Reaching the door to Dursic, I stared at it with trepidation. What should I expect? Perhaps nothing? Taking a deep breath, ax at the ready, I slowly opened the door a crack. A waft of thick warm air poured inside. I saw a part of the wall. Long red smears and soot stains covered the portion I saw, making the hairs on my arms stand on end.

Pushing the door fully open, I saw an unmoving body lie in the corridor, coagulated blood below it. One arm was missing, and I saw it lie further at the end of the hall, the sword still gripped in its fist.

My mind went blank for a split second. Then I saw a ripped open bag beside the entrance. Food, wood, and a water flagon had spilled out, but I also saw something that made my eyes widen. Grabbing the corner of the bag, I pulled it inside. As soon as I could, I took a small rolled up scroll from below a loaf of bread. Only one person could have put it there because it said Mitchel in English on the side.

Rolling it open, I saw a few hastily scribbled lines and a name at the bottom. Everything was in English.

"The temple is about to fall. A legion of Lischen's Bloodknights has come, and the defense won't hold. Bala is bringing the remaining Paladins through a portal to a hidden temple. Haltir and Egilia made it into the city a few days ago, and we will bring them to Orlion. Bala says you will have to get to the entrance on your own. Stay in the Library until you are strong enough, and be careful… I love you! Eliandra."

Looking at the message, I felt a weight drop that I hadn't realized was there. She was alright, safe in some temple dedicated to Flowheart. Looking at the last lines, I smiled. So, she loved me, huh? My smile turned to a grin as I stood up straighter. She would have to prove that when I found her again! And find her I would.

With a last look at the corridor, I closed the door and began putting the rations and water back in the bag. As bored and lonely as I had been a day before, as resolved, I felt now. Rathica had said six weeks, two of which had passed now. That left me four weeks to prepare whatever I could and then begin learning whatever class I could pick.

The ax in one hand and the bag in another, I moved back towards the center. I needed to prepare in case more Prime Followers showed up.

At the end of the day, if my biological clock was still ticking right, I stared up at the small hideout I had made. A square of tables rested atop one of the thick bookcases bordering the center room, but it was barely noticeable from below. All of my rations, water, and wood was inside, as were a few books. The area I had sat before was cleaned, and unless somebody knew exactly what it had looked like before, they wouldn't know someone had been camping there for two weeks.

Satisfied, I munched on some dried fish and moved to an open area with my ax. There, I began slashing around with the ax while at the same time forming the first of the Sprout Life gestures. I would learn all three spells and more if I could - no matter if I had to break my fingers using the Lucky Gestures.

--

Days passed, my body scent thickened, and the pile of feces I left in one area of the Library was starting to turn to compost. Every time I felt myself turn lonely, I read the letter left by Eliandra or made wood carvings. The number of small statues I had made was so great that I had to hide them atop other bookcases. Only the best I kept in my little hideout.

Five days after I had orchestrated the death of the red-haired man and found out Dursic had been sacked, I heard the status ping I had been waiting for.

I was standing in the middle of the room, sweat running down my body as I stared at my left top hand. A soft green glow hovered above it.

"No seed or other thing to use…" I muttered before shrugging. What did it matter? I had learned Sprout Life! I would practice with it when I had the time, but this meant it was time to start on Harden Wood.

I opened my status window, and my eyes glittered.

> Learned: Sprout Life

> Learned two spells within two weeks

> A learning rate increase of one for a day!

Another day! And I still had two days left from the previous reward, meaning that for a short while, my learning rate would be seven. That was the same as the fastest person Agga knew! Grinning, I noticed another change.

> 217/242: Knowledge

Thinking for a bit, I realized what had happened. Learning a new spell increased my maximum knowledge by twenty!

Slowly a plan began to take shape in my head. Learning gestures cost me knowledge, but learning spells increased my knowledge. Practicing gestures increased my learning rate, and every time I learned a spell faster than average, I got a reward. So far, those were temporary increases to learning speed. That meant, if I continued and could learn a new spell within the next twenty-four hours, I might get another bonus and knowledge to learn more hand gestures.

I had no time to lose! Rushing to my hideout, climbing the bookcase like a monkey, I lay down and envisioned Harden Wood. Nine gestures, the least I had seen in the book besides the two I already knew. With a learning rate of six, it had cost me roughly five days to learn seven. That meant I should be able to easily learn nine in a day with a learning rate of seven.

I immediately decided not to train with my ax, for now, to focus solely on the spells.

Closing my eyes, I lay on my back while all four of my hands began moving, attempting to form the first of the gestures.

The only breaks I took were for eating and drinking or adding to the pile of compost. In less than two hours, two of my hands finished the first gesture almost simultaneously. I felt like whooping, but instead took a breath and continued with the first gesture until all four hands could make it, which took under fifteen minutes. Then I started on the second, then the third. When I reached the fourth, a ping came from my status, and I froze. It couldn't be, right?

Almost too excited, I summoned my status info and almost bit my tongue. My learning rate had increased to a natural six! For a moment, the idea of having a learning rate of eight, even if for a duration, made me giddy. Then I realized something. A learning rate from four to five had been perhaps a week, and I hadn't been practicing full time. From five to six had taken more than eleven days of almost non-stop practice. A cold shiver ran across my spine. At this rate, the next increase might take months of continuous practicing.

