CHAPTER 64: NYMPH

The rather posh elevator stopped at the second-highest floor, though given the number of levels built further down inside the cliff, it wasn’t actually all that high.

A beam from the doors scanned my eyes a bit, before the panels finally opened with a soft clink, revealing an expansive room before me.

It was firmly modern in its design choice. A large sitting room lay smack dab in front of the elevator, with numerous couches and furniture tastefully arranged in front of a holographic entertainment system.

Massive windows—actual windows—spanned across two walls of the room, with one side giving an expansive view of the raging, dark ocean below the cliffs and the other, a serene view of the academy and the sea of grass it rested in.

That wasn’t all, as a spacious open kitchen lay just behind the sitting room, with some three more odd doors embedded in the various walls of the room.

While I’d been expecting some sort of qualitative difference between the rooms here and those back in the main dorm, I certainly hadn’t been expecting this.

Even in the novel, I hadn’t done a great deal in describing the place, just noting it was much higher in quality and that it had a personal training room.

’Do I really have the entire floor to myself?’

Carefully, I stepped out of the elevator, still in awe at the sheer size of the place. Just the sitting room was almost twice the size of my previous dorm.

Glancing warily at the raging sea outside, I moved past the sitting room and into the kitchen. It was rather nice to have a kitchen all to myself, even though I didn’t see myself using it all that much.

I couldn’t cook for shit. My greatest masterpieces were just edible at best. It was the reason my mom always chased me out of the kitchen back in my old life. Hell, even my little sis could somehow cook better than me.

Both were practically goddesses in the kitchen.

’Imagine what they could do with a setup as large as this one.’

I smiled wryly at the thought before sighing, ruffling my hair to chase the bad thoughts away.

Although my kitchen wouldn’t see much use from me, I knew Racheal would use the hell out of hers. With the girl being one rank above me, I reckoned her setup would be even more decked out than this.

I stepped out of the kitchen with my excitement a little more tempered.

Moving towards another door, I found the one thing I’d been expecting: a training room. I reckoned it took the largest space out of all the rooms here.

A weapon rack was attached to the wall above the mat-covered floor, stacked with all sorts of weapons. Of course, except guns.

The academy’s weapon vendetta extended even here.

About five metallic dummies were placed around the room, and with how well-built they looked, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them could move.

A transparent pane of glass demarcated the room, with a mini range lying on its other side.

All in all, I wouldn’t need to head back to that training hall again.

Last on my little tour was the pièce de résistance: the bedroom.

An entire section of its walls was made of glass, though fortunately, whoever made this place had been wise enough to have it facing the serene academy instead of the raging sea behind.

Besides that, it was fully stacked with amenities as well. A king-sized bed was the centerpiece of the room; beside it stood a luxurious wooden table with a holographic plate resting on it.

Even though the place was packed with furniture and wardrobes, those amenities didn’t eat much out of the room’s large space.

Passing through a door to the side of the room, I found myself in the bathroom. I looked around for the shower, only to realize that the entirety of the ceiling here was made with shower heads.

A holographic display on the thankfully non-glass wall controlled the entire thing.

I stand heavily corrected—this was definitely worth all I went through in the simulation. The difference between my old room and here was so great that they couldn’t even be compared.

Still somewhat dazed by it all, I tried recentering myself by searching for my belongings. The Academy ought to have moved them here as well.

Sure enough, I found them all neatly arranged in one of the wardrobes, barely taking even one-tenth of the space of the thing.

I also found a bunch of other new clothes as well, but it was just more of the same uniforms.

Victor’s diary lay safely tucked beneath some layers of clothes. Flipping through the book, I couldn’t tell whether or not it had been tampered with.

But then again, it wouldn’t really matter. There wasn’t any incriminating evidence to be found in it.

Even so, I let out a small sigh of relief.

Placing the book back in its rightful place, I gazed back at the room, a bit lost on what to do now.

I facepalmed as the obvious choice hit me. It was to finally take a damn shower; I hadn’t done so in three days now.

My body felt like it was melting after stepping out of that near-heavenly shower.

If I wasn’t sure before, I was certainly sure now. I’d repeat the trial all again, in a heartbeat, if that was what I had to do to continue using that place.

It was so good that I’d begun suspecting the academy of sneaking in an enchantment or two into the thing. In all honesty, I wouldn’t put it past them.

Right as I slipped into some comfortable grey slacks and a shirt, I heard the gentle sound of a doorbell ringing out there.

’Who is it now?’

I rubbed my hair violently with my towel, before tossing it aside as the damned thing remained shaggy.

Stepping into the living room, I found the constant ringing to be coming from one of the three elevator chutes leading to my floor.

Tapping a small microphone icon to the side, I asked,

"Who is it?"

A man’s voice came through.

"Delivery."

’Are they here already?’

I fumbled around a bit, pressing a few buttons to the side, before the doors finally slid open. Behind them was one of the men I’d met down in the reception area.

It wasn’t the one that made fun of my height, though this one was just as irritatingly tall. He looked down at me before passing me a plain velvet box.

I wordlessly collected it from him. The material of the box felt oddly soft, and reminded me more of jewelry cases than anything.

"Hands out. I’ll be transferring your artifact as well now."

My eyes widened a little at the statement.

Regardless, I complied once again, stretching out my hand to meet his. He placed his hand on it as well, and then I felt something move between us.

A message soon popped up—not one from the interface, but from the system itself.

[Noble hunter, an entity is attempting to transfer an Artifact to you. You still possess one free Artifact slot. Do you accept or decline?]

’Accept.’

The message soon went down, and a new one popped up following it.

[Noble hunter, you have gained an Artifact: Eyes of Eternity.]

[Name: Eyes of Eternity]

[Rank: D+]

[Description: Where shall man not go in search of knowledge? Where shall man not go in search of eternity? Where shall man not fail? This is merely one result of such failures. A miserable attempt by a long-dead scholar to walk that same path. A result of mankind’s endless hubris.]

[Abilities: Eternity.]

[Eternity: Slow down your perception of time. Duration depends entirely on essence.]

Immediately, I had a picture in my mind: a pair of thin, circular glasses wrapped in an ornate golden frame.

I instinctively knew I could summon it with a mere thought. Yet I held back from doing so—the man still stood in front of me.

He glanced, a bit uninterestedly, at my dorm before tapping a button to the side of the elevator.

"Well, my job here is done."

I stepped back a bit.

"Of course, don’t let me stop you."

The elevator doors closed once again, with the chute silently descending downwards.

’He’s pretty nice for a tall person.’

Not that I had anything against tall people. As a man of average height, I loved all heights equally.

Moving on.

I handled the box rather carefully as I headed back to my room. There, I still restrained myself from summoning the glasses yet, choosing instead to check the contents of the box.

It opened with a small puff of mist, releasing a small rush of cold air. Lined up neatly within the box were three metallic syringes.

A small card lay above them. The front showed only a red, holographic stamp of quality. Flipping it over revealed some words neatly written on its back.

"A Cursed Nymph’s heartblood."