The Academy Library and Store...

[Congratulations, you have successfully taken care of 12 bullies with nefarious intent.]

[Total EXP gained: 1200!]

---

The system notification flashed as Nolan grinned widely.

Those 12 bullies could also be referred to as twelve people who had their teeth knocked out cold by him, and the sensation of that was nothing short of heavenly to Nolan.

"You mess with the bull, you get the horns," he remembered a saying from Mr. Murdermoon in his past life as he walked into the academy store.

The relentless surprise punch he delivered had caused quite the red mark to appear on his knuckles.

Unlike other celestial heirs who could heal themselves of minor injuries by simply passing Divine Essence to their arms, Nolan's Divine Essence never listened to him, so he could only bear with the pain and stiffness in his hands as he walked into the store.

Arriving before the store, he opened the glass door, finding himself in a stainless white reception area where some students could be seen walking in and out.

Nolan simply ignored their raised eyebrows as he walked to the counter where a chubby male instructor could be seen playing around with some files in his hands.

"How can I help you?" the man's voice resonated as he kept fiddling with the files.

"I was just hoping to get some books for the classes," Nolan responded, watching as the man put down his files and tapped on a technological-looking object in the shape of a cube.

Immediately, a green holographic screen appeared, which the man began typing on.

"And what's your name?" he asked.

"Nolan...Nolan Gottschald," Nolan replied.

The man began typing on the holographic screen, and quickly, the name appeared, indicating an available status.

However, his eyes widened when he discovered something abnormal and quickly scanned through his glasses.

"According to my records, you've never taken a book from the academy store? Then how have you been taking notes all this while?" he asked in shock as he finally raised his head to Nolan and blinked twice, looking at his face.

"Oh, it's you, Nolan. Nolan Gottschald. What? Finally have a change of heart? After three years?" The man teased with a slight tone of mockery as Nolan grinned helplessly.

'Like I was given the choice of a change of heart...'

"Yes. I have finally decided to turn a new leaf," Nolan replied to the green-skinned man, who grinned wildly at him.

In some way, the man's smile reminded Nolan of a frog, and he more than found it amusing that he was standing before a frog-man.

"Ok then. I'll give you your books. They've been piling up for three years now, but you'll only need the ones for this year, right?"

"Yes, sir"

"There are also some other school materials you don't possess. I'll be passing everything to you."

'Follow me," the man said as he rose from the seat and headed to a door on the side.

Nolan followed after him.

---

An hour later...

A young man with flowy snow-white hair and slightly shabby clothes exited the glass door of the Academy store, a large bag slumped over his shoulder.

Looking up at the sky, Nolan noticed it was beginning to darken a little.

With the bag slumped over his shoulder, he didn't think it was possible to make it to the library like this, but the thought of being able to find books that could help with the assignments given was also something he couldn't ignore.

In the end, Nolan struggled to make his way over.

The Academy Library was significantly farther from the store and took him about 45 minutes to walk to.

Thankfully, it always remained open 24/7, so Nolan was able to settle down.

Quickly, he brought out the various textbooks and notebooks that he had been given and began reviewing them as quickly as possible.

The library itself had many floors, with some of them being restricted to lower students like him.

However, the books that were available to Nolan were all he needed. In less than two hours, he had properly scanned through the book he needed to do the assignment given by Instructor Tiamat and quickly finished it.

Before beginning his walk around the library, a little surprising, there were a few people that Nolan couldn't recognize still reading the books inside the library, while some came in and returned books.

Most were especially female, and they only threw Nolan some giggles before ignoring him. Nolan didn't mind it much as he walked through the shelves, picking up books whose covers he found interesting.

Once he gathered about five of those books, he began his reading.

There was a special and helpful feature in the library, and that was a single round table and seat for each student.

Most noticeable was also a strange mechanism that appeared around the glass table where a person sat.

It ensured that noise made outside of the library didn't affect those inside, and those outside couldn't hear the noise of those inside.

This created a comfortable setting where there was nothing but a reader, the book, and his thoughts in a single space.

Only in this place could Nolan finally feel some relief.

Here, he felt safeness and security, him alone, and that brought him the comfort he truly needed to settle his mind

Silently and peacefully, he spent the next few hours simply absorbing as much as he could, piecing together pieces of the world with his missing memories, and gaining a deeper understanding of where he was.

Soon, he knew well how to resolve every single bit of the problem he possessed with quite the ease, yet there were also some things that made him narrow his eyes and realize just how insecure he was in the academy right now...