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fictional stories of Hitler. from WWI to shooting himself in WWII, (Hopefuly).

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Chapter 36: Shocked 

Seeing that Han Li became furious, Li Feiyu did not get angry. Instead, Li  Feiyu remained indifferent. 

He tilted his head, stuck his pinky into his ear, and concentrated on cleaning  his ear. Han Li’s reaction was an appropriate and expected one. 

After Han Li had vented his anger, he saw that Li Feiyu remained as brazen as  a city wall, almost as if he had not heard any of Han Li’s remarks. Han Li  calmed down, sensing that something was off. 

“You are not a fool, nor are you an egomaniac. You wouldn’t do anything that  would get yourself killed. You must tell me what your reason was behind such a  reckless action right now,” Han Li gravely demanded. 

Li Feiyu, seeing that Han Li’s anger was quickly being replaced once again by  reason, felt somewhat regretful. He assumed a wronged and pitiful appearance  and repeatedly complained of this injustice by shouting, “Heavens! I’m being  wrongly accused!” 

“A moment ago, I was actually about to give you an explanation, but you didn’t  even give me a chance to open my mouth!” 

“Now you’re complaining about me, am I truly no longer a person in your eyes!?” 

This kind of whining was obviously fake. Anyone who took a quick glance at  this farce would feel annoyed after seeing through the act. 

Han Li also could not help but think of taking advantage of the situation and  stepped forward, fiercely kicking Li Feiyu, who was resembling a sh!t-eating  dog. 

“Give me less acting and more explaining. Quickly!”  

“You scoundrel. If the junior disciples that admire you see your lazy  appearance, your image as a powerful and confident fighter would be completely  shattered.” Han Li gave him a bit of a mocking expression. 

Han Li currently had no time to vent his anger and argue with Li Feiyu. If  this secret exchange was not handled well, the two of them would face enormous  consequences. 

Li Feiyu seemed to realize what Han Li was thinking at this moment and no  longer ridiculed or denounced him. Rather, he lazily walked over to the bundle  and picked up a rare book. 

After standing up straight, his face had a mysterious radiance. With a smile  that was simultaneously not a genuine smile, he handed the book over to Han Li.  Afterwards, signalling with his eyes, Li Feiyu beckoned Han Li to look at the  book’s cover. 

Han Li reached out with his hand to receive the very thin and rare book,  giving Li Feiyu a look filled with doubt. 

He was at a bit of a loss, not knowing what sort of crafty scheme Li Feiyu was  plotting. 

“Open it and take a look for yourself. If you do, you’ll understand  everything.” Li Feiyu deliberately used a mysterious tone in order to coax Han  Li into examining the book. 

“What, you can’t say it outright? What’s the point of trying to keep it a  mystery?” 

Although hesitation was evident on Han Li’s face, he flipped through the pages  of the book. 

He opened the cover, revealing the first page of the rare manual. The top of  the page, neatly written in black and white, were three large words: “Blinking  Sword Art”. 

“En!” Han Li was slightly astounded. 

Han Li was astonished that the first book Li Feiyu had given to him was  exactly what he desired. 

“Don’t lose your focus. Come and see the rest of the books.” Li Feiyu tossed  over a few nearby rare manuals in succession. 

Han Li caught the books one by one and was completely stunned after quickly  skimming through their entirety.. 

All of their titles were clearly written with black and white characters:  “Blinking Sword Art”. 

Only after a long while had passed did Han Li lift his gaze from the books in  his hands. 

Pointing his finger at the large pile of secret manuals on the ground, Han Li  asked stammeringly, “You… you cannot possibly tell me… that these…. these…  these are all manuals for “Blinking Sword Art”! 

“I am very sorry, Junior Disciple Han. You have indeed guessed correctly.” Li  Feiyu shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands; his face wearing an  expression of helplessness. 

Although Li Feiyu seemed apologetic, his feelings did not coincide with his  words. The corner of his mouth rose faintly as he derived pleasure from Han  Li’s frustration. 

“This is impossible! There are almost a hundred books here, so how could all  of these possibly be manuals for Blinking Sword Art?” Unable to stomach Li  Feiyu’s cheap tricks, Han Li questioned Li Feiyu because he was filled with  great doubt. 

“You’re asking me? Who was I even supposed ask in order to verify that they  were the right manuals without getting caught?” 

“I was at the corner of the Seven Supreme Division’s library when I suddenly  came upon so many rare manuals sharing the same name. I, too, was shocked!” Li  Feiyu rolled his eyes and mumbled to himself, giving off the appearance of  having lingering trauma. 

Soon after, he saw Han Li’s dumbfounded expression and couldn’t help but laugh  heartily. 

Li Feiyu would later say that seeing Han Li suffer such a shock was indeed a  rare and impressive sight. 

Ordinarily, Han Li’s face was always calm and composed, as if he always had a  card up his sleeve. For Han Li to be shocked was near impossible. 

At this moment, Han Li had such a numb, foolish look that made Li Feiyu feel  that these past few days had been well worth the taxing effort. 

After a moment, Han Li had at last cleared his mind. 

He tightly grabbed several books with his hands and lowered his head, deep in  thought. Then, with a thought, he looked up and asked neither slowly nor  rushed, “Did you count how many manuals were in the bundle?” 

“In total, how many manuals did you bring?” Han Li once again asked. 

“Naturally, I counted the manuals multiple times. Altogether, there are  seventy four books, all with the same name.” Li Feiyu immediately replied,  without any hesitation. 

“If we don’t know the exact quantity of manuals and fail to return one or two  books, we might draw ourselves unwanted attention, which might prove  troublesome,” Han Li immediately explained. 

He softly pinched the somewhat yellow pages, slowly turning them over as he  carefully skimmed one of the secret manuals in his hand. 



A poor and ordinary boy from a village joins a minor sect in Jiang Hu and becomes an Unofficial Disciple by chance. How will Han Li, a commoner by birth, establish a foothold for himself in in his sect? With his mediocre aptitude, he must successfully traverse the treacherous path of cultivation and avoid the notice of those who may do him harm. This is a story of an ordinary mortal who, against all odds, clashes with devilish demons and ancient celestials in order to find his own path towards immortality.

The public library was much smaller then the library in the Flamesmith clan. It was only a floor tall. Leon walked in, everything was free of charge and everyone was allowed to borrow books. So he didn't have to worry about being stopped from reading anything. 

Leon went and looked around. He saw regular books as well as arts. Unlike the Flamesmith clan which separated the two into two separate Libraries. 

The public Library was small so Leon found what he was looking for quickly. He saw a shelf full of Arts. But not just any <Tier 0> arts, <Tier 0> arts focused on the body.

Leon picked two arts and read the summary on their first page. He had gotten a glimpse of all other arts and these two looked the most promising.

"<Pounding skin Art> let your body be hit by a thousand punches everyday while saying this chant to make your body stronger."

"<Charred finger Art> Touch a candle flame with your finger and slowly make your finger heat resistant."

"I can't train the first art, without the slaughter qi reinforcing my body, I won't be able to last 3 punches. The second one isn't even close to what I want. Let's see the others." Leon was losing hope after reading the first two. 

He picked another book and read it.

"<Knife block Art> Stab yourself in the chest with a knife and if you survive stab yourself again do this until your body gets stronger." 

After reading the arts summary, Leon read it again, he flipped through the book and the art was exactly what the summary had said it was. 

"F*ck! I didn't know there were Arts that taught suicide!" Having read the book Leon was fuming, the author had written such pompous trash. If he didn't get angry he wouldn't be human.
 
Everyone in the library looked at Leon. Because of the commotion. The librarian moved to Leon. 

"Sir all the books here aren't very helpful. All the body arts are either useless or incomplete. I recommend you check the elemental arts over there." 

Leon nodded but continued to see the next few books. Seeing that Leon wasn't listening the librarian shook his head as he walked away. 

"<Hopeful art>, just hope you get stronger, and if you hope enough it will happen."

He didn't even have words for this art. He just ignored and moved on. 

"<Gold Hope art>, fill a bathtub with gold, melt it and then sink yourself in it, you will then gain the gold body ability." 

