My observation:

Initial research leads me to believe that beast cores function akin to human and demi-human aethercores. In my experiment to enchant using the direhog core, I trialed several enchantments on vellum until I found one that seemed to resonate, but still only barely managed a grade E enchantment. The enchantment effect, when powered by the core, was significantly more potent. So why the poor system rating?

My hypothesis:

It is quite curious that beast cores exist at all in our plane of existence rather than the Aether. I believe that because they do, they may also be contaminated with the beast’s residual intent. I may need more insights into the direhog itself to create a more powerful enchantment. However, this line of thought raises a more interesting question: if the beast cores are poor enchantment conductors, then human aethercores must be a perfect medium.

– Susie Q, Journal of Grievances

Chapter 13 – Evil Spirits

Toki and Edgar edged forward with care, their figures wraiths inside the cavern's suffocating atmosphere. The high ceiling swallowed the sound from their footfalls, each step, soft, in the void that shrouded them. As they followed the trail of destruction, Toki pumped more mana into her flame using [Advanced Mana Control], coaxing forth a surge of constellations. The whimsical star-like embers cast a gentle glow to her surroundings. It was far from enough to illuminate the giant cavern, but even still, she saw foreboding claw marks and footprints as they followed the path. The flame's still inert.

“Toki, what’re you thinking?”

"A-oooooo!" another chorus of howls echoed in the distance.

Toki replied, distracting herself from the howls, "Remember when we'd sneak Susie Q into that tree-fort hideout by the river?" Toki's voice was a whisper, yet it still cut through the tension, "We'd pretend we were guardians warding off evil spirits. It feels like we need some warding now.”

Edgar chuckled, a nervous sound that fluttered. "Susie always had a flair for drama. She’d always insist that she was the lost princess of some ruined kingdom. We were her valiant knights, weren’t we?" he said, his eyes glinting with the reflection of Toki's flames, betraying his own fear. "What did she call it? Ispartika, was it?"

As they continued their descent, torches embedded in the cavern walls flickered to life one by one, as if an unseen hand guided them along this path of remembrance. Each torch exhaled light that chased away the dark, casting long, dancing shadows across the worn stone, accentuating its age and apparent abandonment. But with the light, they saw more gruesome reminders of Dutch Eternal’s experimentation—now empty cages lining the walls, doors clawed and yanked open by the survivors.

"More like her bumbling squires," Toki replied, her fondness veiled her fear. The levity of the memory couldn't dispel the shadow that crept into her smile, though even that memory carried dark pretense.

Edgar chuckled.

"We spent an entire day wearing pots and pans searching for her until we found her hiding in the old mill." Toki whispered, her voice a wisp of sound in the encompassing hush. "She was so small, curled up behind those sacks of grain."

Edgar, his bright feathers slightly dulled in the dim light, glanced at her with large, expressive eyes that held a melancholic reflection. "I remember," he replied, his voice a gentle coo. "She thought it was just another game of hide and seek. Poor girl."

Toki's lips quirked into a bitter smile, her starry manifestations flickering off like fireflies caught in a twilight dance as she recalled the flame. "We made it one, didn't we? To keep her mind off... you know." She trailed off, the unspoken words hanging heavily between them.

"Yeah, yeah, I remember. Her father was an ass. In a way… we were her guardians. At least more than her mother was." Edgar finished somberly, his talon-like feet scraping softly against the stone floor. He paused, ruffling his plumage in a semblance of discomfort. He looked up at the high ceilings, pulled away by the memory. "We always had a secret sanctuary. When we got caught, we’d always find another. You always had a way of turning fear into adventure for her."

"There’s no way we can know how her mother coped, Feathers," Toki murmured. “By the gods, how must she feel now. We need to check on her.” I have to talk to her.

Toki watched as Edgar nodded. I may need some help, though.

Their path wound through shelves covered in fresh, tight cobwebs, the silky strands shimmering like gossamer in the firelight. The books upon them lay coated in dust, their contents a litany of forgotten knowledge. Rusted trinkets and forgotten treasures of indeterminate age littered the spaces between shelves—relics of a time when this place teemed with seekers of wisdom rather than the creatures that now claimed it.

She continued, "I always wondered what ever happened to Susie's father?"

Edgar's feathers ruffled uncomfortably at the question. "I don't know," he admitted. "But I'd like to think he got what was coming to him. Susie never told me, just that he got sick."

