Training (2)

After we had finished sorting out who would play which role during the tournament, the four girls insisted on teaching more Level Two spells. And so, from there, we came to the Yu family manor once again, since I wasn't welcomed at the Qing family.

By the way, after a lot of convincing, I finally agreed to telling Yu Ao I could in fact use magic. I trusted he wouldn't betray me, but even then I really didn't want to meet him again...

"Er...can I not go in?" I asked hopefully, sweat forming on my head.

The last time I was here, I was suddenly roped into an engagement. Not exactly the best welcome. Well, it was an engagement with two goddess-level beauties, so...eh. Maybe for some other boys, but not me. But had it been themselves that came to me, not their parents, I might've given in to the temptation...

"We're already here, what's the harm in going inside?" Feng Mian said with a shrug.

Yeah...easy for you to say. You're not the one getting dragged into a marriage.

"C'mon, the Yu family has a lot of Level Two spells in its library," Yu An Yan urged with a wink. "I guarantee you'll find some you like!"

And so, the five of us entered the Yu family residence, once more.

"Y'know, I've been curious for a while now, but..." Qing Yue said as we were walking through the beautiful and diverse gardens of the Yu family. "Yu An Yan, according to your sister, you were just like her - cold and distant to everyone. But it doesn't seem that way to me..."

Yu An Yan tilted her head at the question. "Hm...certainly, before I was taken away by Ghosteye, I disliked talking with anyone other than An Xue. Eh...I don't know. All the personality changes I've gone through may have affected my initial character."

"That's not uncommon - once someone goes through multiple personality changes...even if all of them are reverted, there's a high chance they won't ever go back to their original one," I added. Then, after receiving several bewildered looks that said 'how do you know all this', I continued. "My...mother taught me..."

That caused everyone to go silent, since they knew about what happened to my mother.

"Um...I'm sorry," Yu An Xue said timidly.

"No, it's fine," I replied hurriedly. "It was...a long time ago, after all."

She must've felt really guilty inside. I helped her get her long lost sister back, but my parents...they will never come back, no matter how hard I tried. Necromancy was an option, but...I would rather they not be disturbed, even in their death.

It was then that I realized we were heading in the direction of the main manor.

"Wait," I interrupted, and the two sisters who were leading us glanced back at me in confusion. "Er...why are we heading in the direction of the manor?"

"To say hello to my father first, of course!" Yu An Yan replied energetically, and Yu An Xue nodded beside her.

"But, uh, is that really necessary?" I asked.

"Sure it is! We could go straight to the library, but that would be really impolite," Feng Mian cut in.

"Mhm, that's right," Yu An Yan added. "As obedient daughters, we have to greet our parents upon returning to the manor."

"No, I mean, is it necessary for ME to be there...?" I asked, getting desperate.

"Well...not exactly, but you will never find the library without us, so come on!" Yu An Yan shut me down completely.

I sighed, and inside my mind, I cursed. Old geezer...we meet again.

*****

Yu An Yan pushed open the mansion doors, and bowed deeply. "We have returned, father."

"Ah! My two daughters and son-in-law!" The patriarch's booming voice resounded loudly against the marble floor and walls.

"Who's your son-in-law?!" I yelled immediately.

The man scratched his head. "Oh...that's right. I forgot, you haven't accepted my offer yet."

"What do you mean by 'yet'?!"

"Well, no matter! My two daughters will always be here, waiting for you!" he continued, ignoring my rebuttal completely.

"H-Huh?!" The two sisters were caught off guard, and quickly turned red as they realized what their father meant. "F-Father!" Yu An Yan cried, blushing deeply.

"Ahaha! Embarrassed now, are we?" he bellowed in laughter. "Anyway! What have you five come today for?"

"Father, we would like to teach Xuan Kai some more Level Two spells in preparation for the Advancement Exams. In other words, we would like access to the Yu family library," Yu An Yan answered truthfully, head bowed.

"Oho...yes, I heard from you two that Xuan Kai can actually use magic...but anyway - the Advancement Exams, huh?" Yu Ao rested his chin on his right hand. "I heard that this year, it will be in the form of a tournament?"

"That is correct," Yu An Yan replied. "Father's information network is certainly really large."

"Hah! Sucking up to me won't get you anywhere..."

