I was utterly exhausted. Even after stopping by the baths to wash away the grime and blood from my body alongside changing into new clothes, I still felt utterly exhausted. I wanted nothing more than to just go back to my dorm, crawl into bed and forget about the world for at least ten hours before I had to repeat this cycle all over again tomorrow.

But, I couldn’t. Or, more I knew I shouldn’t because of the other things I wanted to look into. Mostly, I wanted to go and look through the library of the school—Hoping that it had something of interest for me to look into.

“If what my father did was so bad it must be written down somewhere, right?” I thought to myself as I kept walking through the school. The halls were already sparsely occupied, only a handful of people walking through them other than me. Some of them stared as I walked—But frankly I was starting to grow used to all the stares.

It wasn’t like I was wearing anything weird as far as I could tell either—I was just wearing another one of my uniforms, albeit without the jacket-like top on. Instead I only had the thinner shirt offered with it while walking through the warmed halls of the school.

The best thing I could think about to excuse the stares was Akemi who rested on my shoulders once again, or my insignia resting on my chest with confidence—But it really didn’t matter in the end as I kept walking.

“There it is.” I spoke, satisfied with myself as I turned a hall into the recreational rooms of the school. I remembered passing by the library with Tulip not too long ago, even if we didn’t look inside I could remember its location—Even if it wasn’t terribly hard to find the second largest hallway in the entire school, I was proud of myself for remembering my way back here.

“And Tulip should be inside as well…” I thought as I approached one of four sets of double doors. I expected the library to be rather large from the number of doors alone—But I wasn’t expecting what I saw inside at all.

Pressing the doors open I was greeted by a soft, warm light cast across the room. The dull orange-yellow color painted the planked wooden floors in a pleasant color while the overwhelming scent of paper invaded my senses.

It was rather quiet, only the occasional mute whispers breaking the respectable silence in the room. But what stunned me more than anything was what the Library truly was.

As far as I could see, at least a hundred feet in any direction other than straight behind me, were bookshelves. They were all filled to the brim, stacked and built atop of each other all the way up to the ceiling that was easily fifty feet tall, if not even taller than that. The shelves were so tall that there were elevated catwalks and platforms moving between them, students zipped around, some flying while others walked from shelf to shelf throughout the unending maze of shelves. There had to have been seven or eight floors of those catwalks stacked on top of each other!

Hanging off of the platforms that traveled between the opulent cases were countless thousands of lanterns. They didn’t put off any heat however—Glancing at the one closest to me, it looked like it was filled with a set of stones. They glew in an orange-yellow color, the very same color that was cast across the entire room.

“Woah…” I whispered out, careful to not raise my voice. It was absurd—There had to have been millions of books in here at least! Dozens of tables sat filled to the brim with students reading away at entire lexicons, pieces of work that held so much paper that they were nearly as thick as my torso.

I felt Akemi stir a little, I almost expected a similar reaction from her. But it seemed that the Kitsune had a little more respect than me as she kept her mouth shut, even if her eyes widened at the incredible sight.

“Where do I even start?” I asked myself as I began forwards, letting the door close shut behind me. I couldn’t recognize anyone amongst the crowds, no blue hair of Hico, nor Silva’s red hair. I couldn’t even find Tulip in the crowds—It was overwhelming just to look at.

Taking in a deep breath I started further into the Library, sending my gaze moving around slowly. There didn’t look to be any sense of organization to the books either… or if there was one I certainly couldn’t make it out by just observing them from a distance.

Letting out a sigh I relented and just walked over to the nearest bookshelf—Even as I approached them their absurd scale barely settled in on me. Each of these shelves were larger than entire homes, and here I was walking amongst them like it was just another day for me.

Reaching out I pulled the first book that I could see and read the cover.

“Magical Study of the Modern Era” The title was about as basic as it could have been—And the cover was as well, it lacked any sense of detail being only a flat leather back sitting between ornate pieces of work that looked like entire paintings. With an annoyed grumble I placed the book back in before moving down a few spaces and pulling out another.

“Historical Enchantments And Their Modern Uses.” My lips pursed into a thin line as I read the title. I was at least a little curious about what enchantments were and how they worked—I had overheard some conversations from other students mentioning that they were learning how to make them. But, without knowing their purpose I had no real reason to learn about them.

Sighing, I placed that book back and looked up, dread filling my body as a realization hit me.

“How am I going to find anything in here?” I asked myself aloud, my voice not a single decibel above a gentle whisper. But, someone overheard me.

