I stare at her, my eyes a tiny bit moist—although I’m sure it’s just the dust. It’s a very arid environment.
Sheremembers what I told her so long ago.
I clear my throat and glance away from her for fear I might embarrass myself—either with an errant tear or with a sudden proclamation of love. Neither are appropriate…at the moment.
When the wraith librarian is free, we head over to his desk.
“Hello. Could you please let us know what sort of books you carry here?”
“Of course,” the wraith librarian answers smoothly, coldly. With a turn of his wrist, a tablet appears in front of us.
“You will find a list of all the titles, arranged by subject as well as the cost of borrowing each volume.”
Of course it costs something, I think drily. Nothing is free here.
“You are new here, are you not?”
We nod.
“I will explain our policies. There are two ways to use the library. The first is to rent out a book. Most of our titles are rentable but there are some that cannot be taken off the premises of the library. Those are marked with a red x in the catalogue. The rent period is ten days, after which you may borrow the title again after paying another fee. The second way is to read the title within the library. This option is possible for all of our titles, even the x-marked ones. Each book will have different fees, but usually reading within the library is cheaper. After you’ve decided on a title, I will check for availability after which you will pay and be given the book. There are penalties forlate returns in the form of point deduction. One point per one late day. If you have no points, you will be terminated.
Terminated.
The word echoes in my mind.
By the Seven! Any misstep and you’ll be terminated. This is absolutely insane.
Moe shares my frustration as she mumbles something under her breath.
“Thank you for the guidance,” I say and we move to the side to inspect the catalogue of titles.
There are so many titles in there, my eyes are already straining to read them all.
“They even have The Adventures of Hippo, Nyk,” Moe whispers in awe. “And so many other fiction books.”
I nod, surprised. “At least however long we’re here for we’ll be able to catch up with the latest volume in The Adventure of Hippo.”
She stiffens. “Yeah… Maybe,” she grumbles. “Let’s look for cultivation books.” She quickly switches the topic and swipes over to the cultivation section.
My eyes widen as I see all the subcategories.
What…
There is aGeneralsection, after which there is a section for each power domain—names I’ve never even heard before. I click randomly on one of them and hundreds of titles appear, from basic training in that domain to more advanced abilities.
Everythingis here. Everything I was never allowed to know.
My lips smack together, my appetite for knowledge growing with every second.
Yet I don’t even knowwhatdomain I am. I haven’t even reached the first level to awaken a domain.
Instantly, I feel dejected.
So I click out of that section and go onto theGeneralone, then choose a book on energy absorption.
“This,” I say to the wraith librarian. “How much is this?”
The words from the tablet mirror in his eyes. In just a few seconds he has the information.
