"Let's go," Finn said quietly to his companion. "I've seen what I needed to for the moment."

The two made their way to the exit but Finn stopped to ask the librarian another question. "I just want to confirm since you didn't mention it before, but are we not able to borrow texts?"

"Unfortunately the academy doesn't have an official policy for borrowing texts, " the librarian started. He had been expecting it but it still put a damper on his excitement. "But, " she continued, " if a student were to show a strong aptitude for learning, it wouldn't do to just turn down their request."

She gave Finn a knowing look and naturally he understood what was being said.

"Thank you," he responded as he made his way out of the library.

"Already trying to get in with the ladies I see," Avo said gravely as he matched Finn's step.

"Is that what you got from that interaction?" Finn asked incredulously.

"Just remember Finn. We are here to cultivate, not play around," he continued, unperturbed by Finn's interjection.

"She just understands a kindred scholar when she sees one. But if you're sour about her lack in interest toward you relax, I'm sure there are plenty of girls who are into blockheads." Finn responded. He could tell Avo was just joking around so he didn't mind joining in as well.

"Well now I guess we can go check out that field the headmaster was on about." Finn said.

"He sure did make it seem heavenly," Avo added. Then he looked at Finn. "I think it's mainly for training though, I don't know how much a bookworm could get out of it."

"I've been been training," Finn shot back. "I haven't gotten to body tempering but I'm at the cutting edge of what a human can be."

It was just a joke but the it still managed to irritate Finn. It was a direct jab at one of his weaknesses after all. At least his response wasn't all bluster. In his time before the Academy, Finn felt the least he could do was keep himself in shape physically. He wasn't the type to run around looking for adventure like Avo was but he did his own thing and he felt that his body was in the higher levels of what could be expected from a normal human.

"Oh really?" Avo asked, skepticism clear.

"The truths of the universe are wasted on you," Finn joked. "Just pray that you'll never have to face against my toned body in combat."

He understood that Avo stood above him in this moment but he tried to not let it brother him. Even Avo would be considered worthless in the face of a nurtured scion from an established family. Avo's early advantage could be caught up to and Finn felt that after enough time, even the advantages of the scions would disappear. What would five or ten extra years of cultivating matter when they were all hundreds of years old?

The two eventually arrived at the training ground and noticed that it was where most of the students had gone to. It only took a few seconds for the pair to understand why.

"Damn, the energy in this area is crazy." Avo said, a smile starting to appear on his face. "Nothing like city we came from."

The building they had come from had very sparse energy levels, not much better than the town they had lived in prior, and while the fields before them were not supreme level by any standard it was a noticeable upgrade in power as well as stability, seeing how it wasn't affected by the dozens of students drawing from its reserves. Finn noticed a board not too far away and motioned for Avo to follow. It was a notice board with information about the various facilities located in the field. There was the field itself which was free to use for meditation or energy absorption. Then there was a section of privacy arrays within the field. These came with an extra cost, as well as a few of the other services. There was also a shop, a gravity array, a garden, an arena and an outer gate that led to another section of the academy called the wilds. At the moment none of the services offered really stood out to him except the wilds.

"An area designated to the hunting of beasts." Avo read out loud.

"I'm guessing that piqued your interest?" Finn asked. It interested him as well but he could only assume it would be far too dangerous for him to try at his current state.

"It sounds interesting. It says the beasts are selected by staff and the whole area is under surveillance, in case of accidents. Sounds relatively safe." Avo mused.

"So what are you going to do now?" Finn asked.

"Honestly, I feel cheated having wasted those few minutes in the library when I could have been out here from the start." he sat down and crossed his legs. "I'm going to start absorbing energy this very instant."

It wasn't an unexpected decision. Most people would want to indulge in this atmosphere as long as possible, especially since most if not all here had never experienced this level of ambient energy before.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"You could, at the very least, not sit right in front of the notice board. You'll be blocking those who came for information." He said giving his friend a light kick.

Avo realized his error and rose from his position, looking for a new spot.

"I'm going back to the library," Finn announced.

"Really? You find a place like this and the first thing you want to do is read? Avo aked incredulously. "I'm starting to feel like a broken record already. "

"I'm tempted to stay, but the energy is wasted on someone who doesn't know what they're doing. I'm thinking its better I found more information first, " Finn explained.

"Let's just hope its still like this when you come back." Avo said before leaving for his new spot.

