“Everyone heard?” Nalaar said, seemingly startled.

The Librarian eyed me, then nodded.

“Look through these.” He said, pushing the books forward. “I’d let you take more… but the controls on the inventory are tight. Even if they weren’t, it’s impossible to learn more than one technique at once. Better to reach Mastery of a single technique than Comprehension of a dozen.”

Nalaar moved furiously about the table. Mora was back in a swaddle, hands grasping eagerly and missing the pages as Nalaar read dozens of book titles. This trip to find me a new technique book had quickly been subverted by the grateful librarian’s desire to pay back Nalaar.

The pile that Nalaar paged through — a mix of leather bound books filled with inked parchment and round scrolls — was in a mix of earthy tones. Some scrolls seemed to sport living moss that grew on their covers, looking lush and alive, and others trailed a tiny stream of dirt particles.

“Do those have qi in them?” I asked, squinting at the pages.

The Librarian followed my gaze.

“No, not ordinarily.” He said. “However, manuscripts that contain high elements of Truth shift the neutral qi of the world towards their elements.” The Librarian pushed a basket of books and scrolls forward. “This is for you.” He said.

I blinked, stepping forward and looking at the books. They were completely different than Nalaar’s. The Librarian quickly stepped back after handing me the basket, as if he didn’t watch to touch them.

I reached in and grabbed a scroll, opening it. The paper was black, as if it were burnt. The text was sprawled across it in mess handwriting, carved into it in bone white. I wondered if the magic of the qi had slowly shifted the scroll to look like this, or if it needed to be made out of these materials to exist.

The edges glowed as if they burned with the last embers of a fire, and the entire scroll was uncomfortably warm to the touch.

[Burning Halo — Head Mind Technique. Fire Wind element.] Interface said, translating.

“You can read this?” I asked.

[Mostly.] Interface replied. As I watched, the text began to flicker and change, glowing translations appearing over them. They rapidly flicked away as Interface decoded the local language at an accelerating and alarming speed.

The Librarian nodded in reply to my question.

“Manuscripts are often written in complex koan. Pondering the philosophical paradigm behind the written words will help align you to the Truths they contain, better preparing your mind and spirit for the work your body must do. It may seem like idle poetry, but each manuscript contains buried depth.”

[Aaaaand cracked.] Interface said. A spinning, three dimensional projection of points appeared in midair, inside of a bigger projection of my head. The projection of me sniffed, picking its nose as a projection of an interface manipulated the qi inside. [Fire Chasing the north star… comet trail burning tears into the night…]

As Interface read pieces of the manuscript, the points slowly connected, the projection simulating the movement of qi.

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[I predict this would increase your sensory processing speed by as much as twenty-two percent!]

“That’s pretty good, right?” I asked.

“None of the techniques stored here are without merit.” The Librarian said smugly. “Each of these techniques are only the best of what we’ve taken as trophies from our enemies — all of them are of Remarkable grade or higher.”

[It’s garbage. You should actually set it on fire.] Interface said. [I could accelerate your thoughts that much right now. If you’re okay with shortening your life span by a year or two. This ‘technique’ would cost more than that. Also, it would put you into a berserk state and the more you cultivated it the closer it would drive you to constantly being maddened and enraged.]

My breath hitched. I rolled the scroll up and placed it back into the bucket.

The last thing I wanted was to become a meaningless killing machine.

I pulled out an almost mundane looking book cased in black leather. It felt normal to the touch instead of warm. But as I flipped through the pages, thin tendrils of smoke wisped out of them.

I continued to flip through it so Interface could read it. When I reach the end and closed it, I stopped and waited.

“It’s hard to understand a technique completely without practicing it. Try to find a technique which resonates with your spirit.” The Librarian advised both me and Nalaar.

[Smoke Serpent — Body Mind technique. Interesting. What would you get for your Head technique then? Maybe you could get a technique that lets you make your head really hard like the Iron Gut Enforcer’s arms, and then you can use your head by headbutting people.] Interface said. [Another not great technique. This one focuses on slowing down and occluding the minds of others, though it also increases your own sensory perception as well. Simmulating…]

The projection of me appeared again. Interface started sucking in qi from the room, just a trickle.

[Could increase processing speed by as much as five percent.] Interface said, it’s tone derisive.

I continued digging through the manuscripts. Most of them were nothing special; minor improvements, incomplete techniques and the like. Eventually I ended up paging through a book.

It didn’t have burning edges or glowing letters. It looked completely, totally ordinary, except for one minor thing; its inside was paper and not parchment.

[Trash.] Interface said, barely looking at the manuscript.

“What’s this one?” I whispered.

[Heralding Dawn — Head Mind.]

I paged through it curiously. Out of all the books, this one alone seemed to come from outside the prison, judging by it being assembled out of paper.

[There’s something off about this technique.] Interface said after a moment. [Simulating…]

He took longer this time, a spinning projection remaining in the air.

“If I don’t end up liking this technique, can I bring it back?” I asked, looking up at the Librarian.

Him and Nalaar were speaking in hushed whispers. Nalaar was holding the scroll covered with moss. Mora was asleep, and Nalaar sat half way up on the desk.

“Normally, no. For a friend of Nalaar… I will allow it.” The Librarian said.

“I was just telling him about our daring escape from solitary confinement.” Nalaar said. Both spoke low, tones in whispers to not disturb Mora.

“I’ll take this one then.”

Nalaar nodded.

“I’ll show you to your lodging.” He said.

Interface continued to try to model the technique. The display that hovered in my vision disappeared twice, flashing away, before reappearing, even as we were led out of the main compound and into a side complex.

Nalaar led me into a room.

“This is one of the more expensive suites.” He said. He waved his hand, and the amber stones lit the room.

The floor was covered in moss. A constant trickle from the ceiling ran through a sink with steaming water, making the room humid, but a small, open window kept it cool with night air.

The bed was covered in a double sided blanket of stitched together leather, showing a half dozen different fur patterns, and the pillow on the bed was a raised rock. The room was hardly larger than the prison cell.

But at least I would be alone in it, not bunked up.

“How long can I stay here? Just tonight?” I asked.

Nalaar looked confused.

“You are welcome to stay here as long as you like.” He said.

I felt my heart jump a little, a confusing wave of emotions as I came to terms with the idea that the Broken Mountain Clan really was just helping me.

“Thank you.” I said. “Goodnight.”

I slid the door shut.

[Got it!] Interface said, the simulation hovering in my vision finally tying together a display of points and lines. A river of qi swirled around the projection of my mind. [No. That can’t be right… this doesn’t make any sense!] Interface practically shouted in my mind.