A rat dashed across the street. It was slightly larger than the ones in the Sagewood. The muddy tail rattled against the iron rods as it dove into the sewer through the drainage.

Aeryth observed it from the window beside the library counter. The blank frame had vanished. The whole deal had been swept under the rug by Sera, thankfully.

Vik glanced her way. Her sudden shift in hair shade was the cause of this attention. Of course, he was far from the only one. The regular visitors also found it peculiar.

Aeryth seldom entertained small talks, so she had been pardoned from all the whispers that otherwise would have been directed at her.

The orb Sera had given her was by her side, but she hadn't taken it out yet.

"Please keep silence in the library," She said. Her toneless voice got her words across. The hall would resound with buzzing whispers soon again. It was not the first time she had to say that.

This and the fact she was on duty stopped her from training.

She did spend the whole night training tomorrow, of course. And had only conclusion, at her current speed—even a week would be too fast, let alone three days.

I am missing something. Either, Sera missed something, or I need to figure it out myself. There's a minuscule chance—Sera is far more talented in magic than me. A very unlikely possibility, but a possibility nonetheless.

The part of dragging the mana from the river to the entrance of the sphere was easy, not effortless, but comfortable. From there, she had not made it inside the sphere at all. Her control was wobbly, and the mana always touched the side of the channels inside. When it touched the side, the sphere would shock her. She had no idea what purpose this punishment served.

Aeryth held back a sigh as the blonde boy from the other day walked over to the counter. A confident smile on his face as he leaned over the counter.

"Have you found the packet?" Aeryth asked.

His smile faltered. "You r-remember?" Yet he exultantly chippered.

"I do," Aeryth replied. "So, have you found it?" She raised a brow.

"N-no," the blonde boy took a deep breath, "I just... wanted to ask if you're free for lunch?"

"I am," Aeryth replied. She could see where it was going. "But, I will not go out for lunch with you."

His smile strained. She felt bad seeing his hurt expression as he turned and returned to his seat. Even worse when his friend laughed at him.

Vik walked over to the counter. "Could've gone a little softer on him," he said, plopping down on the counter. He seemed tired.

"To fester a hope that is to be squashed eventually is far more cruel than nipping out a bud of adulation."

"My, what a poet you're." Vik chuckled. "You sure you took the right job?"

"I'm merely quoting a saying..." Aeryth shook her head. "It's nothing."

"Don't mean to be rude, but you should try talking and making friends. Sera is bound to vanish for months, sooner or later. That's how her life usually goes. And you don't talk to anyone other than her."

"Thank you for your concern, Vik, but no one would be quite as pleased as me if she were to spare me for a month."

Vik shook his head. "Just a suggestion, leave it if you like, but isn't it boring to be alone all the time?"

"Boring is preferable."

"What about the hair dye? Tryin' match Sera or something?" He raised his brow, grinning.

"An unfortunate accident," Aeryth replied. "It has nothing to do with Sera."

"Really? An unfortunate accident is right up Sera's alley." Vik said, observing the second table, the rowdiest group in the library.

"Despite her behavior, I've come to find she is far more reliable than you give her credit to be," Aeryth replied.

People always seem to suggest she is a reckless type, but she is a calmer and more patient type of person, more than me, at least, nothing like what she presents outwardly to the world. Is that a facade? Must be... Then, do I even know Sera? Do I know Sera?

Aeryth shook her head. She didn't.

"Anyways, I'm off," Vik said, walking over to the table with a dozen open books. The whole group walked out, talking and shouting. None of them even shut their books.

Aeryth refrained from commenting. It's not my problem. Don't think. Look Away.

Vik took all the books to the second floor.

They were one of the older groups that visited the library, always behaving rudely.

Aeryth looked at the clock. It was almost time for the lunch break. No one has uttered a word about the incident as if it never happened in the first place. She had expected a lot of gossip about it. Even a fight between two people was talked about for days in her village, how could an incident so tragic be completely forgotten?

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

By the time Vik returned, covered in sweat from the effort, the lunch break bell had rung. Aeryth put the break sign on the counter.

After letting Vik know, she left the library. She didn't have the money to treat herself to lunch, but the library's air was suffocating for some reason. The same was true for the entire city.

She made her way to Tor's Smithy. She didn't have time to visit him in the morning, busy cleaning the room and her clothes. That one battle dress from Light was ruined beyond repair, so she only had three sets of clothes now.

The barren weapon shop emanated the heat of the iron melting furnace. Aeryth stopped in her tracks.

