"Old Kaelen, want to hit up The Platinum Mirage for some karaoke tonight?"
They arrived at the cafeteria, grabbed their usual synth-pork dishes, and found an empty table.
At the mere mention of The Platinum Mirage, Xander's face lit up with a scandalous grin. "They've got some absolute goddesses working there right now, you know. Don't come crying to me if you miss out!"
"Not going."
Kaelen shook his head, his eyes firmly fixed on the steaming braised pork on his plate.
As a healthy young man, he knew exactly what kind of 'karaoke' went on at The Platinum Mirage.
Besides, I've always kept to myself, completely unmoved by the fleeting temptations of the flesh. How could a gentleman like me possibly…
Alright, fine. Kaelen had to admit the truth: he simply couldn't afford a place like that.
With my meager monthly salary of 3,000 credits, I wonder if that's even enough to buy a single glass of tap water at The Platinum Mirage?
As for letting Xander foot the bill?
Not having to pay would be awesome, sure. It's basically like getting a freebie.
But I'd definitely owe the guy a massive favor, right? Kaelen didn't want to be indebted to someone over something as trivial as hostesses.
If I really get desperate, I can always take matters into my own hands. That doesn't cost a single credit, either!
"Dude, are you even a man?" Xander groaned.
He had fully anticipated Kaelen's refusal. He was used to it by now. This was far from the first time he had invited Kaelen out, but the guy rejected him every single time.
That, combined with Kaelen's usual monk-like reaction to their attractive female colleagues at the library, made Xander genuinely wonder if his friend's hardware was malfunctioning.
"I'm just afraid of catching a bio-virus," Kaelen replied, adopting the serene air of a righteous gentleman. "Take a piece of advice from your brother: it's best to stay away from dens of iniquity like that."
"Here we go again, here we go again..." Xander looked utterly helpless. "How are you more of a nagging puritan than my parents? Fine, if you won't go, I'll go by myself."
"If I don't show up tomorrow, remember to cover Sector 2 for me, will you?"
Kaelen nodded. Sector 1 and Sector 2 were right next to each other. Besides, the library had been mostly deserted lately, so managing both areas at once wouldn't be a problem. This wasn't the first time Kaelen had covered for Xander's hangovers.
After their meal, the two of them slipped behind the cafeteria, squatting by the loading dock to smoke and shoot the breeze.
"Old Kaelen, have you checked the news? A Grandmaster from the Imperial Capital is coming to Neo-Veridia soon. Apparently, this Ascendant-Tier expert is originally from around here."
"A Grandmaster?"
Kaelen was genuinely surprised. The Grandmaster Realm—also known as the Ascendant Tier—was a full stage above the Awakened Tier.
People of that caliber were incredibly elusive, practically mythological figures rarely seen by commoners.
His obsessive reading over the last month had allowed Kaelen to get fully up to speed on this world's power scaling.
Once an Aether Adept's cultivation reached the Ascendant Tier, they could literally traverse the void. Their bodies were surrounded by a permanent Aetheric shield that not even heavy artillery could pierce.
Such power was completely beyond the scope of mortals; they were practically terrestrial gods walking the earth.
A figure like that is actually coming to a mid-tier city like Neo-Veridia?
"That's right. I heard this Grandmaster used to be a student at the Neo-Veridia Aether Academy. He's coming back to visit his alma mater, and to give back to the city, he's even hosting a public combat lecture."
"This is a live Aether lecture from an Ascendant Grandmaster. Don't you want to go?"
A look of pure reverence appeared on Xander's face. In a reality where the strong were revered as royalty, a Grandmaster was a figure of absolute, unquestionable admiration.
"But we're not students at the Aether Academy. Can we even get in?"
Kaelen was instantly tempted. He was currently hopelessly stuck at the Half-Step Awakened Tier.
With my trash-tier genetic aptitude, who knows how many decades it will take for me to naturally cross the threshold into the Awakened Tier.
If I could just attend a Grandmaster's lecture, I might glean the exact insight I need to finally break through!
"Don't worry about the logistics. My dad plays golf with one of the deans at the Academy. If you want VIP passes, just leave it to me," Xander promised readily, thumping his chest.
It seemed his family's corporate connections were indeed worth their weight in gold.
After clocking out, Kaelen didn't go straight back to his cramped apartment. Instead, just like any other day, he found a secluded, abandoned lot in the industrial district to practice his swordsmanship.
