Favonius Swordsmanship: Fundamentals

"Sir Knight, I'm not here to borrow a book. Could you tell me if Miss Amber is around?"

Li Qiuzhi shook his head, offering a denying reply.

"Oh? You're looking for Miss Amber? Could it be that you're the young man from Liyue she brought back?" Although Bolto phrased it as a question, his tone was certain.

Li Qiuzhi wasn't surprised that the Knights of Favonius had heard of him. The relief camp was managed by them, so when Amber arranged for him to stay there, she naturally would have informed the relevant personnel.

There were only so many Knights of Favonius and other administrative staff, so before long, everyone had heard about the stranded young man from Liyue.

Li Qiuzhi nodded and smiled generously:

"If it weren't for Miss Amber lending a helping hand, I'd probably still be wandering out there."

"Haha, of course not." Bolto smiled as well. "Whoever is in trouble, we in the Knights of Favonius will never stand by and watch."

Another Knight of Favonius wearing glasses, Ato, walked over as well and said:

"That's right. Miss Amber is a very enthusiastic person and truly admirable. She should be inside the headquarters right now, so you can go in and look for her."

"Got it."

Li Qiuzhi stepped onto the stairs in front of the headquarters, pushed open the heavy wooden doors, and was greeted by a spacious lobby. His gaze naturally fell on the innermost stairs leading to the second floor.

The second floor of the headquarters was quite mysterious; after all, it was never accessible in the game, and no one knew what was up there.

The first room on the left was Acting Grand Master Jean's office. While the second room was named the Confinement Room, it had practically become Klee's bomb research room.

Whenever Klee had some quirky new bomb, it was likely researched while she was locked in confinement by Acting Grand Master Jean-after all, when she wasn't in confinement, she was either digging up great treasures or on her way to dig up great treasures.

The right side was the library, also guarded by a Knight of Favonius. Li Qiuzhi looked around and, not finding Amber, took two steps forward and asked, "Sir Knight, could you tell me if Miss Amber is here?"

Virag, whose face was stern and whose standing posture was very upright, spoke with the distinct vocal timbre of a middle-aged man:

"Miss Amber is currently reporting for work in the Acting Grand Master's Office. Wait a moment."

"I see."

Since that was the case, Li Qiuzhi had no choice but to stand aside and wait.

Unfortunately, Lisa had already gotten off work, so he couldn't go into the library to borrow books to pass the time while waiting. Hmm?

That Knight of Favonius had said that because Lisa was off work, he couldn't register the borrowing of books, but going inside the library to read should still be fine. After all, with someone guarding the place, there was no need to worry about anyone walking off with the books.

Therefore, Li Qiuzhi tried asking: "Um, Sir Knight, would it be all right if I went into the library to read for a bit?"

Virag glanced at the young man and nodded in reply:

"Of course."

"Thank you. Oh, right, Sir Knight, would you mind letting Miss Amber know as soon as she comes out that someone in the library is looking for her?"

Li Qiuzhi expressed his gratitude and asked again.

He definitely didn't want to miss Amber because he was inside the library and didn't see her come out.

"Mhm. Go ahead." Receiving the same concise reply, Li Qiuzhi expressed his thanks once more and gently pushed open the library's wooden door to step inside.

Taking in the sight at a glance, the library was identical to the one in the game, divided into upper and lower floors. Each level was like an ocean of books. No wonder Lisa chose to be a librarian; for a scholar, there was perhaps no more ideal working environment than this.

Aside from killing time while waiting for Amber, Li Qiuzhi came here because a thought had suddenly crossed his mind: would there be any learning methods for combat skills and the like in the library?

If he could actually find some, it would greatly facilitate his acquisition of different skills.

It wasn't as though everyone was as willing to guide others in archery as Draff, so having a channel to learn skills from books was very important.

Even without anyone to teach him, learning might be slow, but Li Qiuzhi didn't rely on innate talent. As long as he successfully met the standard for mastery based on the book, once the skill appeared on his character panel, he could level it up using Experience Points.

Whether he had talent or not wasn't an issue.

Li Qiuzhi searched through the bookshelves one by one. Each shelf was clearly marked with the type of books it held, so it wasn't cumbersome at all.

He had to admit that as Mondstadt's largest library, it truly lived up to its name, holding basically every type of book. The combat skills Li Qiuzhi wanted were also found on the wooden bookshelf against the wall to the left on the first floor.

The entire bookshelf held training methods for various combat skills as well as the experiential insights summarized by his predecessors.

Full of anticipation, Li Qiuzhi casually pulled one out. The cover bore the large characters "Favonius Swordsmanship: Fundamentals"-concise and easy to understand. At a glance, he knew what the book taught.

It should be the foundational part of Favonius Swordsmanship, and this was exactly what Li Qiuzhi needed. The only skill he currently knew was the Hunter's Archery taught by Draff, and that was only at the introductory level. Learning a bit of close-quarters combat was quite necessary.

However, he didn't eagerly take the book; instead, he temporarily placed it back and looked at the other titles.

"Favonius Archery: Basics", "General Combat Breathing Rhythm Essentials", "Techniques for Dealing with Large Hilichurls", "Rhein One-Handed Swordsmanship", "Basic Polearm Techniques".

After looking through the titles of numerous books, he found both methods for using weapons and guides on how to deal with specific types of monsters.

Yet they all seemed rather ordinary. Um, how should he put it? There were no particularly powerful skills involving transcendent powers or anything of the sort.

This left Li Qiuzhi feeling a bit depressed.

Of course, he hadn't held out too much hope. In Teyvat, elemental power was the most common transcendent power, and humans needed to possess an external magical organ called a "Vision" in order to wield it.

Without something capable of channeling elemental power like a Vision, ordinary people who rashly came into contact with elements would most likely be eroded by them-suffering from minor illnesses at best, or endangering their lives at worst.

Therefore, even if the Knights of Favonius possessed methods for using elemental power, those materials wouldn't be casually placed on bookshelves, lest some curious ordinary person use them and cripple themselves in practice.

After thinking it through, Li Qiuzhi simply took down that first volume of "Favonius Swordsmanship: Fundamentals" from the bookshelf and placed it on a nearby desk to begin reading.

The librarian was off work; otherwise, he could have borrowed a few volumes to study and practice at the same time. However, such rough and impolite behavior was not permitted inside the library.

As he read through the book, Li Qiuzhi learned that "Favonius Swordsmanship: Fundamentals" was basic swordsmanship compiled and summarized by the Knights of Favonius, containing training methods for both swords and claymores.

The Favonius knights all learned this as well; there was nothing different, and the book explained things in meticulous detail without fluff.

There were also study experiences left behind by senior Favonius knights printed within, which could save Li Qiuzhi from taking many detours and help him get started much faster.

Li Qiuzhi hadn't expected that coming to return money to Amber would lead to such unexpected gains in the library.

It seemed Amber truly was his lucky angel-he needed to find an opportunity to thank her properly.