The Library actually chuckled. It was a deep sound that sort of felt like a jolly rumbling in Quinn's belly when it resonated through her. But Quinn hadn't exactly been laughing. She was almost deadly serious.

"Why is that comical?" she asked. "He's dangerous."

"Yes, yes he is," the Library said, "but he's also just a dragon."

Quinn gaped for a second. She guessed in the view of a universal Library that had its own pocket dimension, referring to him as 'just a dragon' was actually a thing. To Quinn, it seemed sort of ludicrous. But she was willing to let the Library have its little idiosyncrasies.

"Okay, let's just say that I'm buying into all of this 'Oh, he's just a dragon' thing that you're doing right now.," she said. "Do you have a plan on how we're going to stop this weird cult-like behavior?"

This time the Library sighed again. "Not really. We just have to stop them from destroying me, right? I mean, don't get me wrong. I understand that we need to dig out all of the collaborators of Sölem. We need to ensure that they're not trying to enslave or indoctrinate others. And we need to take into consideration if they have any valid points whatsoever to make the knowledge more available to more people."

"I really don't see how you'd do that," Quinn said. "There are... I don't even understand how you'd make it more available. Everybody who can access magic can access the Library."

"I know, Quinn, but maybe there's something we've overlooked." The Library sounded far too reasonable and willing to make changes.

Then again, Quinn guessed that it had made the biggest change there was in becoming the Library so perhaps it just wanted to do it well. "Okay, then. How about we simply make a list, check off, 'don't let them destroy the Library', 'don't let them keep spreading lies that the Library is trying to hoard all the knowledge for itself', and then we worry about making sure there isn't any truth at all to their claims."

The Library paused for a few seconds and then the shadowy visage nodded. "That sounds okay for now."

Satisfied that the Library would at least think about doing things in that order, Quinn leaned back against the tree and stretched. "You know, I'd like to know where we go from here."

"Oh," the Library said, "that's easy. You might have your scales under a modicum of control now, but you need more power. More intricate and advanced mind reinforcement techniques above everything. We can't afford for anything to get past your mental defenses. It could be disastrous."

Quinn balked at those words. She'd never really thought about that aspect before. Now it made so much more sense why Milaro was adamant about her training. She turned her attention back to the Library who was still talking.

"Milaro and I have discussed further training for you and the lengths we need to go to. But you'd do best to go over it with him."

The Library paused and gave Quinn a look over. Even without eyes it seemed to be boring into her.

"Cosmicisodracus heritage is also an important piece of your training. There are aspects of why and how your genetic makeup is important, but there are several instances of my memories that I still haven't recovered, and I want to make sure I'm addressing everything at the same time with you and not leaving anything out. So we'll leave that for a later date."

"What about synchronization?" Quinn asked. "We've jumped up another power level. Shouldn't we be synchronizing again?"

"Yes," the Library said, "but again, our memories and data haven't completely returned. We're still garnering the effects from the sequencing we went through. Lynx and I need to mesh together first. We must ensure all the data is recompiled and the memories are intact. Until then we can't make sure that the synchronization will go off without a hitch."

"Well, I mean, it didn't go off badly last time," Quinn said.

"Not according to you. According to me, it was less than ideal considering all the gaps that we had in everything. I don't..." The Library paused as if it was mulling over exactly how it should phrase what it was about to say. "I don't want to accidentally screw something up. While we managed to mostly avoid it last time, you and Milaro had several weeks of heightened tension because of the revelation of your heritage. I don't believe we have anything of that magnitude anymore, but before we synchronize this time, if there's anything I feel you should know, I'll tell you beforehand. In order to do that and know that I have 100% covered my tracks, I need to regain all my memories first."

"Oh," Quinn said. "Well, that makes perfect sense."

Aradie cooed as if in total agreement.

"There are, however," the Library said, "a few books that I believe will help you."

"Well, fire them at me," Quinn said.

"Slifer's Guide to Extending Yourself for the Sake of Others. This one is about shielding. Since it caused you consternation last time, I wanted to give you a reference guide about shielding for other people and not losing strength in your own shields. I feel like you spread them all thin instead of retaining the strength your shield already has for yourself and metering out additional levels for everyone else."

