Things I need to do:

- Acquire Money: I need to do some hunting jobs since that's the thing I am good at.

- Get a place to live: I cannot live off of charity.

- A way to get my awakening ceremony complete complete: I need Concentrated Lightning Element Bone Marrow. I have no idea what it is, or how to get it.

Aeryth crossed the second line. As long as she had money, it was a nonissue.

It had been a week since Light dropped her in the Hearth's quarter—four buildings facing each other.

She had grown used to seeing people, but she didn't talk to anyone, and she'd rather keep things this way. This was also the reason why she wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

The food, thrice a day, they were supposed to eat in the canteen in the basement. Everyone was there. They all looked at her with pity or contempt in their eyes. She didn't like the feeling of being stared at either. Did they know of her past? Aeryth doubted. She had heard their speculations. 'Her father killed her mother, and beat her to half death before she was saved by the house of hearth,' and hundreds of variations of small tragedies.

On that note, the building in this place was taller than anything in this village. The village had two-story buildings at most. This place, however, had eight or even nine-story buildings. She was currently on the sixth floor. Going down the stairs took some time.

Light had not visited her once in the past week, but she had left a few books regarding magic with her. They didn't teach anything about her powers, just how to perform the awakening ritual. And from those, she had found out she needed concentrated lightning bone marrow.

She wanted to be a mage even more desperately. To not feel vulnerable like that, and like a weak, pathetic powerless worm again. And to find out about the reason for the incident, and a way to kill those immortal monsters.

She now knew what kind of mage she wanted to be. Something like Light, who can do magic and heal people.

With her affinity, it shouldn't be that hard. She already had a self-regeneration which was a healing skill, although, she had no control over it.

As far as she knew about magic, she needed to be able to control mana to become a mage. So, the awakening ceremony was her main focus. She still was contemplating if she should focus on getting money first since she could move out of this place faster.

No, if I become a mage faster, I'll be able to hunt stronger monsters, and it would solve the money problem as well. That's it. I need to worry about the ritual first.

On the topic of money, she had work to do here. Her first week had been pardoned. Today was her first day. Of the presented options, she had decided to be the librarian.

From her experience, she knew the library would be empty, as was the case in her village. For some reason, people were apprehensive about reading. Not her. She loved learning new things. Why would anyone be against that idea? She couldn't tell.

Light had also left her two sets of different clothes that she alternated and washed the other.

I will not give you more than absolutely necessary, for I don't want to get the wrong idea of your situation. You need to be aware of your situation. I am here for a short period of time, and even I don't know when I will leave and may never come back to see you again. Thus, I don't want to give you the wrong idea. As much as it pains me, you're on your own and have to fend for yourself.

'Can you not take me with you,' those words were on the tip of her tongue. She couldn't muster up the courage to say those. If she did, she would accept something, and she didn't want that. Light was just a kind stranger, nothing more. She knew that, even so, a part of her wanted to cling to the savior straight out of a fairytale.

She sniffed and closed the book. Wondering, if she had asked Light that question, would she be somewhere else, living an extremely different life than this one? Or Light would've simply refused.

"Aeryth!" Someone knocked on the door.

Aeryth's blood froze. This had never happened before. Who was this person? From the voice, it seemed like a girl. She forced herself to speak. "W-who?" She bit her tongue.

"I'm Sera. I will guide you to the library."

Aeryth had already memorized the path, but it made sense there was someone to help her. She slowly crept toward the door and hesitantly opened it. A girl, with eyes as big as an owl, and hair as red as fire, stared at her. Eyes filled with life and energy.

"Took you long enough. Are you ready?" Sera asked. Leaning against the door on the opposite side of Aeryth's room.

"I am," Aeryth nodded, "Good morning, Miss Sera." She said. Sera didn't seem much older than her.

"Good morning to you, too," Sera stepped toward her room. "Woah, a polite one. Nice. Nice." She seemed unusually happy for no reason. "Let's go."