After perfectly memorizing all the katas of the Zephyr Blade Art, Kaelen had "splurged" 500 credits on a heavy steel practice sword he bought online.
After more than half a month of relentless practice, supported by his dense Half-Step Awakened Aether reserves, Kaelen had already achieved a terrifying preliminary mastery of the art. The air literally whistled when he swung.
...
[The next day.]
Kaelen arrived at the library right on time.
That degenerate Xander must have partied way too hard at The Platinum Mirage last night. Just as expected, his booth in Sector 2 was empty.
That guy is going to die of Aether-exhaustion in some VIP room one of these days!
Muttering a jealous curse, Kaelen went about his usual business of finding a new manual to read.
I've got the Zephyr Blade Art down. Next, I should find a decent movement technique to learn.
After all, being an aesthetic blademaster is the dream, but a top-tier movement art is the ultimate key to escaping with your life when the boss music starts playing.
If I can't win the fight, I sure as hell better be able to outrun it, right?
After a careful selection process through the archives, Kaelen plucked a dusty manual titled Seven-Star Void Step from the shelf.
The name sounds incredibly edgy and impressive, but anything tossed into the ground floor of a public library definitely isn't going to be forbidden, world-ending magic.
Of course, there are always those one-in-a-million cases of finding a diamond in the rough. But that was the kind of VIP treatment strictly reserved for the protagonist of a novel, and Kaelen knew perfectly well he wasn't destined for that kind of plot armor.
Holding the Seven-Star Void Step manual, Kaelen dragged his chair over to Sector 2 to read. Since I promised Xander, I should at least pretend to watch over his section while I slack off.
Just as Kaelen was fully immersing himself in the complex footwork diagrams of the Void Step, a single, almost invisible strand of silk slowly descended from the library's vaulted ceiling.
At the end of the silk strand dangled a tiny, dark purple spider. It lowered itself silently until it was hovering directly above Kaelen's head.
A blood-red light seemed to flash for a microsecond in the purple spider's multi-faceted eyes as its gaze fell upon the human below.
No—to be precise, its gaze was fixed intently on the Seven-Star Void Step manual open in Kaelen's hands.
If anyone had been observing closely at that moment, they would have been terrified to discover something deeply unnatural.
The purple spider's blood-red eyes were flickering with a shockingly human-like intelligence. It stared at the ancient diagrams as if it could actually comprehend the complex Aetheric text, a look of deep contemplation flashing in its gaze.
[DING! EMPEROR-TIER AURA DETECTED. EXTREME FATAL DANGER!]
[Host is advised to evacuate immediately, or your life will be forfeit!]
[HOST, EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!]
Kaelen was completely engrossed in his book when the deafening robotic siren suddenly detonated inside his skull, nearly giving him a heart attack on the spot.
"Damn it!"
When Kaelen finally caught his breath, a deeply annoyed expression twisted his face.
Scaring people like that can literally kill them, you know?!
System, you may be a collection of code, but you're a real son of a bitch!
Damn glitchy AI!
However, despite his intense annoyance, the fact that the long-dead System had suddenly rebooted to scream at him made Kaelen take the warning somewhat seriously.
[DING! Presence of an Emperor-Tier Rift Entity has been confirmed! The Host is advised to follow this protocol and flee this sector immediately. Otherwise, you will not even leave behind a complete corpse!]
Hearing the System's relentless, panicking shrieks, Kaelen quickly put down his manual, stood up, and carefully scanned his surroundings.
All he could see were endless rows of steel bookshelves and the few scattered, bored patrons who had come in to read. Everyone was sitting quietly, turning pages.
Remembering the giant cockroach he had stomped into insect puree last time, Kaelen's eyes suddenly lit up. He immediately lowered his head to intensely search the floorboards.
Could the "Emperor-Tier" beast the System is screaming about be another weirdly mutated bug?
If I stomp another one into a pulp, will the System glitch out and force-feed me another sixty years of god-tier loot?!
With this greedy thought fueling him, Kaelen was suddenly highly motivated. He began scouring the library floor like a madman.
However, the library's cleaning drones kept the floors spotless. Kaelen couldn't find so much as a stray dust bunny, let alone an ant.
Emperor-Tier?
How could there possibly be an Emperor-Tier doomsday monster hiding inside a public library?
This damn System is definitely hallucinating again!