40 Silent Room
The next morning Jack gave the corpse cart over to Shi Furui and went to Elder Yu's manor as ordered. After waiting for a while the door to the Elder's study opened and Elder Yu stepped out into the courtyard.
Jack stood in shock for a moment; before he bowed down to greet the Elder.
Elder Yu walked over to Jack and said "Show me your progress."
Jack nodded his head, said "At once, Elder.", and turned around. He pointed his left hand towards the far end of the courtyard and started to make the spell's structure. His right hand's meridians still ached when he tried to push spirit energy through them so he let it rest.
As he wove the spirit energy threads together Jack focused on the air, compression, forward, and strengthening sigils one by one, and then on all of the connecting sigils that tied them together. He still didn't know a bit under half of the other ones so he ignored them.
When he felt certain that his mind stayed focused on only the sigils he wanted to strengthen, he allowed the spell's structure to come together.
A compressed stream of air, the width, and height of two hands blasted out of Jack's left hand through the courtyard. He felt a little pushback from the stream, but it couldn't budge his firm stance.
The Air Blast's concentrated force ended in around seven to eight meters, after which it turned into ordinary wind, but Jack felt that it had the power to blast a man that hasn't braced himself at least as far as he got blasted last night.
With a satisfied feeling deep in his chest, he turned around to face Elder Yu.
The Elder had one eyebrow raised in slight surprise. After a few seconds, he resumed his stoic expression and advised "Decent improvement. Correct me if I err, but you focused on the air, compression, forward, and strengthening sigils. That can lead to some increase in the Air Blast's power, but if you intend to do anything more with it than scare the servants, I suggest that you learn some of the other sigils."
He took a slight pause to think, before continuing "Try shape, focus, and range for a start. And do not forget in which order you activate them, nor which you connect to which."
Jack stared at Elder Yu for a second as dozens of possible ideas ran through his mind at the Elder's suggestions. A second later he remembered where he stood and bowed deeply while saying "I am grateful beyond words for your assistance, Elder."
Elder Yu dismissed his words with a wave of his hand and turned to walk back towards his study as he said "Remember to pick up our earnings today. You can leave them with the spirit puppets when you deliver the corpses." The door of the study closed behind him.
Jack almost slapped himself across the face in that instant. All of the recent happenings made him forget that he had to collect the Gravediggers' earnings from the other organizations today.
If the Elder hadn't reminded him in passing, Jack might have died at his hands later today. When he thought about that a cold shiver ran down his spine.
A second later he shook his close brush with death off and set out towards Tranquil Lake Town.
In the Gravedigger courtyard, he greeted his friends and chatted with them for a while, before he went to his office and made a list of the debts that the other organizations had to pay, plus Elder Yu's recent urgent price hike. When he had everything done he started his debt collecting journey.
Jack's first step led him to the Undying Flame Mountain's main building, and his new friend, Gao Fumu.
"How much?!" she shouted as she rose back up from her chair, just after she sat down once she greeted her visitor.
Jack remained seated in his chair as he shrugged his shoulders helplessly and said "I know, Disciple Sister Gao, I know. I feel that he's asking for too much also, but you know how Elder Yu is, once he sets his mind on something not even the dead can get in his way."
He stopped for a second as he put on a hesitant face and suggested "I can try and talk to him, but I think that would make him even madder. Elder Yu had a lot of expenses recently, with Senior Brother Du going to the back mountain, and a few of his experiments failing, he has to gather some extra funds in the next couple of months if he wants to continue with his work." Jack finished with slumped shoulders as he looked down at his hands.
The room remained silent for a good half minute before a defeated Gao Fumu sighed and said "Fine, but make sure to tell him that he has to warn us in the future if he wants to increase your rates." She pulled out a drawer from her table and added a decent number of spirit stones to the pouch she prepared earlier.
When Jack took it he had a grateful look on his face as he said "Thank you, Disciple Sister Gao. If you want I can tell Elder Yu that Undying Flame Mountain won't cooperate with him if he does anything like this in the future."
Gao Fumu paled a little as she grabbed Jack by the sleeve of his left hand and said "Wait, on second thought, I see no reason why we should take this to the respected Elder. Just send him our warm regards and say that Undying Flame Mountain will always honor our deals with him."
Jack gave her a knowing nod and left the building while struggling to contain his giddiness.
In the next five hours, he visited all of the major organizations in town and gave them the bad news. He got threatened, pressured, and pleaded with, but in the end, all of them agreed to pay up without notifying Elder Yu.
In a much better mood than when he began his collection endeavor, Jack returned to his office. He stored two-thirds of his earnings underneath the ceremonial uniforms and took the rest with him.
He exited his office, talked a little with his friends, and left for the library.
This time he came well after it opened, so he took out his library token for the first time and imbued it with spirit energy. When he touched the center of the Endless Cycle Sect's crest he studied the sigils that ran across the doors to the golden scroll on the other side.
'I don't know most of the sigils around the two symbols, but the vast majority of the rest are just connecting sigils. Do they just serve as conductors, or do they have an addition property? Maybe a bit of both, depending on the intentions of the person?' Jack thought as he opened the right door and entered the library's park.
He headed straight for the library's entrance and stopped in front of the reception desk.
Li Manning nodded to him in greeting and said "Hello, Sir. Arriving stylishly late, I see. With what can I help you out today?"
Jack frowned a little at the strange comment, but he ignored it and placed his order "I need some scrolls that explain the shape, focus, and range sigils. Get me two of each for those, and make the rest center around the sigils that are often connected to the one for air."