Aeryth stepped out. The door shut with a click. The breakfast was half an hour ago. After that, all the people in the quarters were free to do as they wanted unless they had work to do.

"You took the library job, right?"

"I have," Aeryth said, but a doubt crept into her heart. Did Sera not already know?

"No offense, but you picked a lame job. Even hunting rats from the storage room is a much better job." Sera chippered up. "Watching people come and go all day long is boring, and I just wanted to let you know that."

Aeryth shrugged. "I don't know if I can do physical labor kind of work still."

Light had said not to do anything straining, either mentally or physically. But, if Light didn't return in a day or two, she would go out hunting. As she was more proficient in those than in handling the library. And self-healing would make things much easier for her.

"Right, right. You had some kind of accident," Sera nodded. "That's sad to hear. So, let me tell you something. If you take a job with me, as long as it's something to do with beating people up and hunting, you won't have to do anything. Just kick back and let me do the thing."

"You like fighting?" Aeryth asked. She wouldn't say she loved fighting.

"It's fun and, even more importantly, not boring. And fighting is not for dumb ones. Before you start making assumptions."

"I know. Dense people should stay away from battles, my mother always said. Fighting is the work of both mind and body, if one thing is lacking, you'll be missing a limb or may even forfeit your life."

"She was super smart." Sera grinned. "But don't say that here. If you tell that to someone in this place, they would scrunch up their nose, looking down at you. Fighting is a barbaric thing, people should find ways to coexist, blah blah blah. If not for the people killing monsters outside the wall, their home would be overrun by monsters in a blink."

Aeryth didn't say anything. She tried not to think too hard about Sera's words. She seemed like the person who babbled out the first thing that came to her mind, but still hearing having homes overrun by monsters was not pleasant.

They reached downstairs in silence. Once Aeryth didn't reply, Sera didn't try to strike up a conversation. She still seemed pent up with questions she hadn't asked.

It's fine. It's fine.

She whispered in her mind. She learned something about herself. She didn't like talking to people who were not Light. It set a bad precedent. She still needed to interact with people who wouldn't care about her past or what she went through. People shouldn't. because if they did, they would only pity her. She didn't want that either.

They continued out into the corridors.

"The library is not part of the Hearth's Estate. I think. It was lent to us by Old Man Tor. You should meet him, he's great. He makes weapons," Sera patted the sword on her waist, "He made this one too."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"I may if I have money to buy a weapon." Aeryth wondered how long would that take. Did library job pay money? She didn't want money, on top of shelter and food from strangers.

"If you want to, I can introduce him, and he can loan you a weapon of your choice so long as you promise to pay him back monthly. That's How I got my first weapon, not this one. This is super expensive. The first one I got was stupidly cheap, now that I think about it. You have to start low and build yourself up, Lady Sia says. Tor does not rip us off, so you don't need to go anywhere else or worry about prices."

"I will keep that in mind. I don't need a sword right now. I am not supposed to do physically straining tasks yet, but if I need one, I will find you."

"Great." Sera hopped from tile to tile, making sure to land on yellow stones only, skipping three different colored tiles at a time.

"If you don't me asking, why is the house of Hearth helping me? They don't owe me anything."

Sera stopped. "If we can help someone, why would we not? Lady Sia has abundant wealth to keep this place running, and it's not like you all are living for free," She continued, "Working to keep this place running, drastically lessens the cost of keeping people fed and sheltered. It's still a net loss overall, but not something the House of Heath cannot bear."

"I see," Aeryth nodded. From Sera's words, Aeryth guessed, she was not like other children here. But someone of higher standing.

After leaving the compound, they walked down the street.

This was the first time she had seen the city up close. This was one of the lower districts. They were numbers. This was the fourth district.

The buildings were close to each other. Made of stones and brick, painted, but most of them were washed off. A few were made of wood.

The carriage rolled on the gravel and blocked Stone Road. The footpath was half a foot above the pathway but made of the same material. It was clean, but there was a scent of burnt oil everywhere.

