Surrounded by the lights and regents of the library there was a lot for me to take in. The books drew my eyes instantly, but they weren’t the only medium available. There were scrolls that tickled at my senses, mana emanating from them in waves, and regents that looked like cubes stacked on top of each other in a distant set of shelves.

“Where do I start?” I turned to the bronze mask.

He was quiet as I took in the sights around me. When he heard my question, he tilted his head and then brought out a piece of paper.

I recognised my employee identification. He would have gotten a copy from the front gate when I’d requested access to the library.

“You’re still new.” The man took his time in replying. “Follow me. This shelf over here contains basic skills.”

He strode forward and I found myself gazing in wonder at the titles in front of me. he guided me to the section for earth spells. I could see the symbols representing my element etched into the shelves.

Earth manipulation, earth mana sense, earth separation…

Each book was as thick as my fist.

“Here.” The bronze mask handed me the earth mana sense book.

I only had to open up the first page when I was hit with a system prompt.

[Earth Mana Sense: gain the ability to feel and see earth mana.

Target time: approximately one year with earth manipulation.

Pre-requisites: nature or earth attunement.

Mana cost: N/A]

I jolted back and the man looked at me in amusement.

“First time opening a skill book?” He didn’t hide his chuckle.

“Yep.” I didn’t deny it.

I could see the magic emanating from the book and connecting with me. It had triggered the system message.

The book itself was over three hundred pages long. I did a quick flip through it and realised it was more extensive than I thought it would be.

There were pre-requisites, but also training methods, anecdotal memoirs, individual statistics for each level gained, and also different enhancement pathways that the skill could lead you towards.

That was what I got from a quick glance, there was yet more within for me to discover.

“If you need any help, feel free to ask me.” The bronze mask made his way down the shelves. “I’ll be around. Make sure not to try and break anything. It won’t go well.”

He didn’t need to tell me twice. I held the book delicately in my hands and then felt Gold shuffling uncomfortably on my shoulder.

I looked at him and saw that he was gazing at the scrolls.

“Something grabbing your interest there?” I couldn’t see what was inside the scrolls, and neither could he.

I moved over towards them and gently grasped the one nearest to me.

Pressure washed over me as the material unfolded. I took a step back and staggered, regaining my footing after a few moments of unease.

In front of me was an earth array. I could see the earth symbol within it as the base of the array, and around it was half a dozen other symbols layered on top and underneath it.

It was a blueprint for a regent.

Gold chirped gratefully and I looked over to the section beyond the bookshelves. There were a series of tables for people to sit down and read.

I moved the scroll over there and laid it out on top of one of the tables, letting Gold hop off my shoulder to examine it.

“If you damage that we won’t be allowed in again.” I warned him.

He flapped his wing at me and squawked. He understood.

I sat down beside him and pondered my next move. The book for the earth sense skill was still in my hands, but I didn’t have the time to read through all of it.

I left it on the table with Gold and returned to the bookshelf. There was a huge selection waiting for my perusal.

Before today I had only heard of four earth skills, and now there were dozens in front of me.

I took my time looking through the titles. I had a few hours. It probably wouldn’t be enough to read even a single book fully at my reading speed, but I could compile a list.

Each book I touched sent me a system message which made note taking easier.

Stone spear, earth spear, earth wall, earth stone, earth shift, earth separation, seismic sense, liquify earth, solidify earth, bond earth, earth bond, earth constriction, stone constriction, earth construction, earth diffusion, earth mana diffusion, earth mana transfusion, earth shift, refine earth; cleanse earth, entomb, earth sense, shape earth, shape stone, shape dirt, attach earth, create earth weapon, create stone weapon, stone skin, earth mana attraction, earth mana resonance, earth construct, stone construct, dismiss earth, earth spike, earth mine, earth grasp, stone grasp, earth shatter, catapult earth, earth blast, stone blast.

There were more skills than I could get through in a single day. Not only did each earth skill have its own book, but its variations based on the materials were also available in their own separate books.

These were only the titles that caught my eye. There were several dedicated to doing common tasks that I could do with earth manipulation. It was like Mr Black had said, there was a skill that enhanced every little thing that I did.

Each book I looked through had a few things in common. They were all easy to obtain, although the ‘easy’ status was only relative to the higher end skills.

I could see the other shelves radiating with power, they contained other spells. Those ones would be at a higher level, possibly to make golems like the Tagos or to work magics beyond my ability.

I was tempted to look over them as well, but I had my hands full as it was.

Most of the skills I looked at took a few years of dedicated practice. That was on top of filling the pre-requisites.

Thankfully, a lot of them only had the prerequisites of having earth manipulation, or earth attunement. Often both were required.

“I’m going to be long dead before I have a hope of mastering even a tenth of these.” I looked over at Gold. “Do you see any you like?”

