Weeks passed, and Lily continued her lessons. The orphanage staff had collectively decided that Lily potentially had a good chance as a scribe, as her lettering continued to improve, and it would fit in well with her low bodily constitution. Once they were confident enough in her progress, they presented her with her first pen and ink during a private lesson.

Lily spent time learning how to use the ink pen properly, and after she showed some success, they even gifted her one. While it was simple in design, Lily was absolutely delighted with it. Now, she could practice her grip, gently applying the correct pressure and proper care for the pen nib. When she returned to her room that evening, she wasted no time opening up her book and preparing to practice.

She carefully opened the inkwell and dipped in, making sure not to draw too much ink. Then, she carefully placed it on the page; she planned to go through her basic lettering. When the nib touched the page, a dark splotch of ink filled the spot, quickly growing as if the pen had been emptied. Lily quickly withdrew the pen from the page and stared at the black spot with a frown.

"No... Don't tell me the pen they gave me is broken?" Lily said somberly.

First, she sealed the inkpot shut to protect the ink. Then she tried her best to inspect the nib closely, and when she couldn't spot anything wrong with it, she attempted to clean it. Maybe she had just made a mistake? She brought her attention back to the page, ready for round two. Her eyes widened as she stared at the page where the ink stain once was. The ink was moving as if alive, and it began drawing out a word before her very eyes.

[Hello.]

Lily screamed and knocked the book off her desk, sending it scattering to the floor. She rushed over to her bed and hid under the covers. She was so terrified she refused to come out from under the covers all night.

***

Arakil wanted to cry. He had finally contacted his new owner, who became so frightened that she scattered his bookbound form to the floor.

He had spent months gathering what little Mana he could from this deprived world and spent his time learning the language from the scribblings of the girl.

From the little tidbits of information he had picked up, he had learned she was a hardworking orphan girl trying to get some form of scholarly position. It was certainly quite admirable in his eyes.

Unfortunately, after all this effort, he still lacked enough to make contact unaided, so he could only stare in silence in the hope of somehow making contact with her one day. Then, finally, she had moved on from pencils to ink.

Arakil had tried to keep his anticipation in check; with ink and a tiny bit of his stored Mana, he could make contact by manipulating the ink once it touched his pages!

Unfortunately, he hadn't expected his new owner to be so twitchy like a scared rabbit. If only he could've gotten some more information before making contact. The eye on his book cover that he used to be able to see the world from was far too drained of Mana to service him at present. He had assumed she was young, due to the sometimes crude drawings she scribbled in the book and her relatively low starting literacy.

You'd think any kid would be fascinated by a book talking to her, right? I certainly would have been... At least my book is open, so I can gather a little more Mana. Small blessings...

***

Lily woke the next day feeling miserable. She had a restless night filled with strange dreams. Groggily getting out of bed, she accidentally kicked something while trying to wipe her eyes. She winced and fell back onto her bed as she clutched her foot. Looking at the source of her pain, she saw it was her book lying on the floor. A chill went down her spine as she vividly remembered what had happened.

"It was just a nightmare... Right?" Lily asked, trying to reassure herself.

She cautiously approached the book and placed it back on her desk; she held her breath as she opened it up and began flipping through the pages. There, clearly written on the page, was the word in ink, was the word.

[Hello.]

She slammed the book shut again and shivered. She wanted to throw the book against the wall, but it was still her only connection to her mom, and it had been one of her only companions in the orphanage besides Rose. Instead, she placed it on the desk and tried her best to forget about the incident.

"I'm sure I'm just sleepy. Or maybe I haven't woken up properly yet," Lily muttered to herself.

She grabbed her towel and ran towards the bathroom. She needed to prepare for the day and have breakfast before her classes started. Today's class was math, which caused her to groan.

***

Lily's lack of sleep clearly affected her attention span, and classes were miserable. The teacher asked her if everything was okay after class, but Lily shook her head and just said she hadn't slept well. She didn't dare talk about the book's message; what if they took it away from her again?

