They went to the Headquarters and registered for cla.s.ses.Registration went well enough until someone asked, "What is your cultivation level?"
"Uh… we don"t have any cultivation. We"re physically unable to cultivate."
"You"re cripples?!" There was a sudden change in tone and temperament to be noted from the Registrar.
In response, Remian quietly slipped a little something into the Registrar"s hand under the table.
"Uh…" again, a shift in tone and temperament. "I"m sorry, I really am, but we can"t…"
Another something was slipped under the table.
"Please, understand! We really can"t…"
A third something slipped from hand to hand under the table.
"Uh… I…" the Registrar struggled, then closed her eyes and sighed. "I can"t. I"m truly, truly sorry. But we can"t certify a Formation Master who can"t actually make or use Formations, and you can"t do that without being able to control Qi!"
"I don"t need certification. I"m just interested in learning." Remian said, still very politely.
A fourth something slipped from hand to hand under the table.
"Well… if you just want to learn theories or join cla.s.ses, that"s… I mean… we do have audit students who want to learn merely for their own interests. No homework would be required, but we can"t give you credit for cla.s.ses, and there won"t be any certification." The Registrar said at last.
"Good enough for me." Remian a.s.sured her. "I don"t need to make a profession of it, I just want to learn." [I just want to go home.]
"Mm." At this point, the Registrar just gave up arguing and filled in forms. "I"ll put you under Instructor Mu Tianling. He doesn"t pay much attention to students… or anything else other than his crazy research… but his research has to do with using Formations with external power sources, so maybe he"ll think you"re useful and accept you as students since you can"t use Qi. That way you"ll definitely try his crazy ideas."
"Uh… thanks? I think."
"Are you sure you won"t join a different branch? Herb-gathering, perhaps? Commerce and Business?"
"I"m sure. It has to be Formations."
The Registrar sighed. "If you change your mind, you can come see me again for a transfer. Extra fees will apply."
With that, Remian and Xiao Yan entered the Alchemist Guild as new Formations and Arrays students.
***
While Remian was getting into academia, Gary was exiting the Observatory with Tang Yin. After a few days of studying and tests, half the time offering answers he himself didn"t believe in, he finally managed to get through the four floors and took the first exit out.
Tang Yin, meanwhile, had gone through most of the past few days snoozing. He only made a move on when Gary made an effort to wake him up, usually being among the last few to proceed, and never seemed to need to study anything at all.
Upon reaching the fourth floor, Gary basically told him, "We made it to the fourth floor! We can exit here, or we can keep going up…"
"I"m outta here!" Tang Yin declared immediately.
"Then, me too…" Gary went with him.
Together they raced out of the Observatory like a pair of prisoners escaping jail.
"We"re free!!" Outside the Observatory, Gary raised both hands to the heavens and cheered.
"Finally!" Tang Yin yawned. "I"m going home."
"Wait, wait. What about lunch? All we had in the tower were those drybread rations they stacked up in the shelves…" Gary hastily cut in. "Why don"t we go eat at a restaurant to celebrate?"
"Sure, but you"re paying." Tang Yin shrugged.
Gary winced, but bravely put up with it. "Right, right. Actually, there was a matter I wanted to talk to you about…"
"Hmm? You want something from me?" Tang Yin yawned. "It better be something special, otherwise I"m not interested."
"Special? Hmm." Gary paused, then said. "I need you to seal a crack in s.p.a.ce."
Tang Yin froze. "Did you just say, "a crack in s.p.a.ce"?"
Suddenly, he seemed wide awake.
***
Over lunch, Gary and Tang Yin became fast friends… sort of? Maybe?
Tang Yin, for once, seemed more awake than he"d been over the years he"d spent at the Academy. He asked a lot of questions; location, environment, ambient atmospheric temperature, alt.i.tude above sea level, coordinates relative to the world"s magnetic core…
Almost all his questions could not be answered by Gary. By the time lunch ended, they had both confidently concluded that Tang Yin absolutely had to go to the Wildlands and see the Rift himself.
"So, when are we going?" Gary asked, eager to go help Mindy.
"Wait. I need… I need to think. To calculate. To theorize…" Tang Yin started muttering to himself. "There"s about fifty-two theories in my head right now that needs to be written down and considered, then I need to refer… I need the library…"
"Library!" Gary quickly ushered him into the Library where Tang Yin spent many an hour researching and theorizing and writing and muttering to himself over a desk while Gary went looking for Siti.
Siti, it turned out, had completed her camp a day ago and had already returned to her usual haunt. Gary happily chatted with her in a low voice while waiting for Tang Yin…
He chatted and waited until Siti left for lunch.
He got bored and randomly read books he didn"t find overly ridiculous on spatial theories scattered across Tang Yin"s desk.
He went out for dinner and came back to find Tang Yin scribbling on yet another piece of paper.
He went to sleep.
He woke up and had breakfast, then went to check on Tang Yin, who was still scribbling away wildly in the library. He seemed to have two whole stacks of papers beside him, one of plain empty paper, the other of sheets filled with scribbles that were rapidly piling up. The librarians present told Gary that he"d been at it all night and they"d been asked every so often for more and more paper.
As for the scribbled papers that he"d discarded… they"d already filled three garbage bins which had been emptied this morning.
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Gary brought Tang Yin food; cafeteria sandwiches, some sort of fish-paste with a strong onion smell. Tang Yin didn"t seem to mind or stop scribbling.
This went on for three days.
At last, at sunset on the fourth day after leaving the Observatory, Tang Yin laid down his pencil, stretched, yawned, and closed his eyes. "I give up."
"What?!" Gary gasped. After… after all this…?!
"I can"t figure it out without actually seeing it. I need to go there to figure out the rest of this." Tang Yin gestured vaguely at the three piles of paper he"d stacked up beside him.
"Great! So we"re done with the library?"
"Yeah, I"ve gotten everything I could get from here. Let"s go." Tang Yin decided.
"Awesome!" Gary pulled a comms crystal out of his pocket and called Mindy.
***
At the time, Mindy was locked in combat with a Tier 8 Spectre.
"Gary! Not a good time to chat!" Mindy gasped, her fire sword half-stuck, half-cutting the claw/paw of a Spectral Beast roughly the size of KarGoth"s hill. It was like she was trying to cut jelly, and the beast roared with pain while her fiery weapon burned it"s paw from the inside, but at the same time its claws were sc.r.a.ping onto her armor and tearing it apart for the seventeenth time this week. "Blast it, I need better armor!"
But where would one find Tier 8 armor that could fend off semi-tangible Spectres?
Chirpy was clawing away at the Beast, who was half-wrestling, half-swimming against her blazing feathers, the three of them locked in yet another messy struggle on yet another daily clash in the perimeter of Dragon Lake.
"But I got him! I got the s.p.a.ce magic specialist! He wants to go see the Rift!" Gary shouted excitedly.
"Well, I would love to pick you up, but I"m kinda stuck here for now, so you"ll just have to find your own way here!" Mindy barked.
Gary said something, but the Spectre roared at the time, and whatever he said was drowned out in the Beast"s noise.
"Gary, I can"t hear anything from you right now. Just… call Charlie! Tell him I"ll pay for whatever, just get over here!" Mindy shouted, and ended the call.
***
Gary was left holding the mildly beeping comms crystal as the call ended.
"Pay for… whatever, she says?" Gary repeated to himself, and then a very, very big smile appeared on his face.