"<Water Hope art>, put yourself in a bathtub of water and hope you get stronger." Another book was added to the pile on the floor.

"Why don't any of these have any chants or runes?" 

Leon was getting annoyed, he felt the last four book he read were similar. He checked who the author was and his deduction was proven right. They were all by the same author- Lucky Devil. 

He went though all the books and picked out two more books by the author called <Fire Hope art> and <Happy Body art>. One was to burn yourself and pray to God that you'll gain the flame body while the other was to be happy with yourself and stop trying to cultivate your body. 

Leon picked up the books and tried to see if there was a secret in the arts. After flipping through them he threw them all to the side. 

"Useless, F*ck! I didn't know such trash arts existed!" 

Leon picked up the last book on the shelf, "<Beast Bloody body Art>. Bathe in bestial blood to grow stronger." 

A sigh of relief left Leon's mouth. He read through the whole thing and finally found something he could use. "The art is complete but is to complicated for a Tier 0 art. It needs you to collect beast blood, the fresher the better. Then you need to cover yourself in it and form a rune." Leon flipped to the last page that showed the image of some type of ancient writing inside a circle. 

"The rune will take up around 10% of the energy of the beast to form. It will then be able to absorb energy from the surrounding passively and make the body of the cultivator stronger. The talent of the beast will determine the rate of body strengthening of the rune and maximum limit it will strengthen the body to."

Leon scrutinised the picture of the rune on the last page and was surprised. "It's so complicated? Even I would need to concentrate to draw something like this, how could your normal mortal do this?" 

"But I can see why it would be useless to most people. Mostly mortals would cultivate this art so they won't be able to kill beasts by them selves. They'll have to buy it or pay someone else to help them kill it. Even if they get the beast blood it is difficult to form the rune, then even more so to form such an unstable one."

"Even if the mortal somehow forms the rune the effects would severely lackluster as the passive strengthening from a low talent beast will barely be felt and high talent beast are hard to find and hard to kill." 

Leon closed the book. A page fell out into the floor.

Leon picked it up and saw that the tea stained  page had the words 'Beasts Rank List' written on top.

"The beasts rank List? Is this suppose to be a ranking of beasts by strength?" Leon thought as he looked at the numbers next to the names. 

"Ranking beasts has been done so many times. There are to many variants to such a list. But only a few are truly recognised as correct." 

Leon looked at the names of beasts. A lot of the name were faded but he could make out some of them. He read the ones he could make out.

"First place: <Dragons>"

"Third Place: <Demons>"

"Fifth place: <Angels>"

"Tenth place: <Devils>"

"Fifteenth place: <True Faeries>"

"Forty second place: <Dryards>"

"Ninety ninth place: <Butterflies>"

Having seen tens of thousands of different beasts and multiple versions of such lists, Leon felt that he had the right to judge the validity of the list.

"The Dryards should be higher up, at least in the thirties. While the butterflies should be at least in the top fifty. The most frightening beast I've ever seen was a Butterfly." Thinking of the butterfly made a chill go down his spine. 

"Demons have also been overestimated they don't deserve a spot in the top ten."   

"All the other spots are unknown. But I can't believe I almost forgot that, I know the future I can go and contract talented beasts before the Summoners who contracted them in my past life have the chance." Leon felt a little better. He knew the location hundreds of beasts that he could contract. Other then knowing future events he had another advantage. 

Leon kept the list back into the book. He then went back to the Liberian to borrow the Beast Blood body art. 

The Liberian saw the book and shook his head, "This book may have a cool name, but it isn't any good, you should go look for some other art. I've seen hundreds of people borrow this book yet no one has come back and told me they cultivated it successfully." 

"There is no reason to not try, who knows I might be the one that cultivates it." Leon said with a smile.

The Liberian sighed, "Thats what the last hundred said. Here, good luck."

Leon took the book and headed back to the Clan. He had got what he came for. 

Along the way he used the 500 copper to buy a bottle of the lowest quality beast blood and a cheap soul quill.

...

At the clan gates Leon showed his Clan Token and entered. He walked all the way to his house. It was still early morning and his house was empty. 

His dad had left to do his work as an elder of the Clan, while his mother had left to meet with her friends for morning tea. 

This was some thing his parents did in his past life, while being locked up in the tower he had asked them to tell him what they did all day so he knew their routine. 

Leon went up to his room. He set down all the book, the bottle and the quill. He then looked at the pills his father had  bought for him and kept them to the side. 

"Using such low quality pills would lower my potential while giving me a slight increase in my bodies strength. Potential for strength, is the dumbest trade off you could do." 

Leon picked up the <Beast Blood Body Art> he flipped to the page with the rune drawn on, he then picked up another book that his younger self used to use to write notes in. 

He then opened the beast blood bottle and dipped the soul quill into it. He then started copying the rune onto the book. 

Soul quill was a special quill that allowed the writer who used it to draw runes onto paper without the use of elemental energy. The rune could then be activated using Soul energy and tested for its effects.

"I'll have to slowly improve the rune, by making small changes, until it becomes actually useful." 

"This rune is actually even harder then I thought, you need to at least be a Summoning Master to make something this complicated. Looks like the origin of this rune isn't as simple as I thought." 

He then finished drawing it, studied it. He then put his hand onto the rune and used his soul energy to activate it and measure its effects. 

Soul energy was the energy of the soul that all humans had. It was different from elemental energy as it was used to build the soul.

Leon's soul energy had been drained as both souls in his body had almost all their soul energy drained to keep the body alive and support it to keep two souls. 

It was Leon's past souls large amount of soul energy, the reason the younger Leon was still alive.

The rune lit up and Leon could tell what it's effects were. "It still takes in 10% of the energy of the beast, it's just that it's a little more stable." 

Leon continued to do same on the next page...

Leon did this repetitive task for the next four hours, he drew hundreds of runes each a little diffferent then the last. He then activated them and tested for the effects. 

Continually altering it made Leon how wrong he had been to think this tune was simple. 

Around the 104th rune he stopped and looked at the rune. It held traces of the rune he had started with but it was very different. 

Leon put his finger on it and activated it. Feeling the effects he smiled.

"Absrobs around 50% of the dead beasts energy, it's made even more efficient in the strengthening, it should be around twice as strong as the original rune, which means the for their same talent of beast this rune will cause almost double the amount of strengthening to the body." 

Leon sighed looking at the rune, "This is the most efficient rune I can draw in my current circumstances."

Leon heard the door open downstairs, his mother had returned. 

Leon walked down to greet her. 

Sandra entered and saw Leon, she saw him and asked, "Leon, what happened? I met Aunt Reva on the way and she said that you were thrown out of the lecture in the morning."

"Well, I, don't know, I just didn't like Elder Raymond, maybe I was tired and my mind was clouded."

Sandra sighed, "Well, it doesn't matter, Pace already dealt with Elder Raymond. You should go thank him. He's always taking care of you, his parents still aren't back right? Why don't you call him over for dinner or lunch tomorrow?" She then walked to the living room and put her bag down on a table. 

"Sure, mom, I'll ask him tomorrow." Leon said as he went and got a snack from the Ice Rune Fridge. Sandra saw this and entered the kitchen as well. 

"Leon, Aunt Reva also told me you were looking for arts? and that you asked about Tier 5 arts." Sandra took out some vegetables and beast meat. 

"Mom, are you sure you met Aunt Reva on the way, this a lot of 'telling' for meeting 'on the way here'." Leon took the vegetables and started chopping them with speed and grace. 

"Boy don't you sass me! So tell me what happened, why are you looking for arts so suddenly?" Sandra started boiling water. 

"I think the pills dad gave me made my body stronger, So I thought I could finally practice arts." Leon moved the vegetable onto another plate and started cutting the next one. 

"Did you find any good arts?"

"No, I even went to the public library but their wasn't anything too useful, I did borrow a book because I already went all the way there."

Sandra put the pasta into the boiling water and then looked at Leon cutting the vegetables. He was clearly different today. He would never help in cooking normally. It was like he had suddenly matured.

Leon noticed this but continued to chop the vegetables. He would never let anyone else cook for him, since he was young he was under threat of poisoning at the Flamesmith clan. 

