Looking over I could see Mel visibly shaking in place.

“Are you alright,” I asked, glancing over at Ira to see if he had done something to her.

He shook his head, reading my question before I had even formed it.

“Can we get to the storage room already?” Mel yelled, practically bursting apart at the seams.

“The storage room?” I said, confused.

“I finally have my body now, so that I can interact with all of my new stuff.”

“I forgot about that.”

“I know you did, but that’s okay, you had a weird emotional parasite to deal with first. No offense,” she said, turning to Ira.

“Offense taken,” he replied, his brows turning down a bit.

“Now that we know your brain is safe I want to go see it.”

Not seeing any reason to stop her I nodded.

“What do we need to do.”

“Nothing. Once we advanced I have more physical control here.”

She waved her hand towards the door leading to my chambers.

A few steps over an ornate set of golden doors manifested out of the wall, not making a sound.

They were twice as tall as any of the other doors in the main hall, swinging open to reveal a room as large as my bedroom when I had first entered.

Walking over I stuck my head in, noticing the shelving stacked almost to the raised ceiling and stretching down what was ostensibly a massive warehouse.

Gesturing again, a podium rose up from the ground a few feet in.

“The Dimensional storage ring, please,” Mel asked Ira, holding out her hand.

Pulling it off of his hand, he placed it in her palm before she deposited it into a small hole in the center of the raised platform.

A pulse of energy shot out from the podium as items I recognized began materializing on shelves in every direction.

To my right, multiple variants of Mana crystals seemed to group together.

“Wow!” I said, surprised at Mel's efficiency and control in her domain.

“That’s nothing,” she said, beaming.

Pausing for a moment, she extended her hand once more, a small Core appearing in it a second later.

“You should be able to do the same while in your body, but it won't work while you are in a spiritual state like this,” cutting me off just as I was about to attempt it. “Outside of the Library, it will work the same, you just have to focus on the object you wish to retrieve from the space. Be sure to specify where you want it to arrive, especially when retrieving heavy or dangerous items, as that could end horribly for you or those around you.”

“Does that mean I am able to while in his body?” Ira asked, also holding out his hand, palm up.

Another Core, identical to the one Mel held appeared.

“I suppose so,” Mel said, slightly dismissive.

A thought popped into my head, but just as I was about to voice it, Mel answered.

“Why don’t we go find out? I hadn’t really put much thought into whether or not you will be able to use the labs while your Meditation Ability is active. The Library’s use wasn’t specifically intended to be used in a metaphysical state.”

“How do we get there?”

Leading us back into the main hall, Mel stopped near the center, raising both of her arms about shoulder height.

Without any fanfare, several unoccupied tables disappeared, replaced with a mound ten feet across, made of some type of blue-silver metal that was covered in an Array, forming a magic circle.

“Where does it lead?” Ira asked, beating me to it.

“To the second floor,” she said curtly, answering him while turning to me. “All you need to do is stand on it. It will take you up to whatever floor you need. I will control it this time, but in the future just picture the destination clearly and it will transport you to the accompanying circle on the other floors.”

Walking over to it, I examined some of the script around the Array before stepping up.

“I don't recognize this kind of Rune,” I said, running my fingers across some of the engravings.

“I'm not sure of its origin either,” she said, cooking her head as she bent down to join me. “I assume it comes from my creator.”

“You mean your father?” Ira asked.

“No,” she answered, standing up. “My father was the first of us, but someone else created the Librarians.”

Placing my hand on her arm, I gave her a reassuring smile.

“Now that you have a body, you can just ask Osiph yourself the next time we see him.”

She returned my smile, pushing me onto the platform.

“Let's go then,” Ira said, stepping up next to us inside the circle.

With a flash, the Library around us turned black, replaced with a new room just as large.

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Instead of the lines of floating books and tables, however, the space was now occupied by a number of tables covered in Alchemist and Enchanter’s tools.

Each table had different apparatuses built into the framework.

To the right side of the space, cauldrons ranging in size, alembics, and glass tubes lead into different flasks and rows of empty vials.

On the left, a single large Enchanter's table sat, centered against the wall. It looked similar to the one in the manor, only larger, with several identical workstations spaced out evenly down the length of it.

With a moment of inspiration, I focused on the Enchanter’s table.

After a few seconds, it began shrinking slowly, the edges pushing in toward the center until there was only a single workstation.

“The customization is very intuitive,” Ira remarked.

“Just as with the rest of the Library, it will react to your will,” Mel said. “So how about getting started?”

I walked over to the Alchemy table, figuring it would be the best for the test.

“I’m going to need some ingredients,” I said, looking over to Mel.

Mel conjured a few of the Beginner Tier Life Affinity Cores that I had purchased for Health potions, along with a catalyst of purified water.

I placed the Core into a small Cauldron that was made of an exquisite quality porous metal.

The problem arose when I tried to filter my Mana into the mixture, attempting to break down the Core into a malleable state removing its impurities over an open flame.

“I can’t use my mana like this.”

Mel’s face fell as she came to stand next to me.

