DRIIING!

The alarm blared through the hall as the students began to pack up.

"And that is the end of class for today. Don’t forget to work on your End Project Assignment and have it all submitted to the class representative."

"That includes you also, Mr. White."

She called, and White’s hands froze behind his back as he turned.

"Yes Ma’am?"

"I know you’re late to the schooling, but I’m still going to require you work on and submit the End Project by next weekend."

"You can team up with the class representative to help out."

"That’s not a problem, is it Novaelia?"

She asked as White felt a figure appear behind him, taking the seat next to his.

"Not at all, Instructor Chloe."

"Then, an hour timeframe after class to put him through the End Project."

"Everyone else can leave..."

She said, shooing out the students who clicked their tongues in distaste, staring daggers at White.

"Tsk, lucky bastard."

---

"So that’s your plan at getting back at me, huh? Have all the guys turn their backs on me?"

White asked, turning to Nova, who dragged her seat closer to his table, folding her hands before replying.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Yeah, you don’t..."

He replied with an eye roll, bringing out a couple books and a device.

He turned back up to find Nova leaning forward for a kiss, and his hand raised, a finger stopping her lean.

"Hey, I’m here for my studies, remember? Not kis..."

He didn’t complete his words when she leaned closer, yanking his head forward.

She kissed him until he was out of breath before letting him go as he exhaled roughly.

"You don’t get to say no to me."

"Someone’s getting bolder."

White mused under his breath as Nova grinned in evil pride before bringing out her notes and devices.

"There’s a lot for you to cover, and only a week. I can give you the notes I jotted down and have you copy them, but if you really want to find answers to the End Project questions, you’d have to go to the library and make it your new bedroom."

She said, and while White rolled his eyes at the joke, when she really got into the notes and showed him what he had been missing for six months.

His smile froze on his lips, only to be replaced by terror.

"You... you all really went through all this in just six months?"

White asked, scrolling through his device where an endless amount of PDF manuals on topics continued endlessly.

"Take my Essence Ascension Notes. You’ll need to copy all the writings in there. Full notes get you additional points on the End Project."

Nova said, dropping a large textbook before White, who swallowed at the sight of it.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she made her way back towards him, leaning to his ear and whispering.

"Return my notes after you’re done with it... tonight."

She said, winking at him before fading out of the class.

"A lot bolder than I remember..."

White confirmed before putting her notes into his bag.

He’s got some work to do, and the best place for that?

The library.

---

It was a building that was almost impossible to miss.

A large twelve-storey glass building.

It was also one of the rare spaces where newcomers and second years both shared, though, for unsurprising reasons.

It was deserted.

White stepped into the revolving glass doors and didn’t find a single soul, though everything was perfectly clean.

There was the smell of books and pages in the air, and before him were rows upon rows of books everywhere.

This was only the first floor, and he turned his head up to find a glass ceiling above, where other shelves stretched upward, packed with books.

And to think this was a twelve-storey building?

"That’s quite a lot of books..."

White mused, walking towards a seat.

The quiet was just what he wanted, and bringing out Nova’s notes and one of his own, he took out his pen and began to copy.

...1 hour.

...3 hours.

...7 hours.

The sound of pages flipping and pen scratching across notes filled the entire room.

White was fully absorbed in his task, his hands moving faster than he expected, and knowledge being processed just as quickly, allowing him to continuously increase his writing speed—the only hindrance being the book, which couldn’t handle the pace.

After eight hours, he was able to finish writing all the notes, cracking his fingers before sitting down to begin comprehension.

It was here that things began to get a bit tricky.

The topics being discussed were entirely new concepts that he had no idea about and was only reading for the first time.

That made it hard to follow Nova’s notes, which were only what she felt needed to be recorded, the other half of the knowledge being in her head.

That forced him to rise to his feet and begin searching for textbooks.

He found one that could help him, and with that along with his manual, he was able to go through a lot of the information in the notes.

Only seven hours later did his runic watch ring, drawing his attention from the notes.

"Class begins in three hours from now."

"Hm, I thought class was over for the day. You’ve been sitting there for fifteen hours now."

The reply came, and White froze before turning his head up.

There, sitting on the next floor, was a lady whose face was obscured by the glass that had taken on a tinted shade, though he could still make out her form.

He turned away, muttering,

"I lost track of time."

Quickly packing up the notes and returning everything he had taken, White stormed out of the library, racing into the distance.

Unknowing to him, that pair of lime-green and purple eyes remained locked on him for ten minutes straight as he moved toward the dorm building.