After I seeing Fic off, I turned toward the Library. It looked smaller from the outside, probably magic involved. As for the inside, there were books filling every shelf, and shelves as far as the eye could see. There were even stairs that lead to more book shelves. There were a few tables and chairs that marked reading areas in different locations it seems. It was probably a labyrinth of books here.

Besides the mass amount of books the other things immediately noticeable was the smell of paper and dust filling nostrils, and the sounds of faint snoring and pages being slowly turned were the only noises in this otherwise silent room. I quickly found the culprit for the snoring at one of the tables I noticed earlier. As for the person reading, they remain to be seen.

Looking at the signs that hung above the each of the aisles, I noticed most of them were dedicated toward a single subject. Along the main path I found several signs that gave directions for certain materials, such as the Lost Cultures section that Sola mentioned before. So the official title of this Library is the Library of Ages. Well there are books spanning from all the ages of this world here.

Basic level tomes were on the first floor, with Advanced and Expert level on the second floor. Apparently there was Master level stuff in the restricted area, but I get the feeling it is available with special permission. Tomes, tomes, tomes... tomes are basically just books... wait that reminds me of the tome that I have stuck to my side. I decided that I wanted to see what this book has to offer.

I walked back to one of the reading areas that I found earlier. I pulled open a chair and sat down while I undid the bindings of the grimoire. Once the black grimoire was free I opened it to its first page when a few pop-ups occurred

SK Notice -Tomes-

Opening a tome, will allow you to quickly chose which skills and spells to learn instantly.

The Tome of Deals and Contracts

Aerids, Dryads, Nymphs, Earth Bones, Shadow Puppets, Flamenids, Ice Nymphs, Lumunids,

Ancestral Spirits, Cherubs, Hemonids, Cyclonids

Xernuroch, Xernuroch'cra, Xernuroch'un, Thun'xanxuhm, Thun'malitum, Kuqbus, Quktix, Fyrhana, Vuzmes, Yxda, Nindar, Wiqdum, Abelia, Niktuna, Ovthys, Arachnae, Araxi, Lamia, Minotaur, Kuqbusi Vampire, Yxdan Vampire, Treant, Dragons of Nindar, Dragons of Vuzmes, Dragons of Quktix, Hounds of Kuqbus, Serpents of Fyrhana, Stages of Abelia, Roks of Wiqdum, Hounds of Ovthys, Fairies of Niktuna, Mares of Yxda, Gryphon, Hippocampus, Pegasus, Giant, Shade, Manteon, Leviathan, Imp, Pixie, Manticore, Remnant, The Imprisoned

SK Notice -Summons-

First summon the being, then initiate a contract.

Deities are limited to contact, no summoning.

Interesting, interesting. I decided to close the book and wonder toward other spells first. Since all I had to do was open the book and select the spell I wanted to learn, it would save me a lot of time. Browsing did take forever though, Since the books aren't alphabetized by Author, but grouped together by subject, it made it a little difficult to adjust. It took awhile to find what I wanted, 'A Beginner's Guide: Ice Spells'.

It was on my way back to the table that I hesitated moving past the 'Theoretical Practices'. Hmm, well might as well test out if I will have any pop-ups with theory books like the skill books do. I walked down the new aisle and found girl that wasn't dressed in the school robes, but in somewhat adventurer style garb. Beige vest and trousers, with a white blouse and red ascot, with pockets everywhere. Though her clothes were slightly ruffled from her sleeping position on the floor. I walked around her as to not disturb her sleep.

As I was tip toeing around her, I noticed a dull gray book loosely in her grasp, the title read, 'Theory on Magic: Improving aptitude in other schools.' Hmm, I think I could use that, I just need to coax it from her grip. I decided to go with the band-aid procedure and rip from her grasp as fast I could.

