Lucas Thresher, the teacher for FORM-102, held his class at the more reasonable time of 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday. The later start allowed Kevin to catch up on sleep and still make it to the library before class.

  The Outer Sect Library was one of the largest buildings in the compound, more than half again the height of its tallest neighbor. Yet only a single floor of the massive structure was open to regular disciples.

  The Reading Room was an open-plan area filled with studying tables, comfortable chairs, and the flickering images of roving librarians. Where the rest of the sect employed its disciples, the library used holographic staff generated through means far beyond Kevin’s understanding.

  While it was his third visit to the sect library, Kevin had yet to overcome the culture shock of seeing how different the libraries were here. The institutions he was familiar with back home were focused on sharing information; here, they seemed more focused on protecting it.

  No shelf was present in the public area, nor was there a single unattended book. Even the free reference material was stored elsewhere and had to be requested.

  For anything more advanced than everyday reference materials, the library acted more like a bookshop than anything else. While some volumes could be rented by the day, most were only available by purchasing a copy.

  While this might be another way for the sect to push its disciples towards earning merit, the other clues he’d seen in the capital suggested it might be a more significant cultural difference.

  Travis had talked a little about how the various bureaucracies interacted, and the man had dropped hints about how difficult it was to get information from them. Hell, he’d described how the OIM had won a duel to get free access to job data.

  It seemed that the sheer value of cultivation knowledge led to information hoarding. That matched the cultivation stories he’d read, even if seeing it in a ‘modern’ world was jarring.

  Whatever the actual cause was, he wouldn’t solve it today, so Kevin threw aside his musing as he entered the Reading Room. Within seconds, a librarian floated over, taking the form of an elderly woman with wire-rimmed spectacles.

  If not for the fact she was see-through, the hologram would have been detailed enough to pass as human.

  “Please step aside from the entryway while I assist you,” the librarian spoke in a whispery voice, no louder than a soft breeze, yet carrying to his ears without issue. Raising an arm in a disjointed, flickering movement, she gestured to Kevin’s left.

  “Of course,” Kevin nodded, smiling at the figure as he followed its floating movement. He still wasn’t sure if the librarians had self-awareness, but being polite seemed like the wisest option.

  For all he knew, they were a technique used by some powerful elder who kept track of how every disciple treated them. Besides, it cost him nothing, even if they were only complex simulations.

  “I’ve had two potential styles suggested to me for purchase,” he continued once the figure had maneuvered them out of the walkway. “One is the Heavenly Brush style; for the other, I was told to hand you this.”

  Kevin pulled the wooden token Fischer had tossed him as he finished speaking, offering it to the librarian. The figure floated forward, reaching out its own hand and brushing it through his with an electric tingle.

  While the hologram’s hand passed through his, it had no trouble grasping his offering. Stepping back, it stared at the token for several seconds before speaking, a look of surprise crossing its face.

  “I am sorry, disciple. I will have to ask you to wait while I send you a copy of this volume from the Inner Sect Library. While you wait, would you like to see the information sheet for the Heavenly Brush Style?”

  “Oh,” Kevin blinked, unsure how to react. From what he understood, there were a lot of books and technique manuals that Outer Sect disciples didn't have access to. That Fischer had authorized him access to one had to be a good sign.

  However, he only had fifteen merit available, just enough to buy the Heavenly Brush style. It was the same cost as the technique manual he’d bought previously, perhaps suggesting a standard price.

  Wouldn’t an Inner Sect style cost a lot more? Given the amount of merit you needed for entry, those disciples could afford it.

  “Ah, first, how much would the Twisted Script style cost? I wouldn’t want to put you to the effort of getting a copy if I can’t afford it.”

  A long pause followed his question as if the librarian struggled to answer. “I’m afraid I don’t have access to that information, disciple,” she responded at last. “I do not have access to the information sheets for inner sect volumes.”

  “However, your authorization shows that it will be discounted to fifteen merit regardless of the original price.”

  Kevin’s eyebrows rose, a grin spreading across his face. That cinched it; there was no doubt this was a reward from Fischer. Either the quality of his initial work or his request to speed up the lessons had impressed her enough for an investment.

  It might not be actual merit that would count toward his cutoff requirements, but it was a start, one that would help propel him forward faster.

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  The Twisted Script copy would take over an hour to be sent from the Inner Sect. That was long enough that he’d miss his first class if he waited, so Kevin asked for it to be kept until the afternoon.

  He could have tried to fit it in during the two-hour gap between his two classes; however, he still remembered the frantic pace of the previous day. If that stayed true today, he’d want that time to revise the information from FORM-102 while the memories were fresh.

  When he’d missed that revision for MAR-101 the day before, it had made going over his notes that evening a lot more confusing. As much as he was aching to see the technique, he had to be sensible.

  However, he did have enough time to review the Heavenly Brush style information sheet. Each book for sale had a sheet containing a summary of the book, a list of benefits, and the cost.

  While the description was short and written in flowery language, there was enough to hint at how the style worked. It appeared to be based on an almost divine level of inspiration. Every shape had been drawn before, every character written, and with each repetition, they were further imprinted on the world.

  The heavens drew on this accumulated existence for many things, and by applying heavenly principles, one could access a hint of that power.

