“If I’m not mistaken, that lady was part of the special Vessel Squad protecting the Academy. So Vale has a special relationship with the vessels? Is that related to his secret for having absurd Power Strands and Life Strands?”

Neil couldn’t help but think about it. After all, no matter how much he hated Vale for taking his spotlight, he couldn’t help but dream of having his attributes as well. He wanted to awe his classmates for having high Power and Life Strands, like how Vale showed everyone how great he was.

He would always imagine himself in Vale’s position, and if he had this much talent, he would surely have a relationship with Maya Featherstar by now.

‘It’s really wasted on you… I should be the one with this talent…’ Neil bit his lips as he recalled his inferiority once again.

‘I wonder what he was doing there…’ Neil thought as he just waited for Vale outside the Academy.

He didn’t know why he was doing this. He only knew that he couldn’t help but be curious about Vale’s secrets.

‘Is he being trained by the Vessels? Should I ask for training from them? I wonder how much he paid for that… Haa~ This is so frustrating.’ Neil scratched his head as he felt dismayed at his current situation.

He wanted to know whether there was a secret way to have such high attributes, but he couldn’t ask Vale for that.

After some hesitation, he decided to just follow Vale for now and slowly learn about his connections in the Academy and gradually learn his secret.

Soon, he saw his classmate returning from the dockyard, and he seemed in a good mood as he did something productive in that place.

‘What training can he even do in that place? Is he studying how Airship works? Is he planning to become a craftsman or something?’ Neil mused as he entered the Academy and positioned himself where he could naturally observe Vale entering the Academy without being suspicious.

At this time, he had no idea that Vale had already sensed his presence.

Perhaps, because of his heightened senses due to the Focused Extraction he made, Vale managed to sense Neil’s gaze even without entering his Phantasm State. It could also be the effect of his Extrasensory Perception Spell, but he wasn’t sure.

In any case, since Vale sensed his presence, there was no way he would miss a chance to ‘accidentally’ extract this person to try his Focused Extraction.

‘Is he observing me? Hmm… Perhaps he saw me going to the dockyard? I wonder what’s in his mind this time.’ Vale silently thought as he decided to enter the first floor of the Library instead of heading to the Headmaster’s office.

After entering the Library, he noticed that there were many students from different years who were busy with their self-study. It couldn’t be helped since the classes are still suspended.

He then found a random book and sat in the corner.

After a few minutes, he noticed Neil entering the Library, and although he was being sneaky, Vale could sense that Neil was observing him in the corner of his eyes.

Realizing that Neil was probably up to no good again, Vale decided to go ahead with his plan.

***

“Oh… This place is crowded.” Neil commented as he entered the Library.

He also found a random book to not look suspicious and sat somewhere in the center where he could see Vale’s figure reading intently at a book that lower-year students would rarely read.

‘Was that Western Necromancy and Practical Chants? Why would he read that book?’ Neil frowned as he also wanted to check that book out of curiosity, but Vale was seated near the shelf where these books could be found.

He didn’t want to be noticed yet since Vale would be conscious of his presence once he was seen.

With that in mind, he considered leaving the Library. He could just check the book later so he won’t waste too much of his time stalking him.

However, as he thought of this, something unexpected happened.

He felt something heavy leaning on his shoulder, making him stay on his feet. Furthermore, he felt colder, as if he had just doused himself in freezing water.

‘Not good…’ 𝘪𝘳.𝒸𝑜𝑚

His eyes noticed that everyone in the Library wasn’t experiencing the same thing! He could only think that this was a Curse Spell, and he had to break it before its too late.

He tried reaching into his pocket, but as he was trying to move his fingers, he felt someone touching his back.

He wanted to speak and call for help, but a sudden sensation of getting his soul sucked into the abyss made him wet his pants before his vision suddenly turned dark as he felt his body draining with energy.

Thud!

Everything happened so quickly, and the people around Neil only noticed something was off after the latter went unconscious in his seat.

They didn’t notice the young man who touched his back and how a dark spirit seemed to have escaped from Neil’s shadow.

Nevertheless, none of them disturbed Neil’s sleep. It might not happen every day, but it was not rare to see someone pass out in this Dark Arts Academy.

Furthermore, they could tell that he was still breathing and had no visible injuries.

It feels like he fell asleep after pulling an all-nighter and his body could no longer persist.

Some of them even felt that this student was quite diligent in his study to the point that he would rather pass out than stop studying.

Even the Librarian assigned at this time only glanced at Neil’s figure before shifting his attention back to the records he was filing.

In the meantime, Vale couldn’t help but smile after he confirmed that his simple operation was utterly unnoticed by the students in the Library.

‘I guess hiding from those Illustrious Liquidators and Untainted Sentinels during the summer break wasn’t pointless…’ Vale silently thought as he decided to check his Attributes Panel.

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