195 Library (1/2)

But for now, all of that was of no use for him. Instead, he was more interested in three other buildings, which she hadn't explained yet.

”These buildings are the Library, the Quest Hall, and the Trade Hall.”, she told him, before explaining them in detail. ”The library contains all the information the sect has. They are stored in crystals and the general knowledge is freely available for disciples. I heard that skills and special knowledge require either tokens or Contribution points. The Quest Hall is the hub for taking and ending quests and the Trade Hall is where disciples can either trade with each other or the sect.”

To the current him, only the library was of interest. He didn't have anything of worth to trade and he wasn't able to finish any quests either.

”Let's go to the library.”

The two of them wandered over to the library. It was unlike one would expect. There were no books and also no crystals visible. Instead, there was only a row of counters behind which servants stood. There were also hallways going off into the distance with reading rooms on their sides.

”You have to go and ask for what you would like to read about.”, Clara explained how it worked.

”So I only have to tell them the topic and they will find the relevant material? Can't I search for myself?”

”According to what I know, the sect introduced this system because this is a way to control the knowledge of the disciples. There is some knowledge that is dangerous to have if you aren't strong enough. So the sect decided to take this approach to control the available knowledge.”

Ivan nodded. He understood that there was some knowledge that just having could be a problem. Sometimes knowing too much could either lead to danger from oneself as one would go down the wrong way because of being unable to understand one's situation. Although this could be seen as a form of patronizing, it would also ensure that the sect could nurture many outstanding disciples and not have anyone but the geniuses die during cultivation.

And besides the knowledge that was dangerous for oneself, there was also that, which others wouldn't want you to possess. So if you did possess it, it could very well be that they tried to kill you if they became aware of it.

Determined to test out this library he went over to one of these counters. Although the entrance hall was full, there were enough counters available, which made the waiting time very short.

So after only waiting for a few minutes, he could talk to the servant behind the counter.

”Hello, how may I help you.”, the servant asked with an expressionless face. In fact, all the servants working in the library said the same words and had the same expressionless face, making him wonder if there was some form of training that thought them to act like this.

Banishing these useless thoughts he asked for information on the topics he was interested in, ”Hello, I would like information on basic pill refining, pill ranks, pill recipes, and herbs used for basic pill refining.”

The servant seemed to use his mind to connect to something since his eyes seemed empty for a short moment.

”Please wait a moment.”, he then asked before leaving to enter a room behind him.

Ivan wasn't able to see what he was doing inside but soon he came out again. He now carried a crystal card in his hands, which he gently put on the table.

”Here is the information you requested.”, he told him, while sliding over the crystal card. ”According to the database, this is the first time you have made use of the library. Would you like an introduction, how to use the card?”

”Please.”, although Clara had told him that he could read it with his mind, a more detailed introduction wouldn't hurt.

”You will have to connect to the card with your mind and will then have to options. You can either read through the information. Basically it will appear on some kind of screen in your view field. This is useful to browse the information and find what you really need. The other option is to absorb the knowledge. For this, you will need to select a folder and it will then be transmitted directly into your brain. It is as if you have learned all the information before and you just have to remember it. The folders can be found through browsing.”

The second option seemed extremely useful to Ivan. It was as if he had already known the information and just needed to remember it. Wouldn't that mean that he could practically learn all the information in a flash?

While he was dreaming about instantly absorbing all the knowledge. The servants next words destroyed that daydream.