The technique library was a place Anton had only visited once before. He should have visited twice, but during the time he would have been returning his borrowed technique scrolls he was incarcerated. He might still need to look over Hawk Eyes Archery and Thousand Arrows later, but he was fairly certain he’d learned all he could from them at the moment. Spirit Arrows likely had more he could learn as well, but beyond the level of just creating an arrow he wasn’t sure if he didn’t just need more practice to use it to its full capacity. “Elder Mason,” Anton inclined his head as he arrived. “I’m sorry these were a bit late.” Elder Mason was one of the ones Anton was sure was younger than himself, but not necessarily that much. Still, her long hair and youthful skin could have easily tricked him into believing she was merely in her twenties.

Elder Mason shrugged, “If it was a real problem, we would have sent people to collect them.” She looked at each scroll as she took them. “Sorry, your badge?” Anton held it out. “Oh! Anton Krantz. Sorry, but so many people come through and you’ve only been here once. I’m not as good as some of the others are at remembering names.” She marked a ledger with a quill pen- and a little bit of energy. “Now then, since you returned… I presume you want to check out something else? More archery techniques, perhaps?”

“I might take a look at them,” Anton said, “But I wanted to diversify a bit. Something defensive, and maybe for movement.”

“Aha!” Elder Mason smiled. “Planning to join The Hunt?”

“No…? Maybe. I don’t believe I’ve heard of it.” Anton started following after Elder Mason as she walked along the shelves.

“That’s right, it was announced nearly two months ago… so the excitement died down some. It’ll pick back up soon since it’s just a month away.” Elder Mason pulled a few scrolls off the shelves, “Take a look to see if any of these suit you.” As Anton took them, Elder Mason continued her earlier line of thought, “The Hunt is exactly what it sounds like… more or less. An organized event by the sect to thin the numbers of magical beasts in the deep forest. There are certain points not to be crossed while still in Body Tempering, but it’s a group event. Good for getting to know other disciples, and for contribution points.”

“I had been considering some hunting,” Anton said. Steel skin… tempered skin was recommended. That wasn’t high on his priority list. He would prefer something energy based. Golden Armor was in that vein, but its defenses were a bit static for his tastes. Though he could understand the appeal of solidifying your energy and letting it act as actual armor. He had trouble unfurling the third one. Ponderous Field was certainly interesting, spreading out energy to slow anything around- weapons and people alike. The most interesting thing was that there was another scroll wrapped inside that one. One Step Ahead was… a combined movement and defensive technique… technically.

“Oh. That’s where that went.” Elder Mason sighed, “This is why only the caretakers are supposed to shelve things.”

“Is this long past due for someone?” Anton could barely believe what the technique wanted from its user. Predict the exact movements of the enemy so that you wouldn’t be somewhere they could attack, while at the same time moving yourself to the optimal location to attack them. For use with archery, it said. He certainly couldn’t see it working with anything in melee, because you’d always be inside your opponent’s reach.

“No. But some elders write techniques and just toss them on the shelves, assuming we’ll know where they are. Even though we never registered them.” From the tone of her voice, Anton supposed that some elders were one specific elder.

“Who wrote this one, then? It doesn’t say.”

“If you’d seen more of hers, you’d know. The straightforward yet impossible to keep up with descriptions become the obvious thing. And the fact that there’s no name. It’s Elder Kseniya.”

Anton frowned, “Spirit Arrows wasn’t so… directly obtuse?”

“Oh,” Elder Mason laughed, “That’s the version for people who want to actually learn, instead of just stare at a page. One of the other elders clarified it.”

Anton nodded, idly going over One Step Ahead. Synchronize yourself with your opponent. Take one step before them. Never two. He shook his head. There were diagrams for how to circulate energy through the meridians to achieve… presumably the desired results. But he couldn’t say for sure. “Any movement techniques for people with bad joints?” Anton asked.

“Specifically that? I don’t think so. But there are some focusing on smooth movements rather than jerk reactions.”

Anton picked out one called Swan Steps. He… wasn’t sure if he had ever seen a swan, but based on watching other waterfowl he was pretty sure they didn’t do a lot of graceful walking. More of a waddle. But the technique seemed decent enough. “How many techniques can I bring with me?” Anton asked.

“The answer is… don’t get greedy.”

“I would like Golden Armor and Swan Steps.” Anton paused for a moment, “I’m also interested in looking at One Step Ahead and… the original Spirit Arrows.”

Elder Mason shrugged, “It’s your time. If you can actually make sense of those two, it’s not a problem. Though I need to at least properly register One Step Ahead.”

-----

Golden Armor was extremely simple, though it required sufficient energy to use it. Set aside an amount of energy, convert it into a solid form around the body, and lock it in place. From that point it would last quite some time as long as nothing was actively breaking through. The downsides was that it wasn’t possible to focus the armor against a big hit, though it did its best to disperse any damage across the body. On the other hand, since he couldn’t do it, he didn’t have to redirect his defenses while at the same time trying to coordinate his own attacks. Anton thought the best solution was to never get attacked at all, but apparently magical beasts had a number of ranged attacks at their disposal as well- from throwing things to attacks involving energy. The energy was what made them so dangerous. They weren’t exactly cultivators, but absorbing large amounts of natural energy not only fortified their bodies but occasionally allowed them to perform basic techniques. They were generally more powerful than a human, as well- though still of animal intelligence.

Anton found that Swan Steps, while having very little to do with any sort of actual waterfowl, was quite useful. Especially for him, since it was easier on his joints as he moved around… but still let him move quickly and change direction when needed. That involved more energy usage than his body, but it also allowed him more options.

The other two… he only had a feeling would be useful. Between studying them and Elder Kseniya herself, he might learn something. Or maybe he was overestimating himself.

Anton had one thing he needed to do besides cultivating. Since The Hunt was a group event, he needed… a group. That could be between three and six people, but he had to actually ask people. But before he did that…

Anton circulated his energy through his meridians. He let the energy seep into his bones, seeking out areas where he was less developed. He paid special attention to his joints, and though he knew they wouldn’t be completely better after the refinement… at least they would hold up until the second full body refinement. After that… well, he was already being ambitious thinking about the tenth star.

With one more pass through his body, his bones were brimming with energy. Yet he continued according to the prescribed techniques. He pulled in energy from all around him, grateful for how much natural energy was everywhere in the territory of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. It was enough that even an old man like himself could cultivate at a decent speed.

Anton knew that the more energy he pulled into his bones the better the final refinement would be. While he could continue to temper them later… it was optimal to do it as well as possible during this first and best opportunity. The energy started making his bones hurt. But at the moment, it was only the ache of a cold winter day. Soon it elevated to the point of feeling like he had broken a bone, except all over his body. He’d had the experience of a broken bone several times when he was younger, and as he grew older it took longer to recover from such injuries. However, his bones weren’t broken. They had already undergone the first tempering, and had been gradually gaining strength as he cultivated the sixth star. They could withstand more, he was certain. He hadn’t been wrong about that so far, and he wasn’t going to doubt himself now. More… more… until he was more worried about the energy exploding on its own regardless of the structural integrity of his bones. The physical pain just filled him with determination as he pushed forward.

Finally, there was an explosion, but an intentional one. It focused all the energy inward, condensing it into yet another star floating around inside of him. The sixth star. Sadly, it wasn’t that much of an accomplishment. Technically, the fifth star was harder, as one of the primes. He hadn’t known that at the time, but it explained how things were working for him. The next couple wouldn’t be so bad, but the tenth… well, he had other things to worry about first. Like whether or not he could actually fight.