Cultivation Fever

"Miss Freja…" Davide"s cry was immediately smothered.

"You"re so cute! Let"s go home right away!"

Without putting him down, she ran out of the room, chattering excitedly all the way.

I was somewhat worried for Davide. Freja was a little… strange. I had seen her act like a child, a proud warrior, and a humble teacher all in the s.p.a.ce of a few minutes.

Out of these three sides, her humility rea.s.sured me. Admitting that she was inferior in strength to Chairman Liu showed enough respect for me to believe that Davide would be alright.

Yang Heng calmly and elegantly drifted through the room. With a slight nod to Yao Daiyu, she followed him with equal grace. They were a fitting pair.

It was my turn now. Yin Xue simply walked past me without a hint of recognition. Reaching the doorway, he paused and called out.

"Little monster, ya coming or not?"

I followed Yin Xue out into Little Yard. A few students milled about, watching us closely.

All the other teachers were leaving Little Yard by a gate next to College, but Yin Xue led me the opposite direction. Sensing my confusion, Yin Xue perked up.

"If yer wondering why we"re goin" the wrong way, don"t. Those t.w.a.ts all live out there. I live in here."

He led me to a building that stretched along the entire left side of the square. We pa.s.sed through a large archway, made of the same stone as the ident.i.ty card readers.

The ponytail and gla.s.ses woman sat behind a desk, some way behind the entrance.

"Mornin" Mouse," Yin Xue called out.

She peeked up from behind the desk.

"Good morning Sir! Oh!" she looked at me, "Oscar Schwartz! I apologise for how I…"

"Please don"t Miss. I"m not a n.o.ble."

"But…"

"Mouse, take it from me," Yin Xue interrupted, "he"s nowhere near a n.o.ble."

"Yes sir."

So, Yin Xue did know, and he deliberately didn"t tell the teachers. At least now I knew for sure that he wanted to be my mentor the whole time.

Seemingly reading my mind, Yin Xue spoke over his shoulder,

"Yep, I know that and more. But…" He whipped around and stared me down, "there"s some things I don"t know."

His smile was unnerving, and the flicker of his eyes disturbing. It made me feel like a test subject under scrutiny.

With a twirl, he bashed open a set of double doors.

"Welcome to my library!"

The doors opened to a large two-tiered room. Bookshelves ran down the length of the walls, jutting out every few meters.

There was an array of desks in the middle, bathed in beautiful sunlight from a skylight far up above. At the back of the room was a spiral staircase leading up to the other floors.

The top floor had a long section cut out of the middle, letting light pour down from the ceiling. Large wooden b.u.t.tresses held up the floor, s.p.a.ced in line with the bookshelves.

Some students worked at the desks in silence, ignoring Yin Xue.

"This "ere is the main study room. All types of history"s on the bottom floors, and geography"s on the top. Come "ere."

Yin Xue led me to an entrance way carved into the right wall of the main room. An eerie tunnel lay before us, illuminated by pulsating yellow tendrils.

"Yer about to see something not many people get to see."

At the end of the tunnel was something akin to a bank vault door. It was seamless, save for a glowing panel in the centre.

Yin Xue slotted his card into the panel and, after a blink, the door swung open. It was made of a deep black metal, and was nearly a meter thick, but opened smoothly and without sound.

The room inside was incredible. Towering walls of ornate books encircled a glowing column. On closer inspection, the column was built out of many individual blocks.

Each block glowed with a different strength and frequency, and some flickered every now and then.

"This "ere"s the vault. It"s the most secure place in the whole school," he raised his voice and called out, "Xiaogui! Come out! I"ve got a visitor."

"A visitor, sir?"

I tiny, impish man walked around the pillar, and was startled when he saw me.

"Sir! You brought a student in here?!"

"Don"t worry yourself Xiaogui. Guess who this is."

Xiaogui scrunched up his features in thought.

"Your son, sir?"

"Are ya an idiot?! When would I find the time to… ah stuff it. This right "ere is Oscar Schwarz, my own little scholar."

Xiaogui trembled slightly, panic flashing across his eyes.

"Sir… what did this poor boy do?" he looked to the side and frowned, "and that name…"

"Yeah, yer right. The infamous Divine Weapon of the North"s son is right "ere in this school."

"And what did he… nevermind. I have to get back to work, sir."

Xiaogui gave me a nod, his eyes full of concern, then disappeared back around the pillar.

So, even Xiaogui knew father. And he had such an impressive t.i.tle… things began to line up in my head.

Father must have been a distinguished soldier in the North. From his conversation with Tony, I gathered that he made a huge blunder and had been sent down here.

I definitely wanted to know more about father now. What had he done that made him known to even this little vault dwelling, imp of a man?

Yin Xue continued his little tour of the library,

"We store all the cultivation techniques "ere. Xiaogui manages them and he does a great job."

"That thing there," he pointed at the pillar, "is something called a "server". It runs a lot of this school. Bit of an eyesore if ya ask me."

He led us round the pillar and through a small door in the wall. Inside was what I can only describe as a small bachelor pad.

There was a dishevelled bunkbed, a desk, and one huge armchair. Every surface was covered with books and notes, and empty inkpots clinked as Yin Xue waded through.

"This"s is where me and Xiaogui live. "Ere," he pointed at a raised pile of books, "take a seat."

Yin Xue flopped down into the armchair, and I perched on the books.

"Why do you…"

"Stop!" he yelled, nearly jumping out of his armchair, "No questions! Wait until I"m done and don"t interrupt me."

He slumped back into the armchair with a sigh.

"Yes, I know about yer daddy. Yes, I know about yer little demon slave. Yer stupidly overdeveloped soul, I know about that too."

"Now, I know a lot of const.i.tutions. In fact, I think I know every single one that"s ever been recorded in this continent."

I felt b.u.t.terflies in my stomach. I knew where this was going. Yin Xue leaned forward and lowered his voice.

"And that "Soul Becoming World" const.i.tution? It"s not just rare. It"s complete and utter bulls.h.i.t."