Finn understood what Avo was getting at but he still left anyway. There was no way there wasn't a cost for maintaining the energy level in this field, unless it was some kind of natural formation. Maybe the sheer amount of students would suck the area dry. But still sFinn felt it was best to at least find a solid cultivation manual. Furthermore, he got a bad feeling when leaving the library. Someone was disappointed and it could have only came from the librarian. He didn't know why she would feel that way, but hopefully his return would mend the uneasy feeling he had.

He hoped nothing would come of it, but he would be going back in any case. Since Avo didn't choose to come back with him, he felt it confirmed the idea that he had already obtained a manual somehow. Finn knew it would be foolish for him to make the same choice. He could very well be wasting all the environments effectiveness as he dawdled about trying to figure out for himself what was the best way for him to adsorb the energy.

When he returned to the library, it was now completely empty except for the librarian. It had only been a few minutes but by now everyone must have found the field and felt it to be a better place to spend their time. The librarian turned and smiled when she noticed him.

"Back already?" she asked.

"Yeah, if you don't mind can I ask for your help?" Finn responded.

A few minutes later Finn was sitting at one of the desks with a few books the librarian helped him pick out. The first was the earlier 'Cultivation' text that he picked up again. Then, there was 'Soul Forging', 'Energy Absorption', and 'Core Realm Materials'. These were the books that the librarian helped him pick out based on the chapters in the first text.

He started at the first chapter which was an explanation of cultivation.

Cultivation as people use the word, refers to the processes by which one increases their power beyond the limits of the normal human body. Cultivation is an extensive subject, and their are many factors in play. Commonly people think of cultivation as the absorbtion of energy and the use of that energy to refine one's body. In actuality this is body tempering, which is one factor in cultivation. In addition to body tempering improving one's insights, consuming treasures and soul forging are all necessary to a cultivator.

It was an interesting revelation. The text followed with an explanation of each aspect.

Body Tempering was the practice of absorbing energy and then infusing it into your body to increase its performance. Energy could be absorbed from the environment, a treasure, or a recently kill that would release a certain amount of accumulated energy on death.

Consuming treasures wasn't a strict practice as there were treasures for a wide variety of purposes. Some treasures increased your affinity to a certain element. Others gave a boost of energy. Others increased soul strength. The main takeway was that treasures provided boosts and it was in your interests to find as many as you could and use the ones that would be helpful to you.

Soul forging was the method by which one increased the strength of their soul, the core of their existence. It wasn't as straight forward as body tempering but it had a definitive effect on the strength of a cultivator. While the body dealt with most threats, the soul took care of things like mental attacks.

Basic definitions were done and Finn moved on to Energy Absorbtion which contained several methods to absord and infuse yourself with energy. There were five techniques in total, but four of them were intended for cultivators following a certain path. Two were for fire, one for earth and one for air. The last one was a general use method and Finn took notes. The next book was 'Aura Control' and Finn took a look at the first chapter.

Aura is an extension of ones soul, and the soul is the core of our existence. The soul is immaterial, requiring a medium by which to interact with the world. In most cases, the medium used is the body. However, a soul strong enough can directly interact with the material plane, without a need for a medium. Few humans are able to gain considerable control over their aura, but everyone has the ability to feel the effect of one, provided the aura meets a certain standard of strength.

It was interesting information. He had heard of auras before, but it was only now that he had an understanding of what they really were. He remembered a particular story where an army had been pushed to their knees in the face of a powerful warrior. He had assumed that was a skill of the warrior but was it possible that was actually an effect of his aura? That would explain why a flame cultivator had suddenly started manipulating gravity.

The greatest revelation however, came from the last sentence. It said everyone had the ability to feel an aura. Is that what was happening when he got a feel for other people? Perhaps he was sensing their souls. If he had some hidden skill that related to aura, that would explain his odd ability to understand people's emotions. Unfortunately, there was nothing more to help clear things up. After the short introduction, there was a step by step guide to soul forging, the method of strengthening ones soul.

Ultimately, your soul was your existence and it was intangible in a way, simultaneously existing on this plane while not able to interact directly with most things, most of the time. That meant that you couldn't just improve your soul as you would with body tempering. Instead your soul would be affected by your life experiences and over time change in shape and strength. Fortunately, your aura could be trained and while it you couldn't make it stronger since it was an extension of your soul, you could gain better control over it. A step by step guide to that end was included. Finn took notes on the first step for now and would practice it later with his other newly gained method.

The last book was a encyclopedia of sorts. It contained definitions for common objects and general good to know information. Finn looked through the pages for a bit before he decided to leave. He had spent a good bit of time in the library, but after a couple of hours he felt that he had a solid foundation and should head over to the field for some real practice.