Suddenly, the twenty hours I had with a learning rate of eight seemed too short. Without waiting, I grit my teeth, and my hands flowed into the gestures. Fifteen minutes later, I had learned the fourth gesture, and an hour after that, five to eight. Grabbing the book of first level spells and putting it over my knees, I knew I needed to get more useful spells and learn them now that I had the chance. And with a little under nineteen hours left, I needed to pick a good one.

Almost nineteen hours later, my mind was hazy as my hands moved in absurdly difficult gestures. Finally, like a message of deliverance, a soft ping told me I had learned my last spell. There was no time for anything more before the learning rate bonus would disappear. More tired than I had ever been, my eyes finally fell shut. I didn't even bother to look if I got another bonus but let my mind drift off into a welcoming sleep.

--

I woke to a massive headache, my mouth dry, and a woozy feeling in my stomach. For a moment, I didn't remember where I was or what had happened. I must have been out drinking with Sandra. We didn't do that a lot, and I couldn't recall the occasion. Groaning, I got up and looked around with blurry eyes.

The small cabin at the top of the Library surrounded me, and the memories flooded back. With a solid thud, I put my head back down, regretting it immediately when my head pounded even louder.

Getting back up, I grabbed a leather bag filled with water and drank deeply. After half the bag, my headache lessened a little. Slowly, a grin formed around my lips. I had done it! Three spells! Not the small-time once either, but real spells.

Opening my status window, I was curious. I hadn't looked at it since learning the first of the three spells, shared life-force, and seeing I didn't get a bonus to my learning rate.

> Learned: Sleep with the trees

> Learned: Entangle

> Learning rate bonus faded

Looking at my knowledge, I groaned.

> Knowledge 290/302

I had gained sixty for the three spells but learned seventy-three new gestures resulting in a net loss of remaining knowledge. Thinking for a moment, I decided to learn a few more introductory spells over the next few weeks and gain the twenty knowledge cap increase. I still had seven learning rate for a day, assuming I hadn't slept for two days straight.

I grabbed one of the figurines I had used Soften Wood on and cast Harden Wood on it. My fingers moved fast and fluently, and it took five seconds to cast the spell. Distracted, I wondered how much faster I could get. I had one spell with over forty gestures if it took five seconds for this one…

Determined to practice my casting speed, I looked at the wood. As with Soften Wood, there was no apparent change, and I tried pushing my fingernail into it. It felt like a smooth stone, hard, and unmalleable. Taking the knife, I tried slicing it. The knife managed to nick the wood, but no more than a small scrape. Pressing as much as I dared, I pushed the point inside. The resistance was immense, but I did notice the point slowly entering the wood. I stopped when the knifepoint was a centimeter in the figurine. So not impenetrable, but still pretty hard.

Many interesting applications of the spell popped into my head, from strengthening a door or barricade to creating my own wooden chest plate.

I couldn't cast the other three spells here, but only outside in nature. I knew that was a weakness, I had known before even learning the spells. But I didn't want to risk learning something I couldn't use because I lacked some sort of attunement with it. That could wait for later. Still, thinking of the three spells I knew, I grinned. I was going to the broken-down domain of an ancient god of tree's right? The others would be in for a nice surprise then.

The rest of the day was spent eating, drinking, and trying not to use my brain too much. I had no idea what got me the headache, but my suspicion was either learning all those spells or losing the learning rate boost.

When my biological clock told me it was getting close to evening again, I ate before moving to the center pillar. I had a few hours left, and I should be able to learn one more spell that had under nine hand gestures. As my affinity was life, I should be able to find more books with spells.

Twenty minutes later, I walked back with two tomes that I placed on the table. Life: Creatures and Life: Evolution. There had been more Life books, but I had no idea what any of them did. Some even had specialization that looked like made-up words, like Life: Grubhurdrnis, which after a laugh, had made me wonder if not all words were translated.

I put both books open on the spells I had seen that seemed interesting, but I could only learn one. I didn't have time to continue looking or take too long on my decision. The creature's specialization was simply called: Befriend.

"Befriend is one of those hit or miss spells. Useful for those who enjoy a menagerie of dangerous pets, it is a wasted effort if you never deal with dangerous animals. Will make any non-intelligent natural creature see you as a friend, nest-mate, or pet. They won't hurt you and are likely to help you if you are in danger. As with many life-spells, it costs more energy the larger the creature is, but the spell won't fade of itself."

Grinning as I read that, the last bit was almost as useful as finding the spell. So life spells didn't usually fade, did they? I had noticed the figurines I used Soften Wood on hadn't turned back to harder wood on their own, but I didn't know for sure yet. Now I did, and the prospect of making my own breast-plate was becoming more and more enticing.

Thinking of the demon hounds, I wondered if those were natural and non-intelligent. Or those Wirgs and Worgs? Shaking my head, I looked at the second spell.

"Grow Gills. A simple yet incredibly effective way of increasing one's stay underwater. Far more useful than many of the air creation or bubble spells that circulate, do remember to remove the spell eventually. Walking around with gills on your neck is seen as a hangable offense in certain dimensions."

I grinned, then burst into laughter- walking around with gills? I could picture it right now. The remove spell was on the page behind, and if I learned this, the rest of the time here would see me learning that. After a few moments, I decided to stick with Befriend, and without further adieu, began learning the eight gestures.

When I learned the spell, I was tired again, the headache back, and I disgruntledly went to bed. I promised myself I would do just ax-play and wood crafting the next few days.