I put a single hand on the spine of the book and started the countdown to myself in my head, '3....2....1!' I pulled as hard and fast as I could, but little did I expect for her let go the same time I pulled. Needless to say, I went overboard with the amount of muscle I put into it. I felt my balance shift to the point of no return and I collapsed on my back with my head hitting the bookcase behind me.

Immediately, a dull pain throbbed from the back of my skull. But that was to be accompanied with a not-so dull pain exploding from my face as a loose book landed on me. Rubbing my face, and regaining my composure, I glanced back at the girl just a few feet away form me. She was still sound asleep but appeared to be inconvenienced by something, and shifted her position.

Well, it looks like she still sleeps, I peered down at the book that assaulted me, it laid open, so I closed it to get a read on its title, 'Laws: The Governance of Magic.' Well, I might as well take this one as well, but I had declared to myself silently that three was enough for now.

I made way to the table once again, with three tomes in hand and one strapped to my side. I opened up 'A Beginner's Guide: Ice Spells' half way to see if the pop-ups would still trigger.

A Beginner's Guide: Ice Spells

Ice Spike, Ice Blade, Ice Totem, Frosted Armor, Ice Spear

I already knew two of these, so I will only be learning three then? As I accepted the three new spells, I felt a rush of energy buzz around me and it flying straight through my forehead where it felt like brain was buzzing like before. This feeling isn't so subtle, huh? Well I am getting used to it now.

SK Notice: Skill Upgrade

Ice Magical Arts III: Able to learn all Basic Ice Spells

I looked back at the book to see if there was any new pop-ups.

A Beginner's Guide: Ice Spells

Ice Spike, Ice Blade, Ice Totem, Frosted Armor, Ice Spear, Icy Fog

Huh, would you look at that, there is another spell available to me. Accepting this new spell, I receive the familiar sugar rush like sensation before my thoughts return to the actual thickness of the book. It may just be my opinion but the book maybe just a little too thick for only seven spells, but it is probably in-depth teaching, warnings and application of each spell.

Moving on, I grabbed the next book, 'Theory on Magic: Improving aptitude in other schools'. It was actually rather thin and the pages were a little ragged from usage. I wonder, if this a way if you can tell if a book is any good here, by how worn down the book is. I cracked open the book, but I wasn't met with another pop-up disappointingly. So flipped to the first page to have a read. It is a rather thin book, and the night is still young, so I should be able to have time to read this book and maybe the other one as well. I should be able to finish these two and find more spells before morning.

Looking down at the words on the first page I was struck with a sort of amazement, that I didn't notice with signs around the library or the titles of the books in my hands. I was looking at completely unfamiliar characters that swirls and sharp angles that I had never seen before, but I understood it all perfectly. I guess I didn't notice with the titles and signs because it was only a few word so, I quickly translated it without even actually looking at them. Now that I have a page full of text in front of me, it was clear now that was not a language found on Earth.

I was fascinated by the calligraphy like style of the characters as well, but it was well written and easy to understand, so I almost finished reading the book as quickly as picked it up. I was left with new knowledge that could easily change how I manage my magic skills and spells. In short, the book mentioned that all sixteen magic schools could be categorized in a giant wheel with the wheel being split into a dark and light half. Dark, Undead, Curse, Swamp, Water, Air, Storm, and Ice were on the dark half, while Light, Holy, Fire, Lava, Earth, Wood, Sand and Metal on the light side.

What was interesting about this magic school wheel, was that there was Primary and Secondary schools as well Specialized, and Technical Specialized schools. Learning the primary schools boosted your understanding and aptitude of the secondary, specialized, or even technical secondary schools. So by this logic Since Ice is a Specialization Water, if I learned some Water Magic it would make it easier to learn Ice Magical Arts, or even further my current skill as it stands. However the book also suggest that further mastery in a primary school would further increase the benefit to the secondary school, but no evidence of this being true was made clear during the publishing of the book. Well, at least the book was honest about its incomplete research.

