Chapter Forty - I enter a secret floor of the library

The light crunch beneath their feet deepened and lengthened, just as the white dusting coating the forest floor deepened to much more substantial snow. Before the ravine drop, there was no shelter from the canopy and the bridge, however sturdy, was subject to the natural elements. Numerous students swept the bridges leading towards the central floor of the tall, towering library, though only a few wore those recognisable robes embroidered with purple emblems. 

Officially speaking, all schools had their own uniform robes, just that few wore it.  Dealing with exploding cauldrons, animal poop or battling with sharp weapons or elements such as fire, did not encourage the wearing of those robes.  Each student only received one set and would need to purchase further ones; Leon recalled that his had been stolen from a temporary washing line after he'd cleaned them after the only time he'd worn them in the first year.  It had been someone's idea of a prank, only not only had Leo not bothered to search for them, he'd forgotten about them altogether after creating a blood pill for the first time.

However, those uniforms were often considered to some as a matter of pride.  The Scholar's school were particularly fond of displaying this pride in front of all others.

Teacher Sagi lead Leon into the library and then to the portals that were located behind the reception desk.  This library had many floors upward and just as many below, but only the floor above the central floor was accessible by stairs.  Above that, the next five floors held much more detailed books that were linked to the individual schools within the Institute.  Each outer school senior could access their respective floor once every four tendays, while each inner school senior could access the floor once every tendays.  As a direct disciple, Leon could go to the sixth floor which held the alchemist books, every day, otherwise he might not be able to run errands requiring access for his Teacher.  Otherwise, if a student wanted more access, they would need to earn it, perhaps via points or a rewarded library pass.  This was part of the reason that outer school students were less picky with the request systems and did a lot of the grunt work that inner school students might stick their noses up at.

The five floors above those were also related to each school, but held far greater secrets, a student might only gain access under very special circumstances.

The lower floors of the library also held secrets, but these were usually only accessible by Teachers, for these contained such things as secret maps, forbidden arts and peak level skill books that most students would never require in their time at the school nor would be able to use in their entire lifetimes.  Strangely enough, Teacher Sagi took Leon to one of these mysterious levels.

The room was rather dusty and was filled with antiques, but not the sort that could be considered worth something, more such that could not be identified or were useless.  There was also a bookshelf with a few tombs upon it.  Leon noticed that one seemed to be just half of a book, while another had obscure writing on it that made his eyes feel dizzy after a while.  Sagi took a thin book that was no more than a thumb nail thick and whose pages were not of paper nor parchment but of delicate slats of cut jade.  The older man blew the dust from it before looking at his young student.

"The Headmaster recalled quite some time ago that we had in store a cultivation technique specifically for celestials," he mentioned as he glanced over what he held.  "However, we couldn't find it in the upper levels with other cultivation techniques nor in the treasury.  Eventually, it was traced here."  He waved his hand as if something occurred to him.  "We probably could have moved it to a better location, but the less people are aware of its existence, the less people will become aware of yours.  No one would think to seek for something like this here and besides, it is useless unless the one studying it has a pure celestial root such as yourself."

He handed it to Leon, who took it gingerly, worried he might break it.  However, the pale green 'pages' were not so delicate to break, just as their edges were actually not sharp enough to cut.  The slats were tied together with tarnished silver wire and once opened, they would unfurl not unlike a scroll.  However, that wire held them closed at this moment, so all Leon could see was the top piece of jade with a carving of a star upon its surface.

"Study it here," Teacher Sagi recommended.  "I'll return for you in one hour.  If someone comes by, just suggest that I have you cleaning up in here or something.  There should be a broom in the corner."  They both glanced to where he pointed to see the bristle broom covered in cobwebs.  Teacher Sagi coughed before saying; "it's very doubtful anyone will come in here."

Leon nodded and watched his teacher go before he tried to open the book.  The silver wire fastening refused to budge beneath his fingers, causing him to frown.  Shouldn't he be able to unlock this thing?  How else was he supposed to read it?  He tried a few times to force the slats to separate so he could read them, but to know avail.  So he placed the book down with a sigh, before sneezing.  It was really dusty in here.

Reaching for the broom, he shuddered as he wiped off the cobwebs and forced the spiders to run and hide elsewhere in the room.  And then he began to sweep.  Very frustrating.  He'd been given the opportunity to learn a cultivation method that best suited him, but here he was cleaning the room in which it was held.  He didn't mind cleaning, but he would rather have been studying how to improve his spiritual energies...

A thought occurred to him and he looked at the sealed book for a long moment, then leaned the broom against the shelf before picking it up once more.  Then he directed a slither of his spiritual energy into the fastening, just as he might have his potion barrel.  It unlocked with a snap.  Huh, so it was that simple?

Actually, he was not aware, it really wasn't.  Only one with pure celestial spiritual energies could hope to unlock the little jade book and release its secrets.  However, unaware, Leon sat down on the part of the floor he'd swept more or less clear and began to read.  It was not easy to read the carved slats and the further he read, the more difficult it became until the carvings seemed more like squiggles from a toddler in art class.  Rubbing his eyes, he returned his attention to the first two pages.  These words at least made some sense to him, his lips softly formed to words just as his fingers practiced the odd, physical signs. 

Inside him, his galaxy-like inner sea began to stir.