The Spider Queen

(Zrudread University- Main Campus)

(The Royal Library)

A tall rectangular building stood next to the cafeteria. From the outside it was not very impressive or visually stunning as its walls were painted a dull grey colour.

Compared to the busy lines and crowd of students going to and from the cafeteria, this building in comparison looked practically deserted.

Only a handful of students trickled in and out of its entrance. 

With the Virtual Net being readily available to all the students, libraries were generally seen as outdated.

Zrudread University in particular was very combat and practical oriented so most students were reluctant to spend much time reading in the library.

Sophie held up her student card and pressed it against the entrance scanner. The glass doors swung open, and the hybrid girl walked inside.

The inside of the building was surprisingly nice. The floor was covered in a soft, comfortable fur carpet and there was a pleasant scent of flowers in the air.

There were multiple floors inside the library with the first floor serving as the common area that had chairs, benches and tables.

The other floors contained private study rooms that the students could book.

There were terminals connected to the Virtual Net scattered around the room, but Sophie also saw large bookshelves filled with heavy tomes and books.

Physical books held a certain charm, and it may sound silly, but Sophie enjoyed the feeling of flipping through pages.

Today was Friday. 

Only a few more days were left before the final exams begun and Sophie planned to meet up with some of her friends for a study session.

Celestia had invited her to join their cramming session and had also extended the invitation to the rest of the class.

Sophie at first was feeling rather hesitant but it had been a while since she had last seen the gossipy Servie girl, and this was a good chance to learn a bit more about her classmates.

"Hello young lady… how can I help you?" a warm and friendly voice called out. 

An elderly human woman wearing a plain white robe stepped out from behind one of the bookshelves and smiled at Sophie.

"Good morning! I'm looking for a study room booked by a student named Celestia," Sophie replied politely.

The elderly woman slowly powered on her wrist communicator and accessed the library's database.

"Ahh… third floor… room twenty-five…" the elderly woman whispered softly. Sophie thanked the helpful librarian and then headed towards the stairs.

She could have taken the elevator but a little exercise before a study session always helped to clear her mind.

The library was much bigger than one would expect it to be judging solely on its unimpressive exterior. 

Sophie suspected that spatial runes had been engraved onto the ceiling to expand the space. 

The hybrid girl curiously looked around and saw students desperately studying with heavy stacks of paper in front of them.

Some were jotting down notes and answering mock questions while others were frantically trying to memorise the contents.

There were even a few that gave up completely. 

Sophie spotted a Mendolesa boy lounging on one of the couches in a deep slumber.

Sophie shook her head and tried not to laugh when she saw some drool slip out of the poor boy's mouth.

It took around five minutes to finally reach the third floor. Unlike the first floor, this area was a long corridor with doors on both sides of the hall.

There was a number on each door that clearly marked the room number and there was also a glowing light that indicated whether the room was occupied or not.

"Okay… let's see… twenty-one… twenty-two…" Sophie whispered to herself as she got closer and closer to a door near the end of the hallway.

She could hear the sounds of people talking and laughing on the other side of the door.

Sophie knocked on the door twice and then swiped her student card against the scanner. The door swung open, and Sophie entered what appeared to be a miniature classroom.

The conversations inside the room immediately halted as the students stared at her with varying expressions.

Whispers and murmurs filled the room as the students could not believe their eyes. 

Celestia had told them that Sophie was coming but there were some that did not trust her words.

"Wait… the rumors were true?"

"I thought she was going to repeat last semester…"

"Damn… does this mean that I don't have a chance to come first?"

"Sophie! Glad you could make it!" a sing-song voice cut through the strange atmosphere. 

Celestia flew over with her translucent wings flapping lazily and landed on top of Sophie's head. The Servie girl hummed cheerfully as she played with strands of Sophie's hair.

"They didn't believe me you know… everyone thought that you wouldn't show up!" Celestia boasted proudly as she turned to the crowd with a smug look on her face.

"It's good to see you again…" a soft whisper came from the corner of the room. A hybrid boy with two bone-like wings jutting out from his back waved at Sophie.

"Nice to see you as well Rafessa," Sophie replied with a smile. 

Her open and friendly demeaner caused the other students to lose their nervousness and they soon came over to chat.

"Tell me… what happened that night… is it true that the emperor blew himself up?" a Mendolesa girl leaned in closer and whispered.

"No… I heard that he summoned the power of a false God and banished the nobles to another dimension!" a spiky haired boy yelled.

"The Federation government is just covering it up! My dad works for a guy who knows a guy whose cousin knows the truth!"

"Where did you go for those three months?" Celestia chimed in with a question of her own. 

Sophie patiently answered most of the questions but was intentionally vague on some of the details.

Still even her brief summary of the events that she had gone through in the Unovan Syndicate was enough to get looks of amazement from the crowd.

There were around ten students in the study room with the majority being humans which was quite the rare sight at Zrudread University.

Poison was seen as unbefitting for a warrior in the Mendolesa culture, so it was unusual for a member of their species to choose this path.

Sophie continued to answer questions and catch up with her fellow classmates for around ten more minutes until finally someone could not take it anymore.

"Excuse me… can we go back to studying now?" a nasally voice filled the room. 

Sophie saw a quiet boy dressed in a turtleneck sweater staring at her with an expression of annoyance.

"Sorry about that," Sophie apologised sincerely. There would be time for idle chat once the study session finished.

Sophie sat down on the nearest available seat and pulled some textbooks out of her storage bag. 

Celestia jumped off her head and landed on her shoulders where she peered down at the book.

"I'm having some trouble with the organic chemistry section," Celestia freely admitted as she gave Sophie her best puppy eyed look.

The Servie girl was glad that the number one student in the poison cultivation class was back because she really needed the help.

Sophie was not just the best student in the lab section, but her theoretical knowledge was unrivalled as well.

"Which part? The carbon-to-carbon bonding or the effects of modifying the benzene ring to produce a cyclohexadiene?" Sophie asked quietly.

Celestia's tiny head began to hurt as Sophie kept on listing out the different terms that would probably be on the exam.

By the gods… she hated chemistry.