19 The Weird Book

The plan for the month was set. Aser needed to cultivate and study, and perhaps he also wanted to spend a few hours chatting with Julia, but there wasn't much else for him to do. The atmosphere in First Son's Academy had grown over the last week. The notice had spread throughout the whole student body, including the large amount of seniors who were still outside with their families.

The additional rewards for the trials had also been set, which served to amplify the boiling blood of the students. Even though the rewards were mostly extra points, for higher ranked trials, it included special Earthly Treasures of the Initiate Grade!

The students of the Academy weren't nobodies either. After investigating for a few days with their family's forces, most had understood that this was a way to both curb the uprising of an unknown genius, as well as provide a platform for their children to shine. It seemed that the operation to strike down on Aser's Gold Standard Scholarship was bound to happen.

Aser, being socially awkward and having an almost nonexistent friend circle didn't realize that he was the center of the storm currently going through the academy. His days were spent monotonously until he discovered a certain book.

It had been a fortnight since he had arrived at this institution of mandatory education. While browsing through the jungle of leather bound texts to locate the next one he needed, our young protagonist stumbled on to a book that he couldn't understand. It was laying as a scrunched up doll abandoned in the corner of a shelf of the Social Sciences aisle.

Curious as to why a haven for knowledge would treat one of its children in such a way, he decided to check what it was about. Opening up the wrinkled magazine-like copy, Aser discovered that it wasn't a book of texts but illustrations! These were rare on the first floor from his experience, and so he couldn't understand why it would be abandoned like it was.

Flipping through the pages, he saw images and illustrations that he simply couldn't comprehend. It looked like a Cultivation Method, but this was the most abstract cultivation method he had ever seen! It even required two people. It was already late in the evening, so Aser simply decided to take it back with him to the study room and ask Julia.

The two of them had been spending more time together, as they were the only peers they knew. Aser also realized on the first day they talked that Julia stayed in the library for most of the day, so he invited her to his study room to read in relative comfort. Not finding anything wrong with his invitation, the little girl had readily accepted and was now spending most of her time studying in there with Aser.

Getting back into the cozy study, the boy glanced at the orange hued light streaming into the room as the signal to the end of another day. He peered at the auburn haired little girl standing in front of the bookshelf selecting another book to read. Noticing the boy coming in, she turned around to greet him.

"Hey, do you have anything here that's on Rotational Velocity?"

"Yeah, check the third shelf near the right end, there's a book by Professor Matthew there. Think it's called 'Varying Mathematical Conjectures on Essence Velocities'. But before you do that, help me research this cultivation art I found. I can't understand it at all!" Aser moved to the table and put down the flimsy book he found.

Curious and surprised that there would be such an item on the first floor, Julia moved to the table to find a book with different illustrations of men and women in weird poses. They seemed to be either fighting or cultivating, but the methods looked very crude. The illustrations didn't help either for the kids, as the man and woman in them seemed to be in bliss.

It was only after going through the pictures a few times that they discovered what was wrong. The couple were naked in the drawings. Not just naked due to showing positions, but rather naked due to the painter drawing them as such! It didn't take long for the kids to connect the dots, and gradually both of their faces turned red in embarrassment.

"Shameful! Aser you are too shameful!", Julia cried and ran away from the book. Aser didn't know what to do either as he took a step back, as if fighting against a horrifying enemy!

"Julia, I uhh, I didn't know! I really didn't! I'm getting rid of this abomination right now!" Aser used one of the few skills he had, [Essence Flash] on the vile material in front of him. Since he was trying to just burn a book, he only used very small motes of essence clouds to trigger the skill, resulting in a quick flash. Opening his eyes, he saw that the insidious book was only a pile of ashes now.

Feeling the awkward atmosphere, he decided to clean the table and continue his studies while Julia calmed down. Just as he sat down with an actual proper material, a notification from Ashes alerted him.

[System Report: Essence Flash Level 1 Mastery increased: 65%]

[System Report: New subject of study introduced to the library: "Illustrations of human reproduction"]

The two notifications came as a surprise to him. The first one, he was happy about. But the moment he read the second one, he froze like a statue.

Gritting his teeth, Aser sent a thought. "Ashes."

[Yes?]

"What is the meaning of this?"

[You've advanced your skill for Essence Flash due to using it in a controlled method.]

"You know that's not what I'm asking about", the boy spat out, bubbling with embarrassment and anger.

[A book has been generated in the library with the details of the book that was recently incinerated.]

"Yes, I know that," rubbing his temples, "why did you generate it?"

[From my understanding from the Essence History, a young man will find it useful. Since it is going to be useful for you in the future, we need to have a copy of it in the library.] the system replied in a matter of fact way.

"You know what, fine, whatever!"

Deciding to simply let Ashes do what she wanted, Aser continued reading his book, the air still filled with awkwardness. Unfortunately, Aser had no idea how to fix it.