The Great Library - 651

"What exactly makes the tower worth 100 intelligence points?" He asked.

"From what I understand, the atmosphere alone qualifies it for such a high price. Sitting above everything, looking down on those below. I imagine the food is rare as well, of course. As for what the menu is, I don't know."

"Alright. Thank you." 

The woman bowed and left.

Skymender was soon brought the food he had ordered.

It all tasted good. It could not accurately be compared to Master Chef Garb's cooking simply because it was a different type of cuisine. 

Skymender did not know if Master Chef Garb knew how to make sushi, but if he did it would probably taste even better.

Skymender soon left, returning to his room.

The next morning, he returned to the Education building as usual. The Imperial Scholar stood in front of the class and explained the next section.

"We have gone over most of the basic sections that need to be learned as a foundation for everything else, and have also gone deeper into certain studies. Now, as we reach the end of the Imperial Scholar Camp, it is time for everyone to individually choose what they want to learn. The remaining month will go as follows: From now on, there is no more class. Instead, for an hour every other day, each student can come to me under allotted times and receive my full attention and teachings. The great library has opened as of now. The final class is dismissed. Meeting times are posted on billboards around the Imperial Scholar Camp."

With that, he turned around and left.

Skymender had read the introductory booklet, and already knew what the great library was. It was a treasure trove of knowledge and learning. As long as it wasn't classified information, then everything that the Empire knew was within the great library.

Skymender left the Education building, and like almost every other person, made his way to the great library.

Along the way, he stopped and saw a billboard with times and names written on it. Reading it, he found that his first one on one teaching with the Imperial Scholar was scheduled tomorrow at noon.

After memorizing that important piece of information, he walked the rest of the way to the great library.

The building was large and the entrance was wide. Skymender walked through the open doors and found a large map ahead. It had the major sections of study on it. This included science, math, english, and a few more important subsections that could almost be considered major sections of their own.

Skymender naturally headed to the science section. There was another map, and in a corner he saw a section on poison.

He walked through winding bookshelves before eventually finding the poison section. It was small, but there were at least a thousand books. 

Like in other sections, he found seats and a few tables, though all of them were small.

Skymender walked around, looking at the books. Most seemed to contain information on various plants, animals, and environments. A few had information on certain combinations and theories. However, it was clear that there were no recipes for poison to be found here. 

After all, poison was a very dangerous thing. Information could not be easily spread.

Skymender began to hesitate in his head. He would not be able to make much progress in poison here, simply because it was dangerous. Important information would no doubt be redacted.

After a while, he left the poison section. He even left the science section. He headed to one of the biggest sections, a section that was outside of the major sections and stood alone as an important section.

It was the medical section. He actually saw a few people here. Books lined the walls, stocked up from thousands of authors over hundreds of years.

Although he was not interested in healing or being a doctor, he was interested in poison. It was not impossible to use medicine to create a poison. All it needed was a substance that triggered a reverse response.

He wanted to learn medicine for this reason. It could further his poison arts.

Skymender found another map within the medical section that pinpointed certain information or minor sections within the medical section. He eventually found an area that covered poisons, diseases, and sicknesses. It was a pretty major section within the medical sections, alongside the likes of broken bones and brain injuries.

Skymender went over to the poisons, diseases, and sickness section.

Focusing further, he found books based on poison treatment.

After looking at titles, he chose a rather large book titled, "Snake's Across the World".

It seemed to be a book about different types of snakes and what could be done about their venom.

The book was divided in half, one section being about venomous snakes and the other being about non-venomous snakes.

He skipped past the non-venomous section and made his way to the second half of the book. 

The very first snake had dark black scales and an evil look.

"Night-scaled one fang snake." Its name described it quite perfectly.

Its venom could be counteracted by adding a mixture of different liquids, harvested from different plants, and mixing them with the venom in a certain ratio. It was very detailed and Skymender was confident in creating the antidote if he had all of the materials in front of him.

Next was a brown snake that was similarly evil looking. 

"Mud Swamp Snapper."

It lived in a non-poisonous swamp and hid under mud, snapping at passing prey. It rarely attacked humans, usually by accident, but when it did, it was deadly. Luckily, an antidote to its poison had been researched, requiring mud that a Mud Swamp Snapper had released its venom into over a period of days.

This was nearly impossible to find naturally, but it could be made by using a captured Mud Swamp Snapper and some collected mud.

Afterwards, the mud would be mixed with healing herbs, liquidized, and ingested.

It caused minor diarrhea afterwards, though it also saved the poisoned individual's life.

The book went deep into detail about every single snake.