8 Weapon Choice

Lucian felt a gentle shake as two hands gripped each of his shoulders. Sound returned to him and he finally realized that a voice with a tinge of concern was calling out to him, "Lucian, Lucian," it said. It was Grace. she saw his eyes regain focus, "Are you okay? You blanked out for quite sometime."

So during the time he was entranced in the vision, Grace had patiently waited for him. How kind. "I'm okay, thank you. I'm not sure what actually happened." He realized that he couldn't tell Grace about the vision or the Heresy Manual. At least until he knew more about what happened to him. Thinking swiftly for a cover he grabbed the manual from the nearby shelf. "I picked the Solar Frame Manual. What about you?" The manual was coincidentally the Mythical technique he examined earlier.

"I didn't find anything better than what i already use. Isn't Solar Frame a fire attribute technique? Don't you think you should get Mr. Zhang to determine your attribute before picking a manual?"

"Uh, I actually recalled that my family had me tested when i was younger. This Solar Frame manual is more than suitable for me. I think I'll be heading back now. I really want to get a head start on my cultivation. I'll see you around yeah." Lucian didn't wait for a response before rushing back to the nearest symbol. There were 4 on each floor. He only realized once he glanced at the floors below.

He thought of the first floor when stepping into the symbol, and after the brief confusion, recognised that he was back on the first floor. Still dizzy. It seemed two trips was not enough to get used to the transportation rune. From what Lucian knew of the library, the main desk in the circle housed the librarian and all those who wished to borrow a book would need to register with him first.

The table appeared much larger up close. The librarian was unlike anything he had pictured. Instead of a snobbish old woman with minute metallic-framed glasses that dressed in floral over-sized dresses, Lucian was greeted with the sight of an even older man who looked one step away from looking like a skeleton. The only pieces of his once full and luscious hair was only a few ragged patches of gray strands. The man's beard however, although grey, reached to his waist and was braided thick enough to pull a carriage. His eyes still closed. Was he asleep?

"Excuse me Sir, I'd like to borrow this -" Lucian was interrupted by the raspy voice. The man did not open his eyes as he spoke to Lucian.

"Lucian Nightshade, borrowing Solar Frame. You have 10 days to memorize it. You may leave." The old man shooed him away with his flimsy left hand. The old man's voice was raspy, but sounded full of vitality.

"Okay. Thank you." Lucian said and turned to walk out. Before he got far he heard Grace's voice sound from far behind. Turning around he saw that Grace was now on the 8th floor holding an ancient looking book in her hands.

She moved one of her hands from the books cover and he visibly witnessed her remaining hand remaining hand drop slightly. How heavy can that book possibly be? She brought her remaining hand up to her mouth and shouted, "Don't forget to check out the weapon pavilion! All the good weapons will be gone soon!" She waved at Lucian before turning her attention back to her book.

"Shhhhhhh." The voice of the librarian sounded out from behind the desk and the library returned to extremely still silence. To the point where Lucian's footsteps were no longer heard as he walked away.

Although Lucian still did not know the complete layout of the academy, after his chat with Aston, he had a rough understanding of where everything was located. Besides, he just needed to follow the rest of the freshman that all looked in a rush. Gradually he made his way to the weapon pavilion. The entrance was large and plastered with gold. The marble pillars held up the sign that carried the words 'Weapon Pavilion' in large bold letters. Coated in Jewels. A cute girl came up to him, she didn't seem much older than Lucian, "Welcome to the weapon pavilion! You should be new, come on, i'll be your guide."

Lucian was caught by surprise as the over enthusiastic girl pulled him with her into the pavilion. "You must be a student as well right?" Lucian asked. The girl didn't seem like just a worker, and he had this strange feeling that the girl before him was at least Purple stage of the physique tempering realm.

"You're right, I'm a second year student. Some of the academy's students often apply for some work here and there just to get a little extra privileges."

"That sounds quite cool. I wonder what those extra privilege entails. Oh amazing. Everything is so... sharp." As they walked he noticed many weapons displayed around the pavilion. Swords, sabers, axes, war-hammers and maces. Basically any weapon you could think of may be in this pavilion.

"Crazy isn't it? That reaction is common for first timers." she said with a chuckle. Probably more than you've seen in your whole life till now i'd bet."

"mm, definitely." He was still in awe. He walked though the first floor of the pavilion he took in the wonders of the pavilion. The attendant had told him that the first floor only contained low tier, to high tier mortal weapons. While the higher floors held higher graded weapons, the floors were restricted by cultivation level. Each weapon required a minimum strength, the stronger the weapon was, the higher the cultivation requirement would be.

The freshman were able to get one mortal weapon free. Any more would need to be paid for. The choice of weapon for Lucian was not a problem. He had always had a fascination would swords. Growing up, he would swing a training sword against dummies.

His main motivation to pursue swordsmanship was how elegant and powerful a sword could be. The image could not be created with other weaponry. He had taken a liking to many different swords. There was one that was the width of two fingers and almost a meter long. Another was shaped like a crescent moon. Swords of all shapes and sizes caught his eye but he was especially drawn towards a certain greatsword. It was just slightly shorter than Lucian was. The Hilt was shaped like a claw and the pommel had a dragon head carved into it. The sword was midnight black in colour. The surrounding light looked like it would be devoured by the sword at any moment. The Blade was Black as well, and thick as an arm.

The reason such a magnificent blade was still in the pavilion was because the sword was too heavy for someone new to cultivation, and the grade was too low for anyone strong enough to bother with it.

The attendant had looked very skeptically at Lucian when he had chosen it. She had attempted to dissuade him many times. In her eyes, no freshman had ever possessed enough strength to wield the blade and Lucian must be no different. She wasn't wrong. It took her help just to place the sword on Lucian's back and it took all his strength just to keep it up. Currently, there was no way in hell that he would be able to swing it. The walk back to his residence was a tough one indeed.

Lucian had collapsed the moment he got to his room. He was covered in sweat and his entire body ached from his over exertion. That night Lucian had slept in the warm bath. By the next morning he was full of anticipation and resolve. It was time for training.