The Hero is An Academy Librarian

Rosa realised that Rita did not appreciate what she heard before.

’Does she think I’m trying to ask the librarian on a date? I mean, he’s definitely handsome enough, but I don’t think I want to date a librarian.’

Rosa touched the pendant under her shirt with a nervous smile on her face, and she turned to Percy when he spoke.

"So, professor. You said something about coffee?"

Percy asked this curiously, and Rosa almost swallowed when she saw the look that Rita gave her from the side! Rita looked like she would kill Rosa in her sleep if she tried to take Percy on anything resembling a date! Rosa immediately shook her head.

"N-No, don’t worry about that. I just thought I’d come and say hello. It’s-"

KA-BOOM!

But Rosa wouldn’t get to finish her sentence as a sudden blast shook the academy grounds to its foundation! Rosa stumbled and nearly fell off her feet, and many of the students screamed in fear as they crouched quickly! Rosa’s eyes widened, and she immediately turned to run out of the library. Percy’s eyes narrowed as a magical signal reached out to him from within the Academy.

"It’s the library upstairs. It exploded."

Percy suddenly spoke up in shock, and Rita turned to him in surprise!

"The secondary library in the school?"

Rita asked, and Percy nodded immediately! Although the library out here was the main library where students could come to get documents and texts that were difficult to find anywhere else, there was another secondary library inside of the Academy where the common texts and documents were kept! The library upstairs was put there as a way to make sure students could retrieve some books on their way to or from class without needing to come all the way to the main library out here, and it was connected to the main library magically to allow them to exchange books and information easily!

Right now, Percy just received a signal that an explosion had gone off in the secondary library, and Percy knew he had to go there!

"Just go, baby! I’ll look after things here!"

Rita spoke up quickly when she saw the look on Percy’s face, and she gave Percy a quick kiss on the cheek before sending him off with a worried look on her face! Rita really hoped that things weren’t as serious as they seemed to be, but from the look that Percy just had, Rita knew that they were about to have another major issue very soon!

.....

[Main Verati Academy]

The Verati Academy building was a hive of motion as hundreds of students moved out of the building quickly to try and get a good look at what had happened! The Academy building was made up of multiple towers attached to a main central building, but right now, one of the towers on the eastern wing of the castle had a large chunk of it missing due to the explosion, and there was a wave of crimson fire burning bright and strong without any signs of going out anytime soon!

Percy stood behind some of the students on the Academy grounds, and he looked up at the massive building in the distance with narrowed eyes. Percy only needed to study the fire for a few seconds for him to realize exactly what sort of skill could’ve created it, and Percy felt a little bit of confusion seeping into him as he began making his way into the main academy building!

There were still many students trying to get out of the school, and Percy simply moved around them as he entered the main building. The inside of Verati Academy was far larger than what it looked like on the outside. Space Expanding spells and runes had been used across most of the academy to make it possible for the thousands of students to carry out both their practical and theory classes here without any issues!

The first place Percy appeared in was a massive downstairs common area that had a massive statue of Verati with two large steps curling around it on opposite ends of the room, leading towards higher floors. The common area was lit with a bright golden chandelier and multiple gold obrs that floated over Percy’s head, casting a warm light over the entire area. It would’ve been beautiful if not for the hundreds of students struggling to make their way out of the Academy quickly! Percy avoided them without any issues, and he climbed up the stairs on the left before making his way into a long hallway with multiple doors.

Once he left the hallway, he got to a new circular common area inside of the towers attached to the academy. There was a staircase that was moving up like an escalator on its own, and Percy got on it and allowed it to take him higher up the tower and towards the main academy area where most of the theory classes for students were held. This was where the Secondary library could be found!

Once Percy arrived at the highest floor, he saw that most of the school professors were already here! Many of the professors were running quickly towards the secondary library with frantic looks on their faces, and Percy frowned slightly as he continued forward at his usual pace.

"The fire won’t go out!?"

"Yes, they’ve tried everything! None of the spells work on it!"

"Have they used regular water!?"

"They’ve even used enchanted water and the Ever-freeze spell! Nothing works! It’s been burning nonstop!"

"It’s Hellfire! Someone used Hellfire in the school library!"

Percy heard a teacher shouting in a loud voice as he ran towards the library, and Percy couldn’t stop his eyes from narrowing suspiciously! The fire that was consuming the secondary library was one that Percy had definitely seen before. Back when he was fighting in the war, there was a General who had mastered Hellfire to perfection, and he used this crimson fire in terrible ways to burn down human settlements! The fire was known to burn for exactly one hundred days and nights, and it would not go out no matter what anyone tried! You could use all the skills in the world and all the water in the world if you wanted, but the fire would burn until either the one hundred days pass or the object being burned completely turns to ash!

There was only one known way to extinguish Hellfire, and it was something that Percy himself had invented after months of research!

As Percy approached the secondary library, he saw the teachers all standing at a distance as they watched the crimson flames growing even more! The smell of burning wood and paper filled the hallway, but it was overpowered easily by the intense smell of burning flesh! There had been students inside the library!

Percy could see multiple burnt and charred bodies lying scattered across the floor, and Percy immediately knew that there was no way to save them anymore. Percy gave the dead students an empathetic glance before turning away and raising his hand to activate a spell.

"There’s quite no need for that, Percival. I’ll handle this."

Percival turned as he heard an aged voice beside him, and he hummed when he saw Headmaster Leonart moving forward with a hard look on his face. The teachers in the hallway all recognized Leonart’s voice as well, and they quickly made a path for him to pass through.

"Do you remember it properly?"

Percy asked this while looking at Leonart curiously. It had been a long time since anyone used Hellfire in this kingdom, so Percy wouldn’t be surprised if Leonart already forgot how to use the counterspell. But Leonart simply nodded once before saying.

"I was always your most talented student, was I not?"