Plus as someone who had used poison to kill hundreds of people he knew how lethal they could be, So he always made his own food. 

Sandra watched Leon cook and smiled but it was a sorrowful smile, she thought, "It looks like it's almost time..."

"Mom, why are you blanking out? You'll over cook the pasta." Leon said. 

"Ahh! Thanks Leon." 

They both finished making dinner and set it on the table. 

A few minutes later David arrived as well and the whole family was united again at the table.

"Sandra what happened? You cooked something good two times in a row? Impossible!" 

"Say you don't like me cooking again!" Sandra roared. 

"I'm kidding, I love your cooking, it might be a little bit off sometimes but that's what makes it the best in the world. Never too perfect, when it's good its the best food I've eaten, when it's bad...It's still good." 

"What do you mean by off?!"

"You sometimes put too much salt..." David knew he had messed up. 

Sandra had a look at disdain as she looked at Daivd, "I dare you to eat your breakfast tomorrow." 

"Honey, please, don't do this." 

Sandra ignored David's pleas as she said, "I didn't make it, it was Leon who made it today." 

"No, mom helped as well, it was a team effort." Leon with a serious face spoke.

"I see that's why it was so good, only my our son could rival his mother in cooking, you have inherited your mother's skills and my looks and charisma." David said with a slight nod. 

Both mother and son looked at each other, they were both rendered speechless. 

...

Leon laid on his bed, the moon had risen and it was already night time. His parents had fallen asleep.

The expression his mother had earlier, that sorrowful smile, had told him a lot.

"Things might turn for the worst soon." Leon thought. He sighed and shook his head, it was still better then his past life, because of his talent the whole clan had been destroyed by the time he was 20.

Long ago beast and humans were living together in harmony. 

But all changed the demons broke through dimensions and attacked. 

They killed and spread chaos. 

The beast divided into two. One faction joined the humans while the other allied with the Demons. 

The humans and beast formed contracts to cultivate together to grow stronger faster. 

Through many sacrifices they banished the demons from the world.

Now millions of years later. 

In a small town a boy was born. He spent his life in pain, misery and war. Through the worst of fates he was killed by his own beast. 

He was given another chance by mysterious means and was brought back in time.

"Revenge will be so... sweet."

Artland researched the Basilisk for a couple more hours. Closing the book, he left the library and went to the Room of Requirement. Cedric was already in there practicing when Art entered. Disarming the dummy, he walked over to Art. 

"Can you teach me that trick you do with your patronus?" Cedric asked. 

"Sure but I have something to tell you." Art started to tell him about what Dumbledore told him about the Chamber of Secrets. 

"So what is the monster?" Cedric asked, his brows furrowing. 

"I figured that out to." Art said, taking out a book from his bag. He flipped the book open to a page with a giant snake on it. "A Basilisk." 

Cedric read the page and started to frown. "Art this is a class XXXXX level beast. We can't take on a Basilisk." 

"We need to stop it or it will kill someone." Art said seriously. 

"It will kill us Art! We can't even look at it!" Cedric argued. 

"I know… but we can't do nothing." 

"Tell the teachers then. Tell Dumbledore!" 

"I will tell him. But we still need to be on the lookout." 

The two of them went silent as they looked at the picture of the giant snake. Even a picture sent shivers down their spines. 

'I'm going to send a letter to Mrs. Scamander.' 

Art spent the rest of the afternoon practicing with Cedric, showing him how to make his patronus speak and send messages. Art left the room with Cedric still practicing the spell. He smiled to himself, knowing that Ced wouldn't leave until he mastered it. 

The weather started to turn colder and Quidditch was in full swing. The twins were busy with practice leaving Art and Cedric practicing in the Room of Requirement alone. They had a game coming up against Slytherin and Wood was pushing them harder than ever. 

"You going to the game?" Cedric asked. His wolf patronus was beside him. He still hadn't mastered the spell but was becoming closer. 

"Maybe. I have Healing class with Madam Pomfrey." he said. He went to a couple of games to support the twins but didn't make a habit of it. 

"We should go." Cedric said, making his patronus disappear. 

"Fine." Art said. 

The next day they went down to breakfast and saw the Gryffindor team in their uniforms. Fred and George were cracking jokes trying to ease the teams nerves. The Slytherin team acquired new brooms from Mr. Malfoy and were much faster than the Gryffindor team. Art knew that Harry was under a lot of pressure. 

Sitting down next to Harry, Art grabbed a few breakfast sausages. "Better eat Harry. Need your strength." he said with a smirk. 

"Let's go team." Wood said, leaving the table and headed towards the Quidditch pitch. 

Art left the Great Hall and headed toward the Hospital Wing. He had class with Pomfrey this morning and was going to tell her that he was going to watch the game instead. 

"Hello professor." he said, walking into the hospital wing. 

"Artland! Good to see you." Madam Pomfrey said.

"I can't stay professor. I just came to tell you that I am going to watch the game today." he said with a guilty expression. 

"No problem my boy. I'm sure there will be injuries after the game so come by after." she said, clearly disapproving of the dangerous sport. 

"Of course professor." Art smiled, leaving.

He made his way to the pitch and climbed the huge stands. He saw Cedric sitting with Gryffindors and made his way towards him. 

Sitting down, he asked, "How's the game going?" 

"Slytherin is crushing them. They're too fast." Cedric said with a frown, "There is something wrong with that Bludger to." He pointed at a bludger that was attacking Harry. 

Art watched it as Fred sent it flying away only to come back at Harry. 

"Somethings wrong." he frowned. "It's bewitched." 

"They need to stop the game and figure out what is happening." Cedric said. 

"They can't or they forfeit." 

Soon Wood called a timeout and gathered the Gryffindor team. Madam Hooch still didn't call the game and the game continued. Harry dodged and maneuvered around the bludger. Art saw Harry hesitate for a moment and the bludger slammed into his arm. Art flinched as he heard a crack from a bone breaking. Harry seemed possessed and dove towards Malfoy and soon caught the snitch. 

The Gryffindor fans erupted in cheers. Art made his way down to the pitch and saw Harry lying on the ground holding his arm. Lockhart made his way over and tried to heal Harry's arm. Art was horrified when the bones in Harry's arm disappeared. 

Art made his way over and pushed Lockhart away. 

"Idiot." Art said, grabbing Harry and took him to the hospital wing. 

When Pomfrey saw Harry's arm she almost exploded. "You should have come straight to me or at least Artland! I can mend bones in a second but growing them back-" 

"You will be able to right?" Harry asked desperately. 

"Of course I can but it will be extremely painful." she said looking at Harry, "You're in for a rough night." 

Harry paled at her words but Art placed his hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. You will be fine." 

Art left the hospital later that night and headed back to the dormitory. He suddenly felt a strong emotion causing him to tense up. He looked around but couldn't find anything. He felt heavy killing intent mixed with a hunger for blood. 

'The Basilisk!' 

Art took out a book from his bag and turned the cover into a mirror. He used the mirror to look around corners before running down them. Running down the hall he saw a small boy frozen with his camera in his hand. 

"Shit another attack!" Artland said. He conjured his patronus and sent it away to Dumbledore. 

Art approached the boy and found he was petrified. If he remembered correctly the boys name was Colin and he was a first year. Soon Dumbledore and McGonagall came. McGonagall was still in her nightgown and had curls in her hair. 

"What happened Mrs. Cason!" McGonagall said. 

"I found him when I was walking back to my dorm." Art said calmly. He looked at Dumbledore trying to tell him he needed to talk to him. 

"Please take Mr. Creevey to the hospital wing." Dumbledore said quietly. 

The teachers left, leaving Art and Dumbledore alone. 

"It's a Basilisk professor. The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a Basilisk. That's how it is petrifying students. I could feel it's killing intent." Art said quickly. 

"A Basilisk… I thought so." 

"Who is controlling it though. Parseltongues are rare and I don't know anyone who is one." Art said, frowning deep in thought. 

"I know who is controlling it… just it is impossible that he is controlling it." Dumbledore muttered to himself. 

"Who is controlling it professor?" Art said shocked. 

