Leaving his theatrical self disappointment Aegon refocused his attention on the class, waiting for the actual solution to his problem.

“So now that you know the problem you’re itching to find out the solution right?” Mentor 1 said with a sly smile on his face.

All the youths nodded inwardly and paid even closer attention but the smartest ones had a bad premonition.

[ Why would someone ask the obvious if not to mess with us? I'm guessing he won't tell us anything and just say something like: “I won't tell you… find out for yourselves”.] Aegon was already feeling a headache coming.

Seeing the eager gazes on most of the disciples' faces, Richard's smile turned into an evil smirk that instantly confirmed Aegon's suspicions.

“I won't tell you hahaha!” Mentor 1 laughed maniacally as if what he just said was the funniest joke in the universe. It was a shocking sight for the disciples, watching someone they held in so much respect turn out to be a maniac. It was really similar to when the First Elder had first appeared, maybe even too similar…

[ Fuck! Sometimes I hate being right.] Aegon thought already sensing trouble.

After laughing almost to tears Mentor 1 recomposed himself and, like turning a switch, instantly assumed a dignified expression immediately returning to his usual demeanor. It was once again really similar to the rapid changes in the First Elder’s temperament.

[ Are all the elders here missing a few screws?] Most disciples thought to themselves.

“I won't tell you because you’ll find out while choosing.” Without waiting for anyone to ask any questions, Mentor 1 continued “ Today I’ll take you to the library where all of you will choose a meditation technique that will enable the absorption of the inner energy I talked about earlier. In every single book’s introduction there's a section on how it works so it saves me the trouble of explaining and giving multiple examples.” Once again Richard didn't give anyone time to pose questions and started making his way out of the classroom, when he reached the door he noticed that most disciples were still dazed so he stopped and said.

“Follow me” With a tone that left no space for opposition, only compliance.

Everyone instantly stood up and followed their Mentor until they reached a two stories high building with a high triangular ceiling and a large round mosaic window. The inside of the library was a large straight corridor that was at least 500 meters long. The second floor only had some smaller overhanging corridors that lined the walls accessible by revolving metal stairs that only had space for one person. There were candle chandeliers every 50 meters that combined with the colorful light that entered through the mosaic window gave the library a mystical appearance.

Mentor 1 gave them a few moments to appreciate the beautiful architecture and only then started talking.

“Welcome to the library, here we store every single technique that outer disciples like yourselves have access to.”

“Most days you guys only have permission to browse around the first floor where we keep battle, movement and stealth techniques but once in a while, like today, you are allowed to go to the second floor and choose a breathing, training or meditation technique.”

“After I’m done talking you will have exactly one hour to choose a technique. My only recommendation is that you choose one which suits your best element.” Mentor 1 stopped talking and an awkward silence ensued as everyone was waiting to see if he had truly finished and after waiting for a good 10 seconds they figured that they could go and instantly rushed upstairs while they cursed Mentor 1 under their breath . Richard only lightly chuckled, seemingly proud of himself for robbing them of 10 precious seconds.

At the same time, in a room close to the top of the mountain, a peacefully meditating Mentor 1 sneezed. He looked around and found it strange as there was no air current and the temperature was perfect, finding no answers even after searching for a few minutes, he resumed his meditation.

Meanwhile, Aegon and the other students were busy browsing through the books looking for techniques that suited their best element. For Aegon that meant he had to look for lightning and conveniently the lighting section was right next to the staircase so he immediately got right into searching.

The first technique he found was named Electric meditation which Aegon thought was a rather funny name that didn’t pass on a strong image of itself. And to his surprise the technique was exactly like it’s name had made it seem like, incredibly simple. There were only some chants and hand seals that served to guide the ambient lighting energy towards one's body. Aegon being a rash youth that thought himself to be invincible found this technique to be below him.

"It's so easy, so simple, it's not even a challenge.” He placed the book back on the shelf and continued browsing. Even though he judged the book to be of inferior quality he still took a mental note of its apparent difficulty and overall effects to serve as a benchmark for other techniques.