Chapter 280: Library (2)
The pair of lovers were quite different personality wise. Zhang Tingting seemed very easygoing, while Gu Fantian seemed more shrewd. The resting area was behind the service counter. After entering, Gu Fantian got his girlfriend to continue helping the others while remaining behind to talk to Xiao Lin.
There was actually not much to talk about since they were not that familiar with each other, nor did they usually have much in common. Gu Fantian did not risk annoying him by looking to extend the conversation with pointless topics. Instead, he went straight to the point, “Monitor Xiao, are you here to make a library card?”
“Yes, I came over since it’s the weekend. The two of you seem very busy. You were even in charge of guiding the new students.
“Ah, Tingting and I are just small characters in the student union. We usually take up these odd jobs to earn some credits and points. Let me help you get a B-rank library card. Don’t hesitate to look for us for anything in the future. We might not be big in the student union, but we’re quite capable of getting things done.”
Xiao Lin had expected to be able to skip the queue, but Gu Fantian was quite good at currying favor, giving him a B-rank card. He seemed to be afraid that Xiao Lin did not understand what it meant as he added, “Ordinarily, based on student union rules, you’d need to have been in the academy for a year and have reached the Black Iron-rank before you can get B-rank clearance.”
“Then is it really okay giving me that?” Xiao Lin was excited, compared to a C-rank, B-ranks could bring the books back to the dormitories. It was a huge advantage, but he did not want to cause any trouble for it.
“Rules are dead, humans are alive. That rule isn’t really that strict anyway. The library would always increase ranks at their own discretion. Even the student union can’t interfere with it, so what we do goes.” Gu Fantian was quite proud; that was part of his authority, even if it was not that important.
Xiao Lin laughed. “Then why don’t you just promote me to S-rank.”
Gu Fantian smiled bitterly. “You joke. The most we can give you is B-rank clearance. Anything higher is out of our power. Even fourth-year students usually have A-rank clearance at most.”
Pausing for a moment, he lowered his voice. “I heard that S-rank books are usually restricted. Any books inside could turn the world upside down. Even research students and professors need to gain the dean’s approval before reading those books.”
Xiao Lin was actually not that interested in those restricted books. They had nothing to do with him at the moment. Thanks to Gu Fantian, he got his library card in a few minutes as he walked into the library under the annoyed gazes of the crowd. He did not expect his first time enjoying the privileges of being a monitor would be there...
The inside of the library was much grander than the outside. Xiao Lin had thought that the tall building would have several floors, but it was actually just one. The tall and gigantic bookshelves were as tall as several floors. There were also wide distances between the bookshelves, with countless flying carpets gliding about. The carpets had students standing or sitting down on them.
Thanks to Gu Fantian’s prior explanations, Xiao Lin was prepared for the sight, but he still could not help but look on in awe.
The flying carpets could be obtained from the entrance. From what Gu Fantian said, they were specialized carpets designed by the school. If one wrote down the name of a book on the prepared paper slips, the flying carpets would bring the person over to the book. It was fine even if the name of the books were not known; writing down the type or genre of the books would also have the flying carpet bring you to the area. It was extremely convenient, cutting down on the time needed to look for certain books.
Xiao Lin took a flying carpet for himself. Just like the other new students around him, Xiao Lin was very interested in the new toy. In truth, almost everyone was more interested in the flying carpets than the books during their first visits to the library.
The flying carpets were quite soft, leading to people being afraid that they would fall off. Since the carpets were used by new students as well, the mechanics of the flying carpet were also simplified. All Xiao Lin needed to do was put on a special mask to be able to mentally control the flying carpet’s movements, but it only had very basic maneuverability.
For safety considerations, every flying carpet was equipped with slow fall magic, so they did not have to worry about falling off.
The flying carpets also came with a map of the library. Xiao Lin calmly figured out his destination before carefully getting on the carpet and putting his mask on. After chanting in his heart a few times for the carpet to fly, the flying carpet slowly ascended. When Xiao Lin thought to move forward, the carpet began to float forward, but the speed was not that quick, nor could he speed it up.
Every flying carpet and every bookshelf had anti-collision spells cast on them; when they got too close to each other, the carpet would automatically stop. The careful design invoked a sense of admiration in Xiao Lin.
It took about half an hour before he got used to piloting the flying carpet. He had no choice. Even if Xiao Lin knew time was of the essence, who could resist playing around with such a new and fascinating toy.
Area C was the closest to him. It also happened to be the largest area, occupying the s.p.a.ce of two football fields. Continuing to move ahead would see one blocked by a metal door that would only open with a B-rank library card or above.
As Xiao Lin put his attention on the books, he noticed that even though Area C had a lot of books, they had quite a lot of books from Earth. It had history books on Earth, and even detailed histories of every colonist country. From the large area it occupied, basically half of the books were about Earth, with the other half belonging to Planet Norma.
It seemed pointless, but Xiao Lin could somewhat understand the reasoning. With the rule that Gold-rank pract.i.tioners and above could not return to Earth, a lot of them would one day never be able to return to Earth. It was even possible that the colonists would end up staying on Planet Norma forever someday. At that point, their descendants and even themselves would slowly forget about their origins. Those books about Earth were like a reminder to never forget their home.
However, Xiao Lin quickly brushed past those books, since they were not the reason he was there. After that, he moved his attention to the area focused on Planet Norma.