Even amidst the huge lanterns and oil lamps of the  borough six, where Star Library stood, and borough seven, where Ubel’s home was, the blinding lights of the Star Library shone brighter than everything. Like a miniature sun inside the mountain, its lights encompassed almost half of the borough six and once could see the seven-story building from other boroughs as well.

Yet, under those brilliant golden flares laid a humble building. Its humble appearance was the result of the complete concrete base and pillars reinforced with wood. The modesty was, of course, evident when compared with even the most ordinary of the houses in the sect. Even his residence, a small manor with two floors, seemed luxurious in front of the Star Library.

All these estimations did not cover its insides, which was even more strange.

Entrance gates were half the height of an adult men, forcing Ubel to involuntarily bow down while passing through. He didn’t think of it much, he saw too many strange things today and the plain nature of this door was a big, huge contrast to those eccentric sights.

Then came in view the library, filled with towering bookshelves lining up until the end of the corridor. Slanting at the side, Ubel saw a staircase leading up to the second floor. Turning right, he spotted a table with several disciples, some busy with whispering to other disciples others sitting around.

He approached them and looked around for a bit. How should I address them? It was a bit awkward, so he just stood there until one of them noticed. A man, slightly taller than him by a centimeter or two, with raven black hair waved at him. He had one of those In-Charge Disciple tags, notifying Ubel that he was also a personnel in here.

‘’Um-’’

‘’Do you need something junior brother?’’ Man sized him up a little, his eyes stuck at Ubel’s robes for a moment, then he gazed inside his eyes. ‘’You must be new here, I suppose?’’ He, also, whispered like the others. It must be some kind of rule, or they are also lunatics.

‘’Yes, senior brother. I just came over from Disciple Hall and quite don’t know what to do.’’

‘’Oh?’’ He exclaimed, a bit louder than he expected, and garnered some glares from around. He cupped his fists as an apology and turned back to Ubel again.

‘’So you are here to pick some manuals? Let me show you around then.’’ He beckoned him, and Ubel sighed. ‘’I’m Alim by the way, if you wonder.’’

‘’My name is Ubel, senior brother.’’ Ubel replied, lamenting on how he was continuously following people around.

‘’Sounds nice, surname?’’

‘’None, at least as far as I know.’’ Ubel said. Alim looked doubtful of the answer for a moment, with a brow raised. Well, if it wasn’t for the small journal hobby Ubel had since he was little, as he had to introduce himself in the first page, Ubel thought he would, perhaps, not even learn of his own name. Ever. Well, his mother chose quite an intriguing name as well.

‘’None? Then where are you from?’’

‘’From Orabura forest, in the north east of the mountain.’’

Alim halted his steps for a moment, then continued to walk among the desks and bookshelves. He seemed thoughtful for a moment, then started his questions again.

‘’From what I know, there is no settlement near there.’’

‘’There is none indeed, it was just my family that lived there.’’

‘’Was?’’ He repeated, then became flustered for a moment. ‘’Sorry sorry, if its a sensitive matter then you don’t need to answer.’’

Ubel chuckled, feeling a bit gratified. ‘’Don’t worry, senior brother. I got over things a long time ago.’’

‘’That’s good then. Is your family still there?’’

‘’Only my grandmother. My mother left us when I was two or three years old, and my father passed away a while ago.’’

‘’My condolences, may light bless his soul.’’

‘’May light bless him,’’ Ubel closed his eyes for a moment. Then reopened them with a new light inside his eyes. ‘’Say, senior brother. Do you have a family?’’

‘’Oh, I’m an orphan. Actually, most of the disciples here are orphans with no families.’’

‘’From birth? Or-’’

‘’From the birth. We didn’t have any families or anything, we grew up on the mountain and some less luckier ones lived in the Cindersnow city.’’

‘’It must have been tough.’’ Ubel commented. They reached in front of a strange section of books, tinier in width and smaller in size than other books he saw while coming here.

‘’Not much, we had food and lodging. Laborers of the sect also treated us well, since we were their tickets to getting a better position. It wasn’t fun, but still better than the orphans across the continent.’’