"The same person who opened last time. The last descendant of Salazar Slytherin, Voldemort." Dumbledore said quietly. 

Art's blood went cold and a fierce expression appeared on his face. "He is the castle again?" 

Dumbledore shook his head slowly, "My sources say he is hiding in the forest of Albania." 

"So how?" Art asked confused. 

"I don't know Art. I don't know." Dumbledore said, his blue eyes flashed. 

Art said goodnight to Dumbledore and headed back to his dorm. He stayed up and pondered how Voldemort was opening the Chamber of Secrets without being here. 

He felt restless and opened a book and tried to find an answer to how Voldemort was opening the Chamber. Coming up empty he laid back into bed and closed his eyes trying to sleep.

Artland Cason lost everything at a young age to the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. Though it is years later his anger and hatred burn just as hot.

 "This little brother is Shi Yan Ming, the librarian of the Sutra Depository Pavilion. If you need to look up a book, you can ask him to help you."
 When the monk left, Wei Xiao Bei did not rush to enter the Sutra Depository Pavillion to go and read the secret scriptures. On the contrary, he curiously chatted with Shi Yan Ming.
 "What is this computer for?"
 Wei Xiao Bei pointed at the computer on the table and asked.
 Shi Yan Ming felt that it was funny and answered, "Could it be that benefactor Wei had never been to a library? This is used to record books and the status of borrowed books."
 Wei Xiao Bei's face immediately reddened as he did not think before asking.
 Although he did not go to the library much, he at least knew that every library had a managing computer.
 Perhaps he had been puzzled by how ancient the Shaolin Temple look that he had forgotten about this.
 How embarrassing!
 "I just never thought that the Shaolin Temple would keep up with the times and would have already caught up with modern society."
 Wei Xiao Bei could not help but sigh.
 "This is nothing big. Even the books that are kept inside the Pavillion have already been scanned and stored inside a hard disk. It's very convenient to look them up. Naturally, this poor monk still feels that looking at its original copy feels better."
 Perhaps he was showing off or really being honest. In any case, Shi Yan Ming's words caused Wei Xiao Bei to become a bit excited. 
 In truth, if he could, he was much more willing to have the hard drive copied.
 Unfortunately, it was an impossible thing to do once he thought about it!
 Perhaps because the number of monks that came to the Pavillion was very few, Shi Yan Ming was rather entertaining in conversation. From his words, Wei Xiao Bei came to understand many matters about the Pavillion.
 There were three floors to the pavilion. On the lowest floor various external techniques such as punching, kicking, and grappling were practiced. On the second floor, internal techniques and weapon techniques were found, including the Shaolin 72 consummate arts.
 The third floor was where the original copies of Buddhist Scriptures and treasured books were found. For the Shaolin Temple, these books were a lot more important than martial arts books.
 Thus, if Wei Xiao Bei wanted to enter the third level, he needed to speak with Shi Yan Ming and be accompanied up.
 This could not be helped. If any of these original copies of Buddhist Scriptures and treasured books were lost or destroyed, the ensuing problems would be huge. 
 Every single book was an antique.
 If Shi Yan Ming was a storyteller, he would definitely be a professional as his words had roused Wei Xiao Bei's interest.
 Wei Xiao Bei did not hold up any more of Shi Yan Ming's time as another monk entered. Shi Yan Ming apologized and served the other monk.
 Afterward, Wei Xiao Bei left the reception and went into the Pavillion.
 The Sutra Depository Pavillion was one of the most important places in the Shaolin Temple. The area that it occupied was very large. Looking at it from the inside, there were rows of bookcases that appeared as if rows of soldiers, making anyone who saw it feel awe at the glory.
 Wei Xiao Bei thought for a bit and walked to the first bookcase. Although the majority of the books there were string bound, they had been maintained quite well. He wore thin gloves that Shi Yan Ming gave him, took out the first book he saw and looked at the cover.
 Chuanquan (Boat fists)?
 The name was quite rare. Wei Xiao Bei opened to the first page and saw that it looked simple. Chuanquan was a traditional martial art from the coastal areas. Its creator was a fisherman, and it was a specialized martial art for use while on boats.
 Because small boats rock a lot and some were only the size of a table that could fit eight people, Chuanquan was very different from other land-based martial arts.
 To train Chuanquan, the most important thing to first do was to have a firm stance! Even if the wind blew and the waves rolled, the stance should be as firm as Mt. Tai!
 Other than firmness, it should also be light. When punching out and retracting it should be light and quick just like an arrow. 
 Although the technique was not famous, it was a thousand-year traditional martial art in the Jiangsu province.
 Wei Xiao Bei looked at the book very fast as the pages flew with a woosh. In less than 20 seconds, he had read the entire book. Moreover, he had already saved everything to his memory, including the images. 
 In truth, if he was not worried that the book might be destroyed, then he could have been even faster and finished the book in less than six seconds.
 It could be said that just this book alone made him feel as if he had benefited.
 It must be said that Wei Xiao Bei's martial arts were mainly Bajiquan, while his auxiliary was the Three Emperor Cannon Fist. However, these two were fist techniques, making his main focus full offensive in battles.
 However, in the Dust World, the situation could change erratically. Who knew if there was a need for him to go on the defensive or perhaps delay the enemy.
 On the other hand, the Chuanquan was mainly defense, supplemented by a bit of offense. It was to the point that training it required the user to not go out of the space of two-feet while the hands should be like doors.
 From this, the defensive nature of Chuanquan could be seen.
 Naturally, Wei Xiao Bei was only reflecting for a bit. He immediately picked up a book and flipped its pages.
 After Shi Yan Ming finished inputting the monk's records in the computer, he got up and went to take a look at Wei Xiao Bei.
 Although he did not know about Wei Xiao Bei's display the previous day, he had a favorable impression of him, thus he was worried.
 In the end, when he saw Wei Xiao Bei, he could not help but be stupefied.
What is this reading speed?
 Initially, Shi Yan Ming originally thought that Wei Xiao Bei was trying to find a book with how fast he was flipping the page, but after careful inspection, he realized that it definitely wasn't the case.
 Who flips the entire book until the end to find a book?
 If he truly wanted to find a book, he should only look at the cover and at most the introduction. Doing so should have been enough to understand the specialty of martial art.
 Could he truly have read the entire thing that fast?
 Shi Yan Ming frowned, but since he knew that Wei Xiao Bei was an outsider that could enter the Sutra Depository Pavillion, then it meant that the other party paid a hefty price.
 Entering the Sutra Depository Pavillion was no simple feat. Even the monks of the Shaolin Temple had to apply one day before to be able to enter it.
 In simpler terms, the Sutra Depository Pavillion was like a big company's classified database. No idiot boss would simply let other companies take a look at their own secret database.
 However, it is impossible for Wei Xiao Bei to simply go crazy like this after paying such a huge price.
 Then there is only one answer to this!
 He is truly reading the books!
 Although his occupation was a monk, Shi Yan Ming had also read manga. This was very normal as reading books could widen one's world view.
 Is he truly reading?
 Can he actually remember it?
 Shi Yan Ming touched his shaven head. He felt as if his world view had suddenly collapsed. He sat back on the chair and stared at Wei Xiao Bei with empty eyes.
Anyway, as long as Wei Xiao Bei did not destroy the books, even if he read that fast, he was still within reason. 
 Wei Xiao Bei noticed Shi Yan Ming's gaze from the start.
 However, even if he noticed, Wei Xiao Bei didn't slow down his reading speed just to cover it up.
 He simply had no choice as there were just too many books!
 After reading more than 100 books, he already noticed one thing. There were not many books that recorded purely martial arts. Many of them were records left by predecessors.
 For example, the books close to the Chuanquan were written experiences by Shaolin monks and some comprehensions by other martial artists. There were even some books that wrote improvements to it.
 In truth, these records were not inferior to the martial art scripture itself.
 In the beginning, martial arts were originally fighting techniques used by Chinese predecessors to fight against beasts. Afterward, they were developed through battle and became capable of killing. Over time, they had formed into various martial arts, from which many other variations originated. New ideas were born as time passed.
 These records had written down that same process.
 It could be said that these records contained senior martial artist's thoughts.
 In truth, if it was in the past, if people wanted to become a Cosmic Jing expert, they would need to learn and master more than 10 different martial arts and consolidate them.
 On the other hand, Wei Xiao Bei relied on his status panel and pushed his Bajiquan to reach the Cosmic Jing level.
 However, this was Wei Xiao Bei's weakness in learning martial arts, causing any further growth to stagnate.
 For him, the benefits of these martial arts records were imaginable.
 From entering the Pavillion at nine in the morning, Wei Xiao Bei had continued reading until he had been called out by Shi Yan Ming, triggering him to come to his senses, "Master Yan Ming, is something the matter?"
 Seeing Wei Xiao Bei's stupid expression, Shi Yan Ming could not help but laugh and raised his left hand, letting Wei Xiao Bei see his watch, "Is something the matter. It's already 11 o'clock, could it be that reading has completely removed your hunger?"
 "Ah, right. It's lunchtime."
 Wei Xiao Bei appeared as if he awoke from a dream and nodded his head and Shi Yan Ming smiled bitterly. 
 How could this guy be a Guo Shu Great Scholar, he is simply a crazy bookworm!
 Perhaps due to being cared for by the head of the Dharma Palace, Wei Xiao Bei's food had been directly sent to him from the kitchen to the Sutra Depository Pavillion. They had even brought Shi Yan Ming's portion.
 Shi Yan Ming had basked in Wei Xiao Bei's light.
 In truth, Wei Xiao Bei was not willing to delay his reading for food. If he was truly hungry he could just eat two pieces of barbecued meat.
 This could not be helped as he could not overstep what was normal.
 First, it was prohibited for people to eat inside the Pavillion as they could accidentally dirty the books.
 Additionally, even if he did not need to eat, Shi Yan Ming needed to eat. Moreover, he would need to run to the dining hall to eat, closing the Pavillion doors.
 Wei Xiao Bei would then have to wait outside the Pavillion.
 This trip back and forth was a lot longer compared to eating outside of the Pavillion.