Toki shrugged. “You were closer to her then, at least closer than I was. Look at this," Toki said softly, gingerly lifting a metal helmet distorted by corrosion. "An entire world, left to decay.” She searched for manascript. Finding none, she placed it back. “Anyways, I won’t miss him – he was a prick."

"Worlds within worlds. This place is massive.”

“Almost like it’s fit for a dragon…"

“The junk here seems worthless for a dragon. I’m not so sure.”

Their conversation meandered through the past as they moved deeper into the cavern. The atmosphere was thick with the ghosts of ages gone by and soon, they finally arrived at a fork. To their left they saw a grand archway with an intricately carved door. To their right, more of the same: wide tunnels leading into the depths of Aris. Toki's hand hovered before the grand archway, tracing ancient script that pulsed faintly under her touch. She injected mana into them, and the door clicked. With a light push, the library's heavy doors swung open, revealing an expanse that stretched grandly before them.

"Shards be damned," Edgar whispered, his voice a mix of reverence and disbelief as they stepped into an equally cavernous space. Above them, vaulted ceilings soared, lost in shadow, while endless rows of towering bookshelves rose like silent sentinels guarding the wisdom of what appeared to be eons of knowledge.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Can you imagine the secrets that must have filled this space? That still fill this place?" Toki was mesmerized, her gaze sweeping across titles etched in languages both familiar and arcane. Toki opened one, only to find an unfamiliar language and a nose full of dust. But it was a vellum book. Expensive. Just the vellum here would be worth a fortune.

"Or the parties," Edgar added, his talons clicking softly against the stone floor as he craned his neck to scan the ballroom-sized clearing in the center. A lone massive chandelier hung from the darkened heights, its crystals dulled by time, but still hinting at past splendors.

As they wandered deeper, Toki couldn't shake the sense of something watching from the crevices between reality and imagination, between the bookshelves. A whisper, barely audible, seemed to breathe along the edges of her consciousness, a feeling that carried no words yet spoke of hidden things.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, pausing. Her flame flickered a puff to her left, casting peculiar shadows that danced just beyond the periphery of her vision. The flame illuminated the world in a bright flash but dissipated out.

"Hear what?" Edgar replied, tilting his head curiously.

Toki repeated the act, this time flames bursting around her right followed by another burst to the left. She looked both ways, then continued forward. "Never mind," Toki said, pushing down the ripple of unease. "My mind is playing tricks on me."

"Let's keep going," Edgar suggested, his voice steady though his large eyes darted around nervously. "We need to find that beast core. Everything else can come later."

"Right behind you," Toki assured him, masking her trepidation with a half-hearted grin. As they ventured forward, the whispers grew fainter, yet the mystery of the library loomed. The mystery of all these books will also have to come later.

With each step forward, the dilapidation that had clung to the shelves like a shroud seemed to evaporate. Dust motes swirled in the stale air, then vanished as if swept away by an unseen hand. The chandelier, long dormant, sparked to life with a soft golden glow, bathing the vast room in welcoming light.

"Look at this," Edgar breathed, his voice tinged with awe as he brushed a taloned finger over a bookshelf where intricate carvings came alive under the newfound luminescence. "These etchings... they're moving, Toki—like vines."

"Enchantments?" she questioned, her gaze transfixed on the animation before her. "Dutch Eternal's work, perhaps? Can enchantments be enchanted?"

"Could be," Edgar mused, his feathers reflecting the warm light as he unfolded his wings slightly, an involuntary gesture of relaxation. "But why would the dragon waste magic on aesthetics?"

"Maybe it had a fancy for the nicer things." Toki's words hung between them, a tether to happier thoughts. "Remember when we used to imagine what kind of dragon Dutch Eternal was? A mighty sorcerer mage or a benevolent protector of knowledge?"

"Or a whimsical artist with a flair for dramatic libraries," Edgar added with a chuckle, the tension easing from his frame.

As they laughed, the soft strains of a melody wove through the air, harmonic and gentle as if a phantom orchestra played just out of sight. It lilted around them, coaxing their minds to reminisce about days of innocent adventuring and dreams not dulled by harsh reality.

"Those were the days, huh?" Toki said, her sarcasm softened by nostalgia. "No responsibility, just us against the world."

"Us and Susie Q," Edgar reminded her, a fond smile playing on his lips.

"Right, Susie Q, too," Toki echoed, her eyes distant for a moment before snapping back to the present. "This place feels like a dance theater now, doesn't it?"

"Indeed, quite the transformation," Kristina added with a chitter, harmonizing perfectly with the cadence of their conversation. At least that’s what Toki remembered her name to be. Her eyes sparkled with mirth and shared memories, an echo of camaraderie resonating within the trio.

