Alex closed the book with a sigh, having skimmed through all the books that had once interested him, and now even the last one that had previously caught his attention held nothing remotely useful for his leveling problem. He set it aside on the growing pile of books he had already read or skimmed through.
He shook his head and rested his head over the desk where he had spent the better part of the leftover time reading, his fingers absently tracing the worn wood grain as creased lines formed on his forehead.
Will I ever be able to level up? Alex asked himself.
But, no answer came out of his mouth, he did not know the answer to that question, and from the way things had progressed so far, it truly looked as though he might never be able to level up. And just as that thought crossed his mind, he felt his chest tightening and his palms growing sweaty. He wanted to cry, and if it were possible, he would have begged anyone who remotely knew how to solve this leveling issue of his.
But there was no one he had met who could tell him how to level up and no knowledge of where to find one. He had read all the books that he felt held the answer, and all they contained was theory about how leveling worked, theories that were more often than not unproven, such as how killing beasts would increase experience points and how, as experience maxed out at the current level, the level would rise with the threshold increasing higher at each new tier. Yet his experience had stopped climbing altogether and sat frozen at something like one hundred percent, as though it were straining against an invisible wall it could not break through.
Alex closed his eyes and took long, deep breaths, trying to calm the turmoil inside him, the fear of what would become of him if he could never level up and remained stuck at level one for the rest of his life. He did not want to even imagine the horrors of such a fate. He was not only afraid for himself but for the continuity of the Drakethorne house. Wouldn't his house decline under his leadership? Wouldn't it lose its status as a grand ducal house and crumble into a fallen house that no one wanted to associate with?
"Boy, return to your dormitory." A familiar voice pulled Alex out of his thoughts. He lifted his head and, just as he had suspected, Old Wan stood before him with eyes that seemed to twinkle warmly beneath the lamp's glow that bathed the entire library in soft, golden light. The night had long since descended, and the library was sustained entirely by the radiance of those lamps, for without them it would have been far too dark to navigate, let alone read.
"I will return these books to the bookshelves," Old Wan said, eyeing the pile beside Alex. "You have classes tomorrow. Go back and rest."
Alex nodded and lifted himself out of the chair. With one last look at the books he had finished reading, books that had yielded nothing of importance, he turned away with a bitter aftertaste lingering in his chest and started walking, offering a quiet word of thanks to the old man as he went.
Soon, after navigating the vast library with its endless lines of bookshelves packed with more books than he could ever hope to finish reading in a lifetime, he exited the library building and paused just outside the entrance.
The night had fully settled over the grounds, and everything beyond would have been swallowed in darkness had the mana lamps not been burning brightly along the paths, flooding the walkways and surrounding areas with steady, warm light. Above, the half moon shone pale and round, and stars were scattered across the sky in their thousands, each one twinkling and lending what little light they could to the world below.
With one last glance back at the library behind him, Alex descended the front steps and set off toward his next destination, the dormitory.
***
"Where in the world is this dormitory building?" Alex cried out to the sky, genuinely wondering which corner of the campus it had been hidden in. He had already been walking for nearly an hour and had managed to mistake every building he came across for the dormitory, only to find each one was not it, with most of their entrances shut and locked since the night had descended and everyone had long since retreated to their rooms or private quarters.
With no one around to ask, Alex had resorted to calling out into the empty cobblestone paths, shouting things like, "Is there anyone nearby?" and even, "I am lost, please help someone," only to be answered by silence each and every time. As the moon continued its slow climb up the sky, a creeping, dreading fear began to settle over him, the irrational but persistent worry that someone might emerge from the shadows and do something to him. His hands had balled into fists at his sides without him even realizing it, and he walked with his eyes sweeping left and right, ready to strike at anyone who might appear.
***
The search dragged on. He saw no soul, and no one emerged from the darkness to threaten him either, so he had gradually unclenched his fists and let his arms hang loose at his sides. If anything, he now wished someone would appear, even if only to give him directions. He had considered turning back toward the library and asking Old Wan for help, but he had taken so many turns along the way and lost count of the paths he had followed that finding his way back to the library felt just as impossible as finding the dormitory.
"Is there anyone?" Alex shouted again into the quiet night. "I am lost, please help me!"
No answer came. But then, as though his plea had finally been heard, the sound of footsteps reached him from behind. He spun around on his heel with a smile already spreading across his face, only for it to freeze solid, as though a bucket of ice water had been poured over him from above.
***
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