She couldn't tell if it came from burnt rubber or just oil from the chimneys in the lowest district visible down this street.

"You can smell it too?" Sera asked, noticing Aeryth's frowning face.

"I can."

"Try to ignore it. You should get a mask if it becomes unbearable. I am used to it. But some people have a hard time adjusting to it."

"I can handle it," Aeryth assured her.

There were many stores in the city, and shops that sold things for breakfast were still open. The streets were filled with people, who didn't look much different from her village, except for clothes. Pants and shirts hung loosely to their gaunt body, hunched back, carrying bags as they dragged themselves to their work. No one was in an armor here.

Finally, they arrived at the library. It was a three-story-tall building.

She had not accepted this when she had taken the job. 'Am I supposed to handle this all by myself.?'

There was a counter just at the entrance, where an old man sat. For a moment, she thought he was Old Man Tor, but no. He was just a guardsman whose job was to make sure no rowdy individual made any trouble in the library. She bid him morning as they continued inside.

The hall was rectangular, three rows of shelves divided it, and a long table along with benches in between the shelves for people to study.

There was another counter in the corner, box-shaped.

"That's where you'll work. You'll have two more partners, who are supposed to maintain the library, I think."

Aeryth nodded. There was a note on the counter.

There were a few portraits of individuals and monsters behind the counter wall. There was also a blank portrait-style frame.

Are you blessed by the destiny? If so, reach in and take a hold of it.

The bottom of the frame read.

Weird thing. Aeryth ignored it.

"This is the library. I'm gonna leave," Sera turned, then stopped. "How about we go to the smithy to look for a sword for you after your shift is finished?"

Aeryth considered. She would rather not talk to Sera again, who had already drained all her energy, but there was no option. If she wanted to go monster hunting, she needed a sword. "I'd be grateful." She lowered her head slightly.

"See ya," and like a breeze, Sera left.

Aeryth sat on the chair, sighing. There was a stack of registers which had different codes on them.

She decided to read the note first.

It listed all the things she needed to do. The library had three main tasks. The first was filling up the registration form for people who came to join. And submit it later for the membership. Second was putting all the books where they belonged in case someone forgot to put them back and left. It rarely happened according to the note.

And third, was noting down the books that were going out and coming in. The color coded register made it easy to find and put names on. There were five different registers, each with a different shade. She had to match it with the person's membership card and make sure to write it down in the correct copy.

The first and third jobs were hers, meaning she was supposed to sit on the counter.

After the note, she read the rules of lending the book. It stated there was only a seven-day time period before the book must be returned, or there was a fine of seventy-five jades, the currency of this place. Aeryth didn't know how much money that was. Their village used monster cores and tusks as currency after all. The penalty after a week was six hundred jades, so she assumed it must not be much.

After glancing through some of the basic rules, she snapped the book shut. It was too boring to continue.

There were a few books here. Aeryth flipped through them, only to find they were storybooks. She liked those, but right now she had no intention of reading a story. She felt stupid for expecting there would be books about magic here, which may or may not have played a minor role in her decision to join the library.

She looked around in the empty, peaceful library. Suddenly, her mind felt awake, and an idea conjured.

Since there was still half an hour before people came in, she could look around and search if there were magic books in this library.

She ducked beneath the counter and made her way to the shelves. The books on the first floor were of things she had never heard of. Most regarding the historical subjects of this city, something she would've liked to read if her mind had not been consumed by a magic book.

The second floor had books that were related to archery and swords in one section. While the other section was related to the science of things, which thoroughly ignored the existence of magic. And a few more mundane subjects.

After that, a few books related to history, language, and artistry, among other things.

She sighed in disappointment, unable to find a single book related to magic.

The third floor was not of any interest either. For some reason, the glass window was open. So she closed it first. There was no mesh or fence on it. "Someone can easily sneak in through here, and steal something."

Rows of shelves face each other, with a person-sized narrow lane in between.

She walked among the aisle. The room was dark, as there was a shelve right in front of the window. There were small air vents right below the ceiling to let the light in.

