I felt a certain flow from deep within my abdomen.

....It was a familiar sensation, and my body started to cool down. I felt my consciousness return, and I reached out with my hand to grab the other pills scattered across the ground.

EXP + 1.4%

EXP + 1.1%

EXP + 1.7%

EXP + 2.0%

EXP + 1.1%

Notifications continued to flash across my vision.

I started to feel bloated after a certain point, but I didn't care and continued to gorge the pills in my mouth.

I was in such desperate need of mana that the bloating did not affect me.

'More, more....'

And it wasn't just that. Seeing the notifications flash across my eyes, I started to get greedy. I wanted to see more of those notifications.

It was hard to increase one's power.

.....This was the easiest increase I had ever had.

I couldn't get enough of the feeling.

But,

"Uekh...!"

After a certain point, I had to stop. Holding onto my stomach, I turned my body and held onto my mouth.

"Huep!"

Mana had already coated my body, and the heat no longer affected me. I felt a rumbling in my body and I started to gag.

I spat out the pills that were in my mouth. I had done that unconsciously, or more like, my body appeared to reject them, forcing me to spit them out.

It became clear to me that I had reached the limit of the pills that I could eat.

"Huuu... Huuu..."

Taking deep and steady breaths, I held onto my mouth and did everything in my power to prevent myself from puking all that I had ingested.

I had a feeling I'd lose all the progress were I to puke.

"Uekh."

Strange sounds came out of my mouth as I did so.

However, in a matter of a few minutes, I was able to retain everything.

Only then did I relax.

"Haaa..."

My chest heaved up and down rapidly while I slumped back and stared blankly at the ceiling of the room.

It took me a few moments to collect my breath and sit up.

Although my insides were still churning and twisting, I knew that I didn't have much time. Grabbing whatever pill was left on the ground, I looked around me. There was a lot of miscellaneous stuff around.

From food, and water, to unnecessary things like clothes and the like. While it was smaller compared to the bunker supply area, it was still nothing to scoff at.

Grabbing a bag, I tossed whatever I thought was useful and headed out.

".....They'll hate me for sure after this."

I had practically emptied their entire pill storage.

Sure, those probably weren't anything important considering that the most important stuff was locked elsewhere, but to me...?

Yeah, those pills were certainly great.

Creak...

The wooden floor creaked under my steps. Coming out of the supply area, I held onto the handrail of the stairs and carefully moved down.

While it was true that I had recovered, I was still feeling lightheaded.

I would need more time before I could fully recover.

"It should be here."

The library was located on the second floor. A large metallic door greeted me the moment I stepped on the second floor.

Taking out the keys, I put them in the slot and unlocked the door.

Cli Clank

Immediately after opening the door, a certain smell swooshed over me. From the musty scent of the aging paper and ink, mixed with the earthy notes of wooden bookshelves and the subtle, sweet hint of leather book bindings.

.....It was a smell that told me that I was in the right place.

"Finally."

Just standing where I was, I could see thousands upon thousands of books. Compared to the public library, the book selection was much wider and organized.

In fact, the Black Hound Guild was the best place for this type of information.

Compared to the other Guilds, they were the ones that specialized in information gathering with regard to the monsters found in the Mirror Dimension.

This was the best place to choose from.

"Where is it, where is it..."

Instead of diving into the library, the first thing I did was head to where the librarian's desk was.

It was a large wooden desk situation near the entrance that allowed the librarian to overlook the entire library.

Rummaging through the cabinets of the desk, I scanned the documents and papers placed on top.

The process continued for the next few minutes before my gaze finally settled on a certain paper.

"Ah, there!"

It was a detailed overview of the books that were located in the library.

Rather than jumping in straight blindly, I preferred to have a more concrete path of where I needed to go. I didn't have the luxury of wasting time.

"Monster classification... Area A-21."

There were over a hundred different areas within the library, each labeled with different colors and markers.

My immediate focus fell on the monster classification area which was further subdivided into categories.

[Junior Rank]

.

.

[Terror Rank]

And so on.

Because I didn't know what the Tree's rank was so I skipped that area and settled over a certain classification.

[Nature-based/Botanical creatures]

"This is it!"

I felt my heart speed up upon seeing that category.

"It's in A-21, shelf 7."

