The Library

Lex's eyes snapped open; he awoke to a familiar burning sensation from his cultivation base and fell into damage control. By the pain, he was out for 15 minutes. Despite the burning, he felt better than he had before. His muscles ached in a good way as he'd just woken up after a workout.

His link with Morgan filled him in on what he missed.

Winning their first match had changed their situation dramatically. After the fight, Morgan strapped him in a coffin sealed with three bronze locks. His body was cleaned of blood and dressed in a new robe. The sandals weren't replaced, leaving his feet bare. Even the most belligerent zombies couldn't escape with three enchanted locks on their coffins. He was stored out of sight and mind so no witch could investigate him further. The coffin he inhabited held enchantments for just that reason. Her next destination was a bookstore near her dorm. She had won a few silver pennies from the fight and stored some of the zombie parts in a bag of holding.

After the fight, everything felt a little wonky. His meridians went bone dry, and he collapsed. When his qi left his meridians, his muscles gave out. Thanks to Milly's presence, it was still their victory.

She ripped her way free of the gut and stood up. The rest of the zombies were either paste or unmoving.

With a win under his belt, it was time to focus on himself.

He was burning from a stall in the engine. From what he felt, the burning sensation originated in his dantian. The dantian was a metaphysical organ that stored qi after it's cultivated from raja. His had a hole in it. It had adapted to his unique cultivation technique and couldn't exist in any other way. Lex's cultivation produced more qi than the hole in his dantian could leak.

The spiraling force of his cultivation dragged and compressed the raw raja around him. After draining his meridian channels dry, new qi flooded them, and they expanded. More qi filled the highways through his body thicker than before.

These words came from Morgan. She was an academic and learned the terms he borrowed through their welded link. That's why he hadn't panicked and ripped free of the coffin. He wasn't limited to what he knew.

Lex tapped the coffin's lid. Could he rip it open? "We're in a bookstore; I'll let you out if you behave yourself. We need to find a technique for you anyway." He heard three locks clatter on the ground, and the lid opened.

Lex stared up at his blue-eyed conspirator. Straight ebony hair barely hid her tattoo now. It's rumored that a witch's tattoo revealed their true nature. He only saw two perpendicular lines connected with another string. Did she carry a diamond, a heart, a crescent moon, or one of the higher symbols? It wasn't one of the lesser symbols he could tell that. Nor could it be the highest symbol of the omega. Her tattoo wasn't a common one. Then why was she horrible at the standard witch disciplines.

She answered the unspoken question. "The disciplines taught here aren't the standard for witches. I'm very good at controlling and bonding familiars, cursing, and rituals." Morgan said.

He narrowed his eyes as his thoughts raced. "Isn't that what diabolists are for?" Lex asked. Then he thought about it. "Wait, why do witches learn the staples for necromancy?"

Her smile turned grim. "Because witches who deviate from necromancy are deleted from the school. Necromancy is unnatural for us. Even witches with little gifts in the art are terrible at it. It's like the Hidden Dragon Institute wants witches to be necromancers, or they don't want witches trained to their strengths." Morgan said. He frowned and thought about the implications. "Enough of that; let's find you some techniques."

"Why do I need a technique? One of my punches could obliterate anything." Lex said.

Morgan smiled prettily. She jabbed his leg, and suddenly, he fell to a knee. Lex's eyes widened at the implication. "I'm excellent at curses, remember. That," she paused, searching for the right word to say. "That simple technique relies upon both of your feet being on the ground for leverage. It was impressive, but from now on, any undead we face will be wary of your strength. Well, their masters will be. If we battle a real necromancer, then you're doomed. Their undead is much better than that of talentless witches. Did you see the centipede?" Morrigan asked.

Lex nodded. "It was powerful but frail."

"The centipede group is a coven of twelve. I'm sure they worked their asses off to make the thing. It had a glamour technique and was resistant to a wight. If it had absorbed Milly, it would have grown more powerful. Even the weakest necromancer could rip the control away from all twelve of them." Morgan smiled wistfully and shook her head. "What I'm saying is, play to your strengths," Morrigan said.

Play to his strengths. Well, he could do that. Lex's greatest strength was his cultivation technique. He could pull in any raja and turn it into qi, he wasn't reliant on a breathing technique, and all of his meridians were open. His weaknesses were more in his class. The Invictus scale planned the path for most. His greatest strengths were in Breech and Enhancement. Every other category was lower than average except for qi density. That made him think. He should either be a paladin, demon hunter, or a dark knight.

"Aren't necromancers and witches the same on the Invictus scale?" Lex asked.

"It's complicated," Morrigan said.

Lex wasn't in the mood. "Then uncomplicate it. I'm not an idiot. If you don't want to say it here, I understand." Lex said. Morgan bit her lip while the debate commenced in her head. He took the opportunity to look around.

Scrolls and books lined the shelves stacked high to the ceiling. There was a bit of heat from every tome, but nothing felt right to him. He snatched one scroll off the shelf about a circling movement technique. Beside it scrolled for Blink Stepping, Sidewinder Step, and Peacock Dancing. On the shelf perpendicular, there were fist techniques. One stuck out; it was the same one Jonna said. He didn't want to use such a weak technique. There were twelve copies of the text besides the first; each was slightly different. Lex wasn't opposed to a fire technique; he just wanted something different. Scratching someone like a crone in a charity line wasn't to his tastes.