Should I even care about the trials anymore? If not for the noble lady's benevolence, I would've lost it...

It could be that five minutes of dormancy was the time limit to tame it. In that case, I am supposed to be able to tame that weapon... I need to learn more about how to do it before attempting the next trial.

She stopped. Attempting at the next trial this juncture held no value. Later. She told herself. Turned around. Her eyes caught a shadow as it drifted into the gaps between buildings.

Her brows knitted. Who was that?

Am I being watched? Why would anyone care about me, unless... someone is aware I am the owner of Lance? Don't overthink things.

Aeryth hurried back to the library. Her stomach growled as it should. She missed the breakfast after all. Too busy cleaning. Too stupid to stop once she busied herself with something. A sigh escaped her lips. She checked her pocket. Yes. She had the money from the bribes she had taken since morning.

I can eat.

"But I don't want to," How long could she go on without food? She was curious about it. After all, her life energy should sustain her. Was it stupid? Yes. Very stupid. Yet, there was no one to chastise her for the said stupidity.

With a scoff, she returned to her seat and stared out the window. No one was here to call out her stupidity.

She took the practice orb from the counter drawer and strode up to the third floor, searched for a cold, secluded corner, blew the dust away with her mouth, and sat down.

Eyes closed. Her mana sense, the alien sensation still allowed her complete visibility in the darkness. She did not feel what was there. Instead, what was not. The emptiness that wrapped around the books, crevices, shelves, and so on.

She could expand her senses to five meters, but they grew dull, less informed, and precise. What if she whirled her sense back in, wouldn't that make it more precise? A theoretical possibility. Sera didn't tell her, even though it was not that hard of a possibility. Was she not supposed to attempt it?

There's no one to tell me otherwise.

She imagined a dome as her sense. Her brain as the center. Pushing it away was as easy as quickening your breath or making it longer.

Shrinking it was harder and laborious. Her senses closed in. The world beyond grew darker. Denser. It was only a meter now. Each creak, gap, and strand of wood in the dome became pronounced, unlike she had ever felt before. She tried pulling her senses even closer.

Her throat constricted. She couldn't breathe. Mouth opening and closing in desperation. She killed off her mana sense, sagging as her breath returned. For a moment, the air was like water stuck in her lungs.

After gathering her breath, she laughed. Her ears were filled.

She was even further curious. She took a deep breath. Prepared herself mentally to not choke on the air.

Her senses closed. Instead of the material world, she focused on the mana alone. Mana inside of her. Trapped in a mystical stone beneath her heart, heartstone. It pulsed with each beat of her heart. Exuding ephemeral mana into her veins.

Her brows scrunched as she focused on breathing first. It was hard. Akin to breathing beneath a waterfall. She focused. By the time she grew used to breathing, her face was covered in sweat from effort, and her mind was exhausted like she had sprinted an hour without pause.

She heaved. Her control drew away. Her sixth sense sprang back to a two-meter length. Eyes snapped open.

"Aeryth?" Vik said.

"What are you doing here?" Aeryth snapped. Her sharp voice jolted him back.

"N-nothing. Your shift started... I thought you might've missed it."

Aeryth sighed. "I'm sorry. I need a minute to catch my breath."

Vik nodded. "I'll wait downstairs then." He said shuffling. She could see the question in his eyes. The question she would rather not entertain.

"Are you curious?" She said still. She didn't want this to become a gossip.

"I... uh, I was wondering what were you doing? Like..." He looked at the orb, "That's something people use to train mana. You're not blessed, right?"

"I am not," Aeryth replied, "But, I aim to become a mana theorist."

Mana theorists were people who were not blessed with a particularly useful aspect or skill. They had a very high understanding of the runes and language, so they dedicated their life to research, instead of practical spell crafting. Anyone could be a mana theorist, but blessed commonly became one.

"Right. Right. That makes sense." Vik nodded. He didn't sound fully convinced, but that was fine. Trying too hard would make her seem more suspicious than anything else.

He left.

Aeryth closed her eyes. She wobbled as she stood, her head throbbing from exhaustion. I should've eaten. She thought.

Who is there to tell me? She chuckled, balancing herself as she made her way down. Her clothes stuck close to her body. She didn't like the feeling, and if possible, she would prefer to learn a cleansing spell.

Can I even learn it? She wondered.

----

Around when her shift was about to end, the blonde boy returned to the desk. "Sorry about the morning," He said. "I'm Theo. It was rude of me to bother you during your work."

Aeryth nodded. "It's fine." She replied, her hand didn't stop writing the report of all the late submissions, and the money she had collected from it. Along with a few other things she had written a report about.