“Do you need some help?” A gentle voice asked. I heard the gradual clicking of a cane approaching before I turned to take in the owner of the voice. She was an older woman, easily into her sixties if I had to guess. She walked slouched over, no taller than four foot ten—It was honestly weird looking down at someone for once. Her hair was a deeply aged gray while her eyes were a foggy blue.

“Uhm… yes please?” I asked kindly, desperation reflecting in my voice. “I haven’t had a chance to come here yet, and I have no idea how to find my way around in this place.” I sighed out, exasperated.

“Ah!” The elderly woman exclaimed in a low tone. “What are you looking for then dear? I can point you in the right direction at least.” She offered with a grin across her face.

“I’m not really sure what I’m looking for, but I do know someone who knows what it would be under—Do you know where Tulip is? Since she said she’d be in here.” I asked while meeting the woman's gaze.

“Miss Berini? Ah yes, yes. She’s in the third section's fourth floor,” The elderly woman turned, pointing deeper into the library. “Her and that pesky owl have been there for hours, just down that way.”

“Thank you so much!” I exclaimed to the woman while trying my best to keep my voice down—I was definitely louder than I wanted to be, and I received more than a few dirty looks because of it.

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“You’re very welcome, now please remember to respect the rules.” She stated calmly before turning to walk away. I shifted my gaze down the library's grand halls, looking in the direction she had pointed.

“Wait!—What’s your name?” I quickly thought to ask the elderly woman before she could move too far away from me. I turned my gaze back to the elderly woman as I asked, waiting expectantly.

“Fiona, dear. Now run along now.” She answered with a small grin across her face. She waved her free hand at me in a shoo motion, finally forcing me to turn back around to the direction she had pointed in.

“Third section…” I thought as I began down the halls of books. I looked all around for any sign of what the sections would be, but I couldn’t quite tell—So instead I began climbing up to the higher floors whenever a set of stairs offered an opportunity up to me.

The higher I got the more the Library started to feel like an endless expanse. Standing near the very center of it the room extended almost infinitely in every direction around me, countless books and shelves lining every inch of it. The gemstones casting light across it, all placed in ways so that they didn’t cast too many shadows.

As I finally scaled all the way up to the fourth floor I was relieved to at least see something familiar—A flash of silver hair just a few platforms away, connected by a series of arched bridges crossing the air between the towering shelves. Even more than that, I could see the shadow flitting around in the air above that silver-haired spec, his three wings standing out like an eclipse within the library.

The entire section Tulip sat in was empty, no one else was even remotely close to it. The last other person I saw had been down two entire floors—It was like no one wanted or needed to be in this section. No one other than Tulip who had a pile of no less than three dozen books surrounding her and her table.

“Tulip!” I called out as I gently walked onto the platform she sat on. Topaz fluttered around above her, circling in the air like a bird of prey waiting to strike as he watched my approach.

“Kirin?” Tulip asked, sounding more than a little confused as she looked over to me. “What are you doing here?—Shouldn’t you still be with Miss Carmine?” She asked as she placed her current book down.

“My lessons with her ended about an hour ago now—I wanted to check out the Library anyways,” I explained as I closed the last of the distance between us with a grin across my face. “What’s with the massive pile of books?” I asked as I came to a stop.

“Just different things I’m looking into—Some of them are for school, others are just things I wanted to read about,” Tulip explained. She carefully placed a card between the pages of the book she was currently reading before leaning back in her chair, groaning as she stretched with her arms above her head. “What’re you looking for?” She asked once she settled back down into her seat.

“I guess… I’m hoping to find something that explains what my father did?—No one talks about it but I figured it had to be written down somewhere.” I answered as I sat down directly across from Tulip, thankful for the chance to rest my legs a little.

“Kirin…” Tulip spoke threateningly. But she relented, letting out a heavy sigh with a shake of her head. “That isn’t written down anywhere. Between the church and my father, anything that mentioned the reasons for it were purged. Only a few people know about it—And those that do are sworn to secrecy over it.”

“What?” I asked simply, my lips narrowing into a thin line. “Why isn’t it written anywhere? What’s so bad about it that it can’t even be explained?” My tone quickly turned to annoyance as I spoke.

“What could anyone have done that was so bad that their actions can’t even be recorded? What was the point of wiping it from history?” I continued, feeling my voice raising progressively until Tulip raised her hands.

“Quiet down!” Tulip Chastised, keeping her voice as low as she could while still sounding threatening. “Kirin, you can’t go shouting those things, alright? Someone could overhear you and you’d get in a lot of trouble over it!” Tulip’s tone turned pleading as she spoke, her gaze softening as she did so.

