After Vaan received the cue to freely explore the grand library as he wished, he went straight up to the second floor with Hester Thorton following several paces behind him.
When men walked directly in front of other witches like Vaan did, it was generally regarded as a form of disrespect and disregard.
Multiple True Witches and a few Early-stage Senior Witches on the second floor were startled by the bold man walking in front of Hester Thornton.
Vaan quickly felt the growing hostile gazes, but it only lasted briefly before they were dispelled by Hester Thornton’s warning gaze towards the witches.
Within moments, only curious and cautious gazes remained as the witches became aware that Vaan could be someone even more important than Hester Thornton.
The realization startled them.
Vaan couldn’t help but feel like he was drawing too much attention, but it wasn’t exactly a bad thing. At the very least, it saved him time as no one dared to approach and strike up a conversation with him.
The witches could only whisper curiously among themselves.
Nevertheless, Vaan eventually ignored the attention he received and focused on the bookshelves filled with countless knowledge.
Potioneering… artificing… magic theories… magic spells… enchantments… study of ancient languages… demonology… study of beasts… study of plants… abominations… history… records of the three eras and five great events… personal insights of notable witches…
The Redpine Grand Library covered a wide range of topics—if not everything.
As Vaan briefly browsed the second floor and went up to the third floor, he quickly discovered the pattern behind the arrangement of knowledge in the grand library.
The hundreds of thousands of books within the grand library weren’t arranged based on their topics but their value.
Only the most basic knowledge could be found on the second floor, while the third to fifth floor contained knowledge at the level of True Witches.
The sixth to the twelfth floor was restricted to Senior Witch-level knowledge, and the thirteenth to fifteenth floor held High Witch-level knowledge.
As for Transcendent Witch-level knowledge, it was almost non-existent. Whatever Transcendent Witch-level knowledge the Redpine Grand Library possessed, it was mixed with the High Witch-level knowledge on the fifteenth floor.
Not every witch could access the knowledge on the upper floors—not unless they possessed sufficient privilege or authority.
However, Vaan was a special exception due to Helia Ashenborn’s authority.
All the knowledge back in the Blackmoon Academy’s library was mainly at the True Witch and Senior Witch levels.
As such, Vaan eventually stopped on the thirteenth floor.
There are far too many books in the grand library, and Vaan’s time was limited. Thus, he decided to start with the most valuable knowledge and eventually work his way down if he had enough time to absorb everything the grand library had to offer.
Vaan had a bottomless appetite for knowledge.
‘If I wasn’t gifted, god knows how many lifetimes it would have taken me to read through everything in this library,’ Vaan mused wryly.
After shaking his head, Vaan began making his way over to the abomination-related book section.
But just before Vaan reached the book section pertaining to abominations, he stumbled across the history book section. There, a book quickly caught his attention.
“Compendium of the Third Great Expedition…” Vaan muttered thoughtfully before picking out the thick black book from the bookshelf.
The black book was already over a decade old, but it was still in perfect condition, enchanted by magic as seen by the big magic circle engraved on the front and back cover, glowing the color of blue mana.
It was treated like a grimoire.
In fact, all the books on the thirteenth floor and above were enchanted with protection and anti-deterioration magic.
“Are you also interested in the Third Great Expedition, Teacher Cadieux?” Hester Thornton asked, her curiosity piqued by Vaan’s first book selection. But then, she realized she had disturbed Vaan.
“My apologies, Teacher Cadieux. I didn’t mean to disturb you. Please forget I said anything and continue what you were doing.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s not bad to have a talking buddy,” Vaan casually replied with a shake of his head before admitting, “I do happen to be interested in the Third Great Exploration. I’m an orphan, after all.”
Hester Thornton’s eyes flickered with understanding as soon as she heard Vaan’s claim and felt she could sympathize with him.
“An orphan… Many children became orphans at the end of the Third Great Expedition,” Hester Thornton mentioned.
“Although the raid on Furhengir’s Domain was a success, many Senior Witches and Aura Grandmasters fell during the raid. Even a few High Witches were gravely injured during the big battle with the Demon Wolf King Furhengir.”
“I heard Marquis Delarosa still hasn’t recovered from the injuries she sustained in that raid. I can now understand why you were groomed by the Delarosa Household, Teacher Cadieux. Your parents must have been one of Marquis Delarosa’s closest retainers.”
“I am also an orphan as a result of the great expeditions. However, the Second Great Expedition was where I lost my parents,” Hester Thornton mentioned before adding with a self-deprecating smile, “Alas, I wasn’t so fortunate to be raised by any notable household.”
“Are you trying to learn more about your parents’ heroic feats during the Third Great Expedition, Teacher Cadieux?” Hester Thornton asked shortly after she stopped dwelling on her past.
Nevertheless, Vaan could only reply with a wry smile.
Although it was true that Vaan did not know who the birth parents of his body were, it wasn’t his reason for picking up the Compendium of the Third Great Expedition.
Vaan just felt like there was a connection between the etherstone he inherited, which housed the system, and the Third Great Expedition, where the seven witch kingdoms joined forces under the Transcendent Witch of Black Rose to raid the Demon Wolf King Furhengir’s Domain.
It just didn’t seem unrelated to how he possessed the Immortal Lycan Bloodline.