‘’I understand.’’ Ubel felt a heaviness perch on his shoulders from the conversation. He sighed and took another peek at the books. ‘’Is this the place, senior brother?’’

‘’Yes. Let me tell you about some of them before you pick them up.’’ With that, Alim started to pick out some manuals from the shelf, piling them up at his side. As he was busy with choosing manuals, Ubel took one from the pile and opened its contents.

‘’Blazing Sun manual? It sounds weird.’’

Alim flinched at his place and dropped one of the books in his hand.

‘’Ubel, you can read them?’’

‘’Um- yeah? Isn’t it normal?’’

Alim looked deep inside his eyes, then sighed.

‘’Yeah, nothing. Just look at some of them and tell me if one catches your attention.’’

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Ubel found Alim’s behavior quite amusing, constantly stopping and tripping over things. But he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he looked at the contents of the manual in his hands.

Blazing Sun manual, created by the sixth patriarch God’s Fury. With this manual, one can achieve a perfect bond with the celestial stars above the skies, and become one with the sun. One’s strikes will melt hills and scorch the earth. Stages are followed as: First, achieving eternal essence of fire. Second...

Ubel continued to read in amazement, dumbfounded by the descriptions and the history behind it. How cool would it be to kill over a thousand boars with a wave of his hand? He had to camp at least an hour and chase for another hour to hunt down meat for meal.

Let me take a look at the others.

He put the Blazing Sun manual at his side and took another manual and started to read.

Fujin’s Tempest manual. Inspired by the Sovereign of elements’ subordinate, Fujin the Wind God, a creation of utmost effort and immense knowledge by the ninth patriarch of the sect. One can fuse with the wind current and travel with speed surpassing sound. Whirlwinds will bend to one’s rule and tornados will submit to your will. To cultivate, one must create a surge of Qi gathered from a cliff or forest...

Wasn’t this amazing too? A speed surpassing sound? What kind of concept was that! Ubel felt excitement rush over him as he hurriedly threw aside the manual and started to read the others.

After reading through a handful of more, his excitement died off. Every manual talked about the same thing. One will be this and could do that bla bla bla. Either they were all amazing works that could make a person something akin to a demi-god, or just the authors had an immense talent at bragging.

But this was the residing place of immortals, and he saw people flying over beasts or swords and all. Albeit not as fast as Fujins Tempest described, nor as strong looking as Ganesha’s Physique argued about. There was some kind of truth in them, but just some. Sighing, Ubel threw the Ash Canyon manual aside, next to the large pile of manuals he read in the span of an hour.

‘’Did you find anything that fancies you?’’ Alim, at the same time, stood and watched over him. Ubel felt a bit gratified, since the man let him experience this thing by himself. Ubel shook his head, and focused his attention on two manuals Alim held in his hands.

‘’I guessed you would.’’ Alim sighed as well. ‘’There are just so many paths that you can see, yet only one you can walk upon. So choice is always hard. Well, I have two things that might change your mind though.’’

‘’One is Death River manual,’’ He held the violet colored scroll on his right, placing it inside his palms. ‘’A special kind of manual that relies on pure Qi to cultivate and progress by experience.’’ He crossed his legs and let Ubel read it.

Death River manual. Created by the third patriarch of the Cindersnow on the brink of death inside the ancient domain, Glorious Portal, the fruit of a lifetime worth experience. One seeks nothing in this manual, and at the end becomes one with death. Ultimately, to cultivate the Death River manual one must create a trace of Qi...

Ubel read through the whole thing faster and scratched his head. Name is a bit weird again, but the contents are weirder. Becoming one with death? Experience leads to success? He could agree with the latter, experience was the most vital thing a human needed. Especially when one tried to survive, and surviving was the first priority of every being. Yet, turning into death? Now that was some good lie.

‘’Senior brother, the other?’’

‘’It is the Ice Mountain manual, the technique Elder Snow himself cultivates. The foundations are hard to go through, but once you get onto the Qi Destruction its might is exceptional.’’