One day, Wei Xiao Bei gets dragged into The Dust World, a post-apocalyptic world ruled by monsters from myths, legends, games, etc. He also gains the power to travel between it and the real world, as well as the power called the 'Status Panel'. With this power, he chooses to strengthen himself to explore the vast mysteries and terror of the other world. What mysteries await him? What is The Dust World?
Author's Synopsis:
What the hell is this? What the hell happened here?
How did my room become so ruined after a single night?
The floor and table were covered in dust, his new poster of Zhang Liang Ying that had just been posted on the wall a few days ago had already become yellow and tattered all over. Even Zhang Liang Ying’s beautiful face became monstrous as if an old devil was looking at him with a terrifying smile.
The walls were covered by a mist of cobwebs and the fruits placed on top of the coffee table were withered and rotted to the point that the mold on them had turned black. The fruits below even seemed to have turned into mush. The aluminium framed window that the landlord had just installed not that long ago was now covered in a layer of white ash and the glass was filled with cracks and covered in dust.
The computer beside his bed was also covered by cobwebs and was accompanied by an empty water glass with a withered worm inside of it.
Dust filled the air making Wei Xiao Bei choke as he tried to breathe.
Everything seemed to be ash gray without any light as if looking at television static.
After just one night, it seemed like everything in the room had aged for centuries or even millennia.
Mother… is this a dream?
This must be a dream!

With excitement on his face, An Lin immediately instructed Tina to stop the acceleration of time.
His instinct told him that something good was about to happen.
Within the Library.
Kama Sutra?
What could this book be about?
Adam was a little confused. This book appeared to be quite different from anything he had read before. But then again, he was constantly learning new things every day.
However… the cover art was quite strange, so perhaps there would be some interesting new knowledge to be obtained by reading this.
His curiosity urged him to read it.
Adam flipped open the book with a hint of confusion on his face, upon which he was greeted by the sight of an image of a man and a woman together in an inexplicable position.
"Eve… come look at this!" Adam turned pale with fright.
Eve made her way over to him with curiosity etched on her face.
She looked down at the book to discover an image of a man and a woman locked in a strange-looking embrace.
"What's this…" Her heart rate suddenly began to accelerate for some reason as she turned to the second page.
How strange, just what were all these positions?
Adam swallowed, and his body felt a little hot as he flipped to the third page.
He was feeling a little uncomfortable, but he continued to flip through the book as it appeared that this was some type of yin-yang fusion cultivation method.
The atmosphere in the room gradually became a little peculiar.
The two of them could both hear their counterpart's hearts thumping in their chests.
Eve flipped to the fourth page.
Then the fifth page, and then the sixth…
Each page had a different image of a man and woman embraced in a different, baffling cultivation method position.
Adam and Eve began to blush as they flipped through the pages. Were the man and the woman in the images fighting with one another?
That didn't seem right… Who would fight with such a blissful expression?
Could it be a dance? That didn't seem right either. This appeared to be a special way of interaction between man and woman!
Before they knew it, they had flipped through the whole book.
Adam and Even looked at each other, and the atmosphere in the room became even more peculiar.
Eve's beautiful features were as flushed as a ripe apple in an extremely seductive, yet oblivious display.
Adam swallowed as he suggested in the language that they had both already mastered, "How about we… give it a try?"
"Sure… Let's give it a try…" Eve answered in an extremely quiet voice, "We need to put our theoretical knowledge into practice in order to consolidate it, so this is a must…"
Adam nodded in agreement.
Knowledge had to be put into practice in order to fulfill its true value!
Besides, it wasn't as if they were doing something weird!
With this in mind, Adam's anxiety was significantly soothed.
"Let's start from page one…" Adam suggested with a serious expression.
"Alright…" Eve nodded in agreement.
Thus, Adam carefully adopted the position as shown in the first image in the book.
Eve experienced a very odd sensation. It was as if her body had been electrocuted, but it wasn't something she was averse to.
The two of them gradually began to lose control as they were overcome by their scorching emotions.
As their instincts took over, they had already forgotten which page they were up to.
There were exceptionally talented individuals in every field who were self-taught geniuses. Adam and Eve felt like they were both geniuses.
"Ow!"
Eve suddenly let loose a pained yell as tears swam in her eyes.
Adams was greatly startled by this, and his little brother almost shrank from fright. "What is it?"
"It hurts… How could it hurt so much? The woman in the images looks so happy!" Eve furrowed her brows in confusion.
Adam looked down as tears began to well up in his eyes as well. "I'm sorry, Eve. It's all my fault that you were hurt like this…"
Eve looked down, and her features paled a little, but she still gritted her teeth in the end. "It's ok, Adam, let's continue. I think… I think I can still persevere!"
"Really?" Adam was a little hesitant.
"I'm mentally prepared now, so it'll be fine…" Even offered a comforting smile that was unintentionally seductive.
Adam couldn't resist the invitation and pounced on Eve again.
They were fearless researchers in pursuit of knowledge! A little pain like this was nothing to them!
Adam and Eve were both touched by each other's determination.
What followed was a spell of vigorous and passionate physical activity.
We shall refrain from disclosing any more details as there might be children in the audience!
In the end, the two of them reached a moment of bliss together, in a manifestation of the joy of putting theoretical knowledge into practice.
Adam and Eve panted heavily as they embraced each other before exchanging a smile.
"I feel like our experiment was a little lackluster. We haven't even tried the last few pages of the book." Adam was a little disappointed.
"That's ok, we can still continue tomorrow…" Eve blushed as she averted her gaze. This was the first time that she discovered that learning could be so stimulating and special.
Adam fell silent for a moment before continuing, "Learning cannot be delayed! If we leave everything to tomorrow, we are going to get nothing done today! I can still continue!"
"Huh? You want to go again?" Even exclaimed.
"It's all for learning! What, are you scared?" Adam smiled lightly.
"Hmph! I'm not scared! Let's continue then!" Eve retorted stubbornly.
Thus, the two of them embraced together once again…
Outside the library, a blush appeared on Tina's intricate features. "Ptui! How shameless!"
An Lin's lips twitched upon seeing this. She said this after watching the whole thing?
He had wanted to protect the little fairy's purity of mind and heart by talking her into refraining from watching this. After all, the scenes that had just taken place were a little impure.
In response, Tina refused with a serious expression. She had a responsibility as the God of Creation to supervise the human reproductive process in case something went wrong!
She had clearly watched the whole thing with relish, but she was now denouncing Adam and Even as shameless…
Adam and Eve were actually quite pitiable as well. They were only doing research with the purest of intentions, but they were denounced by their god in the process.
In all honesty, An Lin was a little pissed off as he looked on with envy.
He had lived for over twenty years without experiencing all this. How was it fair that Adam and Eve beat him to it?
Sigh… he was probably going to have to wait over ninety years to put his theoretical knowledge into practice. 
A sense of sorrow welled up in An Lin's heart.
Thus, the Adam and Eve of this world set a new precedent for human history.
And it wasn't because of some forbidden fruit. Instead, it was because of a book with a cover that was yellow from age…


