Study Sessions

Devotion's tour of the Treasure Pavilion took a little over two total hours. By the time he was done, Devotion had a very solid grasp of how it was laid out, price ranges, and what types of items he could purchase with enough points. In a sense, this tour had somewhat diminished his opinion of how many points forty really was. While it could buy him useful items now, once he reached Third Rank, it would be a practically worthless amount of points. He had to get more, and quickly.

Devotion also realized that his ten points remaining really couldn't buy him anything useful. There were a few potions he could purchase, but he didn't really see the point, and would rather save it. He graciously thanked the attendant for helping him.

"Thank you for the tour, I'm sure I will be spending much time here in the future. For when I return, could I ask your name? I'd rather have you help me than another attendant who could try to rip me off." Devotion asked. It was good to make friends with the people who worked here. You never know, he might get a discount.

"I'm afraid nobody has asked me that before, in all my time working here. Just call me Ariadne. I'd be happy to help you in the future." Ariadne graciously nodded, showing Devotion the way out.

Devotion walked back to his dorm, stowing the Frostbrand sword in his interspatial ring. Damn, he really owed the Duke of the Mechanism Sect, big time. This ring was incredibly useful.

Speaking of the Mechanism Sect, Devotion supposed that he should actually take some time to study those volumes that he had been given. Also, he should really start actually going to lectures about cultivation. He needed to learn more powerful arts and advance quicker, since Ghostwhisper wasn't able to teach him anymore just yet. Besides, he'd take any method of training over Ghostwhisper's Hardcore Training Regiment. Just thinking about those two weeks made him shudder.

Devotion closed the door to his dorm room and sat at his previously unused desk, pulling out the volume that the Duke had given him.

The volume explained the Duke's unique method of cultivation, and had detailed explanations of his various trials to develop it. In short, the Duke didn't use conjuration to summon creatures, but rather, incredibly specific, complex materials to create his inventions. The book had prototype diagrams for all sorts of inventions, such as a set of battle armor to augment one's strength, an early version of what appeared to be the Sparkthrower, and even flying machines.

In short, this cultivation method sacrificed the individual's strength for the strength of their inventions. Devotion suddenly understood why this Duke was so fascinated by Devotion: some of these components seemed impossible to fabricate using their current technologies, but if you could just summon it into existence, you could skip that step entirely.

Devotion studied the volume for the rest of the day, pulling out the Sparkthrower and comparing it to the designs in the book. It was more complex than he had ever imagined, far above him being able to replicate something like it. He'd have to start much, much smaller.

The next day, Devotion stowed the volume and went to a few lectures. He had to catch up, and had plenty of time, now that he had knocked out his mission requirements for the period. At night, Devotion would meditate using the technique he learned, gradually strengthening his foundation and expanding his Qi Reserve. Of course, he hadn't returned to his Astral Space, so he couldn't exactly see it expanding, but he could feel his control of Qi getting more and more refined each day.

In the blink of an eye, two weeks passed of this routine. Devotion would spend some days going to lectures and the rest studying the volume. He didn't stop until one day, he heard a knock on the door. He quickly hid the volume he was studying in his ring, replacing it with generic magical studies.

"Come in." He called. Victor stepped through the doorway.

"Where the hell have you been? I feel like I have not seen you at all sense we got back." Victor asked. He looked to be doing much better, the light in his blue eyes restored and the bags gone. Devotion coughed awkwardly. To be honest, he had been somewhat avoiding Victor the past few days. He still felt a little bad about getting him stabbed and all that.

"I've just been busy studying. I need to get stronger, quicker. Close the door, I actually need to show you something." Devotion explained. Victor did as he was told.

Devotion pulled out the page from Alabaster's journal from his interspatial ring. "I took this from the study, when I went after Ysmir. Do you recognize what it is?" Devotion asked, testing the waters.

"It looks like an old notebook page of some sort. What's so special about it?" Victor asked.

Devotion explained, "I'm not one hundred percent certain, but I think it's one of Rydel Alabaster's journal pages. The writing is in a language I've never seen before, and I don't think anyone else has, either. Before we start to study this, Victor, you have to promise to keep this a complete secret. We could lose our lives to the greed of others, if they knew we had this. Promise to me."

"I promise." Victor said. His eyes were sparkling, hearing who wrote that page. This was an unimaginable treasure!

"Oh, and don't worry about damaging it. It's indestructible." Devotion said, handing it to Victor. Victor seemed even more impressed than before. That was the proof he needed to believe that this page was really written by Rydel Alabaster.

Victor took a look at it, then his eyes grew wide.

"What's up? Do you recognize it?" Devotion asked. "Can you read it?"

"I can't read it, but I recognize it. Look." Victor said, pulling a certain amulet out from his robe. Devotion took a look at it. It was the same amulet that Victor had showed in the carriage, the one related to his origins. The writing on it looked very similar to what was one the page. It had to be the same language!

"Oh my god, you're right. That means... your origins are more terrifying than either of us could have imagined! This is incredible news. Once we figure out how to read these, we'll be in the money. All we have to do is get stronger, and find someone who can." Devotion was excited.

Victor said nothing, just staring between the page and the amulet. He had never seen something related to the amulet before. He wasn't sure what to think.

The two of them spent some time trying to interpret the diagrams on the page, but without being able to read the labels, they were completely stumped. After some time, they both went to bed, thinking about the days discovery.

That night, instead of meditating, Devotion got to work. Mentioning that the old page was indestructible had given him an idea for an invention. He could use it to protect himself! Sure, the page was small, but if he could come up with a way for a mechanism to move the page in the way of danger, it could block smaller, more concentrated attacks, like a dagger.

Devotion began to draw up his first prototype. He was unsure on how to make it move just yet, so he instead settled on a vest that would hold it stationary over his heart. That way, it would at least protect his most vital area.

Sitting down at his desk, Devotion got to work designing his first invention ever. Somewhere in the Mechanism Sect, the Duke suddenly got a feeling of intense pride. He wasn't sure what from, but he smiled nonetheless.