My Readorium was a very tiny stone building. There were only two rooms, a large one in front which had enough room for some small shelves, two tables, eight chairs and a front desk. The back room was tiny and featured a small table with writing supplies, a chair and a special lockbox barrel to store my earnings. The same rolling door design separated the two rooms and someone would need to get behind my counter to reach it. I couldn't wait to see the place fill up so I could begin stage two.

Unfortunately, it turned out that Hann was right, not very many people wanted to spend what little spare time they had reading. By the end of the first week only two people were willing to pay for entry and of those two only one returned daily. He was a quiet young man with dark brown hair, skin and eyes. He had an average build and lacked any sort of muscle, with his soft features and scraggly hair it was hard to discern his age. He was at least fifteen or older but his youthful appearance wouldn't let me get a more accurate guess.

Despite looking like an innocent young man, his intricately designed straight sword belted out a tune almost as loud as Hann's. Each note of his wordless song was long and drawn out, its simplicity was elegant. Trying to dance to such strange music would force you to make slow and deliberate movements to its steady rhythm. It was a bold and sensational piece that didn't seem to fit his timid and childlike demeanour.

He wandered in one day looking like a lost kid, eyes wide and looking every which way. His clothes were ragged and torn wraps that looked ravaged by time. I gave him my warmest smile and explained that he could read as much as he liked for an entry fee. I didn't expect him to be such a shrewd negotiator, it was clear that the people of the city had far more experience haggling than me. Before I had realised it he talked me into letting him in for free with the promise that he would pay full price next time and spread word of my Readorium. I had no way to guarantee that he would hold up his end of the deal but he looked so poor that I wouldn't have felt right demanding payment.

The other customer was another man, this time in his late thirties. With a little experience under my belt, I was able to hold firm at half-price admission but he never returned after a day of reading. On the other hand, the young man would come into my readorium each day and pay full price, one fresh sand yam or two salted yams. He browsed the sparsely stocked shelves in silence. After deciding on a book to read he would sit in a far off corner and bury his head in the book.

True to his word in the coming weeks a small number of people trickled in, while most never returned there were a few that were content to read in silence. Word of mouth seemed to be pretty effective so I ended up offering the same deal to new customers, try the service once for free and if you like it spread the word. Even after a whole month of trying to gather support, the most people I saw in a day were three. My excitement peaked when a group of ten men and women came through the doors at once. I thought that word had finally gotten around but my hopes were dashed as soon as the man at the front opened his mouth.

"What a sad little place this is. Why don't you come with us for a bit?"

A couple of the guys jeered while the women fawned over the idiots. They felt like pretty obvious bad news but I decided to give them a chance to turn it around.

"I can't leave my place unattended, would you like to sit down and read for a while?"

"How about you read between the lines you thick–"

As soon as he raised his arm to grab me I struck him on the chin with a light and quick hook. Though what qualified as a light hook for me was a devastating blow for him. Hann had been caught completely off guard by my hits a couple of times and the worst thing I did was break her nose. The instant my fist made contact with his chin there was a light pop and his eyes rolled back into his head. A punch to the chin could rattle the brain but the frothing at his mouth made it look like his brain was scrambled.

I knew that I was strong but until now I didn't have any context for that strength, in my mind my greatest asset was my speed. After rattling the man I was going to vault the counter and follow with a flurry of blows. I was so committed to the plan that I had completed the vault before the unconscious man had hit the floor. I stood in front of the group of nine with my fists up expecting a fight that never came. They were all too stunned to act.

I was still nowhere near Olma's power level, suddenly the fear of the Karkarin house that was present in every story became all too real. She was nowhere near the peak of power, someone blessed with a body well suited to their techniques and a powerful blade would be unstoppable. Compared to a man with above-average muscles I was a force of nature, then a Karkarin at maximum power would be like a dragon to an ant. It stung knowing that I would have a hard time continuing my training but this proved that it was worth it. I would have nothing to fear from normal people if only I were a little stronger.

The group of nine could probably overpower me if they were to all attack at once and I would stand no chance if they drew their blades but they all scattered in a hurry when it was clear that I didn't want to fight. I despaired at the thought of how quickly the tale would spread, this was hardly going to be considered a safe place to read if they knew that the owner knocked someone out. I tried to rouse the unconscious man but he was out cold, he was breathing but completely unresponsive.

I held my head in my hands, lost in desperate thought wondering if there was a way to save face. I ran through a couple of ideas but before I could delve too deeply into my thoughts a gentle hand tapped me on the shoulder.

"That was amazing. You didn't even manifest and you took him down."

I looked in the direction of the soft voice and saw the raggedy young man looking at me with eyes that sparkled with wonder.

"It's not my fault, he was about to grab me!"

I didn't even listen to his words, in my panic I just blurted out the first defence I could think of.

"Yeah I thought you were going to need help but I guess I got worked up for nothing."