“Do you know anything about what he did?” I asked pleadingly. “Anything at all?—I just want to know something about it, please…” I continued as I leaned forwards in my seat, watching Tulip’s face intently.

Her gaze darkened as she looked down. Her lips narrowed into a thin while she gave only a slight bob of her head.

“I do…” Tulip finally answered in a grim tone.

“Can you say anything about it?” I asked desperately.

Tulip was silent for a long few moments again, only finally relenting a little when she took in a deep breath just to let it out as an equally heavy sigh. Her face contorted through a series of emotions, emotions that I couldn’t read from her at all—She just looked distant, lost in thought over something I didn’t understand.

“I’d… rather not,” Tulip finally spoke, leaving me to deflate in my seat. “Sorry, Kirin.”

“It’s fine…” I answered with a sigh. “I get it I guess, if you don’t wanna talk about it you don’t have to.” I offered her a reassuring smile—But I wasn’t sure if I even managed to convince myself with it.

I leaned back in my seat, turning my gaze upwards to watch the ceiling overhead. I felt Akemi shift around on my shoulder, hopping off to land gently on the table she yipped at me kindly.

“A-are you sure?” Tulip sounded surprised at how quickly I surrendered, but I just shrugged.

“Look—I want to know about him, about my family, but if it's something you don’t want to talk about then maybe I shouldn’t know. Maybe it’s for the better,” I answered honestly. “But I don’t think I’ll stop being curious about them either.” I added on after.

“I guess that's a bit of a relief.” Tulip sighed out, regaining a little bit of her typical self.

“So what’re you reading there then?” I asked, redirecting the conversation as well as I could.

“Oh!—It’s a book on the theory of beast ascension. It’s actually been really useful even if it's just basic ideas it is a starting point,”Tulip quickly livened up, leaning forwards into her seat she quickly rifled through the pages of the book. She settled on a page before continuing to speak in a single breath. “This is the most interesting part I’ve found: ”While wild beasts are capable of ascending through simply absorbing mana from the creatures they kill and eat, the same behavior has never been successfully copied in ‘tamed’ beasts. Once a beast settles into life around a humanoid they often never ascend, the only exceptions known to this rule are beasts who partner themselves with powerful mages.””

I blinked as I listened to the words that Tulip spewed out—I was immediately surprised by the fact that she found anything on that topic in this library.

“How does that help us?” I asked curiously, glancing away from Tulip down to Akemi who sat staring at me with her three tails wagging around.

“Well, beasts ascend by absorbing mana. So maybe by being around a powerful mage, they’re able to absorb some residual mana from them and ascend? I’m not really sure but it’s at least a starting point for us to work off of.” Tulip answered.

“What about… the rest of that?” I asked, gesturing to her massive stacks of books surrounding her.

“Most of those are for my classes—Economics is hard… and I have a lot of advanced magical theory things I have to work on. And can I just say? Cutting magic down into a science the way these classes want it to be is awful…” Tulip groaned out her displeasures. I could only let out an amused chuckle at her annoyance.

“What’s so funny?” Tulip asked annoyedly.

“Didn't you put yourself through these? After telling me not to put myself in them?” I asked with a raised brow. Tulip just looked away, her face flushing a soft pinkish-red hue as she sputtered a little.

“W-well… I… I thought they’d be easier for me?” She said without any confidence in her voice. I just laughed more, feeling a genuine grin crossing my face. Even despite my still aching back and shoulders, it felt nice to just laugh with Tulip—And it felt even better when she finally joined in with the self entertained laughter.

The laughter continued on for several moments, the both of us just finding entertainment in the strange moment until it finally died down slowly. Akemi sat on the table, looking between Tulip and I rapidly, her eyes filled with an intelligent kind of confusion while Topaz continued to circle above, uncaring about the laughter.

“We should probably get heading back to the dorm soon…” Tulip said through a heavy jawed yawn.

“Probably…” I agreed with her. I leant back in my seat, stretching a bit as I glanced around the library. There were even less people roaming through its opulent halls now. I knew it was late by now, and I wanted to crawl into bed even more now than I did earlier.

Without any further words we both got up—With Topaz landing on Tulip’s head, and Akemi jumping back onto my shoulders we meandered our way all the way down through the library. We took our time with every step until reaching the halls, and then finally the dorm. There weren’t many more words to be exchanged, just the feeling of exhaustion that permeated the both of us.