On modern-day Earth, An Lin seems to have been abandoned by God. 
When his father suddenly disappears, An Lin is left with his father's immense debt, putting his life at risk. 
After being forced to a rooftop by his pursuing creditors, An Lin is unexpectedly swept off his feet and brought to the ground safely.
    
After learning that he was saved by an Immortal, An Lin is gifted, seemingly out of pure generosity, the 'God Of War System,' and a pass to a new realm.
Follow An Lin as he experiences a whole new world of legends, meets many new friends, acquires legendary weapons and tools, and starts on his path of becoming a powerful cultivator. There is never a dull time in An Lin's new life with his ‘great’ new system!

Tang Peng grabbed the robes that was left behind by Lai Qing, and tried to feel the material. It was a purplish material that felt like silk. However, there were golden characters that was sewed onto the robes. 

Since it was worn by such a powerful cultivator, it must have some use. Tang Peng wore it on top of his original robes, since he did not want to directly wear it on his skin. After all, the person wearing it just now was a corpse. 

Next, he took the dark book and observed it. Normally, someone would die upon contact with this book, since it was loaded with thousands of Yin Toxins just on the cover alone, but Tang Peng's unique soul negated all the effects of the Yin Toxins. 

"Yin Gathering Art?" Tang Peng read the title of the book out loud. The title seemed like a promising start, so he opened the book to read more of its content. 

As he flipped to the first page, he saw a drawing of a mountain of corpses. "Death, murder, slaughter..." Upon seeing the corpses, Tang Peng was reminded of the gruesome scene he had seen. The voices in his head also started acting up again. 

He quickly flipped to the second page to avoid seeing that image. Now, there was a wall of words explaining the Yin Gathering Art on the second page. 

"Everything in the world has spirit. Spirit is the medium in which all cultivators cultivate. They absorb the spirit of the world, using it to advance the world inside of them."

"However, what happens when a cultivator or generally something with intelligence dies? This normally results in their spirit becoming part of the world, but with enough grudges and inner demons, their Qi and spirit will become Yin Qi. This is the technique I have formulated for myself, and it will help to propel me through the heavens!" 

As Tang Peng read out the preface, he had more understanding of this book. This book was clearly written by the old man which he had killed, and this was probably his cultivation method. 

He also understood the basics of the cultivation method. It was to take in the Yin Qi from dead cultivators or demonic beasts, to cultivate the same way as other cultivators does. The Qi would be stored in the head, along with the soul, where the soul would refine it into spiritual soil, or be used to unlock meridians in the body. 

Tang Peng could not help but do a double take after learning it was coming from dead creatures. He had been taught from young that violating the dead was a cruel and sacrilegious act to do. Now, this book was telling him uprightly to directly steal their essence. 

He felt conflicted inside, but upon remembering his goal of resurrecting the dead, the goal was not all that different from the cultivation method. He would violate the natural laws either way, so he hardened his heart and carried on.

"Of course, there are some limitations to this method I discovered. Mainly, the natural Yin Qi produced is not a lot. This means that in order to accelerate my cultivation, I will have to create more strife among the various factions in the Five Stars Continent, which is extremely dangerous. Not only that, I have also become increasing vulnerable to pure Yang skills."

"Still, this method of cultivation allows me to harbour lots of different Yin Toxins, which is extremely useful against Yang cultivators. As long as I take the necessary precautions, all cultivators are a piece of cake for me!" 

Tang Peng felt like the sentence at the end was a bit arrogant, but considering that the old man had really reached such a high realm that he did not even know of, he really deserved every right to be arrogant. 

Tang Peng flipped to the next few pages. He skimmed through them, and found that he needed to use the Yin Gathering Art and get a cultivation base before he even started to learn the basics of the technique that was listed on these pages. The name of the technique was called Ghost Refinement Process. It was, well, about refining ghosts. 

Tang Peng then settled down on the ground, and started to breathe in the method that was described to him. A deep breath, followed by a quick exhalation. This created a powerful rotation within his body, which drew in the thick Yin Qi that surrounded him. 

Inside the book, the old man recorded down that the perfected method he had eventually developed still had a failure rate of 90%. It was extremely hard to cultivate using this method. 

However, the moment Tang Peng did the breathing cycle, the Yin Qi flowed freely in his body, rotating frequently in a cycle. Tang Peng knew that he had an affinity with Yin Qi, but he was still shocked that he did it on the first try. 

The Yin Qi flowed into his body through all of his orifices, once he developed the cycle inside his body. Tang Peng could feel all the Yin Qi go to his head freely after they completed one cycle in his body. It seemed like the Yin Qi had a strong attraction to his soul in his head.   

Now, it was time for him to refine the Yin Qi into spiritual soil. Tang Peng drew the sigils on the ground using his fingers. As the sigils radiated with each other, Tang Peng could feel the sigils and an unknown existence imprinted onto his mind, as the sigils turned into nothing. It caused pain, but it was nothing compared to the pain he felt when everyone in his village died. 

Since the sigils were now set in place, Tang Peng closed his eyes, and started directing the cycling Yin Qi to enter his soul. There was no resistance at all, as he started to convert the Yin Qi into spiritual soil. 

However, the voices of the dead and their grudges started to ring in Tang Peng's head as soon as he started converting Yin Qi. The reddish Yin Qi showed up again, as it combined with the Yin Qi that was coming in. 

Tang Peng's body appearance started to flicker. The sigils that he had drawn flared up on his arm, and his arm was going through a significant change. Then, as the spiritual soil was processed, Tang Peng opened his eyes, revealing a chaotic aura within them.

My fellow readers, this is an announcement. I will be participating in the new WPC with this novel. There will be some touch ups and changes done to make the new novel better. Do search up Yin Formulation(Remastered) for the new version of this novel.

Just tried to remaster this and I realised there is a hell lot of plot holes. Might have to stop updating for a few days to rewrite entire chapters.

Artistic God: a term used by some to describe the feelings of making art. Also used religiously to describe God during the seven days of creation. 