Normally, she would rush back to her room afterward, but instead, she took a slow walk outside, sticking to the shade.

'I'm not scared to go back to my room... I'm just taking the scenic route!' Lily told herself with false confidence.

Eventually, she gathered up enough courage to return to her room. She tiptoed in as if expecting a beast to lurk in the shadows, but her room was completely undisturbed from when she left it. She closed the door behind her and cautiously approached the desk. She held her breath and slowly opened the book to the page.

[Hello.]

"H-Hello?" Lily asked the book.

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No response. Lily breathed in deeply.

"Right... Even if you could respond, the ink is dry..." Lily said with hesitation.

She looked for her inkpot and found it on the floor. She could only thank the gods that she had the foresight to seal the pot beforehand. She gingerly picked it up and was relieved that there appeared to be no damage to it.

"This is so stupid... No way my book can talk..." Lily muttered to herself.

Despite her hesitations, she placed the pot on the desk. Sitting down, she carefully picked up her pen and dipped it into the inkwell. She nervously held her breath and touched the page with the pen again.

"Hello?" Lily said nervously.

Once again, the pen instantly drained off its ink as it came out in a splotch. Lily's eyes widened in shock at the exact events repeated, and she held back a scream as she saw the ink start to writhe and form words.

[Sorry to have scared you. I hope you are okay.]

The text was impossibly thin, clearly using every drop of ink with the utmost efficiency, and the letters were utterly perfect. If Lily wasn't currently freaking out, she would have admired the work. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

"It's okay... I'm... Fine. Can you hear me?" Lily eventually asked.

The book did not respond, and she figured the ink on the page had dried too much for the book to use. She dipped her pen nib again and repeated the process.

[Yes. I can hear you.]

"My name is Lily. Do you have a name?" Lily asked, repeating the inking process.

[Nice to meet you, Lily. My name is Arakil.]

"Arakil... Are you a magic book?"

[Under the loosest of definitions. Yes. I was an Archmage.]

Lily gasped in surprise. Only the best of the best became Archmages, requiring someone to be born with both talent and a superior bloodline. On Arakil's part, it was a little bit of a fib; he was an Archmage long ago, but it sounded more realistic from his viewpoint to downplay his position.

"Can you do magic?"

[I could. Regrettably, I lack sufficient Mana.]

"Mana comes from our blood... Unfortunately, I don't have any."

[What!?]

The ink wasn't fully used, swirling around as if waiting for a response. Internally, Arakil was fuming.

"I'm a Lagia. We can't do ma-" Lily tried to explain when the swirling ink splashed out a response, interrupting her and causing her to let out a scared squeak.

[Everyone can do magic!]

Arakil wanted to scream, but this was the best he could do. What atrocities had become of the world that only the privileged few could do magic now? Magic was for everyone; it was the ultimate form of expression!

"I can't..." Lily responded, her voice wavering. "I'm not strong like Rose or the others."

[You can do magic. You just need determination.]

"I-I don't believe you." Lily stammered.

[What if I can prove it?]

Lily gasped. It sounded too good to be true, and her doubts made her wonder whether this was some elaborate prank. But... Deep down, she truly wanted it to be true.

"O-okay! Prove it then!" Lily demanded.

[You will need a blank page and three doses of ink.]

A bit of the remaining ink continued to swirl around as if waiting for more to provide further instructions. Lily thankfully understood the intention and hurried to offer more ink.

[Once done, you must tear the page from the book.]

More ink.

[Then burn the center of the page.]

[I will require 10 days to recover. Less if open.]

[I hope this shows my faith in you. Any questions?]

"No..." Lily replied, shaking her head.

[Good. Let's get started then. I hope to speak to you again.]

Lily was shocked. It seemed too good to be true. She turned to a blank page, dipped her pen, and then deposited the ink. It pooled in the center of the page and awaited the remaining portion. Lily found herself holding her breath as she dipped her pen two more times.

