The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Planet Eleron)

(Main Campus- Library)

The library was much bigger than what Sophie had originally estimated, and it took her around forty minutes to walk through the massive halls.

Finally, she arrived at a long corridor connected to the back of one of the halls. At the end of the corridor was a Mendolesa elder who leaned against the wall.

He was clearly some kind of guard, but he wore nothing more than a simple brown cloak and did not appear to be carrying any weapons.

Behind the guard was another area of the library.

Sophie couldn't see all of the room but there didn't seem to be many students inside.

She walked towards the guard and showed him the plain white card that the receptionist had given her.

The Mendolesa elder reached into his pocket and pulled out a small rod-shaped cylinder.

He pointed the machine at the card and a beam of green light was emitted from the tip of the device.

The card vibrated slightly in response to the light and then the guard turned it off.

The Mendolesa elder gestured towards the room and shifted his body to the side to allow Sophie to pass.

The hybrid girl gave him a friendly nod and then walked past. She entered a new hall that looked quite different from the other parts of the library.

Everything screamed opulence and wealth.

The books shelves were made out of the finest woods and contained golden carvings in beautiful patterns.

Diamond encrusted chandeliers hung from the ceiling and there was a soft gentle melody of music that echoed through the hall.

The pods on the ground were much more expensive that the ones outside this area and could fit even larger groups of students.

Sophie even saw one that could fit a group of one hundred! That would be quite the large study session!

She walked towards one of the smaller pods and pressed her hands against the white smooth surface.

A door opened up on the other side of the pod, so Sophie walked around and then entered. The pod's door slammed shut and then a gentle white light illuminated the interior.

Sophie looked around the pod and it almost felt as though she had stepped inside a five-star hotel room.

The floor of the pod was covered in a soft fuzzy carpet. There was a mini fridge stocked up with beverages.

She saw a massage chair in the corner of the space as well as a large desk and chair covered in memory foam.

In the center of the room was a large screen that was connected to a console. There was a device next to the screen with sheets of paper sticking out of the top.

Sophie assumed that the device was used for printing out physical copies of whatever material the students wished to take home.

There was technically a loophole in the rules of the library for elite students.

While they were unable to give permission or use their status to allow members of the ordinary class to enter the restricted zone…

They could print out information and hand it out to them outside of the library. However, this rarely happened.

The competitive nature of cultivation universities meant that it was extremely beneficial to keep advantages to oneself.

Students in the elite class had access to better resources and cultivation techniques so why would they want competitors threatening to take away their spot.

The hybrid girl looked around the room for a second time and then walked towards the console.

The screen flickered to life and a simple search bar appeared in the middle of a field of white.

Sophie typed out the words 'Second year notes- Poison Cultivation' using the keyboard next to the console and then pressed enter.

A long list of titles appeared on the screen, and it had been organised quite well in a simple and straightforward manner.

The author of each title was listed as well as their class ranking and how much of the semester their notes actually covered.

Sophie sorted the listed from high to low based on the class ranking and looked at the top five titles.

There was one from a student who placed third in the whole year, but his notes only covered half of the first semester.

The students who placed fifth, and seventh had notes for both semesters. Then finally eighth and eleventh place had incomplete notes that covered the second semester.

Sophie did not bother to check out the notes from those who scored lower.

Unfortunately, it looked like not all students in previous years wanted to submit their private notes to the library so first and second place were nowhere to be found.

Well at least the third place had the notes for the first half of this semester which was around the time that she would miss thanks to the mission.

Sophie highlighted his title along with the fifth and seventh placed students. She pressed print and the machine next to the console spluttered to life.

The hybrid girl repeated the process for the beast controller courses and to her surprise she discovered that the first, second, third and fourth placed students had left completed notes.

And they were for both semesters!

Well, it made sense.

Beast controller classes only had one exam on the theory aspects, and it did not count for much of the final grade.

Sophie hummed cheerfully as she highlighted the notes and waited for the machine to finish printing.

She did not have to wait for long as the machine outputted the notes in the form of books with hardcovers.

On the hardcover was the author's name as well as a synopsis of the contents inside of the book.

Sophie picked up the books and then placed them in her storage bag. This entire process had been much faster than she had initially anticipated.

Hmm… she had some time now…

Should she begin reading?

Sophie was tempted to start studying but she had already had a long day of classes and was starting to feel a bit tired.

Maybe it would be best if she studied later tonight after she took a shower and felt a bit more refreshed.

The hybrid girl stretched out her arms and yawned sleepily. She walked over to the comfortable chair covered in memory foam and sat down.

The material stretched and accommodated her unusual physiology, so she felt quite relaxed.

Sophie tilted her wrist communicator upwards and absentmindedly began to browse the virtual net.

She shifted past the latest entertainment news and then froze as she saw an article that was rapidly climbing up the trending page.

Attention! All Citizens In The Gamoran Sector!

The Insectoid Empire Has Attacked!

Sophie hurriedly clicked the article and was greeted with images of devastated planets and mutilated bodies.

The Insectoid Empire had pierced through the Federation's defenses in the Gamoran Sector and were now rapidly advancing.

The Imperial Army had declared a state of emergency and now reinforcements were already being sent to fight off the invading fleet.

Sophie looked through the images of the attack and felt her mood sour as she looked at one of the photos.

This photo showed an army of Insectoid rushing towards a human settlement.

The creatures in the photograph seemed to be driven mad with bloodlust and were covered in the corpses of Imperial Army soldiers.