Awakening: I Ascend Alone-Chapter 24: Dilemma

Sometime later, Melvin left the confines of his room in the students’ lounge.

Once again, he was facing the gargantuan gates, and the cold he had felt on the first day of entering the Axiom Academy returned, chilly wind whistling past his ears and brushing against bared skin.

Currently, he was mostly covered in the arcane cadet uniform provided by the academy—a long-sleeved, high-collared dark purple tunic with silver thread stitched in faint geometric runes along the cuffs, slim purple trousers, and polished leather boots—which he had found neatly folded in the wardrobe in his room.

So, the cold wasn’t as harsh as it had been on his first day.

His hands hovered a bit as he briefly examined the academy crest embroidered over the chest of the uniform—a circular sigil with a vertical line. While on the shoulder was a metallic bar indicating his soul rank.

Melvin spared the metallic rank bar a brief glance, guessing that the ranks were bound to change as far as he evolved.

Inhaling the cool, perfectly filtered air, he brought out a synthetic paper from his pocket, smiled, and started walking.

As he walked, the subtle moments he had with the principal inside the circular dome played in his mind.

What was the possibility that a Climber was able to ascend the Silver Spire without conquering the steps? Probably his luck to find a spatial tear before the main events? As an adept reader of fantasy novels, he doubted even the bleak probability of such a thing happening.

From what the principal said, the steps of the Spire wouldn’t have existed if the highest Climber had conquered them. That didn’t indeed include the first step, which was known as a trial zone. If the young, old man was right, then it was only applicable from the second step.

This meant that all those Climbers stuck in the second step were also in the same rank as him, with a probable high difference in strength if they had been engaging themselves in battles with mythical creatures.

’But isn’t it strange? I mean, out of all Climbers, why was Ruven the only lucky one to somehow find Spatial Tears and be able to continue ascending until the 5th step?’

The more he thought about it, the more mysterious it turned out to be. Why was he even disturbing his mind with these thoughts? He was about to dismiss them when a clue suddenly surfaced in his mind.

’All who passed the second step are dead?’

His thoughts revolved around the names he had seen fading out with each moment until it remained Ruven of the fifth step and the crowd of Climbers of the second step.

Shaking the thoughts off his head, Melvin continued to walk down the winding road that led to his destination.

But it didn’t take long before the concern returned, as if solving the mystery was entangled with Melvin’s life.

How did Principal Edrin even know all these things, and why did he refuse to answer his question then? If anything, it should be a basic and general knowledge for all awakeners, hence serving as a clue to conquering those steps.

’I wonder.’

From what had happened yesterday alone, there were many things he wanted to know. For example, the middle-aged woman had mentioned something about the awakeners vacating to spend time with their families.

Was that even possible? Considering all that he had learned so far about the flux and the world paradigm, what were the odds that people still had families in this world?

Just then, a scene flashed in his memory.

He remembered the busy streets he had seen from a window’s view and the joyful chatter he had passed alongside Principal Edrin and Vale on their way to the academy.

If it was indeed true that families existed...

Melvin halted and lowered his head. He lingered for a long while, until a watery droplet fell from his eyes, soaking a point on the tarred road before drying out.

’Oh, right... where was I headed to again?’ 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

He slowly raised his head, snuffled his nose, and took a glance at the synthetic paper he held in his hand. The map was provided to every newbie of the academy.

After studying a direction on the map, he looked ahead and saw a sleek, towering structure layered with steel and glass. Regaining his composure, he continued to trudge the path ahead.

After a total of twenty minutes of leaving the confines of his room, Melvin was finally standing in front of the tall, glass building. Like most of the Academy, the parts not covered in steel and glass were made of smooth, gray walls.

It turned out that the library was located inside the research building.

Heaving a sigh of relief and subtle tiredness, he entered through an automatic door and got trapped for a moment.

Melvin found himself in an elevator, which was currently running a scan on him. Ignoring the sensation he felt as a result of the process, he waited patiently for it to end. At least, unlike most outskirt kids, he had lived this kind of life in the future of this body, but differently.

Alas, his patience paid off; the scan was completed, and he was granted access. Only that he needed to choose the section he was headed to through the runes that had appeared on the digital glass wall before him.

’Laboratory, library...’

Melvin didn’t hesitate and clicked on the library option. Then, the elevator lifted, and the boy began to ascend the tall building until it came to a halt some seconds later, and its pneumatic doors gave way for him to pass through.

Entering the hall, Melvin looked around and blinked a couple of times.

Everywhere he looked, tall shelves full of paper books stretched into the distance. Between them stood tables meant for study, and there was currently no single soul existing in the library hall except him.

Did he perhaps come to the wrong part of the library, or were the staff also on vacation too?

Trying not to show his confusion, he began to walk around the bookshelves, furtively looking around until... he was proved wrong. At the closest distance to his position, he sighted the back of a young woman with long brown hair, who seemed to be arranging a catalogue of books into one of the shelves.

Also sensing a presence, the woman turned around, and her intelligent, green eyes scanned the young boy staring back at her.

"Another weirdo?" she said, inserting the last book into a stack on the shelf.

"Weirdo? Not exactly, you see. But you may be right, putting some things into consideration," Melvin spoke as he followed the young woman until they stopped at a desk directly opposite the door he had come in from.

Resigning to the cushioned chair behind the desk, the woman flipped some paper documents before her, slid in her glasses, and looked up at the boy.

"Yes, how may we help you?"

Melvin looked around again, trying to make sense of her choice of words. Apart from him, she was currently the only being in this library. However, he didn’t dwell on it.

"You are the librarian, I see. Can I get some directions? I need to read about the testament, flux, and the current state of its carriers. If there’s a full book compilation of the changes in this world, I’d be glad."

"You can find whatever you are looking for as long as the information is within the current happenings, but every book in this library has volumes with various different topics."

"I see," Melvin muttered. "How do I locate the book I wish to read?"

The librarian stared at him for a while, then smiled.

"This is your first time visiting a library, isn’t it?" she commented, then stood from her chair and guided Melvin through a directory that was posted on the wooden frame of each shelf.

"Thank you."

The young woman nodded and murmured, "I was right about you being a weirdo anyway" as she made to return to the desk, but Melvin stopped her midway.

Either he heard what she just murmured, or he was stuck with identification again. Whatever the case may be, he wouldn’t do anything, though.

"About this weirdo of a person you mentioned earlier, uhm, I was hoping you could tell me who he or she is," he said, unsure if he had asked what he shouldn’t.

It didn’t seem to matter to the young lady anyway.

"Hmm. Just a girl with ash-brown hair and lavender-gray eyes. She is not so tall, maybe five feet seven inches or so. I’ve heard rumors..."

The lady was about to spill more milk but suddenly stopped.

"Go about your business; there’s nothing to tell you," she said and turned to leave.

"I like your glasses," Melvin complimented as she left, then caught sight of the name written at the back of her library uniform.

’Selene.’

Returning attention to the shelves, he didn’t allow the mystery of the weirdo girl to disturb him as he searched intently for a suitable book to read.

A few minutes later, Melvin walked to a nearby table and put the books he had collected on it. Then, he picked up a certain book from the stack and stared at it for a while.

Its title was simple:

"The Testament."

It looked like a good place to start seeking answers to his dilemma.