is well known to be unscrupulous.
Kairos cleared his swirl of thoughts and proceeded to the third floor of the library.
He immediately found the stacks of transcending element arrays, among them, he selected the Time-space stratagem books for study.
In complete concentration on his research, day turn into night. Except for his hands, he did not move an inch where he stood.
To look through the large quantity of Stratagems he had gathered, Kairos flipped through the pages without stopping, yet through his eyes, it was adequate to memorise them by hard. Later on, when he has the time, he could decipher them one by one.
He had benefited much from his study, but unfortunately, what he required was not found.
When the time comes for the library to close for the day, Kairos regretfully close the tomes before him and left.
The following day, Kairos headed to the Runic Library instead. This time, there were no obstacles to bar his way, and he went straight to the section which the Time-Space runes are recorded. It was here that he finally found what he required.
Excitedly, Kairos rushed back to his dorm at mid-day then hurriedly went out again. He found a hidden location, and after making sure there is no one near with his Soul Perception, he summoned the Crystal Valve training ground. His efforts for the past two days is all for a method to enhance the training ground. Left as it is, there is little chance to use it.
A great piece of land a hundred square meters wide appeared soundlessly, hidden behind the school compound. Now that it is out, the Stratagem will do the rest to prevent detection from sight and sound.
Kairos immediately began altering the Stratagem, and after that, he produced an unassuming crystal ball from his Time-space ring to draw the same cryptic runic symbols on top of it.
This time, what he wanted to achieve was not found from his previous Selfless Cultivation, and he had to work without a reference.
Nevertheless, Kairos did not assume to test out his creation on a substitute before implementation. He confidently completed his alteration.
He smiled to himself confidently and activated the new runes. Before his eyes, the large plot of soil that could hold a small house disappeared without a trace, and within his crystal ball, a miniature version reappeared.
He could not find the method to stuff a large piece of land into a small and more portable object from the Stratagem Library. The accumulation of wisdom from the ancients had not reached the level to do so.
However, Kairos' visit to the Runic Library gave him the correct Heavenly Words to do so.
With that, all he needs to do is to piece them together to form a proper runic set. If there are none in existence, then he will create it on his own. It wasn't the first time he had created his own Runic Stratagem after all.
In fact, every single rune that he had made so far was an original creation of his own; The Star Rune weapons, the Crystal Valve and even the battle formations his group had adopted.
Looking through his creation one last time using his Veritable Sight, he gave it a nod then started working on a few metal pieces that had suddenly appeared in his hand.
That evening, the leaders of the Snowdrifts guild gathered in Kairos' room. Unlike before, the place is now furnished with proper fittings.
The four captains, Long, John, Silvers, Sasha, and his four team mates, Edward, Jim, Tommy and Alan sat around the place. Then Kairos handed each of them a small token, made similarly to the library access emblems.
His visit to the library was more than just studying books. He had found value in the teleportation ward and the library access tokens, and he created something similar.
"This emblem will allow you entry to a training ground which could improve your cultivation speed."
"The Crystal Valve?" His team asked eagerly. They had been waiting for it to be ready. By using that training ground even once, the powerful Heavenly Energies within will become addictive to any cultivator.
"Yes, only by using this can you gain access to the Crystal Valve."
"Oh, but where is it?" The guys looked around the place naively. If an adult were told such a thing, they wouldn't think that the training grounds Kairos mentioned is in a tiny room such as this, but to these kids, they believed it is possible.
Kairos rose and walked to his cabinet with the rest following behind.
When he opened the cabinet's door, the others saw a small crystal ball resting on an otherwise empty shelf.
"Boss, it looks normal to me even though I'm holding the emblem. Where is the Crystal Valve?" Alan asked.
"Ah, let me demonstrate," Kairos said then activated the access emblem with a tinge of Ki.
The emblem glowed in his hand, and then he instantly disappeared. When the others scrutinise the crystal ball, they noticed that there is a small grassland within and upon it is the tiny figure of Kairos.
"MY GOODNESS! What the heck is this? This looks so fun," Alan exclaimed, then he promptly picked up the crystal ball and gave it a good shake.
The four captains rushed forward wanting to stop him, but the others laughed heartily.
Unfortunately, the hopeful scene of Kairos tumbling around did not occur.
"Darn," Jim said with genuine disappointment.
"Let's go in as well then."
Soon, everyone activated their own emblems and entered. To an outsider, the illusionary stratagem on it will make it seem like a standard, transparent, crystal ball. Not much different from the ones used to observe a far away place.
In fact, because of this, even if someone breaks the illusion and sees the Crystal Valve within, they will be inclined to think they are looking at a foreign place.
For the next four years, this will be their place to train.