*
The garden shed at school was very stuffy. When I ventured inside, I was too hot in my jacket. Aside from the thin line outlining the shed door, the only light was an orange-yellow globe dangling at head height from the ceiling. All the art clutter was coated in the warm colour, making the room appear on fire. 
The sweet sound of violins and cellos bounced around the room, the volume low but the bass so loud I watched the water in glass jars vibrate as I passed them. Approaching the desk, I saw a large black stereo sitting on the very edge of the wood with bright green letters displaying 'Pompeii-Bastille' with a volume of 30. The moment I saw it I panicked that the base levels would cause it to topple off the desk, but Alexis, whose elbow was dangerously close to doing that anyway, didn't seem concerned as she ran her fingertips over some books. 
"Afternoon, Alexis," I greeted placing my back on the worktable behind her. I watched her hand run along her desk until it met the stereo and turned a dial, taking the volume from 30 to 12. 
"Hello, Landon." She turned in her chair, her gaze fixed at chest level as she faced me. "Much happen today?"
I shook my head, "Nope. Normal day." The second week of school meant a solid routine, assessment calendars, outlines, expectations and homework had now officially been understood and formalised for students and faculty. 
"Describe it to me anyway," Alexis replied, "Your normal may be different from mine." She leant on her legs and dropped her unfocused eyes to the floor, tilting her head so an ear faced me. When I started explaining my first class, English, she interrupted me, "Ba-ba-ba-ba!" She held a finger up at me to hush, "Try again. This time describe it to me." 
I scoffed, "Seriously? You're going all The Book Thief on me?"
She exaggerated an offended gesture, "And what's wrong with The Book Thief?"
I started unzipping my bag to take out my English book and my toll for entering the garden shed. "Some things only work in literature. In real life, it's just weird." 
She offered a half-smile. "Imagine that? Words and descriptions weird." She absently brushed aside her red hair, "You're talking to a blind girl, Landon. Words and descriptions and life are all I can see." She leaned back on her stool, resting her elbows on the desk. "So, humour me. I promise I won't laugh if your descriptions get weird."
I bit the inside of my cheek, every fibre of my being trying not to chuckle, but Alexis patiently waited. "Okay. Umm…" I clicked my tongue as I searched the room for inspiration. I found many trinkets but nothing relevant. "When I woke up it was cold, so cold it was hard to get out of bed and even harder to get changed into my uniform. Despite this, throughout the day it got warm, so wearing a jacket may have been a mistake," I attempted, "I had lost my tie over the weekend, so there was a bit of panic looking for that. I had checked under my bed, in my closet, my bag, but I couldn't find it. I then realised Mia, for some reason, had taken it when I went down for breakfast." 
Alexis cracked a smile as I continued. "We had orange juice and waffles that Robyn made."
"What did they taste like?" she asked. 
"Like orange juice and waffles…?" 
She scoffed, "Anything Robyn makes doesn't just taste like orange juice and waffles."
Alexis was correct. Robyn had been experimenting with freshly squeezed orange juice, overall, I had no clue what she ended up putting in it. It tasted tangy and bitter but had a sweet aftertaste in the back of my throat. She burnt the first batch of waffles forcing everyone to push open windows, hallway doors and backdoors to get rid of the smell. It was like someone had burnt ice-cream cones. Despite this, everyone ate in silence, no one commenting on the culinary skills of Robyn. 
I started describing my English class again. I sat between Sheldon Manly and Wendy Brown, meaning outside of the whiteboard marker stink I got Sheldon's BO stench and Wendy's contrasting strawberry scent from whatever shampoo she had used that morning. When Mr Ratcliffe spoke, he sounded very sure and focused, then out of nowhere would go on a tangent about how chatty his neighbour was that morning. "Apparently when he drove away for work, she was still talking to him." 
Alexis smiled. "Were you in the room with that faulty ceiling fan?" she asked, "The one that makes a weird rhythmic click that drives everyone crazy?"
I nodded, "Yes! Everyone else ignores it, but I have no idea how!"
She burst out into laughter, leaning over and holding her stomach. Just as sudden as her laughter was, it disappeared when she sat upright and sniffed the air. "Monster Munchies?" 
I widened my eyes as I searched my bag for the bag of chips. It was in a concealed, airtight packet, how could Alexis smell it? When I found it, I realised the bag itself had popped, and even I could smell it. "Yep. Extra points if you can guess the flavour?"
Alexis hummed as she clasped her hands together and rested her thumbs against her front teeth. "I'm gonna say… BBQ." 
"Close. Combination flavour; honey and BBQ." The Monster Munchie packet had a giant purple monster with four pointed teeth and wild red eyes. 
Alexis grimaced, "Does that even go together?"
"It must," I stated crinkling the packet as I passed it to her to try. She took out one of the chips and made a loud audible crunch.
"Interesting flavour choice," she confessed as she took another one. I quickly realised she made the loud crunching noise deliberately. "You said you put on a jacket," she said between mouthfuls, "But I reckon it's quite warm." 
"It was colder this morning. It's only warm in here," I commented. The air was thick with paint, metal and pencils, and now Monster Munchies. "The air is cold at the moment, but the sun is nice." Alexis hummed at this as she turned back in her chair, going back to running her fingertips over her book. "What're you doing?"
"Reading." 
"Is that easy to do? Reading braille, I mean," I asked. I had always been curious about braille verses regular reading, whether one was quicker than the other.
"I don't know any better," Alexis replied, her tone sounded like she had heard this question before. "I find the idea of reading with my eyes an enormous headache." When she spoke, her hands stopped running over the pages, when she finished they continued running lightly over lines. "I do reminisce in my visual reading though," she added, "Granted that was fourteen years ago, but I remember Dr Seuss books having colourful pictures and funny fonts." 
"Those books were gold," I announced. 
"They still are," Alexis replied. 
Minutes later, the shed had the overpowering smell of Monster Munchies. "Okay, come on, we're going outside." I stood up and started packing up my books. 
Alexis made a growling sound. "No."
"Yes. Come on." I stood up and took her hand. She allowed me to pull her arm up, but her butt and body stayed on the stool and against her desk. "It's nicer outside," I informed. 
"I'm an Irish descendant and a potential vampire, Landon. Designed for snowy climates and darkness, not sunlight and fresh air." She threw her head back, dramatically throwing her hair against her desk. 
"You're not doing anything," I said, "You're sitting in the dark reading…" I looked at the front cover of her blue hardback, "The Memoir of a Maestro. You can do that outside." 
She groaned, "No I can't." 
I picked up the book before she could snatch it away, soon I was out of her reach, and she had to stand. "Are you seriously holding my book hostage?" she asked. 
"Yes." 
She furrowed her eyebrows as she reached aimlessly for something nearby. There was a string hanging from the ceiling by her desk. When she touched it, it pushed away, but she managed to get a hold of it and pulled it down, sending the room into darkness. It was incredible how dark the shed became, nothing gave off a shadow or an outline aside from the doorframe, so I made my way towards it. But a sharp pain struck my hip as I walked into the corner of the worktable. Moments after my yelp, Alexis grabbed my shoulders from behind and ran her hands down my arm to my hands, the touch stunning me as she took the book from my hands. "No one can compete with me on the same field." 
In the dark, I spoke to her, "It's not healthy to stay in complete darkness." 
I felt Alexis' hand rest against my chest, against her hand I could feel my heartbeat rebounding. "People think my whole life is in darkness," she replied, "But I'd argue it's much more colourful than yours."
I snorted a laugh, "I don't doubt that. But it's starting to reek a honey BBQ catastrophe in here." I grabbed her hand on my chest and tugged her half-heartedly. "I'm heading outside. You're welcome to come with me." 
*
The sun was a nice contrast to the refreshingly cool breeze as we sat on one of the higher hills in the school. Slightly off centre to the hill was a tall tree with a long maze of branches that cast shade over two-thirds of the hilltop. I had to be careful where I placed my books because of the dewy grass caused by the shadow of the tree. I sat down on the edge of the shade, so my back was to the sun while Alexis crouched down to the ground, running her hands through the short grass, noticing herself the wet patch and dry patch. She sat down in the sun and placed her papers and books in her lap. 
She stared, unblinkingly, down the hill, could she see she would've witnessed the drills of the soccer players as they ran back and forth across their fields. Alexis lifted her chin to the sky and closed her eyes, soaking in the sun like a sunflower. Such a peaceful image I almost wanted to photograph. 
She made an irritated sigh and produced some thick-lensed sunglasses. "Outside smells funny this afternoon," she said. 
"Why? What smells?" I asked. I found it strange that Alexis could smell things I couldn't detect when we were outside, first the crisps in my bag, but what else? 
"The tree smells damp," she stated as she ran her hands over some of the pages in her book, looking for a previously marked page. "On the way over here, I could smell leaves and mud, and from all the way down there I can smell the soccer boys." She found the page she was after. "It's also headache inducingly loud out here." 
