As soon as Ashton got inside the Academy, he immediately went to his room. Thanks to the potion Ashton spent on Duncan, the slave was already back on his feet and helping Daniella around with her part of chores. They seemed to be enjoying their time together, but when they noticed Ashton was back, they immediately jumped back.
It would seem Ashton had left quite a mental mark on them after what he did to them. Which wasn't surprising, to be honest. However, Ashton did not acknowledge their presence and rushed into the shower.
He was covered in sweat and dirt which he would like to get rid of as soon as he could. Also, he had a lot of things he needed to do and think about.
First, he had to have Rose take a good look at the relic he got as a reward for winning the battle. Since, unlike the last time, Ashton was not a part of the main event of underground battles, he was not allowed to freely choose a reward.
Instead, he was given a rusty black dagger as a fixed reward. However, when he tried using [Detection] on the dagger, the only thing that popped up in front of him was the name of the dagger and nothing else. But the name itself was intriguing enough. Especially after his encounter with Venom, since the dagger was named, "The Dagger of Venom".
Ashton did not know whether the venom in both the cases was related to each other or not, but after getting a proper appraisal, he should be able to know more about the weapon. Still, he had quite high expectations from the weapon because it was the first time disclosing a weapon's details has failed him.
__
Item: The Dagger of Venom
Type: Weapon
> Damage: Unknown (Appraisal needed)
Stats bonus: Unknown (Appraisal needed)
Rarity: Unknown (Appraisal needed)
Description: The Level of [Detection] skill is too low to view this information. Please get this artefact appraised by a master Appraiser/Creationist to view this information.
Effect(s): Unknown (Appraisal needed)
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"It was weird for the prompt to say to get the weapon appraised by an appraiser or creationist." Ashton mumbled as the water drenched his body, "Also, I don't know how to level up my [Detection] skill so that I can get rid of this stupid thing from happening again. Whatever, I think Rose can help with this, which brings me to the next thing."
The second thing he wanted to know about was Venom itself. He wanted to know what it was and just why the heck was everyone scared shitless just by its mention. If it was some kind of superweapon or shit, then Ashton needed to have it.
Not to misuse it or anything, but if he had some of it with him, his plans to eliminate the mistress and get his revenge on everyone else would be pushed forward by ginormous steps. However, he had a feeling something like that was too good to happen. Still, it wouldn't harm him to try and get his hands on some of it.
And last but not the least, he had to make a decision regarding the proposal of joining the special force or not. At a glance, the opportunity definitely seemed to be worth it. If he made his moves correctly, he could even get rid of the Mistress or at least make their lives hell.
On top of that, the authority he would gain by becoming a part of them would make his life in the academy a bit easier. After all, he could always misuse his powers to frame those noble bastards.
But Ashton was sure the authority would come to him with strings attached, and he hated these kinds of powers. Thankfully, he had a lot of time to think about it.
Ashton turned off the shower and walked outside. Duncan and Daniella were still busy cleaning up the mess Ashton had made earlier so he did not bother them and got dressed into his spare uniform, before heading out once again.
Although he wanted to meet Rose as soon as possible and get his doubts cleared up, she was busy teaching a class. After all, just because Ashton was given a day off, didn't mean everyone was free to meet him.
So he headed to the place that could have the answers to his questions. The central library. Although the students had been given a tour of the facilities available to them, it was the first time Ashton had gone inside the library by himself.
From the outside, the library appeared to be the oldest building within the academy and had some weird markings etched into the walls. Also, the building was entirely made up of white marble, which was certainly not the easiest material to work with.
On the inside, however, the building was just like the other buildings. There was enough space for over a thousand students to study there in peace. Also, with more than ten thousand books stored there, it was impossible to run out of things to read. Hell, Ashton was wondering if there was anyone who could have read all of those books within their three-year course.
After gawking at the magnificence of the interior, Ashton headed towards the counter. After all, with so many books there, he needed to know which section he had to look in to find something about venom. Otherwise, he would keep roaming mindlessly around the numerous corridors and sections looking for the right books.
"What do you want?" The old lady sitting behind the counter rudely asked him as soon as he approached her.
"I'm looking for a book-"
"Oh wow. I thought you were here looking for a weapon. I'm so glad it's a book though..." The librarian sighed, "What's the name of the book?"
"You see, I'm not aware-"
"Genre?"
"Potions or poison, I guess..."
"Potion books are in section 5, second floor." The librarian gave him the directions and immediately got back to her work... whatever it was, "If you don't find whatever you are looking for there, then leave. Do not go into the restricted area. That is if you don't mind getting expelled because of it."
"Damn... who shat in her morning coffee?" Ashton ignored her remarks and headed towards the second floor.
***
An hour later...
"Nope, nope and nope... none of these books is of any use to me." Ashton sighed and accepted his defeat.
In the last hour, he had turned the entire potion section upside down in hopes of finding something related to Venom. But there was not a single mention of such a substance anywhere. Ashton didn't know what else he was expecting when he walked inside the academy, but this was certainly not on the list.
"At least I got to know a bit more about poisons... so my time wasn't a complete waste." He shrugged his shoulders and retraced his path.
While he was walking down the stairs, the thought of entering the restricted section entered his mind. After all, if venom was a lethal substance, then it would have made more sense to that information regarding that would be stored in a somewhat secured area. Out of the reach of the first-year students.
However, the risk was too big for Ashton to take at the moment. Even though he could use the potion given to him by Kakaroff to get past the security undetected, he doubted he would be able to locate and read the book in a short span of 30 seconds.
Also, if he ended up getting caught, that would be it for his time in the academy. That was something he could not gamble on.
"Looks like Rose is the only hope for me." Ashton shrugged as he walked out of the library, "But it would take a couple more hours before she is free. What should I do in the meantime?"
He wanted to spar again, but he was sure Duncan would not be up for the challenge, especially after what conspired between them in the afternoon. With nothing else to do, Ashton decided to take a walk around the campus as the sun went down while thinking about his next moves.
However, nothing came to his mind other than continuing his classes and fighting in the underground arena. The loot he was getting that way was surely more than enough for him at the moment. as for the future supply of better weapons, he had already secured a way in the form of Baiter.
Ashton had no doubts about his skills when it came to creation. After all, an armour made of scraps gave him so much trouble during their match-up, he could only wonder what Baiter could have done if he had proper materials to complete his armour.
"I should let him focus on whatever he has to do for now. But I should contact him before heading into the dungeon." Ashton took a deep breath while stretching his arms over his head, "Everything might seem calm now, but there's no telling when someone will try to stab me from behind. So, I better be prepared just in case."
A moment later Ashton saw a horde of students coming out of various buildings. The classes were over for the day. Which meant it was time to head back. He didn't want any of the students to see him just yet as most of them were believing he would have been suspended.
After all, the Gruntas had called their parents in for just that purpose.. Also, with the teachers supporting them, no one would have thought he would be the one to escape unscathed from the charges pressed against him.
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