He took out ten silver coins and placed them on the reception desk. Li Manning scooped them up in a single practiced swipe of his hand and left to get the requested reading materials.
As Jack watched him leave he heard a voice, which had a hint of anger in it, announce from behind him "You are late."
Jack almost executed a back kick, but he managed to catch himself just as his leg lifted off the ground. 'Stop relying on sensing other people's cultivation, you moron.' he chided himself and turned around to meet his accuser.
The lady from yesterday stood there, glaring at him.
Jack gave her a friendly smile and said "I had some work to do. Let me pick up my scrolls, and I'll go and claim my prize."
The girl's eyes narrowed as she asked "How do you know that you won?"
Jack gave a casual shrug as he said "Your mom might know a few local songs, but there's no way she'd know that one. So of course, I won."
The girl switched her ponytail to her other shoulder in a subconscious angry gesture as she countered with "Or, you made the whole thing up just to make me interested enough to make a wager with you!"
Jack's eyes widened as he pointed out "You're the one that suggested the bet. Don't blame me for your lack of knowledge."
The girl crossed her arms and raised her nose slightly as she said "Everyone knows that I have interest in sounds and melodies. You must have schemed against me to take my spot. I would expect no less from the lowborn scum of Eternal Rest Mountain."
Jack furrowed his brows a little at the insult and growled "Look, lady, I just wanted some peace and quiet. I don't give a damn about your precious spot, you can have it for all I care, but I won't allow you to insult me and mine. Just admit that you've lost, I won't take your spot, there's enough room in the park for everyone."
The lady snorted elegantly and said "I will do no such thing. You will have to prove to me that your song exists if you want me to admit any fault."
Jack raised his hands in the air in exasperation as he hissed "Are you insane? I'm not singing here."
The lady didn't miss a beat as she said "Fine, we will rent a private room. They have silence spells woven through the walls, no one else will hear."
Jack stopped his gesticulations for a second and asked "Who pays?"
The lady's eyes turned scornful as she said "The winner of the wager, of course."
"Ahem." Both Jack and the girl started in surprise as Li Manning cleared his throat from the other side of the reception desk. Ten scrolls lay stacked in a neat pile in front of him.
"Would the two of you please take this little spat somewhere else, the other customers are starting to complain." he scolded in a harsh whisper.
Jack scratched the back of his head as he looked around the main hall and saw a few angry glances directed their way. "Apologies, Disciple Brother Li. We didn't mean…"
"We want to rent a private room." The lady interrupted Jack.
Li Manning's eyes shone with greed at the magic words. He quickly fished out a metallic stone from his robes and placed it on the reception desk while saying "The room on the left is free. Take all the time you need."
The girl scooped the stone up and turned to walk towards the room.
Jack threw an apologetic smile at Li Manning, grabbed his scrolls, and followed in her wake.
The room they entered had an empty shelf, a table, and four chairs in it. When the girl closed the door and placed the metallic stone in the hole in it, a web made out of sigils flashed on all of the walls of the room for an instant, before disappearing.
Jack looked around for a second in wonder, before his gaze brought him to the scowling face of the young lady.
She glared at him and commanded, "Sing."
Jack sighed and went to place his scrolls on the table. Once he did he turned around to look at the girl and said "You know, you'd be much prettier if you scowled less."
The girl crossed her arms, and changed her stance before she repeated "Sing, or admit that you lied and all of this could end right now."
Jack looked at her for a few seconds, cleared his throat, and started singing in English "Here we are, Born to be kings; We're the princes of the universe…"
When he finished, the room turned silent for a dozen seconds. He looked at the dazed expression of the young lady and waved a hand in front of her face.
She flinched back from his hand and exclaimed "What?!" Her eyes refocused on Jack and she said "Oh, right." She straightened her posture, clasped her hands, and bowed down to Jack while saying "I admit my defeat." When she straightened up her face turned excited as she asked "Can you teach me that song?"
Jack's brows rose as he said "I don't have time to teach you a different language."
The girl waved a hand in dismissal as she said "I do not need that much. Just repeat the sounds and I will remember them. I do not dare to say that I am an expert at sound reproduction, but I am very good."
Jack furrowed his brow as he asked "What do I get out of this?"
The girl looked lost for a second before she rallied and said "I can help you with your research. I saw you looking at air sigils yesterday, sound and air are linked, I even know a few tricks that you will not find in those scrolls."
Jack's eyes widened as he thought about the implications, and he agreed after a few seconds of consideration.
For the next hour, he had to perform the song a dozen times so that the girl could catch all of the nuances of the sounds.
When she felt confident in her understanding of the song they left the private room and walked back towards the reception desk.
As they neared it, the girl offered the room key to Jack and said "Here, hand it over to Disciple Brother Li. I left my money bag with my scrolls outside, give me a few breaths to go and get them."
Jack nodded his head and watched her leave the library. He walked up to the reception desk, handed over the room key, and asked "How much for the room?"
Li Manning watched Jack with a strange look as he said "30 silver."
Jack nodded his head as he expected the price. He gave Li Manning a slight smile and said "She'll get the bill, just went out to get the money, she left it with her scrolls."
Li Manning just kept giving Jack a strange look.
Two minutes later Jack turned to Li Manning and said "There was never any money, right?"
Li Manning shook his head as he gave Jack a pitying look and confirmed "Nor scrolls, she waited for you outside since I opened the library."
Jack sighed and started counting out silver coins.
