Chapter 25: Public Techniques

When Rick showed up for his fight, Granny Whitney didn't ask him about what had happened even once. She gave him another disabling pill, but he managed to push through the fight. His victory was far from elegant, but he was the last one standing. Afterward, she handed him a bottle of 100k elixir with an odd smile on her face.

"Not bad at all, dearie. Perhaps you're ready for a higher dose."

All he could do was shake his head. "Give me some more time to work on my foundation first."

"Hmm, I suppose you do have work to do. Very well, we still have time." Granny Whitney looked like she was about to walk out again, so he spoke up to stop her.

"I'm ready to begin working on the mana leeches again. Do you think I can take out the smaller one before the competition?"

She turned back, shaking her head. "You could do that, but only if getting rid of one of them is more important to you than efficiency. The larger debt is Stage II, so it's draining you faster."

Math wasn't his strong suit, but he saw the logic: if his goal with each invested lucrim was to decrease the drain on his strength, then it should all go toward the more dangerous debt, even if it meant he had both aura leeches inside him for longer. What was the difference between one ghostly creature draining his strength and two, though? Best to focus on the long term.

"Thanks, I'll do that." Rick nodded to her gratefully. "Is there anything else I should be doing to prepare?"

"Perhaps another core? I'll leave that to your discretion, dearie. Granny Whitney needs to go on a little vacation." With that line she departed, humming a little tune to herself. He honestly wasn't sure if that was a cover for something else, or if she was actually going to go relax on a beach somewhere.

With his next objectives set, Rick threw himself into training over the next several weeks. His first goal was to fix the damage to his foundation, both because he ran the risk of taking a serious injury without it and because he wanted the spare lucrim. He put some of it toward paying off the aura leech but began gathering more of it to fashion into a new core, though he hadn't made his final decision there yet.

Though the difference wasn't dramatic, he appreciated the benefits of the Graham's Stake Lucore. The slow flow of power within him wouldn't pay a utility bill, but it left him more refreshed. Usually he had to hold back on expending lucrim while sparring or fighting, needing every iota of it until his next paycheck. Now he had the option of relying on his new core... though he still intended to save every lucrim instead, to keep fighting out of his situation.

Meanwhile he kept an eye on Melissa just in case there were any new problems, but she seemed stable. More than stable, she was thriving. She remained pale and thin, yet she was always improving her shell and took up experimenting with other types of core. Even if she joked about muscleheads and people who trained all day, it was fun to be able to discuss lucrima with her.

The main difficulty was that they were desperately poor, thanks to all their expenses during her illness. No more taxis for him - he ran everywhere to save what he could. Even once he received his next paycheck, it was immediately absorbed paying off the bills that had begun to stack up. It led to some pretty pathetic meals, but they got through it together.

Eventually he'd built up enough available lucrim that he wanted to invest it, but he wasn't sure how. He talked to Henry and even tried to get advice from Jimmy, yet didn't feel like he got any satisfactory answers. They might both be stronger than him, but that didn't mean he wanted to emulate their paths in life.

He managed to get in contact with Uncle Frank again after a while. His uncle mostly confirmed that his idea of developing a speed or ability core would be a good step forward, which was nothing new. However, his uncle also reminded him of a resource he hadn't been thinking about: the public library.

Rick jogged down the sidewalk in the middle of Branton, looking for the building he hadn't visited in years. Soon he spotted the familiar shape, heavily fortified walls along the sides with spires rising from the top for lucrima-users to use as fighting platforms. The Branton Public Library also had large open windows, which ruined the look of the fortress, but it wasn't exactly a traditional library.

Centuries ago, most knowledge had been firmly controlled by the powers of the world. They began by hoarding their secrets of lucrim techniques, but that attitude had expanded to cover all knowledge. Eventually a group of powerful warriors had banded together with a radically different purpose: to make knowledge free for everyone.

Though they faced vicious attacks from many combat sects, in the end they were victorious. The libraries didn't revolutionize the lucrim or martial arts worlds, not trying to archive every hidden technique, but they did make knowledge available to the masses. That change had kick-started the Industrial Revolution and now they received federal funding. No sect would dream of attacking the libraries now... though they didn't need to.

As he walked closer, Rick noticed that the sidewalk leading up to the entrance was in poor shape. What he had thought were random bushes were actually meant to be trimmed in the shape of famous librarians, instead allowed to grow beyond their normal shape, giving the impression that the famous librarians had the shape of balls of dough.

The internet and the increasing corporatization of lucrim had eaten into the base of support for libraries. As he walked in, he saw parents bringing children and a few teenagers who had no better options than the library's ancient computers, but almost no warriors.

