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Chapter 73 - The Chamber of Tomes
🕑 Added 2024-11-12 12:16:47 +0000 UTC2nd of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle
“You may check out up to three tomes containing no secrets, martial arts, or cultivation techniques. You may read them wherever, or even take them on missions. However, you have to sit down and copy them by hand, should you lose or damage them in any way.” The librarian’s voice turned harder than basalt when she mentioned book misuse.
“Tomes containing sect secrets, martial arts, and cultivation techniques you are free to read here. Some require contribution points, others resources, or specific actions on your part. Some are limited by realm, seniority, supporting arts you know, and many other factors. But you are young and have enough time to create a clear picture of what you wish to do with your life.”
Newt believed that, going by this woman’s standards, most people he had met over the course of his life were young and had enough time to change their path. Still, he nodded dutifully before speaking.
“Senior, if you don’t mind explaining how this works? Do I tell you what I’m looking for, or is there a spell formation which lets me find books?”
“The system is much more magical.” The librarian motioned Newt to follow, and they entered a small side room, lined with cabinets marked with letters.
“You open this,” and she pulled open a drawer, revealing a row of loosely packed cards. “Then you rifle through these until you find the book you’re looking for, and finally you come to me and bring the card. Then I give you your book, and magic happened.”
The old woman wiggled her fingers, and Newt deadpanned at her.
Useless. I have to know the name of the book I’m looking for?
“And if I don’t know the name of the book I’m looking for? Or even if it exists?”
“Smart boy.” The librarian nodded and motioned Newt to follow her once more. They went back to the lobby and entered a much larger room lined with bookcases full of books, a dozen disciples of various ages quietly reading or staring at the shelves.
“Here you can find various topics,” she whispered pointing towards a plaque saying, ‘Geography’. Below the sign, Newt saw smaller ones, ‘Rivers’, ‘Mountains’, ‘Cities’, each with their own shelf or multiple shelves.
“Each tome holds titles of other books, a synopsis, and explains how the book relates to the topic. Books just mentioning the topic in passing aren’t listed, to prevent clutter.”
She paused, and Newt took in all the plaques. Sects, a sub-division of politics, were divided into allies, enemies, and neutral forces, allies further divided into weaker, equal, and superior. Weaker forces were then separated into subsidiaries, subsidiaries of allies, and subsidiaries of forces mentioned by name. Other topics were categorized in similar manner until the granularity became fine enough to find a general idea on what you were looking for.
After giving Newt several moments to take in his surroundings, the librarian whispered again. “You should understand how the system works now. If you’re having any trouble, let me know.”
With that, the woman disappeared without a trace. She made no sound, there was no motion, no wind, she was simply gone. Newt strained his third eye and noticed a higher density of air-aligned spiritual energy, but the trail was faint and dissipated even as he looked at the tiny dancing motes of greenish-white light.
Why is she working as a clerk?
Newt considered going out to thank the elder, but decided he would do that on his way out. Instead, he headed for the bookcase marked with, ‘Explorer’s Gate’. The bookcase was made of dark, grainy wood, like all the rest. As Newt approached, he appreciated the fine, curly pattern of the wood, and realized the plaques were gilded, or perhaps even forged of solid gold, an opulent statement for most mortals, a label which will never rust for cultivators. And the glimmering yellow also made a fine contrast with the shadowy-brown of the carpentry.
Newt found several books on disciple life, rules, expectations, conditions for advancement… Many topics interested him, but he stopped himself and focused on the rules first. He chose the most boring title he found, Explorer’s Gate, rules for disciples, explained for newcomers, expanded edition, revealing intentional loopholes.
Newt went to the room full of cabinets packed with cards, found his title, and faced his first problem. There were seven copies, each with slightly different text under the title.
NNE357891, NNE357892, NNE357896, NNE357894… Does this matter? Should I take all of them or just one? They seem to be out of order, should I sort them? Does it matter? Is it a test?
Newt stared at the cards, picked one at random, and sorted the rest before closing the drawer.
“Thank you for explaining everything,” he said to the librarian after returning to the lobby. Newt handed her the card. “I would like this one—”
The woman gave him the book, which had magically appeared in her hand. Newt frowned, staring at the slightly denser motes of pale-green air-aligned spiritual energy that formed a halo around the elder.
“You are a perceptive young man,” she said with a smile. “Anything else I can do for you?”
“Yes, Elder. There were several different cards with the same title, does it matter which one I pick?”
The smile grew wider and a tad warmer. “It makes no difference, and you needn’t sort them either. But the type of question you are asking is good. Keep doing what you’re doing, and you will get far.”
“Thank you.” Newt did not bother to conceal his confusion, making him all the more charming.
“The reading room is in there.” The elder pointed at another door. “Absolute quiet is required, you only have one warning before I throw you out for a day. You may read your chosen book inside, or take it with you, but you are responsible for any damage it might suffer outside the library.”
Newt nodded. His room was a mess, his roommates might puke on the book if he brought it back to the dorm. Was that really just two hours ago? It feels like it’s been a week.
“I’ll take the reading room.”
The librarian nodded.
“Your disciple token, please.”
Newt handed the round-edged stone triangle and watched the librarian put down the card and his token on top of it. “You’ll get it back once you return the book.”
Newt considered the system, found it silly, but still thanked the elder before going to the reading room. The chamber was vast, big enough to fit two hundred readers. Its ceiling was much lower than in the other rooms, and there was a staircase leading up, probably to another level with the same or similar setup.
Some thirty people sat on mats and cushions, a small, knee-high desk before them, big enough to fit two books with some room to spare. Newt went to the corner, took his seat, and started going through the rules.
They were sectioned by punishments, which ranged from monetary fines, through public canings, all the way to cultivation crippling and execution. None of the rules seemed out of line to Newt, and the loopholes section held a couple of warnings. For instance, if he got drunk and woke up in someone else’s bed short of his chastity, the fault lay with him, not the other party, even if the other party was actively trying to get him drunk.
The sect did not question the relationships between disciples, regardless of their nature, but relationships between elders and disciples were subject to inspection by an impartial committee.
There was one article Newt failed to understand, again because of his lack of knowledge.
Imperial law supersedes all sect rules. What is the imperial law?
Newt knew about the abstract concept, but never sat to study the articles. He closed the last page and stared into space for several moments.
Was there anything in there I found unclear? Does anything need further clarification?
The only answer that came to mind was the imperial law. Newt walked back into the lobby, and the glass door revealed that the night would soon fall.
“Thank you, Elder.” Newt returned the book and got his token back before going back into the room he had named the search room. He went to the ‘Empire’ section, and with surprising ease found the title of the book of imperial laws.
Several minutes later, he held the tome in his own hands, discovering that it was much thicker than the one with Explorer’s Guild rules.
Newt rubbed his eyes, staring at the book. This will take the whole night, and I ought to sleep soon. Tomorrow after training, maybe?
He just stepped towards the reading room when he saw a mortal woman in gray garb enter the building. She glanced at him and seemed to recognize him.
“Lord Cultivator, I am here to take your measures.”
