Many of his classmates might have wondered why he completely ignored Sunless.
To them, they would have believed that Simon would try to make the best use of this budding relationship or friendship with Sunless.
Even though Simon was strong and the most popular Initiate in their class, having a connection with the number one student of their class would surely bring about benefits, especially when it looked like the number one Initiate of their class was the one that was eager to be friends with Simon.
No matter how everybody looked at it, having a relationship with Sunless should only bring about benefits.
And Simon would have agreed with them.
In fact, with his current nature, he would have looked for a way to make use of her.
Since she was so eager to be friends with him, then why not allow such a thing to happen?
However, Simon refused to get close to her or use her in any way because of what Lilith told him.
He had not forgotten what Lilith told him about Sunless.
That she could not see through Sunless’ heart and soul.
Many might have ignored this warning because of the potential relationship they could have with Sunless, but not Simon.
In fact, Simon did not want to be close to her.
Unlike Merath and Jorra where he became ’close’ to them, he did not want to do the same with Sunless.
Out of everybody he had met, he could confidently say that he was more wary of Sunless than even the Soul Mirror Demon.
For an ancient and powerful being to say that she could not see through the heart and soul of a mere Fiend, then there must be a problem somewhere.
Even if Lilith was nowhere close to her full strength, she was still an ancient being, and her experience and knowledge far surpassed his.
He could not just ignore a statement like that.
Maybe he was being paranoid.
Maybe he was thinking too much about it.
Maybe there was a rather simple explanation to it.
And maybe, just maybe, it was something that could benefit him.
Who knows.
But for the sake of his life, he decided to not the take the risk of associating with her till he understood what exactly he was dealing with.
He would not become her enemy, and he would not become her friend.
He would just remain in that fine line of being strangers.
It was safer for him that way...unless he had no other choice.
After leaving their classroom, he went to the cafeteria to get some food to eat.
Fortunately for him, aside from the occasional stares, glances, and murmurs toward him, his time in the cafeteria and outside the cafeteria could be considered peaceful.
None disturbed him or ate with him.
He spent eighteen (18) merits on the food he bought, bringing his total number of merits to six thousand, four hundred and sixty (6,460).
After leaving the cafeteria, he decided to check out the library.
A lot had been happening recently, and it was high time he increased his general knowledge about the world.
The library of the Shadowgrave Academy was just like a normal library.
The building was carved into the cliff wall, and when Simon entered, he was met with rows upon rows of bookshelves and Initiates moving around the library.
He took a quick glance around, then he turned to his right where the librarian was sitting behind her counter.
He approached her.
"I’d like to read some books. Can I ask for guidance on where to find these books?"
The librarian was a female demon with a purple mask that had four eye holes and an opening for the mouth.
Her skin was coloured purple, her clothes were on the skimpy side, and behind her was a thin tail.
Simon instantly recognized the demon.
’A purple succubus.’
The purple succubus librarian curiously observed Simon, then she smiled behind her mask.
"What exactly are you looking for, sweet boy?"
The purple succubus’ words were like honey to the ear, and Simon frowned behind his mask.
What was the academy thinking placing a succubus as librarian?
She was literally a temptress and distraction.
How would many of these kids read?
What Simon did not know was that many Initiates and even demons in general did not like to read.
So, what the Shadowgrave Academy did was to give the Initiates a reason to go to the library.
Since they didn’t want to read, then they’ll make the library a place of attraction with a seductress.
And this worked.
The number of Initiates that flocked to the library increased drastically.
"I want to get books on the First Great War between the Demon King of Death and the Hero of Earth."
"I also want to get books on the current powers and organizations of the world. Like the kingdoms, clans, and tribes."
"And I also want to get history books. Just any history book in general."
The purple succubus instantly had a blank expression, then she gave Simon a weird look.
"You want to read all of that? Are you sure you can even read all of that?"
Simon shrugged nonchalantly. "Who knows. It’ll take time, but I’ll read everything eventually. Even if it takes me more than a month."
The librarian blinked in surprise, then she tilted her head and looked at Simon curiously.
"Are you even a demon? Demons rarely love to read."
Simon nearly stiffened for a moment at her question, but he quickly composed himself.
"Not all demons are the same."
She hummed softly at his words, then she nonchalantly shrugged.
"Oh well. That’s true."
She leaned back into her chair and crossed her arms behind her head, causing more of her breasts to show.
She smiled teasingly at Simon.
"The entrance fee is ten (10) merits, and if you want to take out a copy of a book, you’ll need to pay a minimum of one hundred (100) merits."
"Depending on the book you want to take, the price might be slightly higher or significantly higher. "
"You can also stay here for as long as you like, and if you decide to sleep with me, I can give you a twenty percent (20%) discount."