"You can say that our Nightingale Sect's techniques can mostly be split into three main paths. There's our movement, our attack, and our defense.

"What we're best at when it comes to attack is a mixture of illusion, trickery, and extension. There are two paths of extension. Someone like Kaelen is more interested in finesse, so he chooses to focus on length. Our First Senior Brother, though—Blackmaul, the number one ranked Core Disciple—focuses more on breadth.

"Blackmaul's strength is off the charts, but his agility is somewhat lacking, so he chose two paths to deal with this. First, his Echo boosts his speed and agility, while his techniques often increase the scope of his clubs, enlarging the region he collides with and extending the damage.

"Variations on this are the techniques we teach the most often, and these are the most common sort of attacking techniques here. Of course, it's more complicated than just that, but that's the gist.

"Our defense is more in line with more common methods of Dark Mancy. We absorb and dispel, spreading attacks across a large area and tanking it.

"Finally, our movement is likewise common, and for some more powerful and complex techniques—like the ones you'll find in the upper floors—they can combine both evasion and defense.

"If you want to start, my teacher said that most of the techniques here are just variations of these three. The techniques that branched from these three often became more complicated and have more niche applications, while these three are simpler and more restrictive in battle. But, if you can really master these three, you can probably use any of the others in quick order."

Lyra pointed forward toward three rows on the shelves. These shelves only housed a single technique each, but there were so many copies of them that the entire row was filled three times over.

What was odd about this was that despite the fact there were so many copies, there was no sign of anyone having taken out a copy for themselves.

"Don't look too much. Most disciples skip over them because they're not flashy. But there's a reason there are so many copies here. This is the place our ancestors wanted us all to start."

[Shadow Step].[Shadow Extend].[Shadow Flush].

The first was the movement technique, the second was the attacking technique, and the last was the defensive technique.

Theron reached forward and plucked all three from the shelves.

"Alright, no problem." Theron smiled. "I'll start with these three."

Lyra blinked as though she was surprised that Theron had actually agreed so easily, and then her smile bloomed. She pulled Theron's arm in tighter, her eyes practically sparkling.

"Good, good. This is what you should do. Listen to this senior sister of yours—she has a lot of experience."

Theron looked at the three little booklets in his hands and chuckled. He wondered if she would still feel the same way if he only took a night to comprehend these.

While Theron wasn't arrogant enough to believe he could instantly master a Runebound Resonance Spell, that didn't mean he felt like it would be an impossible task—far from it.

Theron had a pretty good idea of the level of talent he had after he went through the Nightingale Pavilion. Back then, he hadn't even had a Dark Mana affinity to begin with, let alone the one he did now.

Plus, this was no Runebound Resonance Spell—it was a Manaborn Resonance technique… of the Silver Mancy level on top of that.

This might actually be too low a starting point for Theron, but he accepted it nonetheless.

…

Soon, they were at a counter, waiting to check out with the first floor elder, a wizened old man with a pipe puffing smoke hanging out of the corners of his mouth. He had so many age spots they had even colonized the glaring bald spot right in the middle of his head, barely obstructed from view by the sparse greying whites that surrounded it.

The moment Lyra appeared, the other disciples all immediately shifted out of the way, and they found themselves at the front of the queue quite quickly.

Theron was casually flipping through the booklets on the way. They weren't that thick, and their methods were simple, straightforward, and to the point. He could easily see how they'd become the foundation of many techniques.

"Lyra?" The old man blinked.

"Hello, Elder Bulzen. I'm helping my junior brother to check out some items on the first floor today."

Realization came over the elder. For a moment he was confused—Lyra shouldn't be interested in anything on this floor.

"I'll need his disciple identification."

Lyra poked at Theron, who looked up with a smile.

"Greetings, elder." After he said this, he passed over a token and silence fell.

There wasn't a single soul that hadn't expected to see an Outer Disciple Token. But that was no Outer Disciple Token.

It flashed with silver-black, a heavy medallion formed of precious metals. It wasn't formed of the Mana Wood Outer and Inner Disciple tokens were made from.

However, there weren't even a dozen Core Disciples, and every disciple and elder knew them all. Their admissions were undoubtedly great fanfare every time.

How could there be a Core Disciple they didn't know?

But when Elder Bulzen scanned the token, expecting to see Lyra's name, he found a name he wasn't familiar with at all.

Theron Galethunder.

He blinked for a moment and then just decided to let things be. Even if there was something sinister going on here, it wasn't his place to say. And plus, Theron was only taking out three Lower Silver Resonance techniques they had practically a million copies of.

The gazes around Theron, though, definitely changed.

It was one thing to use a back door to become an Outer Disciple… but a Core Disciple?

The atmosphere in the Sect hadn't been the best for a long while now; the idea that someone was taking advantage of them didn't sit right all the more as a result.

However, Theron didn't say anything, and Lyra didn't notice, as she was too used to being the center of positive attention. She just assumed it was much the same this time as well.

Her blissfulness was short-lived, though, as they found a towering mountain standing before them when they stepped out of the technique tower.

Blackmaul.

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