“So I guess you'll be needing your body back?” Ira said, taking a seated position.

Mel and I exchanged looks.

“Of course, I will return it to you, we have already established that I wish you no ill will, now that I have a clear and unimpeded use of my faculties.”

“I’m getting really tired of everyone being able to read my mind,” I said, frustrated.

A burning form seemed to step out of my body, resembling that of the being I had first met in the Vaults, only with more defined facial features.

“Then I would suggest not collecting beings in your mind capable of reading your thoughts,” he said in a much more guttural voice that startled me.

Ending my Meditation, I reentered my own body, passing Mana through my Pathways and focusing on an object. A spherical Core appeared just as Mel had described before I made it disappear with just as little effort.

“Alright, I’m back on a timer. Time to get started,” I said, rubbing my hands together.

***

“Dammit!” I yelled, throwing another failed blank ring across the room where it impacted the wall, shattering and scattering shards of silver down to the floor.

Mel waved her hand and the shards sunk into the floor, clearing the mess I had made.

Ira glided over in his fiery form.

“If I recall correctly, your schooling in your homeland was supposed to take several months, not including post-graduate studies?”

Looking up at him I nodded.

“And you have had only one successful craft in totality?”

Again, I agreed.

“Then by my estimates, with the help of the Library and the resources at your disposal, taking into account the lack of direct mentorship and instruction, you are only slightly behind the other students whom you would have attended with.”

“But not those I will be attending with,” I said, frustrated. “Primrose will be full of people at my level who will have a higher level of understanding of these concepts. I need to catch up to at least their level if I want to learn the curriculum taught, without falling behind, which could impact my growth.”

“It’s only been a week, you are doing fine,” Mel said.

“Why don’t you ask Trennel to tutor you?” Ira asked.

“Because he already has his hands full with delving with the team,” I said, already having had the idea. “Just because I have the ability to sleep during the time dilation doesn’t mean he doesn’t need his rest during these hours between floors.”

“And you don’t want to be required to explain to anyone else why you lack required education?”

I nodded, sitting back in a chair I had conjured.

“Then why not pay for the education to be transcribed into personal journals?” He suggested. “It would help prevent the need to manually parse through information in different sets of textbooks and make it available in an easily digestible set, increasing the speed at which you could advance your fundamental education.”

“I don’t even know where I would find someone to do that.”

“Are you not Nobility now? Delegate it to Lenox or have him find someone you can hire to find someone who fits the requirements necessary to fulfill such a task. You don’t need to accomplish everything on your own.”

“You’re right,” I said, thinking it over. “I’m still not used to having people I can just have to do things for me.”

“Well, you better start getting more accustomed to it, because if you don’t that will be what begins hindering your development. You need to be able to manage your time wisely, and that means having menial tasks handled by those who can afford to spend the time on them,” Ira helpfully chastised me.

“I have to agree,” Mel said, jumping in reluctantly. “It’s the same thing with your team. You need to be able to not be so dependent on doing everything yourself.”

“It’s about time for me to get going anyway, so I’ll stop by the estate and give word to Lenox to start the search. Hopefully, he can arrange something by the time we exit the Dungeon next time,” I said, standing and heading to the Platform to bring me back to the first floor of the Library.

“You don’t need to do that,” Mel said before I got to it. “You can exit the Library from here, just focus on leaving and the rift should appear where you indicate.”

“Before you leave,” Ira said tentatively. “I do have a request.”

An uneasy feeling started brewing in my gut, as my mind rushed through the worst-case possibilities.

“It’s nothing bad,” he said, reassuring me. “It’s just now that you have more space for books and tomes, would you consider, adding a few novels to your catalog? It really is very boring in here when you’re not here to entertain me.”

‘Is that it?”

“For now. Maybe we can speak in the future about further recreational activities being housed here, but once you’re not here I will be in the normal dilation, so it will be months for me the next time you come back later this evening.”

I hadn’t thought about that. I had just assumed he was in regular time since he appeared normal while we were talking, but I hadn’t guessed that it would revert back once I left.

“Yeah I can do that,” I said. “I think I have more than enough room at the moment.”

“Thank you.”

Preparing once more to leave the Library I allowed myself to go through my mental list of things I needed to take care of before the team met up to take on the second floor of the Dungeon.

1. Go through my new Stats

2. Upgrade and equip all of my Novice gear

3. Test out my new Stats with my Forms

4. Stop by the estate to give Lenox my instructions and pick up Trennel

5. Meet up with the team to find out if we need to replace Kira

6. Find a replacement if Kira decides to not join us going forward

With a solid plan for proceeding, I decided it was best to start immediately to make sure we had time to get everything done.

‘You ready?” I asked Mel.

“You go ahead,” she said. “I’m going to stay in here for a while to go through my stuff. I’m here if you need me though.”

“Alright,” I said, somewhat disappointed, even though I knew she would be a thought away.

Focusing on leaving, the rift opened up once more, directly in front of me.

“Wish me luck.”

I stepped through the rift, my foot falling on the soft mulch of the forest floor.