Once inside, he found himself a bit uncertain where to go next. They had shelves of popular books near the front with nonfiction off to one side. No sign of lucrim technique manuals anywhere, but perhaps those were held somewhere more secure. With no clear idea where to start, Rick just headed up to the front counter.

"Can I help you?" A middle-aged man looked up from the books he was sorting and smiled warmly.

"I'm looking for techniques. Manuals, scrolls, that sort of thing... do you still have them?"

"Really?" The man's smile wavered, but soon returned. "Well, suit yourself! I don't think I can help you very much, but if you talk to Heather over here, she can probably find you what you need."

Rick thanked the man and left, wondering about that reaction. The middle-aged man had seemed perfectly nice, just disappointed in a fatherly way. He only had a generation rate around 40,000 lucrim, with little sign that he had invested power toward combat. Perhaps he didn't approve of the traditional purpose of libraries.

In any case, he had pointed him toward a young woman pushing a cart between the shelves, replacing books. Her short hair was dyed bright pink, she wore dark leather with flowery wristbands, and he could see tendril-like tattoos peeking out from her sleeves. When he approached she looked up at him, revealing that she also wore thick circular glasses.

"Hello there, can I help you find something?"

Not sure what to make of her, Rick just pushed forward. "I'm looking for lucrim techniques?"

"Oh!" Heather immediately perked up. "Wow, we hardly get anybody like that anymore! Screw all these books... let's head down to the archives and see if we can't find something for you. I'm Heather, by the way. Did I mention that?"

She led him away from the main parts of the library, which were brightly lit and in better repair, to a dusty back corridor. They reached a heavily armored door and she began flipping through keys on her ring, talking to him all the while.

"I don't like it, but that's where the funding is these days. Everybody wants name brand skills, not the old classics. Which is just absurd! Name brand skills? You pick up a technique just because some fucking celebrity did?"

"I agree that last part is illogical," Rick said, "but I think the rest makes sense. The big corporations and sects have some of the best skills. And even if there are good alternatives, there's some value in surprising someone with unusual techniques."

Heather snorted. "Half of what's written about that kind of thing is bullshit, if you ask me. Everyone is all 'This technique is optimized for 23-year-old half-Samoan half-Ugandan left-handed dentists' as if it really makes a difference. We all have flesh and blood, we all have lucrima souls. I'm not saying there are no differences, but there are only so many ways you can accomplish a goal like 'go fast' or 'blow up things' before you - oh, here it is!"

She found the key she needed and unlocked the door, then held it open for him. Rick walked in and peered through the dark shelves. Many were filled with books in the classic manual style, but he saw individual scrolls, clay tablets, and several microfilm readers. There was an enormous amount of knowledge here, even if it was knowledge that was publicly available.

"So..." Heather leaned against one of the shelves and folded her arms as she watched him. "What kind of technique are you looking for?"

Until that moment, he had still been trying to decide. Her ranting had actually been what pushing him to one side: she was right, there were limits to how much the basic techniques could vary. Gaining a well-known ability might be a liability, but gaining a classic form of speed would probably be indistinguishable from many alternatives. "I'm looking to create a speed core."

"You're gonna have to be way more specific than that."

"Something for combat, not sprinting. It should probably include some aerial agility. Doesn't need to involve flying at all. But most importantly, I want something... good." Rick shrugged awkwardly. "Sorry, that's a bad description. I just mean that it shouldn't be something that will be obsolete in a few years, or with serious drawbacks in certain conditions that would limit its effectiveness."

"Well, you're not going to find the perfect technique anywhere, much less at the library." Heather screwed up her face, thinking seriously. "But there are totally skills you wouldn't regret. My first thought for combat is always Tsai's Bull. If you want depth, I suppose you could try Bunyan's Step. If you're in a hurry, though, best to go for a generic tech like Swiftfist or Kentucky Hoof."

A few of those sounded familiar, probably from a teacher droning on in history class. It was good to have options, but... "What did you mean by depth?"

"For Bunyan's Step? Well, uh... it's one of those skills that doesn't have a million variants, just a few that can be used flexibly. It's not complex, but because of that simplicity you can do more with it, you know? Give it enough time and it can really evolve into something strong."

"That sounds promising. Let me see that, then."

"Fan-fucking-tastic! Right this way!" Heather led him through the shelves with unhesitating certainty. Her rapid pace and unwavering gaze were not at all hampered by the fact that they doubled back several times. She didn't seem to know precisely where she was going, she was just heading there with great certainty.

