Emily spent the next two weeks focusing on the books and magic. In that time her supplies steadily dwindled. She thought there was maybe another month’s worth of preserved food left. It went a lot farther than she thought but then again she was the only one eating and was trying to ration it. There had still been no sign of her companions. The palace’s orchard had plenty of fruit left, but she was getting tired of eating the same thing every day.

Then she stumbled upon a book about the various plant life surrounding the capital. They had been aware the palace contained an overgrown flower garden, but Richard told them not to touch anything since they didn’t recognize any of the plants. The book allowed her to identify what was edible or useful. It turned out there were many magical plants used to make potions contained in the garden along with lots of things that she could eat which would improve her diet.

The orchard and garden were contained within the walls of the palace. It seemed like there was some kind of barrier that kept pests and monsters out as they had not seen a single bug, mouse, or creature when they were inside the palace grounds. It was nice having a safe place to rest but Emily wished the barrier had extended over the rest of the city.

For a short time Richard had been interested in how the flowers could thrive without bees to pollinate them, but other matters were more important, like their survival. With her food situation somewhat better, she returned to her study of the magical books. She thought she was close after comparing a few of the more basic tomes.

Richard had mentioned it before, but she thought he was correct that whatever brought them to this world not only made them stronger and gave them the ability to understand the language, but made them smarter as well. Emily didn’t think her old self would have been able to understand the magical texts otherwise.

Finally one day she was somehow able to feel the mana in her body that the books talked about. After that her progress went quickly. The first thing she learned was a simple fire spell so that she could make a campfire again. She still didn’t really have anything to cook on it but being able to make fire put her in a better mood. She had tried cooking some of the edible plants in the garden but they were better eaten raw.

The one thing she could do now was boil water. She had run out of the water they had boiled previously so had been forced to drink straight from the well lately. This hadn’t caused her any harm, so she decided to not waste her time with boiling more water. One of the books was on alchemy which she wanted to try out by making a healing potion. All the materials she needed were in the garden, unfortunately that would have to wait as she didn’t have any of the equipment the book said was necessary.

As she was taking a break from studying by walking around the palace, she decided to randomly try one of the doors again. It wouldn’t budge like usual. Then she thought about what Richard had said about needing to use magic. Emily tried the door again, this time forcing mana into the door handle. She was caught off guard when the door swung open with a click.

Crystals inside the room started glowing which illuminated an office type room with a few desks and shelves. She went inside but didn’t see anything useful. That didn’t bother her as she quickly returned to the hallway and grinned while looking at the numerous doors she could now open. She couldn’t wait to start exploring.

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Emily opened door after door. Finding bedrooms, ballrooms, more offices, storage rooms, meeting rooms, dining rooms, until she found the palace’s library. If only Richard was still around. The library was massive with two stories connected by winding staircases. Book shelves made almost labyrinth like paths through the large space. She was speechless for a time, shocked by the sheer number of books and the extravagance of the library itself. Golden statues and paintings decorated the place and everything was as perfectly preserved as everything else in the palace.

Richard hadn’t been sure how long the city had been abandoned but going by how intact everything was, he didn’t think it had been very long ago. She stopped gawking and got down to business. Her goal was more books on magic spells. The few she had were very basic with only weak spells. In addition to the fire spell, she had managed to learn a light spell that conjured a floating ball of light that followed her around.

Both were impressive to her nonmagical mind, but she wanted more. She needed a way to defend herself and kill the creatures that had taken over the city. She would need to leave the palace eventually and she wanted to be ready. It took some doing but she eventually found the section she was looking for and it was as impressive as she was hoping.

Now the hard part became which spells to choose. First, she catalogued the spells using some paper and a quill she had found. After that she decided which ones sounded the most interesting and would be the most useful. It would take her a while but she had plenty of time. While exploring she had found more preserved food which should last her for quite a while. She had also found the kitchen and figured out how to use the magical appliances. No more open flames for her.

Another thing she found was a laboratory like room which contained the equipment that she needed for making potions. She happily grabbed the supplies she needed and got to work. It took a couple tries but she was able to successfully make a healing potion. She tested it by cutting her hand and then placing a drop of the potion on it which healed the cut instantly.

For the next month she made different potions, studied spells, and practiced them using the training hall she had found. It included practice weapons and dummy targets. Throwing herself into work helped her keep her mind off being homesick. She missed her parents, her younger sister, her grandparents, and her friends. She was still extremely lonely and sometimes cried herself to sleep. In the morning, she would always psyche herself up for another day.

There had been a few storms since Richard and Tony had left but no other people appeared. She eagerly checked each time but found nothing. It was getting depressing but she kept it up, trying to stay hopeful. In the back of her mind she didn’t really expect anyone else to show up. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, she focused on her training in order to save herself.

It had been a while, but she finally felt ready to leave the palace grounds. Her bow was strapped across her back and she wore pieced together leather armor with a knife tucked in her belt. She still had plenty of food stashed away in the palace but needed to do this. For her first outing she didn’t want to go far, just a quick trip before heading back to prove she could do it.

Her potions, extra food, extra water, plenty of arrows, and other camping supplies were contained within a magic bag she had found in one of the storage rooms in the palace. It was better to be safe than sorry so she had packed it with everything she might possibly need. It functioned just like in the video games she had watched her friends play. There was even still plenty of room left in it for anything she might find on her adventure. Emily hesitated at the gate leading into the city before taking a few deep breaths and then walked through the gate.