Gold shook his head and continued examining the scroll. I couldn’t tell if he could read the books or not. Maybe he just didn’t care about them.

“Suit yourself.” I perused the stack of books. “I don’t think this place has loans.”

Unlike the libraries on Earth, the knowledge contained here was a secret that was supposed to stay within the company. Technically I could tell anyone I wanted to, however, I assumed that the companies had a contingency for such a matter.

I had signed a confidentiality agreement when Indra and Jackson had first informed me that the Company was giving me access to this library.

They would probably take legal action against me if I started spreading the skills to everybody. Taking the books out of the library was going to be a big no from them.

I placed them out in front of me and then I started reading.

[Earth spear: gain the ability to form a spear from the earthen materials around you. The spear will act as a projectile and fire towards the area of your choosing.

Target time: approximately one year with earth manipulation.

Pre-requisites: nature or earth attunement. Earth manipulation skill.

Mana cost: initially 25 per cast.]

[Earth wall: gain the ability to form a wall from the earthen materials around you. The size and strength of the wall will vary depending on the materials used, and the level of the skill.

Target time: approximately eight months with earth manipulation.

Pre-requisites: nature or earth attunement. Earth manipulation skill.

Mana cost: initially 200 per cast.]

[Earth separation: gain the ability to separate earth materials from each other. At higher levels this may be used to deconstruct large mountains or plains of earth.

Target time: approximately five months with earth manipulation.

Pre-requisites: nature or earth attunement. Earth manipulation skill.

Mana cost: initially 20 per cast.]

I quickly found an issue with my process. I was screening the book to learn the skills and their prerequisites, but the finer details would take more time. The actual training methods for unlocking the skills took up entire chapters of each book, and I could see that the authors had it down to a science.

I memorised the system messages that each skill brought up. All of it would be helpful when I asked Mr Black which skills would be the most important for me.

Once I was done, I placed the final book down and leaned back. There were over sixty skills, and I had spent most of my time shuttling the books to my table and then back onto the shelves.

“I don’t know how Amanda does this.” I poked at Gold.

He was perfectly content with his scrolls.

The puffer had three of them lined up in front of him and he was bobbing his head as he examined them.

He chirped at me and then turned back to the arrays.

“Okay, clearly you understand her better than I do.” I chuckled. “No wonder you’re making so many friends.”

I considered deep diving into one of the skill books while I still had time. Then another idea crossed my mind.

Who said I only had to look at basic skills?

I had permission to access the entire library. I stood up from the table and walked over to the other shelves. This time I was looking for something a little more advanced.

My eyes hovered over the books. I was starting to see a trend in the glowing lights around them.

White represented basic skills.

Yellow was for skills in the more advanced brackets.

There were yet more colours that I had to explore, but they would be time for that later.

I took the first book that I saw, and a system prompt entered my vision.

[Advanced Stone Golem: gain the ability to create a stone golem that can obey limited commands.

Target time: approximately five to fifteen years with earth manipulation and life infusion.

Pre-requisites: nature or earth attunement. Life attunement. Earth manipulation skill. Life infusion skill.

Mana cost: initially 6,000 mana per cast. Manapool will lock 6,000 mana after use. The lock will last until the golem is dispelled.]

The sight of the skill made my heartbeat move faster. This was similar to what Tago was using. Except it was a more basic version.

Fifteen years?

I had noticed each skill had a target time, but they didn’t mean that it was guaranteed to take that long. However, even five years was a long time when I only had almost twenty-two left to live.

I also needed a life attunement and another skill.

That didn’t surprise me. This was the nature library, and nature was the broad term used to refer to the two elements, life and earth.

It was an umbrella concept. There was a separate symbol for that some magicians attuned to, but it wasn’t considered one of the basic ones.

More like basic-adjacent.

When people attuned to nature, they could learn spells from earth, or life, or both, but they would be more difficult to learn than having the direct elemental attunement.

I put the book back but memorised the skill for later. There may be a similar skill that Mr Black or Tago knew about that could be learned by me. I wasn’t sure if Tago was allowed to discuss skill knowledge, but I knew that Mr Black was.

[Earth Stride (advanced): gain the ability to move large distances when standing atop earthen materials.

Target time: five years.

Pre-requisites: earth stride (basic). Earth or nature attunement.

Mana cost: initially 50 mana per cast. Cost increases with distance travelled.]

A movement skill. I tucked away the information for later. I could learn the skill, unlike the golem one.

I looked at the windows and saw the sun rising through the sky. Time was passing by quickly, and I had to see Amanda soon.

I walked back to the table and sat next to Gold. Even if I wasn’t sure which one of the skills I would learn, I could still try getting through one of the books.

I looked through my system notes at the various skills I had listed. There were so many. It felt like I had been travelling through the desert and stumbled upon an oasis.

There was only a single question going through my mind.

Which book should I pick to read first?