But in the end, she swiveled on one heel and plucked a book from the shelf. It was a rather heavy one, dusty from the years, but she presented it to him like a treasure. "Ta-dah! This one can teach you Bunyan's Step, the associated core, and all that good shit. Also some other stuff you won't need, but we'll let you check out the whole book."

Though Rick took a while to page through the book, he soon felt certain that this technique would be a good choice. It was more devoted to bursts of speed than agility, but it could be used in midair, which was a significant advantage. There were also many pages at the end devoted to implementing the skill, covering real situations instead of precise forms.

It was simple but powerful. People might scorn it for coming from the public library, but he didn't think that he would regret choosing the skill.

He said goodbye to Heather, who seemed disappointed to lose someone to talk to, and filled out the paperwork necessary to check out the book. Too eager to wait to get home, he skimmed through the important parts, then considered them carefully as he ran back.

It took him several days to master the basics necessary to create his new core, during which time he barely did anything other than eat, go to work, and train. Eventually on a day he had off while Melissa was still in school, he decided that now was the time.

Between his training and improvements in his foundation, he had 3600 lucrim capacity to dedicate to his portfolio. Perhaps not enough to impress Birthrighters, but that was an exceptional amount for him. Since much of it came from the improvements in his foundation, which he wouldn't get again, this decision would have quite some impact.

If only he didn't have so many choices. Though he regretted it a little, he decided not to spend any lucrim getting rid of an aura leech. That would have helped a bit, but it would have been shortsighted.

However, he also couldn't afford to throw it all into Graham's Stake. Yes, the core was growing on its own and improving his long term potential, but it did so very slowly compared to other factors and he needed to care about the short term.

To that end, he decided that he should invest the majority of it in Bunyan's Step, then add some more to his defensive core, since that was his greatest strength. He couldn't eliminate his weaknesses, so his strengths needed to be potent enough to give him a real edge.

It took him multiple hours to finish crafting the core to his satisfaction, but eventually he was done. Traditionally he should have drunk serum or philosopher's elixir to restore his reserves, but there was nothing like that left in the house. But when he looked over his new portfolio, he found himself satisfied.

[Name: Rick Hunter

Ether Tier: 18th

Ether Score: 193

Lucrim Generation: 24,400

Effective Rate: 17,178

Current Lucrim: 445]

[Rick Hunter's Lucrima Portfolio

Foundation: 5200 (Lv III)

Offensive Lucore: 3925 (Lv III)

Defensive Lucore: 7375 (Lv VI)

Bunyan's Step: 3000 (Lv I)

Graham's Stake: 3150 (Lv II)

Aura Leech: -4623 (Stage II)

Aura Leech: -2599 (Stage I)

Tracking Bond: 100 (Lv XIII)

Gross Lucrim: 24,400

Net Lucrim: 17,178]

Finally, his lucrim generation rate had increased past the point where he had been before his parents' inheritance had ruined him. His ether score was even recovering, apparently impressed by all his development. But most importantly, his cores had strengthened massively and he now had a complete set: offense, defense, and mobility.

Most added special abilities to the core three, but he could wait. Wanting to improve his new core, Rick began testing it, hopping around the house. Unused to his newfound speed, he slammed into the walls a few times, prompting shouting and cursing from their neighbors.

The style of movement was certainly strange, carrying him across space almost faster than he could react. That could be dangerous if he didn't get used to it, so he kept practicing.

As he did, however, he considered the numbers again. As he'd feared, they didn't quite add up. His total generation rate was over 24,000, yet the value of his cores didn't even reach 23,000. Looking the symptom up online, he discovered that this was a common side effect of mistraining, injuries, or aura leeches.

Had those lucrim been lost forever? It didn't seem possible - surely they must be floating in his system even if the app didn't categorize them. The internet gave him only contradictory answers, so he set the issue aside for the time being. What mattered in the end was his ability to fight.

When his phone interrupted his training, Rick assumed that it was Melissa, but the number was unknown. Assuming it was probably an automated call trying to sell him car insurance or claiming his demonic bond had come due, he ignored it. Yet the same number called back a second time. Rick stared at it for a while, then reluctantly picked up.

"Hello? You there, Rick?" It was Tom, from the Underground. Rick felt a sense of uneasiness as he answered.

"Yeah, I'm here. Why are you calling?"

"I want you to come to my next match. Something is wrong - Alger seems way too happy about it. I've been asking around, but I can't get any concrete information." Tom took a deep breath. "I have a bad feeling about this. If something goes wrong, I'd like to have someone I can trust."

After a long pause, Rick agreed. Hopefully this wouldn't be a mistake, but he was overdue for something to go wrong.