Having already scoured the sections pertaining to circulation and brought copies back home, Edrick showed up again at the complex, fortified underground libraries, to even get in, one needed to show a pass, which was simple in his case as the badge showing his status as a special disciple was enough to allow him anywhere in the libraries, save for the few locked doors only elders and above could access.
He had only come through this particular section without giving it much attention, only picking up stuff for his wives, but of course, the Myriad-Arm Sect, renowned for its pioneering of weapon cultivation obviously had countless manuals pertaining to the usage of all kinds of weapons, in all kinds of styles, as well as weaponless martial arts of course.
In fact, their very existence had probably motivated people to writing quite a few of these books, the sect wanted everything of this kind even if ridiculous on the surface, certain types of weapons were not practical in much contexts or perhaps even only in use in a single one, but this sect wasn't willing to miss out on any of them.
Even if certain manuals had probably not even been touched in years due to their niche nature.
Edrick was recognising many of these weapons, being such a murder connoisseur and expert, he had of course sought to use a variety of weaponry to accomplish it in new and novel ways, which was why he had only come in passing here before, he already knew how to use many weapons, from melee to ranged, passing by the weird and unknown even.
To him, murder was more than a simple way to kill some time, it was a passion, an art even, any one could split some fool's skull with a sword, but few could do it with the proper finesse and via execution of the old martial arts.
'Mmh, I really should start the collection again' thinking back to his old weapon room, it was a shame that he had not been able to bring them with him, he would have loved to break someone's teeth in with a maul or flail, but alas.
Still, he was rather curious if this world had anything else to offer.
The most common type of manuals were those about the spear and sword, for some reason, shields and ranged weapons seemed unpopular, which was simply ludicrous, from the looks of things, they were considered to be fit for soldiers.
'Is it cultural? Do they think you should be zooming around and avoiding every attack or something?' he guessed that it was because cultivators were so strong and fast that the need for shields wasn't high, or at least, because they thought so, after all, the librarian was supposedly a cultivator and he greatly doubted her ability to contend with a capable warrior using a shield to defend himself.
Still, Edrick deemed that it would be interesting to read through some of these manuals, another section that he was curious about but was awfully dry was the one concerning battle arts, they were indeed suffering from a lack of interest it seemed as most of what he found there were books explained what they were and a bunch of theories, the actual descriptions of battle arts were few and those that he ran into were rather bad, the one Linmin could use had restrictions but was still much better than the hijinks required to perform something simple.
If Anoteros remembered what some wisps of knowledge had taught him, arts had fallen from grace and no one with a talent in creating them appeared to revitalise interest, only mediocre people had attempted, only further burying this way of power.
Those who used some did so because they had access to arts that had been passed on through the generations, they were thus kept under tight locks, the good battle arts were covetously guarded.
'Shame'
'Perhaps I can get some from some missions… But most that I have available can not be done properly until my standing is firm and unquestionable, mmh…'
He would probably get some more doable quests after visiting Oie and the other satellite cities, but really, the main focus should be developing his strength with what he had available.
'I guess I'll focus on getting a good grasp of energy circulation for a month at least' with a small smile, he walked up to the counter, the librarian, whose name was Hui according to the system, was so focused on the content of the book she was reading that she didn't notice his hulking figure approach.
"Miss Hui?" he said.
"Huh?" she looked up, putting the book down to get a better look, also permitting Anoteros to see that she was all dolled up, her long brown hair no longer messy and instead tied into a ponytail, the dark circles beneath her eyes gone completely and a little touch of makeup.
Her eyes trembled behind her round glasses.
"S-Sir! You are back already?"
"I indeed am, I just have a craving for knowledge" he crossed his arms.
"Did I tell you my name last time?"
"You did"
She had not.
"So, what's the occasion? Do you have a date later?"
"Er… No, I don't, I guess I just… Thought it would be nice?"
"You really made yourself all pretty for the guy who slapped you with his meat? How hopeless…"
He hadn't even used the crest of domination on her, this was reserved for those he wished to own- She had only gotten a taste of his cleansing elixir but that alone should not be enough to create such an immediate response.
So there was only one possible reason left.
Looking down in shame, Hui had clearly realised that Edrick did not respect her, but she still felt drawn to him, and after checking up on who he was, she was even relieved, it wasn't a random schmoe who had casually pulled her in the room behind and used her as he saw fit, but a special disciple!
That made things better, she thought.
"Sir… I learned that you already had two wives, it really isn't right to-"
Something heavy plopped down on the counter before her.
"Save your breath for this"
Hui gulped, already feeling beads of sweat running down her back.
"H-Here? But-"
"Do it"
"Alright…" her protests were stopped by two simple words, spoken without a lick of threat, Edrick ordered her around like it was perfectly natural and she complied like so as well.
'Ooh… What is this? Even if the entrance is far from here… Anyone walking by could see us!' still, despite what she might think internally, she stood up from her seat and leaned forward to use her breath more wisely.
The moment she began to engulf the great trouser serpent, Anoteros grabbed her head and forced it as deep as she could go.
"Breath through your nose" instructed Edrick, the librarian instinctively grasping onto him whilst loudly gagging, already spilling her saliva everywhere.
He wasn't letting go or softening his grip, being in full control of when she would be allowed to take it out, meaning that it was up to him, and only him, to act if anyone showed up…
Hui found it strangely exciting.