I gulped. Was he going to refuse? I looked at the other girls, and they all seemed nervous.

"...But he's my son-in-law, so of course he can use library, ahaha!"

The girls all let out a sigh of relief, while I could only wince.

*****

- Within The Yu Family Library -

"Annnd here we are!" Yu An Yan announced excitedly.

"Wow..." Qing Yue and Feng Mian mused in awe.

Who can blame them? This was very impressive, even for one of the Four Great Families of Shenzhen. The walls were painted white, books and scrolls neatly organized, with a massive chandelier hung above everything. The place was tremendously large and tall, with multiple floors and even a basement.

The building was perfectly round. The Yu family insignia, a massive golden falcon, was painted on the floor. Four staircases spiraled upwards, with exits at each floor. The closest thing I've seen to it was a clock tower, but this was far more impressive and exquisitely designed.

"This is...quite extravagant," I remarked.

"I think you mean IMPRESSIVE," Yu An Yan corrected. "That's right! This is the Yu family library. Welcome!"

"I never knew the Yu family had such a huge library..." Feng Mian said.

"We don't...tell just anyone about this..." Yu An Xue explained.

"Oho, I guess we are special then?" Qing Yue smiled smugly.

"Mm." Yu An Xue nodded in confirmation.

The two sisters then led us all around the library - it was like a museum. From Level One spells to Legendary Magic, this library had it all. And apparently, there was a Mythic-Tier spell hidden here as well, but only the patriarch knew its exact location.

At last, we circled back around to the Level Two spells section. They were placed on the second floor - Level Three spells on the third floor, Legendary Magic on the fourth. It was a neat and simple way to organize the spells.

Each floor was separated into 21 different sections. Each section represented one element, and spells corresponding to that element and the floor's level would be placed there.

"Since you can use every element, just go through every section, I guess," Yu An Yan said out loud.

"Hey!" I whispered sharply. "What if there are any wiretaps or bugs set around?"

The two sisters stared at me blankly-

"PFFT! AHAHAHA!" Yu An Yan burst out in laughter. "Wiretapping? Who uses that still?!"

"Huh?" I was confused. Wiretapping was using a device to secretly listen in on another's conversations.

"Ever since the Sound Element was discovered years ago...wiretapping has been out of date...a simple Sound Element spell can do everything a covert listening device can do...plus more..." Yu An Xue explained.

Now, even Feng Mian and Qing Yue couldn't help but laugh. They placed their hands over their mouth in a miserable attempt to cover it up, but it was blatantly obvious they were laughing at me.

"Er...i-it doesn't hurt to be more careful, right?" I argued desperately.

Yu An Yan sighed. "Well, fine. If you don't want me to talk about your abilities, then I won't. I understand how careful you are," she replied.

Finally convinced her. Damn...I've won, but why did I feel like I lost instead?

"T-Thank you," I said quietly, and quickly fled the scene.

*****

Now then...where should I start?

Each section was a separate room, with doors to connect them together. Think of it like a round pizza divided into 21 equal slices. Then, take a circular utensil, and cut out a portion from the middle. That was the top view of the interior layout of the Yu family library. I was currently in the Fire section, and the color scheme in here was mainly red and orange. Quite a nice design - it reminded me of the Magic Training Room, kind of.

Within each room were shelves that held books and scrolls of the respective element and tier. There were also tables and chairs placed around for people to cultivate.

Indeed - cultivate. I noticed that there was actually Fire Element mana in this room, and quite an amount of it too. I assumed the other rooms were the same, with a different type of mana. This was a neat feature, since then people could attempt learning the spell right after they've gotten the book or scroll. In this mana-rich environment, learning new spells should be easier than normal. Whoever designed this place must've been a very considerate person, or just a genius.

Since I was already here, I figured might as well try some spells out. I walked over to the shelves, filled with precious spell books and scrolls. I took out one of them by random, and read the name on the cover.

"Level Two Fire Magic - Pyroflux."

But as soon as I read the name, I felt my hands become hot, and quickly dropped the book. Suddenly, two blazing lines of black fire shot out of my hands. My first reaction was to aim it downwards at the marble floor in order to avoid catching anything on fire. Luckily, marble wasn't flammable.

But my relief was short-lived.

I forgot one tiny detail:

My magic, was amplified in power.