"It's just a little blood... Don't worry so much, Lily," Rose reassured her. "I did far worse when I accidentally stabbed my palms with my newly grown-out nails."

"I still don't like it..." Lily muttered. Although despite her protest, she had to admit that she was hopeful this would work.

The blood dripped, and time almost stood still for Lily as she held her breath; the red drop splattered against the page. A bright light shone from the entire book, and then abruptly, the blood erupted into a golden flame.

Both Lily and Rose flinched backward in startlement, with Lily letting out a frightful squeak and nearly falling over herself. They both traded glances at one another and the book.

"Well... That was unexpected," Rose chuckled.

"Unexpected!? It exploded!" Lily practically screamed.

"Do you think it worked?" Rose asked, ignoring Lily's angry gaze. "I mean, it must have done something to be that flashy, right?"

"I-I don't know..." Lily replied before cautiously approaching the book; nothing appeared any different at first glance.

She dabbed her pen in the inkpot and brought it carefully to the page, slightly fearful of another eruption of flame. When Arakil took hold of the ink as usual, she sighed in relief, even before reading his words.

[It is as I feared. It looks like the same seals preventing Rose from seeing my text prohibit me from absorbing the Mana from her blood. I hope both of you are alright?]

"We're okay; it was just scary," Lily answered Arakil's question before turning to Rose. "Looks like it didn't work..."

"Damn... Why can't things ever be simple?" Rose asked angrily.

"I guess it's back to Fairymoss and ink," Lily responded.

Rose snapped her fingers. "Can't I put my blood in your ink?"

Lily gave a defeated smile. "No... Glyphs drawn in blood only work for the owner. Apparently, it's one of the many reasons they stopped using plants."

"Ugh!" Rose exclaimed angrily, in an almost snarl. "So stupid!"

"Thanks for trying, at least," Lily said, touching Rose's arm gently. "Is your cut okay?"

Rose showed her arm, and it looked like the tiny wound had closed up already.

"How?" Lily asked in astonishment.

"Part of the awakening package," Rose replied with a snort.

"Totally unfair... I bet I'd just get some stupid buck teeth or a cottontail," Lily whined.

"A little fluffy cottontail would be so cute on you!" Rose teased, although she now imagined Lily with the cute addition and giggled to herself.

Lily grumbled, trying her best to ignore Rose's teasing, as she pulled out the remaining bottle of failed ink and gently poured it onto the pages. Once the entire concoction had vanished, she returned the pen to the pages.

"Any idea how much more you'll need?" Lily asked.

[I have enough to start a preliminary search through my archives. However, we will likely need more unless luck is on our side. Even if we are lucky, any excess won't go to waste and will likely be required for our method to grant you Mana.]

"It's so frustrating... I feel so close and so far at the same time," Lily groaned.

"Well... My offer still stands to go get some plants for you," Rose mentioned. "I have some extra classes they want me to take, and I'm also being forced to see Lady Desthu, so I might be limited to the next free day."

"Why do you keep calling her that?" Lily finally asked; it was bugging her.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked innocently.

"You keep emphasizing Lady Desthu," Lily answered.

"Oh... It's 'cause she's got a stick up her butt," Rose answered nonchalantly. "She kept getting upset when I wouldn't address her properly. Said she was teaching me proper manners and etiquette, but I think she was just on a power trip. If I didn't follow her instructions properly, she would even shortchange me on my meals."

"She didn't feed you properly!?" Lily replied, aghast. "Sounds like a total control freak."

"Tell me about it! I tried playing her game, and no matter what I did, she wouldn't let me contact you. It was so frustrating. I wanted to punch her smug face."

"Well, I'm glad you're finally back," Lily said, genuinely happy. "The staff were so secretive about it. I kept worrying something really bad had happened."

"I bet it was her fault," Rose fumed. "Probably gave the staff strict instructions to keep you in the dark. Sick woman."

"Crazy that she has that kind of power," Lily mentioned curiously. "Like... This isn't an ordinary orphanage, so it's not like she could threaten to cut their funding or anything like that."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Rose shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe she lied and said it was for my health? It's not like the staff here know much about Dragia; we're pretty rare amongst the demis."

Lily was about to say something when a grumbling, gurgling sound echoed throughout the room. Lily gave a tiny flinch and looked around for the source, only to see Rose looking notably embarrassed.

"Sorry... That was my stomach..." Rose admitted, cringing heavily from embarrassment.

"Oh... We probably got so distracted we nearly missed dinner," Lily said.

"Another change I haven't gotten used to... I need so much more food than before," Rose sighed. "At least it's going to my growth spurt, from what I can tell; otherwise, I'd have to worry about getting fat."

"Eating food to get taller instead of fatter..." Lily mumbled.

"Totally unfair!" Rose said at the same time as Lily.

"Jinx!" Rose said teasingly, giving Lily a small pinch on her arm.

Lily rubbed her arm and frowned. "Jerk..."

"I couldn't resist," Rose teased. "Now, let's go get some grub!"

Lily nodded, placing Arakil under the mattress again before leaving with Rose. Ensuring she locked her door behind her.

"I hope there's a lot of meat tonight!" Rose said excitedly.

***

Arakil wandered the forsaken halls of his archive, trying to comb through some of the tomes of knowledge using his limited supply of Mana. He would quickly flip through the knowledge with unnatural speed, a mere surface scan of its contents to decide if it was potentially useful or not.