That was true for two sides, but for some reason, there was no slit on one of the walls even though there was nothing on the other side. Given how dark the room was, it would not hurt to have a few more vents.

Maybe I can put in the request for that... or not. It doesn't really matter.

The floorwood creaked as she wandered through corner most lane. This room had not been cleaned. Books were covered in a layer of grey dust.

Of course, it is. Who leaves the window open like that? And there are no filters on the vent either.

Aeryth sighed as she reached the end corner most the aisle. Of course, there are no magic books. They are precious resources after all.

Her eyes caught something.

A book with a blank spine. She picked it up. Most books in this section were dusty, perhaps due to lack of use, but this one was as clean as the day it was made.

Aeryth flipped through the book and found it was just another unassuming book. Maybe unassuming was the wrong word, but she didn't find the rituals of goblins marriage particularly interesting.

She snapped the book shut. "I am now overworking my mind. At least, I have learned of the major section, so if someone cannot find a book, I should be able to point them toward the right direction."

She returned to the counter. It was almost time. Somehow, she forgets to put the book back on the shelf.

There was a tag on the counter that she was supposed to hang in the book's place if she took a book for herself. With a sigh, she decided to make another trip to the third place.

I am not tired, even though I have made quite a lot of effort today.

With a sigh, she stood on her toe and slid the book. She stopped midway, noticing something wrong.

As she moved away from the book, the gap glowed. As if the wall behind it was painted white and the light seeping through the vents reflected off of it. But the walls were plain brown and damp.

She stood on her toe and tried to peek in. With a sigh, she jumped up. There was something white on the wall. Glowing. Embellished with golden tessellations.

What?!

At the same, the bell rang. It was nine. Aeryth sighed. "I'll look at it in the lunch break."

---

She flipped the monster and mundane volume one. She needed lightning bone marrow. As long as she got that, she could continue with her awakening process.

The library was open. She was left unbothered for the most part. Perhaps seeing a new face, people also did not want to get close to her.

Maybe I am scary.

The first person to approach her desk was a tall man at around eleven, he seemed young, well not as young as her. But for some reason, she felt old looking at him. His odd expression, like someone approaching their senile grandma, added to her doubt.

He showed her a book and his ID card.

"Red register," She pulled out the one and picked up the pen. "Mr. Henry Chiwak, A book about local herbs and shrubs, right?"

There was also a column in the register, which asked the purpose of borrowing. The entire column was filled with self-reading for some reason. "Hmm, what purpose are you borrowing this book for," she asked still, as she wrote the date. Second Month of Ella, Year Two Thousand Nine Hundred Ninety-Eight.

"For... self-reading." He said, his voice bothered her. Why was he so self-conscious? That's how children behaved after stealing sweets from the kitchen.

Aeryth filled the register and put it back in the same place, pulled out a white packet, and placed the stamp on it. Books were expensive items, so they had to be tracked. The stamp was some kind of tracker. She had no idea how it worked.

"Please do not harm the stamp, and return the packet along with the book next Monday, before the library closes," She gave him the book. "I hope you have a good day, Mr. Chiwak."

He nodded and hurried out. He had forgotten a two-jade note.

"Uhm... you forgot these," Aeyth said, but he didn't stop.

"You can keep them," He smiled and left without pausing.

Aeryth sighed, slumping on the desk. She felt drained just from that. This was not good, not at all. She picked up the jade note. She opened the money drawer, which was empty, and dropped it into that.

Still, she had doubts about why there was a column that asked for the reason, so she returned to reading the rule book. And it turned out. The books that were taken by the people who needed those for their business were to be charged fifty jades per day.

She flipped the register, back and back. There was not a single book borrowed for the occupation purpose. It made her doubtful.

"Wait, his ID card said his occupation was herbalist... they provide herb to alchemists... Oh."

She looked at the jade note.

"I accepted a bribe," She sneakily studied the room. None cared, or so they showed at least. She breathed a sigh of relief.