The Night was quiet, a few small animals could be heard in the distant fields. The rings of the third planet in the night sky were fantastic to look at. Small swirls of Stardust continually mesmerized much of their onlookers. There was plenty of light at night, the moons would compliment the sun by reflecting in a multitude of colors much like the rings on the third Planet. Turning out the Darkflame in his hands, Wu Hai cast his eyes to the east with the Jade Compass.
The Compass needle was pointing towards the Capital.
Morning came quickly, the first rising Sun was smaller than the second if only a bit. It was a long journey to the Capital but he had to protect his mother and father on the road. The thugs were unlikely to head in the direction of the Capital, the Guards knew what to look for to identify them.
Stopping only to sleep and eat, they found themselves in the Capital within six days. Wu Hai looked at his father, he was bragging about making good time and his mother grabbing her knees to catch her breath a little, he could only grin.
Zao Wu Hai was excited, there was a lot he wanted to share with them but he couldn't become complacent, they were not safe just yet.
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The Repository of Knowledge was the place people would find most of the books and techniques on just about anything they set their mind to. Hence the name, it became a symbol of power, many nations chose to build a Repository within their capitals.
'Knowledge is power, Power is Might, the Almighty is Divine.' Words written across the threshold of the building seem to hold a special meaning. Some of the words were shinier than others, probably due to a lack of cleaning.
The building was tall, many shelves lined the walls and created smaller areas to encapsulate the auras some of the books or readers would give off. Many of the books were enchanted to keep them clean so it wasn't uncommon to see a perfectly new looking book among crafting manuals, or maps.
Knowledge was precious, keeping it safe seemed common place but there were a number of items like hides that had special notations, some bore the ages more easily than others.
With eyes of amazement, Wu Hai went up and started browsing through the shelves. It was a good thing that his mother was so persistent with him about reading. With no sense of shame, quickly a pile of books appeared in front of him. He had an ambitious reading appetite for many subjects. As long as he didn't take the books away, he could look them over.
The Eunuch did not seem amused by his actions and walked up to question Wu Hai, "What is the meaning of this? There is a limit to my patience, you had best put all these back when you're done with them." The Eunuch did not a have sense of compassion or care for what other people are doing. He did not want to be someones maid. He had worked hard to get into the position he was in, if the repository was in a matter of disarray he would be held accountable and likely punished as a result.
"I understand, I will put all of them back where I found them." Wu Hai had only just sat down and was intending on staying for at least a few hours. He had not found any books on magic, only survival guides and crafting manuals. He saw that there was a lot for him to learn and grabbed the manual on fishing.
After decided to take a look, inside he found the basic designs to a fishing pole, It was simple and only needed some basic string. Wu Hai had always been forced to use traps on the mountain and it was not always guaranteed that he would come home with fish when he was asked. There was even a survivalist pole that made use of the Bow, It only required to attach the string and a sharp hook to the end. With a bug attached to the hook he could attract a fish that would bite it and he could pull it out with the pole or bow. "Zhan would love this, he was always more interested in this stuff than me. I wonder how he's doing?" With his head firmly stuck into pages, Wu Hai let the time pass by. His fingers flipped through dozens of titles and sections but he didn't have time to read them in full, that would take a lot more time and he only had a few hours until the library closed.
Having books in front of him was a habit Zao Wu Hai felt he could get use to. The knowledge he came across varied from subjects from survival to blacksmithing, even some concepts concerning politics had crossed his interest and attentions. The actions of a King, the kings of the past and now fascinated Wu Hai. Everyone had to listen to kings, some books about the Royal families from other nations were present but much of the information was about internal feud rumors and handfuls of notes about trade deals or war. When he read about the 'King of Black Mountain,' he had to see it for himself one day.
It said within the book he was reading that the King of Black Mountain made use of a Black Dragon corpse to shield his subjects from an Immortal with the power of light.
"The sheer thoughts this King must have had.." Wu Hai was lost in thought. The Repository was closing soon, he quickly put the books back where he found them and then found the Eunuch.
"Don't screw up the system child, what else do you need?" The Eunuch sneered
Wu Hai wanted to ask why the eunuch was being so hostile but he let it go and simply replied, "Books on magic."
The Eunuch clicked his tongue and then proceeded to walk Wu Hai to the Magic section. There was another person there to take care of that section alone.
"What can I help you with?" The voice was filled with bass and a short fat woman sat behind the counter. "Get on with it, what do you want?" She didn't sound too thrilled to have to get up off her ass so she started poking at her guests needs immediately.
"I'd like some books on Magic Cubes, Beasts in the Area and I'd also like to know if you have any books of magic that I can look at." Zao Wu Hai didn't let her impatience get to him either and spoke clearly.
The woman was a little taken aback but she said, "I can let you read through the book about Magic Tools, that will cover the Cubes and some related topics, as for Beasts, we have an entire section in the other area. There is a fee to look at books of magic, do you even have money?" The Attendant spoke, she was clearly trying to derail him. 'Magic Users are rare and this child is in over his head, serves him right.' she thought.
"Very well" Zao Wu Hai sighed.
The attended relaxed a bit, then ignored him and went back to work like he wasn't even there. A moment later he opened his mouth and interrupted her once again. "About the Beasts, I'm not looking for normal animal types. I'd be more interested in Magic Creatures with power, as for the magic books, please let me know if there is a list I can choose from with corresponding prices. I might not have a lot of money but my parents have brought me here to get a book on magic specifically, so this is very important to me." He wagged his tongue to her and she finally stood up.