Today morning, she received a letter asking if Ricker came back to pay the fine or has caused any more trouble. He had not. His membership also expired a few days ago.

So, she also answered that question.

The boy lingered. As if waiting. "Anything else?"

"I just... Well, now that your shift is over, what about dinner?"

Aeryth sighed. "I have other things to do. I'm sorry."

His expression faltered. "What about—"

"I don't like to talk to people unless absolutely necessary. So if there's no query in regards to the library or books, please don't talk to me," She stared at him. Her point got across. Was she being too rude? His persistence was becoming a headache at this point.

He was pale as he left with his group of friends.

"Woah, that was brutal." Vik snickered. The blonde boy glared at him.

"Oof, that gotta hurt." Someone said.

Aeryth sighed. She focused on writing the report. What even was entertaining about this, she couldn't tell. She hoped it was the last of whatever this was.

After putting the report in the mailbox, she left the library. The evening was hot and humid, the kind she hated the most.

The journey back to her room was rather uneventful. Aeryth sat on the cold plastered floor. Took the ball in her hand and began controlling her senses.

She had an idea. If she could feel precisely the phantom mana lanes inside the orb, she would have an easier time navigating the maze inside. Sera did this in three days. The more Aeryth thought about it, the more daunting the task felt.

Aeryth shut her eyes. Focused. Let the world be swallowed by the darkness. Once her mana sense hugged her skin—ignored the flesh—and solely glimpsed at the phantom form made of mana as clear as the stars on the moonless night. She felt white formless mana glowing in her veins. How it circulated along her entire body, woven so precisely that she could tell each muscle joined from the other, each vein in it.

Her eyes snapped open. Head throbbed. Her brain was not capable of comprehending what she wanted it to. It was still becoming used to a new sense it had not known before.

She chuckled. Drank water. walked up and down the stairs in the corridor for a few minutes. Once her excitement and pain dimmed, she returned to abusing her brain again. Who is there to tell me otherwise? She asked.

By eleven in the night, utterly exhausted, she had scanned in minute detail how the mana traveled in her vein naturally. It was placid. Confident. And knew where it was going.

"Mana," She uttered.

[79/95]

"Huh," Aeryth muttered. The last time she had checked, it was ninety. After all, ten points of mana for one attribute, and her intelligence was nine right now.

"Did I grow half a point from this exercise?" It didn't seem farfetched. Aeryth was far from a mage by mana pool, after all. Her life essence allowed her a stronger body, but it didn't provide any mage-like bonus. She was going to be a mage. If she had brute force to increase her mana, so be it.

"That's good, I guess." She muttered. She wanted to rest. She recovered one point every five minutes, so if she fell asleep right now, much of her mana recovery would go to waste.

Taking the orb in her mind, this time, she first shrank her sense to her body and slowly extended it to the orb, cutting off her lower body from the senses.

She pulled a whiff of mana from her heartstone.

Be confident. Let it flow naturally through your veins.

She tried to replicate the movement of mana. She guides it through her vein. Sera's words that it was the same as guiding a floating ball at the precipice of the waterfall were too accurate. That's how loose it felt, and a slight loosening of her mental hold, and she lost it.

She had practiced it the whole day yesterday, so she made it to her palm that held the orb. From here, it had been much harder. Now that her senses were so close that she could see the lanes and turns inside it, it would be easier. She guided the liquidy smoke of mana into the lane. Held it in one place for a while steadying herself.

Okay. Be confident. Let it flow naturally.

She pushed the mana into the lane. It wobbled, shaking. She forgot her breath as her mind solely focused on the mana.

Okay. Slowly. A little at a time.

She pulled it toward the edge. Then came the first turn. Just a right. But, it must be precise, because, in real-world terms, there was only an inch or so gap between the lane and the strand of mana. It wavered. Aeryth pulled it forward, hoping the speed would stop it inevitable. Her eyes jolted awake. An electrifying current raced through her veins.

She let out a shuddering breath as she fell on her back.

"Mana." She uttered.

[66/95]

She looked at the clock. She had spent fourteen points in the last five minutes.

"I can go for a while."

Throughout the night, her concentration grew, as did the ease of controlling the range of her senses, and, of course, controlling mana along with it.

She made progress toward the center, toward the rune. She wanted to find out what did that rune mean. What could it do once she had activated it?

[00/95]

Aeryth passed out. Orb rolled toward the door. Blood dripped from her nose, as it dried on her cheek. But her face smiled.