When the final drop was sucked up by the page, Arakil got to work. He would spend what little Mana he had acquired imbuing the ink for this demonstration, but he hoped it would suitably inspire Lily.

He was still outraged at what she had said. Mana from blood? It sounded like absolute nonsense cooked up by some blue-blood noble to try to suppress knowledge. But... Arakil couldn't sense Mana from Lily.

'Has Mana become an internal source rather than external? Have the races evolved in a way to live in this Mana-deficient environment?' These were questions that pestered Arakil's mind.

As Arakil drew his magical diagram on the page, Lily stared in utter awe and wonder. Each stroke was masterful, the pattern was intricate and beautiful, and the ink seemed to faintly glow as it danced across the page.

Meanwhile, Arakil was feeling a little bitter. While he loved his work, he couldn't help but feel remorse at how much he struggled to create a simple illusion scroll. He had such a tiny amount of Mana to work with; it was pitiful.

A small voice of doubt even told him to cut corners; surely a little girl wouldn't even notice a bit of shoddy work in an illusion, but his pride refused to give in to temptation. Moreover, he wanted to leave a long-lasting impression on this youth, like what had started his own magical journey so long ago.

The glyphs shone when the final stroke completed the magical circle, finalizing the work. Lily audibly gasped, her eyes glittering with fascination. Meanwhile, Arakil began slipping into unconsciousness; he had gone overboard with that scroll. With his last thoughts, he broke the seal that was keeping the page tied to the book, and silently wished Lily good luck.

Lily gingerly touched the page, softly tracing the intricate sigils and glyphs with her fingers. Recalling the instructions Arakil had given her, she tried to carefully tear out the page.

Lily had half expected to fail. Nobody had successfully claimed paper from this strange book, which was why it fell back into her ownership. Yet as she made the delicate motions, it effortlessly released from the book fully intact.

Lily went to her lamp and lit it. The next instructions told her to burn the paper from the center. She hesitated, staring at the beautiful drawing on the paper.

"I don't want to burn it..." Lily murmured.

Truthfully, she wanted to save it and cherish it. Then she realized she might be able to get Arakil to draw another one for her, which was when she finally resolved to see this through to the end. She daintily held the center of the page over the burning wick.

Lily had expected the page to burn abruptly, but the center began to glow softly. Then, a tiny pinprick of a hole burned into the page, and the entire inked design began to glimmer like an iridescent rainbow. Once the magical diagram fully lit up, the page flashed and vanished from Lily's fingertips as if instantly burnt to a crisp.

Lily yelped in shock and surprise, frantically flicking her fingers as if they had been burnt. But there was no injury or burn. Had she done something wrong? The page hadn't even left any residue, as if it had never existed. Lily's heart began to sink when something started happening.

The room began to darken and dim into barely a soft, warm glow when tiny specks of light suddenly twinkled all around. Stars materialized out of thin air, and the entire space was filled with a mesmerizing display of constellations. Lily's room was transformed into an ethereal night sky.

Lily gasped, tears forming in her eyes as her hands began to tremble. She stared in wonder and awe as the magical display unfolded, casting a spell of enchantment over the room.

It was as if the beauty of the universe had manifested within the confines of her room. Watching this breathtaking sight, Lily felt as though she could reach out and touch the stars, their gentle glow casting a radiant and enchanting ambiance throughout the space.

Lily stood there in silence; the only sound was the occasional pitter-patter of tears dripping to the floor. She spun around, desperately trying to burn every bit of this display into her memory. Then the room began to brighten, the stars began to slowly blur, and a few moments later, the room returned to normal. With great excitement, she turned back to the page of their conversation.

"That was amazing, Arakil!" Lily exclaimed.

She had dipped her pen and placed it against the page, but nothing happened. Fear gripped her heart, but reading Arakil's last words, she realized he was truthful when he said he would need time to recover. Not wanting to waste the ink, she instead wrote on the page.

[Thank you.]

"I hope you wake up soon," Lily said, struggling to hide her smile.