Becoming the new Protagonist of the Game's World

7. Library

After passing through the gate, I hastened my steps toward the library. I didn't have enough time to admire the architectural beauty of the buildings around me. I will be staying here by the end of the week, so I will have plenty of time to admire as much as I want.

Luckily, I remembered the layout of the academy perfectly. It took me only a few minutes to reach a large black-and-white, five-story building. Despite its contradictory colour, the towering gothic architecture in front of me gave off a sense of calm and serenity within its round marble columns on each side of the entrance.

I entered the building and immediately felt impressed by the winding mass of bookshelves that seem to stretch endlessly, with thousands upon thousands of books on every side and corner. I located the librarian behind a large oval desk in the middle.

"Excuse me, I'm searching for some high-level, advanced-level magic books."

The librarian, a middle-aged man with black hair and a rough face, gave me a doubtful look. "Those books are only accessible starting in the fourth year. I'm sorry, but you won't be able to access them without special permission from an instructor."

Without realizing it, a small smirk appeared on my lips upon hearing the librarian.

"I'm not a student at the academy yet. I will be taking the entrance exams tomorrow, and I want to expand my knowledge on diverse subjects."

This time, the librarian had a surprised look on his face. There was a hidden rule that before the entrance exams every year, any future students that wish to increase their knowledge on any subject will be given the right to have full access to the library for one whole day.

The librarian quickly composed himself and took out a purple card from his dimensional storage.

"Here, take this card. It will allow you to have access to all the floors of the library. It also serves as a navigation device. Just think of where you want to go or what type of book you want, then channel some mana into it, and it will show you the way."

I took the purple rectangular card from the library and walked away. Then, thinking about the floor I wanted to go to, I tried channelling my mana. Although it was my first time doing that, it was easier than I thought. I just had to locate the source of mana in my heart and then navigate it through my veins properly until it reached my hand. Then, after I released control, Mana started leaving my hands and got automatically absorbed by the card.

A white arrow appeared in the middle of the card, acting as a compass. I followed the directions of the arrow until it brought me to the back of the library, near an elevator. Without this card, it would be difficult to navigate around this maze-like library.

The fifth floor is a floor that only fifth-year students are allowed to access. One of the requirements for the fifth year is to have at least two of your abilities reach A by the end of your fourth year. Because of this requirement, only around 20 students are able to continue their studies every year.

And right now, I'm standing in a place that only geniuses have access to. Because of my potential, it would be impossible for me to reach my fifth year. My limit would probably be the third year.
But because of a hidden rule, I will be able to take advantage of a hidden secret here.

Since only geniuses are allowed to use this place, the mana here has been refined to near perfection. A special feature of the library is that it's like a giant prison. Nothing can get in and out without permission. This also includes mana. Because of that, for the last 500 years, the mana here has been continuously refined by every genius, generation after generation. In the game, someone found out by chance that if your character stayed in this room for more than 6 hours, your perception would increase by 1 grade and your magic by 2 grade. This increase will only happen if both your perception and magic are below D.

So just being here for 6 hours will be enough. But I'm not going to stay here doing nothing; I have something else planned. With the help of the library card, I collected a few magic research books and started studying each of them. The most important thing in this world is accomplishment. Even if someone reaches an S+ on all their abilities, nobody will pay attention to him until he proves himself by accomplishing an amazing feat. Only then will he deserve the attention of the public. That's the reason why I'm taking the time to study right now. Even after I reveal my S-grade intelligence tomorrow, only the students will react to this. I'm sure the instructors won't pay any attention at all. That's exactly what happened when the current president of the student council revealed she had an S-grade in intelligence during the entrance exams two years ago.

If I want to become the protagonist, I will need to attract attention as early as possible. So I decided to introduce a breakthrough that was going to be discovered in 3 years when the dragons started interacting with humans.

The reason I'm studying right now is because I only know the final result. In order to prove it's my theory, I will need to explain in detail the full process before I reach the final results. Allan Shepard was the one who discovered this breakthrough. After observing and analyzing how the dragons use and control their mana, he was able to find a method to imitate them.
Of course, I won't be able to reveal that the dragons are the source of this breakthrough.

After 4 hours, I read the last magic book I could find. Thanks to my passive skill [photographic memory], it wasn't difficult to read thousands of books in such a short time. I immediately took some papers and a pen that were available near the elevator and started working on the theory.

Two hours later, a holographic, transparent grey window appeared in front of my eyes.

——————————————————————
Perception has increased
E ~~~~~> E+

Magic has increased.
F ~~~~~> F+

Magic has increased.
F+ ~~~~~> E -
——————————————————————

My hands were starting to hurt after writing so much, but after seeing the system window, I could already notice the change. The range with which I can now perceive things around me has been increased a little. And my control over mana has greatly improved.