'Mom?!'
The three kids thought in their heads. They could not see the resemblance between the two. The instructor is a two-meter tall monstrosity while the old lady has a petite figure.
"Lou, it seems that you have forgotten your training! How could you recommend a water bow cultivation technique to the twins?"
Infuriated by the decision her son made, the old woman chided him.
"Mom, what are you doing here? Can you really be wandering around the third floor?"
Unwilling to start an argument with his mother in front of his students, the Instructor hastily tried to change the subject.
"Hmph, there's nothing I cannot do in the Athenaeum! I've heard some interesting news recently and came to see it for myself."
At this time, her eyes moved towards Shin.
"And it seems like coming here was the right choice..."
"..."
Understanding the reason why his mother came to the third floor this early in the morning, the Instructor sighed helplessly.
"Okay mom, I can handle my students. You should go upstairs before your subordinates find you missing."
"Lou, you're getting quite brazen these days, did you not hear me before? The cultivation techniques that you are about to impart on these children are not up to par. Let me choose their cultivation techniques."
"Mom! It's inappropriate for someone to coach another's students!"
"Hah?!?!"
"Hiiii..."
The Instructor squealed when the old woman glared viciously at him. Even the emperor has to bow to the empress dowager. A child would always fear their mother. Shin and the twins were gobsmacked with how the Instructor was behaving in front of the woman in front of him. He is twice her size, but now he was slowly backpedalling to safety.
"Lou, have you forgotten what I do? As Chief Librarian, there is no one more well-versed in cultivation techniques than I am. You should be thankful that I am helping your students."
"But..."
"Enough! Go play in the corner or something, I'm busy here."
"..."
Dismissing the Instructor, the Chief Librarian proceeded to devote her attention to the orphans. The trio finally got a demonstration of the phrase there is always a mountain higher. The Instructor that had tortured them with numerous drills was put in his place by this feeble old woman standing next to them.
"Come here, little girls."
The Chief Librarian smiled and beckoned the twins. Her poise was much different the earlier stern attitude she used against her son.
"Mutated elemental Spirits... Bow Spirits... Twins… Hohoho, isn't that the perfect fit?"
"Huh?"
"Hoho, little girls, I know the perfect cultivation technique for you two. In fact, it might have been tailor-made for your two!"
"Really?!"
"Is that true senior?!"
Ella and Emma could not hide their excitement. Anything the Chief Librarian, who had decades of experience with cultivation techniques, recommended must be right.
"Of course! It's called the Crystal Toxotai Mantra!"
The Chief Librarian exclaimed with great enthusiasm. However, the twins were unable to understand why the old woman was so excited.
"Ermmm senior, what is that?"
"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know it. Silly me!"
The old woman seemed to have forgotten that she was talking to young children, who had no research experience. Before she began her explanation though, she had to do one thing…
"Lou, go to the cultivation manual section K24 and pick up the Crystal Toxotai Mantra. Its silver-coloured so you won't miss it."
The Chief Librarian made the Instructor her courier.
"Mom, I do not work for you! I'm an Instructor now!"
"Okay. Would you hurry up? I'm actually quite busy, so I must settle their cultivations quickly."
"..."
Being relegated to the side, the Instructor could only obediently follow his mother's instructions.
"Now, where were we? Yeah, I was just about to explain the Crystal Toxotai Mantra!"
"..."
The orphans were speechless. Where did their dignified Instructor disappear to?
"Thousands of years ago, there was once a unit of Spirit Archers. Their arrows pierced through armours like they weren't there and they could shoot airborne birds from miles away. But even with their expertise, they were unable to beat the dominant Spirit Sword Users."
"The kingdom's Spirit Archers were undoubtedly strong, but when it comes to dividing resources, the king will choose the Spirit Swordsmen over the Archers. He believed that the Spirit Archers were a less valuable asset. So the Swordsmen prospered while the Archers languished."
"Feeling the unjustness of the situation, the captain of the Spirit Archer unit trained with a vengeance of proving the king wrong. He rallied his unit, and they experimented with multiple techniques to improve their strength without regard for their cultivations. They trained tirelessly for many moons without taking a single break. Eventually, they developed a mantra that was best suited for them."
"Every single one of the members of the unit practised the new mantra. The captain, the sub-captain up till the lowest ranked member of the unit abandoned their previous cultivation techniques in favour of the new one. It was a tremendous risk. If the newly developed technique failed, they would have wasted countless of years of their cultivations. Not to mention, the technique they developed had never been tested before. No one truly knew if it was truly safe."
"Nonetheless, the Spirit Archer unit believed in the genius of their captain and followed through. Their mantra focused on the unity of the Spirit Users so having compatible Spirits was paramount. Thankfully, the unit managed to successfully cultivate the new technique and their strength drastically improved."
"With a single-minded drive, the unit charged into battle for the kingdom securing victory after victory. However, the true test came when the unit had to face a thousand man strong battalion in the open fields alone. Everyone thought that they were going to perish. But that was when the strength of the mantra truly began to shine."
"The defensive attributes of the cultivation technique allowed the Spirit Archers to take a substantial amount of damage. And through the focus of unity, the unit was able to enhance their own spiritual abilities. In the end, the battle was won with the Spirit Archer unit crushing their opponents with next to no casualties."
"Proven wrong, the king had no choice but to promote the members of the unit and to provide the best resources the kingdom had to the heroes."
As the Chief Librarian was finishing her story, a muscular man walked out of the cultivation manual area with a silver-coloured book in hand. But the trio did not notice their Instructor's return.
"The cultivation technique that they came out with is precisely the Crystal Toxotai Mantra! Its focus on unity is the best reason why the two of you should cultivate it. Being sisters, furthermore twins, who have awakened the same Spirit, your Spirit compatibility will be off the charts. Additionally, your ice attribute coincides greatly with the crystal aspect of this mantra! If this isn't the cultivation technique for you, I don't know what is!"
Seeing that her son had arrived with the item she requested, the Chief Librarian snatched the manual from his hands and brought it to the twins.
"Here! Study it carefully."
With a warm smile, she led the twins towards a nearby table and gently instructed them.