Warlock of Oceans: My Poseidon System

Chapter 119 Intermission: Improvement (2)

We walked into an elevator only after my sister scanned her retina on an eye scanner. Quickly, her identity was confirmed and were allowed in, only to be met by another layer of security after selecting a button with the number three on it.

"Alright, buddy. Whatever you see in there can not be spread to anybody else, especially since it's a high-tier library. If you have any questions or need to piss or something, then just come back to the elevator. I will be waiting there for you. Also, you only have three hours to pick, so be quick and wise. If you read or absorb more than one skill book, you will be expelled from the academy, and since you're such a troublesome kid, we will have to expel everybody related to you as well."

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"Mhm…" I vaguely responded whilst listening to the slight hum of the elevator. In theory, it would have served as some kind of tension breaker, but it only made me more aware of the fact that I was standing next to my sister, enhancing the tension and stress between us. But then, all of a sudden, she spoke up, breaking the thick ice.

"Nice earrings. They look good on you."

"Oh, thanks… I guess."

Ding Ding Ding Ding

The elevator door finally opened, releasing me from the awkward situation I had been placed in. My sister sighed gently as she grabbed my shoulder before I was unleashed into the array of books pressed against the wall.

Strangely, there were no bookshelves, just four solid walls holding multiple books. There was nothing special about the spines of these books, but judging from how secure this place was, I couldn't help but get a bit excited. They looked like books you'd see in a normal library, yet for some reason, my heart was beating faster than ever.

"Damn… this place is cool as hell," I muttered, retreating with my sister, who pulled me back my shoulder. "Also, what do you want? I already heard what you wanted to say."

"Since you're so clueless about this place, I hope you can understand that this place isn't a joke. Skills that you could only hope to obtain can be achieved here. Be decisive but don't hang too long on a few books. Explore the entire collection before narrowing your selections down."

I nudged her hand off my shoulder and was grossed out at her sudden kindness. She had been pissed off at me for a couple of days now, but for some reason, she now decided to act nice to me? It's not that it makes me feel angry… just a bit weird.

"I understand." But I still returned a hint of confirmation to her as she let out a long sigh. She smirked before leaning against the wall, closing her eyes, and suddenly circulating mana through her body. Her mana core was beating like a literal heart, and it almost seemed to pump even more mana through her now widening mana veins.

Ah, that's right. I've been so caught up in other things that I forgot about this new core that I got… an Angel Core, huh? From what I can assume, instead of circulating mana, it circulates aether. But I should figure that out later. Right now, I have to browse through every book here.

"Hmmm… I guess I'll start by doing this…"

…

(Laura POV)

Seeing how I was going to be here for a while, I decided to practice enhancing my mana core. By continuously circulating mana with [Mana Control], I can easily pump and widen my mana veins without much trouble. I was lucky enough to obtain this technique through my master, but even then, one had to master the technique in order to do what I'm currently using to improve my magic.

Slowly, whilst using the [Mana Control] skill, I imagined a blue fluid flowing from the bottoms of my soles to the very scalp of my head. It flowed through me like a running stream. If it turned into a gushing river, I would need to adjust it so my mana veins wouldn't break, and if it turned into a leaking tap, then I would need to adjust it contrary to the river.

I felt my head spin as a serene calmness infiltrated my brain, but as I sunk further and further into this meditative state, a strange phenomenon caused me to open my eyes. With a light rim of blue aura hanging over my pupils, I stared at my brother, whose mana core was nonexistent.

"Huh? Is it those earrings… or something else?" I murmured to myself. It wasn't very loud, but due to the extreme quietness filling this empty room, Cyrus easily heard me. He turned towards me with a strange expression before opening his lips.

"Scizo."

I deadpanned at his words. He stared at me for a few seconds before returning to his sporadic search around the library. And as I was intrigued by this technique that only the well-informed knew of, I excused his disrespect and watched him carefully.

Clearly, my brother had discovered that the walls were sectioned into categories of skill books. The one parallel to the elevator was for weapons, the one on the left was for attack magic, the one on the right was for defensive magic, and the one surrounding the elevator dug into the wall was for support skills.

I smiled lightly at his brain. My brother was smart and strong… it was just his attitude and personality that was the problem. I couldn't help but sigh at how much this will restrict him in the future because if he doesn't change how he speaks and thinks, then he'll end up like…

My jaw clenched, and my teeth grit against each other. The sound of my pearly whites rubbing their gritty and uneven surfaces together created a nauseatingly gruesome image. My face had crumpled with all kinds of emotions, only accentuating the effects of this sound.

"Hey, I don't want you to end up like our father. He's arrogant, disgusting, cold, and uncaring of his peers. He even doesn't care about our mother, who he has had… well, who knows how many kids with. I wouldn't be surprised if I ran into a guy on the street and he said he was a descendant of that man…. Holding secrets about our family from us… fuck… I wouldn't put it past that man."

My brother didn't respond as he continued to sift through books. But eventually, he did slow down his search while responding to my complaining comment.

"You're mad at me one day; the next, you're complimenting me. Can't you make up your mind?" The boy grits his teeth with annoyance, and as I glared at the back of his head, he swerved his eyes around. He didn't turn his head, just attempted to look at me while he faced the left wall filled with attack magic. "Tch… you're so annoying-"

"I'm annoying because I think of the best for you. Sure, I lost my temper for a moment, but I swear I only want the best for you. If you head down this path, you'll only end up like our father. Surely you hate him as well, right?"

"Hmmmm…" He hummed to himself, tracing his eyes back down to a skill book and running his eyes through its text. "If I had to be honest, I don't feel much for him. I don't feel love, but I don't feel resentment nor disgust towards him."

"Huh? But everything you went through was due to him-"

"Okay? And?"

"You literally said you want to take him down with your own fucking hands. That sounds like the words of a man who hates somebody…. Or don't tell me you've backed down from the fight? Have you backed down from the fight because you pussied out?"

"Nah, I haven't backed down. In fact, I won't. I can't."

His expression was cold, but his eyes quivered as if he was troubled by something. This was the first time I had seen any hint of real emotions in this boy, and somehow I'm seeing it now. Was I imagining things, or was I digging too deep into this?

"What do you mean you can't?" I quickly asked the one thing that shot into my mind.

"There is a responsibility I must fulfill. Also, I want to fucking eradicate those siblings of mine," The boy grits his teeth, sliding a book back into place. "That man was never in my life enough for me to give two shits about him… but those siblings of mine… I will eat them alive if that is what I have to do to take revenge."

"*sigh*... I hope you know your siblings aren't the real enemies. I hope you recognize that one day and realize that the one you should be angry with is your father. He made your siblings that way through mental torture and anguish from the harassment of our mother. The high stakes that he holds his children to. The pressure he is under. Everything leads to him. So if you're going to kill anybody, then at least slaughter him."

"Huh?" My brother's expression crippled into a frown of anger whilst walking towards me. "Of course, I'm gonna kill that asshole."