  While the description sounded incredible, the listed benefits gave a more rounded picture of the style. They suggested that, with practice, a user could double the speed of their brushwork while improving its quality.

  It was an impressive improvement, even if it fell short of the awe-inspiring ability hinted at in the early description. If not for the mystery of the Twisted Script, Kevin would have purchased it on the spot.

  That mystery continued to pull at his attention even through the fascinating FORM-102 class. If an Outer Sect style was good enough to double his flag crafting speed, how good would an Inner Sect style be?

  It was a thought he had to struggle to put aside, forcing himself to focus on the continued lessons on identifying formations.

  Memorizing formation patterns wasn’t enough; even the most basic types had dozens of variations. Worse, they could be deployed in ‘flag’ forms from the traditional ones Kevin was learning to make to the tattoos on his back.

  If you learned enough about basic formation principles, you could break down the elements of any formation you encountered. It sounded good in theory but was far more complicated in practice.

  Every country and many sects had differences in base styles, further modified by the creator’s personal flairs. To correctly identify a formation, you had to consider all of that and do your best to discern the truth.

  And, as Instructor Thresher kept reminding them, working on a misidentified formation was deadly.

  Thresher went easier in class than Fischer would have. However, it was still a massive quantity of complicated information to digest. Before long, the sheer difficulty was enough to push thoughts of the Twisted Script aside.

  Kevin’s head was spinning by the end of the class, and he rushed back to his dorm to study in peace. A part of him wanted to rush to the library, but the rest knew he’d never learn it all if he didn’t revise now.

  Study and lunch passed the time until the FORM-115 lecture at 1:00 PM. As with the first class, Fischer hid multiple formations around the classroom, calling out anyone who entered them without locating and identifying them.

  Fischer’s lessons were similar to FORM-102, though focused on rapid identification. Instead of careful examination, she focused on heuristic-style identification techniques you could use in seconds.

  If someone threw a formation at you in combat, you needed to know what it was doing before you could counter it. While breaking the formation was often easiest, even that came with potential issues.

  An intriguing snippet Fischer revealed in the second class suggested it was possible to booby-trap a formation to trigger a secondary effect when broken. That got Kevin’s attention, sounding like the perfect solution to a martial cultivator smashing through your flags.

  When he asked, however, Fischer only chuckled and told him to master the basics first. He would need to take FORM-135 for such advanced knowledge.

  Fischer taught even faster than Thresher had, throwing enough information at the group to fill a small book. By the end of the class, Kevin had dozens more pages to go through, and this time, he headed to the library to read them.

  The same librarian as early handed him a sheet as he arrived. However, Kevin forced himself to put it aside for now. Deciding between the Twisted Script and the Heavenly Brush styles would take time, and he could already feel the lesson fading in his memory.

  Now that he’d impressed Fischer even a little, he was more scared of screwing that up than anything else.

  Hours later, Kevin finally felt he had a solid grasp of the FORM-115 material. Some of it was based on fundamentals he hadn’t covered yet, requiring even more thought to understand.

  Despite the late hour, now close to dinner time, the library remained open, the flickering librarians moving about without respite. He wasn’t too late to pick up the full copy of either style, and with bated breath, Kevin turned to the Twisted Script information sheet.

  He’d placed the single page off to the side, upside down, to remove temptation. Now, it was time to satiate his curiosity at last. Without hesitation, he flipped it over, glanced over the words, then snorted at what he saw.

  Far different from the Heavenly Brush style’s sheet, this page had no flowery style summary. Quite the opposite.

  Despite contributing hundreds of formation patterns to the sect’s libraries, I’ve been told I have still not met my requirements as an Elder of the sect. So, under duress, I have written one of those silly ‘Twisted’ manuals the sect so loves.

  Inside, you will find my personal brushwork style, born from my understanding of the sect’s principles.

  Elder M. Fischer

  Benefits: You will either go mad, fail to learn the technique, or develop faster brushwork than 99.9% of all cultivators.

  Cost: 200 discounted to 15

  Even if her name wasn’t there, he could have guessed Fischer was the author from the tone alone. Learning the personal style of an elder was very tempting despite its rather ominous ‘benefits.’

  The fact she’d recommended her own work was also another good sign he’d impressed her, or at least he hoped so. Given the massive discount, it didn’t seem likely that Fischer was shaking her students down for merit.

  He just had to decide whether a potentially massive boost was better than a near-certain smaller one. Even considering the smaller number of cultivators studying one of the script-based enchanting styles, being part of the fastest 0.1% would put him far ahead of almost all of them.

  It was quite the conundrum. He only had enough merit to buy one of the two styles, and it would take two grade breakthroughs or some other merit gain before he could purchase the other if he chose wrong. And that was assuming Fischer wouldn’t rescind the offer if he refused.

  Not to mention the time-sink of learning a new technique. It was another thing he’d need to balance against the mountain of work from FORM-101 and all the things he had to study and practice for his other classes.

  However, speeding up his formation crafting could speed up his progress beyond the time he put into learning. Even the heavenly Brush technique could go far, while the Twisted Script could catapult him beyond anything he’d considered.

  Assuming he could learn it. If not, it would be a complete waste of merit and time.

  It took another half-hour of theorizing and worrying before Kevin finally made his decision.