Once I had the location nailed down, I didn't waste a second and sprinted towards the selected area.

The library was quite large.

Split into several sections, I had to navigate through a lot of books and shelves before reaching the A area where I had to go a further 21 rows before finding the area that I was looking for.

"Monster classifications, here."

Tracing my finger over the books, I moved over to the seventh row where the botanical section was located.

I grabbed whatever book was located in that area.

There weren't many books. In fact, there were only three, but they were rather thick. It would take me some time to go through them.

"....It's too dark."

I wanted to read the book on the spot, but the area was quite dark, making it hard for me to read.

I had no choice but to head for a better area.

Just as I was about to leave, I stopped for a second before picking up another book.

The book had nothing to do with the tree. I still chose to pick it up since there was another creature that I wanted to inform myself about.

It was the creatures that came out from the walls.

I needed to be better prepared for when I was going to leave.

"Hoo."

Finding a seat on the nearest wooden table, I placed the book down before skimming on the last book that I found.

Since it was illustrated, it took no time for me to find the exact picture of the monster that I had seen.

"Silence Eater."

I tilted my head upon reading the name.

"That doesn't sound right."

Recalling the noise it made just outside, I didn't know if it was an appropriate name.

At least, that was what I thought before I started reading the description.

"....."

That was when I felt my heart pause.

"This is going to be problematic."

Without a doubt.

Pursing my lips, I placed the book to the side and shifted my attention towards the main book.

"Tree of Ebonthorn. Three of Ebonthron..."

Using the index, I tried to look for what I was looking for. Tracing my fingers over any creature that started with 'T' I made sure to re-read each line twice to see if there was anything that I was missing.

However, regardless of how many times I checked, I couldn't find what I was looking for.

"This book is a bust."

I wasn't disheartened. Of all the books, it was the thinnest one.

I grabbed the next book and opened the index. I paused halfway through my actions as I heard a certain sound coming from behind me.

Creak...!

The wooden floor creaked a few meters away from me, and I froze on the spot.

I didn't even turn to look back.

Creak.

The wooden floor creaked again at the sound of a step.

Anxiety started to gnaw at me then.

Creak, Creak

Eventually, a shadow cast over the area next to me, allowing me to catch a glimpse of a hunched-up skinny figure with long hair that stopped at its shoulder.

I didn't so much as make a sound.

I couldn't make a sound.

'It'll find me if I do.'

The silent eater.

.....It detected its prey through sound.

They were blind and had no sense of smell. The only way for them to hunt was through noise.

It was for that reason that I stopped moving.

I moved, and I was done for.

Especially since I could tell from just a glance the creature was stronger than me.

Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!

Shifting my hand towards my chest, I tried to calm my beating heartbeat. It was progressively growing faster and faster.

Creak...

The floor creaked again.

I sat still without making a sound.

The silence felt stifling.

Almost suffocating.

Sweat started to form on the side of my face.

Creak, Creak

In the background, the ground continued to creak. The sound was getting closer and closer, and I felt my breath leave my body.

".....!"

I almost flinched on the spot as I gripped my clothes harder.

Appearing right beside me was none other than the Silent Eater, its face a few inches away from me. With wide eyes and a grotesque grin, its eyes appeared to be locked onto me.

Panic bloomed in my chest as I stopped breathing.

"....."

All that surrounded me was silence.

A silence that seemed to want to engulf me entirely.

"....."

I remained still, staring at the Silent Eater without making a move.

It stared back at me.

Every second felt suffocating, and the sweat trickling down the side of my face added to the anxiety that I was feeling.

But finally, the creature moved its head and looked away.

"...."

Creak.

Creak, Creak

Its steps grew more and more distant, but despite that, I continued to remain still on my spot.

It was only after several minutes had passed that I finally took a subdued breath.

Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!

The sound of my heartbeat drummed loudly within my mind, and it took every part of me to make any sound.

Fortunately, I was able to keep it down after a few minutes had passed.

'.....I just barely made it.'

Shifting my attention back towards the book in front of me, my gaze eventually fell on three words.

[Index - Tree of Ebonthorn (Page 516)]

My heartbeat, which had steadily calmed down, sped up again.

But this time, it wasn't out of fear.

No, it was out of excitement.