Several animated straight swords startled me as they swooped in from dark corners and crevices all across the room, each one converged on the original on his hip and merged on contact. When did he set up all of those blades? I was distracted, sure but I should have noticed more than twenty swords slipping into position across the room. This served as a valuable lesson, not all powerful blades would be flashy. If I angered the wrong person there was a very real chance that I wouldn't even see the blow that took my life. Luckily it seemed that I had a kindred spirit with a love for reading, he was willing to protect the Readorium with no promise of a reward.

"It feels a little embarrassing to be outdone with hand to hand combat alone. How did you get so strong?"

I didn't feel like sharing too much with a stranger even if he appeared nice,

"A friend taught me but I had to stop training early."

'Friend' was too strong a term to describe our relationship but it was the quickest explanation.

"You're already so strong! It's a little hard to believe that you are still in training. You can call me Alex, what's your name?"

"Jo."

We talked a little more before he and the other spectators left for the day. More weeks flew by in relative peace, I had hoped to have a full building of avid readers by now but I was only getting five visitors a day. Sometimes Alex would sheepishly ask me if I could break a block of stone with my hands or lift an arbitrary heavy object. Eventually, he shifted from just asking questions to bringing in various things to test me with. He had a strange fascination with muscle strength but I indulged him. He was pretty squidgy looking, so I could understand why he might admire physical strength.

Since he was already so open to conversations, I thought that it might not be a bad idea to try tending for him. He was powerful but I needed to be able to survive the rite which was fast approaching. I didn't know if something similar would happen again but it was better to be safe than sorry. Enduring a powerful blade's song would probably do more for my resistance than tending to any random person. Hann had probably already found a way for me to avoid going to the rite but I didn't know how far that song would travel.

One day, Alex arrived with a huge sandstone block that was carried by several floating swords. Not only was the power strong, but it was also versatile. He could create makeshift platforms that seemed to have no carry weight and fight multiple opponents at once, truly Alex was blessed with the forge mother's good grace.

"Actually, could I ask you a favour? I won't charge you this time as a show of good faith."

I tried to be sweet and endearing and it worked, Alex nodded furiously.

"I like to sing but I'm a bit too shy to do it in public. Would you mind following me to the back room and listening to a little something I came up with? I want to know if I'm any good."

He looked eager to follow me as soon as I mentioned the idea. We made our way into the back and I shut the door tight. I motioned for him to sit down in the only chair and he did so obediently. I held my hands in front of my face and breathed deeply to look like I was composing myself. Under my breath I uttered,

"I hear you."

My voice was yanked from my control as I began to belt out his sword's song. This was a far different experience than any other so far. Father's flamberge changed its tune to accommodate a new singer in the shanty, the head priest's dirk allowed me into the jaunty frolicking song but the elegant music felt as though it took control with a gentle but immutable force. My voice was taken under its complete command as I sang my unheard duet.

I was glad that I hadn't tried Hann first, if my theory that volume equalled strength then I might not have been able to handle her. I was too startled to notice the biggest oddity, no yellow orbs began to populate my vision. I sang my heart out and felt my stamina draining at an alarming rate but nothing changed. At this rate, I was just singing with fatigue that was boosted far beyond the hardest sprint I could muster. Worse still, I couldn't wrestle back control over my voice, the familiar darkness started to creep into the edge of my vision. I was going to pass out if I didn't think of something fast.

I thought about stomping on my foot but the pain wouldn't register. Running away? Maybe, but I didn't know how far away I could tend from and I didn't have the energy left to waste on a gamble. I didn't know what I could do. I decided to try something that had briefly nagged at the back of my mind. I reached a hand towards my neck and primal revulsion shot through me, fear assailed my body and it shocked me into stopping the song. I didn't expect that to work, I was fully prepared to try running away.

I finally drew gasping breaths and stumbled backwards into the wall. I was barely able to stand but I pushed through. I could see how worried Alex was and I didn't want him calling a guard.

"Are you okay!"

He shouted as my knees buckled and I almost fell to the floor, I felt like a puppet with cut strings. I couldn't find much strength within me but I persevered.

"Yeah, sorry. I was nervous and I guess I got a little too into it."

I gave him a reassuring smile but I couldn't focus my eyes, the creeping darkness was only just kept at bay. I didn't feel like I was in danger of losing consciousness but it would be a while before I recovered.

"Could you give me a hand getting to the seat?"

The blurry Alex leapt to my side and tried pulling me to my feet but his groans of exertion were wasted, it didn't feel like he moved me even a little.

"How are you this heavy? You're like a rock!"

"It's rude to comment on my weight like that."

I meant it as a joke but he took it to heart, he looked away in shame. With the aid of his swords, I was seated and had time to recover. He said that he would leave me alone while I rested up but just before leaving he made one final remark,

"That was a really beautiful waltz, by the way, I really felt the passion behind every note. You don't need to be shy, you know. You sing better than anyone I know."

I was pleased that he enjoyed the song but it was even better that my plan had succeeded, it didn't seem like he knew what I did. When I was left all alone I had only one question, what was a waltz?