Walking to his private area, he lay in his lounge chair and fell into his meditation. Arriving in his mental palace, he went to his movie theater. Deciding against pushing the random button, he scrolled, and scrolled, and scrolled. He looked and looked, but it wasn’t giving him what he wanted.

He finally came upon a movie he had seen long ago as a child, Pagemaster. A wonderful story about a young boy being drawn into the world of books. ‘Books!’ he thought. ‘I forgot about the library.’ Dahe left his mental palace, walked out of his house, and towards the library.

Once there he confirmed with the librarian, an irritable man who appeared to be in his fifties, that he now had access to the second circle. Deciding not to bother the librarian any further he walked through the gate into the second circle. Dahe smiled at the sight of all the books, with his eyes closed he sniffed the air. A different smell than one he was used to, but he was sure he would come to love it.

The books were in a variety of forms, some scrolls, some books made of reed paper. Some were even written on vellum. He began looking through the books, identifying the subjects. There was even a section for general studies subjects such as history or geography, except these were more in-depth and informative, possibly having valuable information. He restrained himself from walking along and touching all of the books. Too bad he didn’t have the power to absorb a book into his mind simply by touching it.

He didn’t really need much in the way of information about energy gathering, he already had a path. So instead, he decided to focus on what he could improve, spear techniques. He went to the weapons section and found books on spears. He looked through several of the books to see what they offered. He decided he would review them later, in the privacy of his own mind.

Browsing once more he found a section of philosophy books. Flipping through one, he found it asked some pretty interesting questions. The author wondered about the structure of the world and how the gods came to be. They even put forth a few theories. He’d ask the next time he talked to the goddess.

Since he was in the second circle, he decided that looking at gathering manuals should be interesting, and might teach him something. Going through a few, they had a variety of methods. Gathering energy from inside to outside, or outside to inside. Some suggested relating yourself to your element when you cultivated to strengthen the connection. It seemed people usually started with a general elemental affinity, which later became a bit more specific.

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A person could be elementally aligned, but then narrow down their path to an aspect, or plant, or concept. Plenty of Metal aligned picked certain metals. Usually iron. Wood allies could select from a wide variety of plants and take on their traits. Unfortunately, he had no idea of his element so he couldn’t plan any further. He knew he would eventually feel his element, but he wasn’t certain how.

Putting the book down, he continued to look around. Just for fun he started scanning all the general studies into his memory. Luckily no one else was there, because he was opening a book, and flipping through the pages at a pace too fast to be reading. He had received a general education from the goddess, but it only reflected what was generally taught to most students. The secret information hidden from the general public was not included, so now that he had access to somewhat secret information, he was taking it. Also, he was a bit of a book hoarder.

After scanning general studies books, as well as some spearmanship books, and works on footwork, he looked around again. Not finding anything that interesting, he left the library. He decided to wander around, hoping for inspiration. Maybe a nice nature scene. Once more he ventured out into the forest. He walked along breathing in, and breathing out. Ignoring the signs of game he saw along the way. He was familiar with the area, he would come out often when he was hunting, and then less and less as weaving became his focus for earning sect points.

There wasn’t a waterfall, but Dahe did recall a river that came pouring over some rocks. He made his way there slowly, treading carefully so as not to startle any wildlife. A deer drinking water would be just what he was looking for. Instead it was a guanidae. A large reptilian creature. Like a crocodile that wasn’t flat. It had a ridge of spikes along its back that protected it from predators.

It was lying by the rocks, the running water likely cooling it down. Well, it was certainly something one didn’t see every day. He decided to stay a while to see if it would do anything. He would take a mental snapshot occasionally, however, the guanidae didn’t move much. So Dahe instead enjoyed the peace of the forest.

Deciding not to waste time, he began gathering energy. He felt the energy around him and pulled it in, mentally forming a tube from his brain. His mind felt relaxed, which had a positive effect. He felt as if the energy was coming to him somewhat easier than normal. He decided he really needed to go on walks more often. He closed his eyes and, instead of stepping into his mental world, simply breathed.

He opened his eyes some time later, having felt the falling temperature. He saw that there was little light filtering through the trees, and soon it would be completely dark. Standing slowly, he made his way back in the direction of his sect. Once at home, he settled down into his lounge chair. He took a relaxing breath before entering his mental world. Once inside he decided to watch a television show, and start on the new tapestry tomorrow.