Lex wanted something robust and uncomplicated. To that end, he quickly spotted a book at his feet with a spiral on it. If anything was uncomplicated, it was that.

Just as he took hold of the book, Morgan spoke up. "Fine, the Invictus scale ignores the Tang standard's theory of elemental raja. While we use the Invictus standard to save time in the study of techniques, it isn't perfect. To be more precise, since the spread of the one god Epsilon, the theory of elemental raja was condemned. In the chronical, all men are said to be equal. A witch should be an equally talented necromancer, and a necromancer should be a talented diabolist."

Lex turned her out and looked over the tome. It was thick and filled to the brim with theories built upon spinning his qi. There were no pictures involved or forms. It was all academic. Worse, there was control exorcising within that needed further supplies. The book itself was full of theories.

He spoke when her desire for an answer became too much. "You're right. Maybe it is complicated," Lex said and squatted to put the book back.

That was the wrong thing to say. Before he could return the book, Morgan snatched it from his hands.

She stared at its price with a satisfied smile. "Don't worry about the price Lex. This book looks perfect for you. I'm sure it has many techniques you can use." The book was three copper pennies. It was probably the cheapest book in the store.

"There aren't any techniques," Lex said. Morgan looked the tome over quickly.

"Nonsense, it looks like you'll be able to create your techniques with this. You'll need something to do between matches. Hmm, you'll need a book on fundamental qi condensation, foundation building, and a defensive technique. Your defensive technique needs to look necromantic." She snapped her fingers. "Why don't you try a demonic art?" Morgan asked. Lex knew it was rhetorical. Only insane cultists or heretic demon worshipers used demonic techniques.

He took a step back, glaring at the spiral tomb in betrayal. "Maybe an earth technique would be better," Lex suggested.

"Don't be silly; the arches absorb any earth raja before it reaches the undercity. There is plenty of yin and dark raja down here. A good demonic technique is just what you need." She took him away from the mild heat of the fist and movement techniques to an alcove covered in chained scrolls. A large sign read free in large red print. It was next to the discount rack.

The heat from this alcove felt angry and hungry. Hot rage, frigid contempt, and wet insanity radiated from the scrolls. She plucked a yellow scroll covered in thick bronze chains and tossed it to him. Morgan turned away quickly and ran as the bronze chains shattered.

He realized the scroll in his hand was made of human flesh. Influential writings from the scroll spewed into his mind, and he felt alien terror. For a moment, he was overwhelmed by the feeling of fear, not his own.

Darkness swept into the room. The strange yellow symbols turned into a large ghoulish yellow and black shadow creature. The tip of its deer antlers peaked at 4 m tall, and its maw opened, revealing twisted black teeth. It clawed and gnashed, vomiting sticky warm qi all around him.

From Morgan's response, it must be a daunting task to master such a technique. After a few terrifying moments, enough to rattle his bones, he found its source. The worst thing that could have happened to him had already come to pass. A friend betrayed him, and his home was burned to the ground. It's something he lived with every day. The ghoulish thing clawed at him, but it found nothing to hold over him. Lex had long since drunk from the cup of apathy.

The spiral of his cultivation kicked in. Lex pulled in its essence like a dark sun to a yellow star.

From the creature's essence, he saw himself tortured to insanity, cut into pieces, and set on fire. Lex tried to stop, but he couldn't stop. When he didn't focus on cultivating, he felt like he'd combust. He was forced to choose between burning to death and facing this creature's illusions. The illusions continued, and he increased his cultivation rate.

The illusions fast played out in fast forward. He watched himself die and bathed in fear until he felt nothing.

The demonic technique froze at his static nonreaction. Suddenly, it appeared as a little blonde-haired girl with tiny yellow horns. "Mister, are you from a demon sect?" The girl asked the words in a deadpan. "It's ok if you are, but you could have just said so. The technique is called Hiding From Tribulation. It can't hide you from tribulation, but it will make your skin tough, and your blood will harden when it hits oxygen. It needs lots of yin, dark, and fear energy. Do your best for senior sister?" The child-like demon called as he returned to reality. "The better you do, the more it helps, big sis." The rest of the technique flowed into his dantian and his body.

Morgan peaked up behind the clearance rack. The books he needed were in her hands with the spiral book. He sighed and pasted a smile on his face. Confronting the fear demon had revealed things about himself he didn't like. Had he become apathetic? How could he stop?

She stared at him, and he could feel a trace of her fear. It flowed into him, and he saw himself as a demon more terrible than the technique's inventor. "Will you be able to control it?" Morgan asked. For a second, he didn't know what to say.

He chose to look at Morgan. Even though her robe, he could see her breasts were large, and her figure was fit. The red ribbon in her hair was very her. To escape apathy, he had to care. By caring about something, he invited emotional torment and an avenue for demonic entry. That was knowledge from Morgan, not himself. He could either remain apathetic or put in the effort to feel again.

"I'm fine; when's our next match?" Lex smiled and tried to make it reach his eyes.