"Good, if you're lying to me I'll know. My Gift was the power to know truth, so don't screw with me and just spit it out. What sort of magic are you proficient with?" She was bluffing but the woman was easily agitated. He did say that his parents were the ones that insisted he come and that it was important.
"Well?" she added. The stocky woman pointed to a shelf and a book flew over. She was prepared to slap the boy with the book.
Still in a state of half-confusion Wu Hai decided its best to just come out with it, "I don't know but I can conjure flames." With a half-hearted conviction, he summoned a darkflame and rolled it across his palm.
"OH!...Well, since you're a Magic User and.." 'pfft' the attendant seemed to have lost her anger and started to laugh at Wu Hai with no dignity, she was really about to crack the book across his face but then she too sighed. "This is the list of Magic books we have in here, they are listed by types. Since you're already working with fire I'll get that to start, The repository will only be open for another hour so don't get any ideas of leaving with these books. All books remain here and you cannot cast them either! Got it?!"
Wu Hai nodded.
Looking over the list, he saw the names of spells at the top of the list. Monsoon of the Heavens, World-breaking Excavation, Infinite Doom, Cataclysmic Meteor Fall, Reanimation and others. "These spells were at the top. I f they are at the top, what's at the bottom?" Wu Hai was curious and kept scanning down the list.
"Create Weapon, Magnify, Burst Speed, Flurry, Red Myst Orb, Blood Patron, Mocking Tone, Curse of the Leaf, Shadow-form, Detoxify, Natures Affinity, Lightning Affinity, Earth Affinity," The list was very long and spanned several pages. 'It seems like I'll have to rely on luck to choose for me, there are so many different types.' Wu Hai was amazed, and then he glanced up. The Attendant who had initially been rude arrived at the table and placed another shiny book in front of him. It was bound in red to signify its fire attributes. The book felt warm to the touch, as if the very essence of knowledge was within was written in flames.
Upon opening the book he noticed written on the inside of the cover were the words 'Munidod thanks Master' .. the first spell was for a basic Fireball. It required the caster to conceive the the concept of fire, to use their willpower create a spark in the mind. Allowing it to flow down the meridian channels and accumulate in a target area, usually the hands. Once summoned it could be projected and the speed it traveled was dependent on the individual. Some Mages could only make sparks and they would only go as far as a stroke of flint to tinder, the amalgamation of fire on any serious level of intensity was typically only displayed by the other races of the World.
Reading on, he saw a few references that helped him get a better grasp on the Darkflame. Wu Hai wasn't sure why his flames were black and blue but when researching the concept of fire, his flames color didn't have any significant reference.
The second spell listed was 'Fire Wall' with twin characters, they seemed almost identical but the other was listed as Firewall. A Firewall was a spiritual defense technique. Fire Wall could create a wall of flames on the outside of the body, while Firewall could close off the mind from demonic spirits. Only a handful of Magic Users in the past had mastered both, and not many people had mental attacks.
Wu Hai's interests had piqued, "I'd better memorize as much as I can." He studied the noted differences in the Tome's descriptions and tried to go over it quickly in his head. After a few minutes, he refused to leave without choosing at least one spell to buy.
The Third spell listed was actually the fourth but it was called 'Radiate.' It called for the Mage to summon the flames heat to heat an object from within, making it eventually emit heat by itself. Blacksmiths would sometimes usually employ a Magic User to help in smelting processes for that very reason. While the spell's name wouldn't be called out during a casting.. most people would call a spell by what it had done.
In Ancient Manuals, spells were very clearly labeled but as magic power grew and diverged, so did the many other sub categories and abilities that had been created. There were so many ways to use fire that out of the top hundred spells listed and their descriptions, nearly forty percent of all the spells on the list involved intense inner fire as a starting point.
The book wasn't enormous but it had a few other spells that seemed very useful like Boil, and Dry. These were usually used in conjunction with other spell types but the last spell on the book was 'Disintegration.' It would not emit a flame and it would corrupt the target from within, agitating the molecules of a target, breaking the bonds between them with your inner flame. The Book stated that spell burned with such intensity that not even ashes would remain and that the cost would be measured in blood.
The phrase caused Wu Hai to stop reading, he was confused and asked, "Measured in blood? Miss, what does measured in blood mean?"
"It means it costs blood, what do you think it means? sheesh, kids don't know anything. When you cast a high level spell, almost any high level spell, It will cost you either a life, a soul, blood, or something equally as strong. The price of blood is usually what it is referred to as but older books just say 'measured in blood' since its not clear exactly the price you'll end up paying." The attendant clearly stated. "Everyone is different, some pay less because they have more to affinity, some pay more. Do you understand?" After adding her last sentence, she sat back down and returned to her work.
It wasn't but a moment that passed until Wu Hai returned the Fire Magic book and asked to see one on Darkness.
"PFFT!" "Darkness my ass! You, can cast darkness? Like I'll believe it, show me!" She was furious, he had been interrupting her a few times already and it was close to closing. Darkness spells were not taboo but anyone would be skeptical of their users.
"I just have my Darkflame and wanted to see if it has something to do with darkness." Wu Hai conjured up the flame once again and let it sit near the woman's face. He had brought out the blue flame before but it was smaller in comparison.
Her eyebrows started to curl from the heat and she said, "Okay okay, your flame is black. I can see how the naive would believe its darkness related. Wait here for a moment." The woman left and Wu Hai kept flipping through the other books that were nearby.
There were only twenty minutes or so left until the repository closed and he wanted as much knowledge as he could grasp hold of, he grew impatient even though it didn't take long for the Attendant to once again show up with another book. This time the book was Clad in a Dark Red and black binding.
'The Heart of all Darkness' was written on the front.