Quinn mulled that over. "I think you're probably very right."

"I know I'm right," the Library said. "I also know when I'm wrong. And while I'm not as eager to admit being wrong, it only helps growth if I can do both."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "You are being oddly wise today."

"I think I'll take that as an insult," the Library said. "I'd like to think I'm wise most days. Not all, just most."

"Okay," Quinn said. "I'll let that slide."

"Excellent. Next, Not All Powers Are Equal. I need you to read this. It's actually one from my vault and it is important that you understand the way the powers were distributed between the different dragons. Not all of our powers are equal and sadly, I have to admit that my brother, he has some of the most powerful abilities."

"But didn't he basically give you your dimensional power?"

"Yes, in combination with my other siblings. I don't think a day has gone by where he hasn't regretted it."

Quinn wondered what Drevicia's expression would be like right now if she had a true face, because the Library sounded inordinately sad. She suddenly leaned forward earnestly. "It's okay, we're going to fix this. We're not going to let the dimension be destroyed."

"I know," the Library said and paused a few seconds before speaking again. "Moving right along, let's get to the next book."

It sounded much like the Library just wanted to change the subject, and was trying its best not to dwell on impending doom. "Okay, this one was written by a dear friend. Mystic's Conundrums of the Mind in Overpower."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "That's a mouthful."

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

"Yes, it is a bit." It felt like the Library was smiling. "You need to understand that when your powers have built up substantially more than they have now, even though you're getting there, that your mind can almost play tricks on you. Power has its own way of seeding into you, of letting you know that it can do so much for you. Power wants you to take it. It's a... I guess a sub-set to chaos. So just... you need to be aware and this book allows for that."

"Oh," Quinn said, "I wish I could send out a pulse and take in the entire Library all at once." Even with her rising energy levels, she knew that wasn't possible, healthy, or wise in any way, shape, or form. The reaction headache would probably kill her. "Anything else?" she asked, suspicious that there probably was.

"One more. This isn't exactly a book I would usually choose to give you at this juncture, but your energy levels are high enough to absorb it and, well, it's restricted. Very restricted."

"What do you mean, 'restricted, restricted'?" Quinn asked.

"As in, not on display for even normal people who gain access to the restricted section. It's a Librarian and assistant-only book." The Library evaded an actual answer.

"Come on, spill," Quinn urged.

"Quetzhal's Grand Scheme of Dimension Manipulation."

"What?" Quinn exclaimed. "That's not one of the forbidden ones?"

"No, it's not one of the missing forbidden ones. It's not one of the five that Hal entrusted to us because it's a juxtaposing point of view. I just feel that some of its elements might be useful to us when we're trying to, I don't know, prevent dimensional unraveling."

"Oh," Quinn said, "that's all, is it?"

"Yes." It was as if the Library had completely ignored Quinn's sarcasm.

Probably for the best. Quinn stretched against the trunk. "Am I going to have to go up and find all of these books?"

"No, they'll be sitting on your bed in your quarters waiting for you to absorb them." This time the Library stretched her arms right up into the air and the shadows began to dissipate. "I believe I'm tired," the Library said. "I think I'll delve into the memories I'm still trying to recover and see if there's anything I've missed out on telling you."

"You should maybe rest up too," Quinn suggested.

"You know, I've occasionally thought of that. Granted, when the Library is running smoothly and not on the brink of being destroyed by misunderstanding cults, I can often take it very easy. It's almost like a bit of a fever dream nap. I like those. I want those days to return."

Quinn laughed and pushed her feet under her, standing in a fluid motion. She felt rejuvenated whenever she came down to visit the Core, whether it was from the conversation or the energy that pulsed through everything, connecting with her on a deeper level now that she was so aware of everything around her. "Then I'll head upstairs and absorb some books."

"Quinn," the Library said as Quinn began the trek out, "remember, it wasn't your fault."

She nodded. This time, she didn't autocorrect it in her brain because now she realized that even if some of it was, all she had to do was change actions in the future to make things better again. That's all.

Thankful for a little bit of downtime, Quinn made her way straight up to her room, making sure nobody really looked at her, using her aura sense to befuddle anyone who glanced in her direction. Not that she thought people regularly looked in that corner as she floated up the spiral staircase to her level. She knew the quarters upstairs could potentially have assistants coming in and out of them, but that didn't matter.