I tilted my head at this, noting the barely audible yells of the boys on the field and the occasional bird or rustle of leaves. "Seems peaceful," I commented. 
"Your sight drowns it out," Alexis informed, "But everything to me gives off colours and vibrations if I stare at it too long." 
"Is it too uncomfortable?" I asked. 
"I'll live," she replied, her eyes resting at a point in the grass. "After all, my time also seems to be your time. You should be able to pick where we dwell." The more she spoke, the more light-hearted she became. "I imagine a Landon needs at least half an hour of sunlight daily."
"You didn't have to follow me out," I countered. Meters from the shed, Alexis trailed behind me and grabbed the sleeve of my shirt to follow me. Alexis grinned as she continued reading her book, shifting in discomfort from the grass against her legs every couple of moments. "Are you okay with me hanging out with you in the afternoons?"
"Tis fine. Some company is always nice." She stopped her fingertip trails, "I'm more curious why you feel the need to, Dorm Guard. Scholarship duties?" 
I rolled my eyes at the title but considered it. My scholarship was sports based, which I intended to attempt to fulfil later, and duty based. I had yet to see Alexis leave the shed and had a weird sense of urgency with her, not as if she was helpless, but I wanted to see with my own eyes she was okay. Was this part of my duties? "Why do you hang out with me, Landon?" Alexis asked bluntly, "We've had no prior relationships before you came to this school and you found me in a shed and gave me a sandwich."
I shrugged. "Maybe I just enjoy your company," I assured. Alexis seemed to consider this, before returning to her book. "So… you're a scholarship kid too," I said. 
"Nothing gets past you." 
"Do you have a duty to fulfil then?"
"All scholarship students have duties to fulfil," Alexis informed, "They don't give general scholarships anymore. Only specific ones." 
"What're your duties then?" I asked. 
She ran her hands over her books and papers, eventually leafing through a small pile. Some had lines and lines of brail, while others plastered with bright advertisements for parties or products. With little indication as to why, she pulled one paper out and confidently handed it to me. It was a small pamphlet advertising 'True You – The Art of Identity' Art Show. It featured a photo-realistic painting of a Muslim girl, with a dour expression, surrounded by bright colours in the form of flowers, flags and birds. 
"To oversimplify, I'm expected to win or get top ten per cent in stuff like that," she informed. "My Art Scholarship automatically enrols me in most competitions that involve most art mediums."
"Like sculpture and paints and stuff?" I asked. 
She nodded, "Yep. I once made a tapestry for one of the competitions. I think I came… fourth overall."
"Out of?"
She shrugged, "It was a state-wide competition." She lifted the book she was reading to show me a black covered painting sketchbook. "You can have a look if you want." She held her small book out to me. 
The book weighed more than I anticipated and was overflowing with different types of paper and fabrics. Alexis waited in silence, listening to me turn the pages. She liked bright colours and surreal images of realistic things. Any mini-portraits of people were coloured in oranges, reds, pinks, and blues and were distinct enough for me to see the ridge of a nose, a sparkle for the eyes and the streaks for limbs, but they all lacked a specific sense of realism. Some figures dressed in different textures, women covered in stiff feathers or crunchy Autumn leaves, and men in materials to shape suits or the occasional hat. 
Aside from people, Alexis liked nature. There were countless sketches of large willow trees and oaks, pencil drawings of lily pads and cool water details. My favourite was a page of black, with grey and white specs swirled or left alone to make a galaxy appearance. When I ran my fingertips over the centre of the black hole I felt the rough texture of sparkles, giving the image another layer of unexpected beauty. 
"These are good," I said, "I wish I could do stuff like this." 
"Nothing's stopping you. It's practise and passion." She took back her book and ran her hands over the sparkly galaxy. "A lot of people think I cheat with how often I win things or come close to winning things. But I don't make anything unless I have something to say," she informed, "There's nothing worse than a forced piece of art." 
Alexis started turning the pages herself, in a passing glance I saw some figures that were strangely familiar. "Was that Bonnie?" I asked. 
She stopped flicking and went back to the page I was talking about; it was a faceless girl with black hair sitting in a silver wheelchair mid-push. On the same page in the top corner was a little bundle of a person, also faceless and featureless, with almost white blonde hair holding something I couldn't quite identify. 
"A lot of this book has the girls and Amada in it in one way or another," Alexis informed, "They're honestly a unique group." 
I reached forward and looked at the next few pages. "Did you hear about what happened over the weekend?"
"With Estelle? Yeah, she told me about that," Alexis brushed aside some hair that dangled over her face. "I feel bad for her, but if I had an allergy that bad, I'd check sweets before I stuff my gob with them. Live and learn I guess." 
One page dedicated to Amada and Amia, the same pose, same posture, same hair, but different clothes and different backgrounds. One a soft purple with straight lined symbols painted dark purple, while the other was light blue with darker blue circles and curves. "You seem to understand these guys better than each other. How much do you know about them?" I asked. The next page focused on Estelle, at least from one perspective. Estelle's features, while undefined, were split in half, one side appearing happy and bright, while the opposite seemed sombre and flat. 
"Virtually everything." 
As I looked at Estelle's picture, I found this jarring. "Why?"
"They're fascinating muses," she informed, "Socially awkward, high-class, emotional, real muses." 
The next page I couldn't guess who it was. "Who's this?" I asked. 
"Please describe," Alexis requested. 
I snorted at myself. "Sorry. Um, a figure in the middle of the page wearing a tutu with orange lightning and yellowish lines?" 
"Oh, that's Robyn." 
I blinked. "I don't understand the symbolism of this one," I admitted. Robyn seemed quiet and absent, very inward, this suggested she was ecstatic and loud. 
"Robyn is a ballet dancer," Alexis informed, "An elegant practice, but she also loves feeling the base of the heavy rock."
I scoffed, "Robyn? The adorable daydreamer, gift maker and amateur chef?"
Alexis nodded, "Yep. She goes to proper ballet lessons on Thursdays and Sundays, and when she thinks she's alone, she'll blast the stereo with Metal to lie on the floorboards by the amp." 
I laughed in disbelief, but Alexis wasn't joking. On the next page, I expected to see Ava, but the page was a small figure in the centre of white, no details, no symbols or colours, just a lonely figure sitting in the centre of a white page. "Don't you know Ava very well?"
Alexis offered a smirk, but it was almost sad. "I know her the most out of everyone." She closed the book and sighed, "She's very dedicated to other people. The only aspect of her personality I'm aware of isn't something I'm willing to show when she tries so hard to hide it." 
"She tries to hide everything about her real self?" I asked. 
"Not everything. That work is an extreme representation of it," Alexis informed, "In some ways, art overstates certain quirks of a person, and makes ones that don't even exist." 
"Don't you have to do that though? Not everyone knows who you're painting," I said.
Alexis nodded, "Yep. The power of the subjective. I can make a person with a paint stroke." She puffed out her cheeks before closing her book and lying down on the grass. "Their whims behind shading, their beliefs behind posture, their history behind scars," as she spoke her hands clasped the artbook on her stomach. She sighed again. "The power of an artistic God." 
"Is that how you see yourself?" I asked, "An art God?" 
"Everyone has the potential to be their own God of their own little universe. Some decide to keep it to themselves." A small breeze rustled over us, causing the tree branches to creak. "Tesla saw a world where cars replaced horses and people could talk without being in the same room. Leonardo Da Vinci saw a world where humans flew with nothing but fabric and wood. Archimedes even saw a world dominated by numbers and principles through the eyes of a maths, where the world existed amongst the stars and heat could be harnessed to burn holes through sails." 
"You're starting to lose me," I confessed. Something was mesmerising about how Alexis spoke, the layback passion she had that I couldn't quite grasp, but it was fascinating. 
"Don't worry. I was rambling." With that, she fell silent, her philosophy disappearing with her.

Dorm Guard: the man or woman dedicated to the protection/guardship within a dorm. 
*
Landon Becks is a sports scholarship student at White Winter Prep, with only one duty: guard the students in his dorm. 
This duty is more easily said than done, because High School is not always kind to disabled students, and none of the students in his dorm fit the criteria of ordinary. With a blind artist, a deaf dancer and her translator, a self-proclaimed Princess of Pastries, a stubborn paraplegic girl, a mute prodigy and son and daughter of a potential mobster, it's not long before he realises it's not just inside the school he must protect his dormmates from. 


A story of High School drama, suspense, romance and family. 

Am aware the grammar isn't brilliant, would just love an opinion on the story and characters.

art book cover page

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