Alim put the manual on Ubel’s stretched hand and sat down again. But he didn’t expect Ubel to throw off the manual like he had done to the others in a flash.

‘’Junior brother?’’

‘’It is the same thing like the other manuals. This is this and that will be that thing. It doesn’t seem interesting.’’

‘’Interesting, huh?’’ Alim smiled. ‘’Junior brother, I must warn you. Death River manual is not something cultivated by many, its might also varies from person to person. So you might end up with something useless.’’

‘’Why should I worry about that?’’ Ubel asked as a matter of fact. Looking at the Alim’s stiff face, he smiled again.

‘’Senior brother, I don’t want to be an exceptional immortal or something like that. In the first place, I came here because my grandma wished so.’’

‘’She wished so? Not because of your own volition?’’

‘’Of course not, why would I?’’

‘’Don’t you think power is something amazing? You could rule people, or don’t you want to live comfortably with a sizeable sum of money under your hand? Maybe you could even create a harem for yourself to live in pleasure.’’

‘’They all sound alluring.’’ Ubel admitted, but his gaze didn’t change. ‘’Yet, I’m someone who spent all his life in a forest with only two people to accompany. I never saw things you talked about. The only power I saw was nature and all I have is just a few pieces of silver.’’

‘’Even women, the only person I saw was my grandmother and the faint silhouette of my mother from my memories. I don’t understand lust, and I never wanted something like that to begin with.’’

‘’Then?’’

‘’Nothing. I would rather live with my grandmother until she passed away, then spend the rest of my life hunting and tending to the garden in the backyard.’’

‘’Why are you here then? Or should I ask, why did your grandmother sent you to the sect?’’

‘’Worry, of course. Even after taking care of her for a year all by myself, she still worried about me. A parent thing.’’

‘’...Then junior brother, what are you going to do.’’

Ubel didn’t quite catch the offended face of Alim, nor did he see his trembling hands he hid behind the chair. Instead, he sat down and thought. What will I do?...Isn’t it simple?

‘’I will cultivate, maybe spend my time on different hobbies. I heard from senior brother Boris that there are lectures of Combat Masters and Elders sometimes. Maybe I could join in to listen their wisdom. Other than that, nothing. After a few years, I could go back to bury my grandmother’s body.’’

‘’So you have no goal?’’

‘’If I find one, then I will keep onto it. If not, then I will just return back to my house.’’

Alim smiled at last. ‘’Well, sorry to inform you but disciples can’t get out unless they are on a mission or they reached path finding.’’

‘’I know, that is why I said after a few years.’’ Ubel smiled as well, then grasped the Death River manual. ‘’Also senior brother, I saw something called Mind Expansion Technique among auxiliary manuals, may I take that too?’’

Alim stood up from the chair whilst sighing. ‘’Of course, it is your choice.’’ He then walked back towards the Star Library’s entrance. ‘’Are you content with your decision? You won’t be able to refund the manual and get another one, you know?’’

‘’That’s why I leave one choice empty. If I need to, I can get another manual.’’

‘’Good choice, clever boy.’’ Ubel grinned, then came right beside Alim instead of walking behind. He stuffed his token in his hands. ‘’You know regulations too?’’

‘’I hear many things in the street.’’ Ubel explained again.

‘’Be careful of not learning something wrong.’’ Alim advised, and Ubel widened his eyes a bit. But soon shook his head as they came in front of the venue. Alim took his token and sent a surge of Qi to verify some things, then took out a pen to write something on a note that he placed among the many thick piles of notes behind the counter.

‘’Alright, that’s it.’’

‘’Thank you, senior brother.’’

‘’No problem, do you need anything else?’’

‘’Oh nothing-but I would like to ask. Why are these doors so tiny?’’

‘’It’s a tradition. No matter how you come inside, you have to lower yourself to get inside the library. Some kind of an enforced respect regulation you can say.’’

‘’Respect for elders, right?’’

Why do you ask about it then!? Alim sighed again. ‘’...Well, don’t forget my advice.’’

‘’Thank you again, senior brother. Then take care.’’

‘’Take care.’’

I hope he doesn’t comes here that frequently...