Once in her room, she noticed the books stacked on the edge of the desk, grabbed them, realizing they were a lot heavier than she'd anticipated, and fell onto the bed with them, spreading them everywhere. She lay there for several moments, simply staring up at her gorgeously carved and moving ceiling. It told stories in a way television didn't, but they never really stayed with her. People coming and getting books, magic pouring out of them, into the world, all around them.

She sighed.

In the last couple of weeks, her abilities had grown even more. She activated her interface and brought up all of her numbers, just to skim through them, just to double-check that she had exceeded 3,000 energy, which apparently for a cosmicisodracus was nothing out of the usual, but for a human would have been brain-breakingly unexpected.

Name: Quinn

Age: Irrelevant

Heritage: Earth, Sector 12942 - Infinite reach, pocket Dimensional adaption

Species: Librarian*

Energy Capacity: 3392/3392

Mana Levels: 2461/2461

Alignment: 101%

Affinities: 1723**

Tome Knowledge Expanded: Beginner levels 37% complete. Intermediate levels 3%. Advanced - not high enough to calculate.

Affinity Level: 22

Determination: Rising

*Cosmicisodracus properties - still awaiting determination on other subsets

**As far as the Library can determine

Scanning the list she was surprised by a couple of changes, but they weren't entirely unexpected. Still awaiting determination didn't surprise her. The Heritage was utterly confusing, and her levels were sort of astounding. She really needed to knuckle down and learn more. Her two weeks had been spent on controlling the cosmicisodracus shielding and fire power. In understanding her heritage enough not to kill herself and others around her. Now she needed to power up.

She chuckled, loving the softness of the mattress beneath her, as Aradie perched on the head of the bed, looking down at her quizzically.

"I'm okay," she said to the owl who shrugged. "I'm really okay," she said to herself this time, trying to convince her mind to shut up, which was often easier said than done.

Finally, she sat herself up, cross-legged, leaning against the headboard and pulled each of the books to her in turn. The covers were beautifully intricate leather designs, with gorgeous script running across them. She sighed and opened the first, Extending Yourself for the Sake of Others. She twirled it around in her hands, looked at the spine and noticed the I carved onto the bottom inside a tiny diamond shape. Hmm. She wondered if that meant it was intermediate level. Probably. Data flashed up on her screen in front of her eyes.

Slifer's Guide to Extending yourself for the sake of others

Energy Requirement: 450

Mana Requirement: 270

Definitely, I stood for intermediate considering the cost of absorption. Intermediate, advanced, master level, legendary level. Nothing out of the ordinary or unexpected if she were to sit down and play one of the thousands of role-playing games she'd witnessed in her life. She'd never been the best about finishing those. Now, she didn't really have a choice. While she'd been aware, it still felt sort of strange to think of it in that way, considering all the life-and-death crap she was going through.

It also made her wonder just how much Energy it would take to absorb a legendary tome...

Quinn absorbed each book one after another.

Not All Powers Are Equal

Energy Requirement: 475

Mana Requirement: 280

Mystic's Conundrums of the Mind in Overpower

Energy Requirement: 680

Mana Requirement: 312

That one definitely needed a lot... She popped a couple of energy snacks just to get some of it back before finally tackling the next one.

Quetzhal's Grand Schemes of Dimensional Manipulation, clocked in at 1250. Quinn frowned. That was a lot of energy. Some of these books, for other people, would take a day, a full day, to recuperate that energy. Quinn, on the other hand, regenerated her energy a lot faster. Comparatively, anyway.

Quetzhal's Grand Schemes of Dimensional Manipulation

Energy Requirement: 1250

Mana Requirement: 508

Knowledge and magic vied in her mind for several moments, leaving her dizzy and exhausted. It was like all the energy had whooshed out of her body. And, in a way, she guessed it had. Almost three thousand energy inside of half an hour hadn't been her most sensible decision. Her eyes began to feel heavy, and she let herself slink down into the covers.

Finally, exhaustion washed over her and she allowed herself to fall asleep comfortably and content for the first time since they'd returned from imprisoning Kajaro.