Chapter 56: Two Skill Books

More than a month had passed since Julian arrived in this world. In what could be called a fairly short span of time, an enormous amount had already changed.

Enough to make Julian feel like he was back in his old world, just with an entirely different flavor of fame this time around.

Every time Julian walked through the corridors and past the Academy’s students, they’d all stop and bow their heads respectfully, murmuring something about how much they admired him, and so on, though of course, not every single one of them.

The headmaster treated him with courtesy, almost excessively kind. A member of the Elite family had consistently backed him, seemingly ready to stand by his side regardless of whatever happened.

He also had two disciples whose talents were so extraordinary that Julian, who’d finally started getting used to how this world’s standards were supposed to work, kept getting blindsided by how absurdly fast his disciples kept growing.

Whether it was Kina, who’d recently made a massive leap forward with Flash Step, or Ilunia, who’d finally secured her own specialized program.

Both of them were advancing at a remarkable pace. Ilunia especially had started contributing enormously, not just through the Skills Julian gained from her, but through Rank progress as well.

Julian had been startled at first, wondering how Ilunia was managing to boost her own Rank Progress, and when he’d asked, the girl had only vaguely mentioned using Serums for it.

Fine, Julian had no idea how Ilunia could afford Serums that obviously cost a fortune. But thinking it over again, this was a girl who could see the future, and whose prophetic skill kept growing sharper by the day.

That told Julian she’d probably been seeing plenty of things lately, and likely putting each glimpse to good use, one by one.

The point was, Ilunia wasn’t nearly as innocent as her adorable appearance suggested, the girl herself was remarkably sharp, fully capable of leveraging her own prophecies. If that weren’t the case, Julian wouldn’t have believed she could’ve survived entirely on her own the way she apparently had.

As for the Church of Ascension, fortunately, Julian had never been attacked by them, nor had he found himself in any real danger.

For about two weeks after learning he might have become a target, Julian genuinely couldn’t relax at all, but lately, things had turned remarkably peaceful.

Nothing had happened at all, aside from Julian’s steady growth in strength and a few light, casual connections forming here and there.

’Of course, there’s no way I’m just going to sit back and relax over this.’

Terrified as he was of them, here Julian was now. He stood in an archive room filled with countless Skill Books, each one meticulously maintained, not a hint of that musty old-book smell lingering anywhere.

Julian had been coming to this archive every chance he got, and what he was doing here was fairly simple.

He was searching for a skill book suited to himself. So far, every skill Julian had was heavily lopsided.

He had burst damage, sustained attacks, utility, mobility, and awareness. But he had absolutely nothing covering the one thing he genuinely needed.

A defensive skill.

"I only get one life, if I take a genuinely severe hit, I’ll just drop dead on the spot."

Just thinking about it made Julian recoil. So his goal here was to make use of his status as an Honorary Instructor, which let him access skill books and hand them out to deserving students.

Of course, he needed prior approval first, since studying a skill wasn’t as simple as just picking one up and learning it.

A student had to choose a single skill they’d genuinely thought through carefully, because otherwise, they’d just end up wasting time and efficiency for nothing.

Which was exactly why approval was required in the first place, to prevent students from studying every skill under the sun only to get stuck making zero progress on all of them.

So why didn’t Julian just study it himself?

He could, technically, but Julian would much rather exploit the cheat ability he already had. Hand the skill book over to his disciple, and all Julian had to do afterward was sit back and reap the results.

He nodded.

"Perfect."

Not just his plan, but the skill books he’d found numbered two. One each, for Ilunia and Kina respectively.

For now, Julian would hold off giving Kina her skill book, since the girl needed to stay focused on mastering what she already had, so he’d hand Ilunia’s over first.

After returning the other skill books, Julian carried the two he’d chosen, showing them briefly to the archive keeper.

"Sir Isaac, could you register these two books for me?"

The archive keeper was an elderly man wearing a single lens over his left eye. He tapped it briefly, letting out a faint clinking sound, then smiled.

"Oh, it’s Lord Julian. These two skill books are for your disciples, I take it?"

"That’s right."

The old man nodded. "Usually, getting this kind of approval is quite difficult, since it requires proper justification. But since it’s Lord Julian asking, I won’t bother questioning it at all."

Isaac then jotted down a few notes, and looked at Julian with a grin. "All done. You can take these now, Lord Julian, and please take good care of your little monsters, they’re humanity’s hope, after all."

’What a genuinely enthusiastic old man.’

Julian always felt remarkably at ease talking with this man, so, without even realizing it, he found himself smiling, even with his usual flat expression.

A faint smile, but a smile nonetheless.

He nodded, thanked the man, and headed out from the archive room.

Since it was still class hours, the Academy corridors were nearly empty as Julian walked through. Of course, that didn’t mean there were no students around at all, a few with specific business still appeared here and there.

And the moment they spotted Julian, they’d bow and greet him.

Julian would only respond with a low murmur or a nod. If this had been the old him, he probably would’ve flashed a wide smile and waved enthusiastically, cultivating a friendly, idol-like image.

Unfortunately, here, he carried an entirely different persona, thanks to the skill he’d received from his Talent.

Julian’s gaze then landed on a man leaning against the corridor wall. A man with dark navy-blue hair, nearly black, wearing a tall-collared jacket, it was Lurker.

"Ah, finally, there you are, Lord Julian."

"...Lord Lurker? Were you looking for me?"

Realizing Lurker might have been waiting here for quite some time, Julian suddenly felt a wave of discomfort and guilt.

He’d shut himself away in that archive room for several hours. So Lurker had likely been waiting for a considerable while.

"Don’t worry, I only just arrived," Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case, Lurker coughed briefly, then gave a small smile. "The exact date for the event has been set."

’The event? Ah.’

Julian nodded, that had to be referring to the evaluation for entry into the Elite Academy. Kina had been training intensely for that day, so hearing that the exact date had been finalized left Julian a little uneasy, knowing Kina would soon be face-to-face with her family again.

Besides, the evaluation itself took place in a closed setting, unlike the Academy tournament, which had been open for public viewing.

Only certain families intending to scout talented students for sponsorship attended, along with the students’ guardians.

Julian remembered guardians could attend without any difficulty, but he hadn’t realized it required a special card.

"...This is genuinely necessary?" Julian asked as Lurker handed him a specific card required to attend the event.

"The staff will make sure Lord Julian receives excellent service there."

Hearing that, Julian nodded again and thanked him.

After that, Lurker, having accomplished what he’d come for, excused himself. Julian didn’t stop him either.

’By the way, he looks a lot better now. No trace of that severe fever he had two weeks ago.’

Julian felt genuinely pleased seeing the man recovered. So, humming softly to himself, Julian continued walking, and right around then, class hours ended, prompting him to head off to find Ilunia.