Any books unrelated to his search topic were quickly discarded to the side; he had neither the resources nor time to correctly catalog anything, for now, despite his mind and emotions begging him to do so.

"Once I've separated the knowledge, I can begin actually exploring for an option," He spoke to himself.

Even though walking through this mental landscape wasn't necessary and, in fact, slightly inferior to handling it all mentally, he still partook in it as it was one of the brief moments when he could experience having a body again. In fact, as the master of this illusory domain, he could fashion it and himself to his liking, such as taking on a more mortal appearance from his past.

The layout of his book's inner archive had been changing somewhat to suit his tastes. For example, there was a small desk he could sit at that contained a replica of his book on the table. Whenever Lily wrote in the book, it would appear here.

Likewise, when Lily gave him ink to communicate with, it would appear as if she had gifted him a magical pen, and he would write out his words within the replica. Again, it was totally frivolous, and he could easily do it purely mentally as he had originally, but it was a small enjoyment he could partake in.

Arakil was quite pleased with the girl's progress, and he was glad she was like an eager sponge trying to soak in as much understanding as possible.

It was a pity they couldn't proceed with more practical lessons until that alchemist finalized the glyph ink. Arakil felt that the lady was perhaps taking too long with her research, delaying it because she feared losing her helpful worker.

"Well, once Lily has her own Mana, we can likely avoid that method and her entirely," Arakil told himself. "Assuming her starting Mana reserves aren't absolutely diminutive, then she can imbue her own ink. And even if they are, there are countless meditations and exercises we could work on to progress her."

He felt a small disappointment growing within, like a stone that slowly grew heavier and heavier with each book he tossed to the side. The quantity of his Mana was too pitiable, even with the Fairymoss, and its refined solution.

"If only Rose's blood was serviceable..." Arakil expressed, full of regret. "But those blasted gods, fairies, or devils clearly had the foresight in their latest arrangement to bar me from even that slight convenience."

When his pile of potential books grew large enough, he finally began to review their contents. Regrettably, most methods that granted or increased someone's Mana required either extremely valuable resources or a complex processing method—if not both!

"Even if we could somehow find the skin of a selkie or phoenix tears, would Lily reasonably be able to refine them?" Arakil asked rhetorically. "No... Even if she could persuade Camilla to assist or follow the recipe, I doubt it would be within her capabilities. Which means we need a ritualistic method..."

Arakil sighed as he collapsed backward into a chair. Rubbing his hands against his face, he pulled downward at his cheeks, stretching his eyelids. He let out a long, exasperated groan.

"I know for a fact there are necromantic rituals that do that, but there's no way I could convince Lily," Arakil sighed deeply. "I have to find a solution that can be prepared either by Lily or me, lacks impossibly rare materials, and doesn't conflict with her morals... Talk about a tall order, especially the latter. I'm frankly astonished that she didn't kick up more of a fuss regarding the blood."

Arakil's self-reflection was interrupted when he heard the sound of someone entering the room. Lily announced her presence. It seemed she was alone this time.

"Hey, Arakil, I'm back from dinner," Lily said after placing his book on her desk. "I'm just going to do a bit of practice before bed. I'm pooped..."

Arakil nodded, not that Lily could see, and decided to observe her practice. He often did so, and even if he missed her practice due to a meditative trance, he could always peruse through the work after the fact.

Lily was at the stage where she could draw four crests: Shield, Light, Water, and Fire. It was remarkably impressive in such a short time. When it came to the accompanying sigils, he had avoided giving her any that could create a potentially dangerous glyph.

Arakil was concerned that Camilla would ask her to draw something when the glyph ink was finally created. Another possibility was that Lily, in her excitement, might want to try it out posthaste and disregard his warnings.

"Even if she went straight to Fire. The worst she could do was make a small floating candle with the sigils I gave her," Arakil reassured himself.

He watched with fascination as she worked. Occasionally speaking aloud, as if providing commentary to himself.

"That's a damn fine triangle..." Arakil said proudly.

"No, no, no... That line needs to be a little bit longer!"

"Yes, give that one a little hook at the end... Steady... Steady... Perfect!"

"I'd give that shield crest a perfect mark; the sigils only have tiny imperfections... Perhaps only an 8% loss in efficiency..." He mentally graded her work.

"Ah! You were so close!" Arakil angrily shouted when Lily failed to recreate a particularly tricky circle due to its abnormal size. "If only I could demonstrate to her... I finally have a student who desires to learn, and I can't give her suitable instruction! I swear this must be the fault of those damned fairies!"

When Lily decided to end her practice, she asked Arakil how she had performed. From his limited position, he gave her as thorough a review as possible, pointing out the sigils that required more refinement and then praising her successes appropriately.

"Thanks, Arakil!" Lily said happily.

[You're very welcome, Lily. Well done today, not only for your work but also for acquiring the liquified Fairymoss. I wish you a restful slumber.]

Arakil wrote in the book.

"Goodnight. Sweet dreams!" Lily said happily.

"Sweet dreams..." Arakil said softly, chuckling to himself.

He gazed at the pile of books. He nodded his head firmly with reaffirmed resolve.

"Well, that book isn't going to find itself!" Arakil said with a clap of his hands.