"Kristina!" Toki greeted, her surprise quickly melting into comfort. "You think Dutch Eternal fancied herself a choreographer then?"

"Of course," Kristina replied with a sly grin. "What's the point of such a long life if you can’t indulge in a bit of pageantry?"

"True," Edgar agreed, his laughter echoing off the high ceilings. "It's either that or we've stumbled upon the most elaborate play about a pretentious society of librarians."

"Wouldn't that be something?" Toki quipped, her stars pulsing in time with her amusement. "A library masquerading as a ballroom, with a dragon for a director."

"Only in the wildest stories," Kristina said, her voice lilting with the same enchantment that filled the space around them. "Now, let's see if we can find the script to this magnificent production." Her chitin legs clicked against the stone floor in rhythm to the music.

The air in the library shimmered with an almost tangible magic and each step Toki took revealed more of its hidden splendor. As they walked, Kristina continued, her voice as smooth as silk and equally beguiling. "Imagine," she said, her eyes reflecting the newly ignited chandeliers, "weaving our own enchantment here. Something to honor Susie, to capture this moment forever."

Toki paused, "An enchantment?" Her curiosity piqued, the very notion conjured images of their childhood escapades.

"Enchantments aren’t so easy," Edgar interjected, his feathers rustling with unease, yet his tone betrayed a burgeoning interest. "But… I suppose we did know Susie well. How about it, Toki?"

"Indeed," Kristina agreed, reaching into the folds of her multi-colored cloak with a graceful flourish. She revealed a metal chain, its links dull under the ambient light, yet somehow captivating. The object seemed trivial, inconsequential amidst their grand plans, and thus rested largely ignored upon her palm. “We can use this.”

"Think of it," Kristina continued, her voice a whisper that wove through the silence of the library. "A tribute to bravery, to friendship, ensnared within these chains."

"Adventure crystallized in time, that gives me ideas!" Toki mused aloud, her sarcasm giving way to genuine consideration. She glanced at Edgar, seeking the shared spark of recklessness that often led them down paths less traveled.

"Could we really do it, though, do we even have aeso?" Edgar asked, his voice a mix of skepticism and excitement, wings folding behind him in quiet anticipation.

"Edgar Featherstone, since when do you doubt the extraordinary?" Toki teased, the corners of her mouth tilting upward in a knowing smile. "With our vagabond hearts, and my ‘smithing skills..."

“Your ‘smithing skills, ha!”

"Ah," Kristina interjected with a sly grin, twirling the chain around in her hand, "but it will take all three of us using our talents, to forge something truly unforgettable."

"Then let's begin," Toki declared, her heart racing with the thrill of the unknown. She pulled out her hammer from her bag. Their voices melded together, ideas flowing freely as they discussed the parameters of their enchantment while they continued to walk through the library.

"An enchantment worthy of such an epic friendship, a chain that can seal a person using the memories of the past," Edgar mused, his previous anxiety replaced by a burgeoning enthusiasm, his feathers catching the light in a kaleidoscope of colors.

"Exactly," Toki agreed, her wit now laced with passion. "One that could bind even Dutch Eternal."

The library itself seemed to lean in, its ancient stones humming with anticipation. It was as though the very essence of the place was preparing for the birth of a new legend, ready to be the stage for their shared vision. The air thrummed with potential, each breath they took an invitation to commence the act of creation.

Toki's fingers closed around the worn leather handle of her hammer, its weight familiar and reassuring in her grasp. She raised it, eyes narrowed in concentration, focusing on the metal chain that lay coiled like a slumbering serpent on the ancient stone floor. Edgar and Kristina stood close, their expressions a blend of determination and silent excitement.

"Let this be our sendoff," Toki began, her voice steady despite the adrenaline that thrummed through her veins, "to Susie!"

"To the laughter of those lost days," Edgar added, his words warm as sunlight, as he mock toasted raising an imaginary cup.

Kristina nodded, her gaze piercing as if seeing beyond the walls of the cavernous library into the heart of what they were about to create. "And to the story! May it one day guide us through the Vastness." Kristina's gaze was melancholy. She brought the chain up to a conveniently placed anvil.

With the conviction of their words binding them, Toki swung the hammer down, imbued by her flames, striking the chain with precision. The sound rang out, not harsh, but clear and melodious—like the tolling of a bell at the commencement of a fable. It echoed off the towering bookshelves, reverberating through the library.

A shiver ran down Toki's spine as she watched the chain begin to glow.