Lucius woke up from his slumber, and he sat on his bed as he contemplated what happened during the spar. He stayed there quietly, doing nothing as he stared at the floor.
He looked at his right hand covered in a bandage.
'The 5th volume alone was strong enough to render me in this state even with my stats.'
He clenched his fist, determined.
'If I have to rank Arthur right now, he's already within the early ranks of martial master.'
He then stood up and walked towards his closet and put on his formal attire. Then he adjusted his collar, took a deep breath, and left his room to go to the archives.
'First I need to master the Basic Core Forging technique before the 2nd and 3rd volumes of Ashleigh's Swordsmanship.'
'If I get even a single core, with my Talent and Potential stats at the max, my power can increase threefold!'
He halted for a second at a glass window, looking at Arthur training. He smirked.
'Just you wait, Arthur, I'll surpass you in a matter of days!'
He entered the archives, opening the door. He was shocked to discover that the archives had far too many shelves, too many in fact; it could even be referred to as infinite.
Lucius walked slowly inside; just one step inside the archives, it felt like he was already in a different building. The walls, the floor, the atmosphere—everything was different.
He slapped himself to wake him up.
'What am I doing daydreaming over such a simple thing!'
He then quickly walked to the stairs.
'I have more important matters to entertain.'
'Actually, how many floors are there? The Tyrant said that in order for me to use the Token of Ashleigh to get my hands on the volumes, I need to reach the top floor.'
He looked up; his jaw dropped.
'That's…over 13 floors!'
'Does the King want me to learn, or does he want me dead?!'
After some while he reached the 13th floor; he was sweating intensely as he was extremely tired. He sat down on the floor, gasping for air.
'Am I really sure I maxed out all my stats..? How did I master the 1st volume without being tired but feel like I'm about to die from stairs?'
'Well..'
He stood up, removing the dust off his clothes.
'I finally reached it, the floor where they keep all of Ashleigh's techniques that can only be accessed by royal members!'
He approached the entrance where 2 guards stand; he picked the token off his clothes and showed it to the guards. Both of the guards bow down.
"Glory to the Empire, please wait a moment, Young Master; we shall get the volumes the King himself recommended."
To retrieve the books, the two guards went to the floor's shelves.
Lucius grinned.
'Perfect, with both of them gone I can look inside for a bit, can't I?'
He carefully stepped inside, walking slowly to avoid calling out attention and so he won't get caught. After a bit of walking, he looked at one of the shelves.
'Hmm..there are many interesting books indeed.'
'It's hard to settle on which one I would like to grab..'
His eyes then widened at one book; he lifted his arm and pulled it out of the shelves slowly before looking at it before chuckling.
'What a coincidence..'
'That fool really donated such a precious volume to this Empire.'
'The summoning technique, Death's Call!'
Before he could go back, he heard a voice from not too far from where he was.
"Young Master, where are you?"
'Sh*t, they figured it out!'
He hid at the side of a shelf after running out of the area he was in. The person that called then went into the section, looking around.
"Young Master? Are you here?"
Lucius' expression became annoyed.
'Just as soon as I was going to escape, don't I have maxed-out Luck?!'
'I need to find something to distract him, fast!'
He looked everywhere but couldn't find anything. He sighed.
'What do I do? At this rate I'm as good as dead!'
He then looks at the book of Death's Call, his expression somewhat skeptical.
'Should I?'
The person was getting closer and closer whilst other areas were guarded by guards.
'No, this is too precious!'
He then slowly gazed at the person approaching at an alarming rate before putting his head back.
'I just have to use it right here..'
'The technique I created in my 31st life! The Zephyr Stride!'
The person then went near the side of the shelves, still clueless on where Lucius could be.
"Young Master!"
Lucius gulped, not sure if his plan would work as he was intensely sweating.
'Just a little more..'
The person took a step, still looking around.
"Young Master! If you can hear me, please come out!'
The person then walked back a little; Lucius' expression then became a mix of annoyed and mad.
'Damn you! You're just making it longer for me!'
Lucius then hears footsteps of other people approaching his side.
'Crap! If there are more than 5 people, this trick won't work!'
The person sighed, wiping off her sweat from finding Lucius.
"Where on earth could Young Master have gone to?"
She then gave up on the side and went to the other section by also approaching the side where Lucius was hiding.
Lucius' eyes widened, smiling.
'Now!'
He then managed to seep past a small opening through her arms by diving. As he used his current momentum to go back to the entrance.
The person was somewhat surprised as she looked back.
"That's weird; I swear I felt something pass me."
She sighed before walking to the other area.
"I'm getting old to the point I'm imagining things."
Lucius clutched his knees, gasping for air.
'I forgot how unforgiving the Zephyr Stride is to people with weak bodies..'
He then stood up, hiding the book of Death's Call behind him.
"I'm over here!"
The 2 guards sprinted to the entrance, panting as they gave Lucius the volumes.
"Y-young master, where were you when we were finding you..?"
Lucius scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.
"Oh, I was in the bathroom.."
The 2 guards sighed out of relief, one of them even sitting down.
"Young Master, please don't scare us like that. The King values you a lot; if we were to lose you, our heads would be sold on some market!"
Lucius then took the volumes before waving.
"Thank you once again!"
He looked forward and saw the staircase. His smiling expression is hiding the fact that he's annoyed.
'I just want to strangle the person that made this entire archive 13 floors..'
Inside the throne room, a butler walked in and knelt in front of the King.
"Glory to the Empire, My Lord."
The King took a glass of wine and drank some of it before replying.
"So what can you say about Lucius?"
The butler raised his head.
"His talent is unmatched; he managed to get a book off the 13th floor of the archives without the guards even noticing."
"Also, my lord, do we confiscate the book he stole?"
The King chuckled before smiling.
"Don't, for he has earned it."
"Ah, it's only been a day since I acknowledged him, but he has already put a scar on Arthur and stolen a book from the archives."
"Please tighten the security; we can't be having people just steal from the archives."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The butler walked back and exited the throne room.
The King laughed out of joy.
"If only he were the firstborn…"
"But who cares? Entertain me more and more, Lucius!"