I followed the chart and saw that the Air, Earth, Fire, and Water were the primary schools. Ice was the Specialization school of Water alone, but Storm was the Secondary of Water and Air, as well as the Technical Secondary of Ice. Dark was the Technical Secondary of Air, but Curse and Undead were both Specializations of Dark. Wood is the Secondary of Water and Earth, and Swamp is the Secondary of Water and Wood. Sand and Metal were specializations of Earth, and Lava was the Secondary of Fire and Earth. Light is a Technical Secondary to Fire and Holy is a Specialization of Light.

As I looked at these points and the connections, I noticed that it didn't need to be a circle, but could be more Linear instead. I say this because, I noticed two points on this circular chart that were adjacent to each other didn't have any connections with each other, as well, they were opposites as well; Dark Specializations, and Light Specializations. I look at the other points and started mapping out my own chart that still held the same relations as the circular chart. Mine resembled a pH scale, where the dark side of the circle was placed on the left and the light side of the circle placed on the right. It looked like either Water, Swamp, or Wood would be closest to the center.

The Circular chart was easier to understand with the book however, so I slipped my quickly drawn version into the book as well for others to see. Maybe someone will read it some day. So, from this book, I guess it heavily benefits me to start practicing other schools of magic. I closed the book and stood up to stretch my body.

After the satisfying popping of my joints, all was silent again, with the exception of some soft snoring. My gaze fell upon the window, the moon was no where in sight, I wonder if the moon was on the other side of the room. Does it also go from West to East, or from East to West. Maybe I will learn it in some arithmetic... No, I don't suppose that will be happening as Lunar phases will probably be elementary knowledge, and seeing that this is probably this world's equivalent to a college, I doubt they will be teaching me something so simple. My best bet is to ask someone, maybe Sola, or Fic.

With my thoughts returning to the books, I sat back down, and picked up the last book, 'Laws: The Governance of Magic.' This book was neither thick like the Skill book, nor thin like the Theory book. It was of average thickness, but the book itself was slightly weird shaped. Instead of being portrait like the other books, this book was oriented landscape. Opening this book I received no pop-ups like the Theory book, but this book had many ink drawing visuals.

After some time went by, turning each page, admiring the interesting looking text, I finished it. I sat the book down and I began to process what I just read. It had a few rules on magic, like its title suggested, but they weren't like laws that could be broken, these were laws on the reality of magic. I take out another piece of paper and quickly scratch out the following:

'Upon the depletion of ones mana, the user shall faint. The user shall not arise from mana depletion induced coma until the user has recovered a tenth of their total mana.

An individual can only be reanimated a finite amount of times, each time becoming more difficult than the last. Each individual has a different number of times they can be reanimated, power and ability affects this, as well as strength of will. For reanimation, more than half of the corpse has to be provided for the ritual.

Elemental magic partially acts like its physical counterparts, example: Ice Magic will only melt around Fire Magic or if the user wills it. Also magic can go out of control, fizzle out, or even fail all together if either an insufficient amount mana or skill is used for the incantation or ritual.

Every three ranks makes one class, ranks 1-3 are beginner, 4-6 are advanced, 7-9 are expert, and rank ten are master class. Magical resistance in a certain schools of magic grant the user resistance to their physical counterparts, example, a Expert level Fire Resistance allows the user to walk through wild fires with ease. Reaching Master class in a skill, can only follow to routes, learning from a Master in that particular skill, or receiving help from the original Masters, spirits.

Learning Primary attributes boosts ones skill acquisition of the Secondary school.'

There was a citation to the 'Theory on Magic: Improving aptitude in other schools' among a few others. Looking down on the paper I just wrote, I folded it in my hands stuck it into the spatial bag. I looked toward the mass amount of books with new knowledge to seek.

I got up and started hunting for the books I would need, I need a Skill book on Water, Air, and Storm, and need to find an encyclopedia on creatures, plants, and famous people. I'll also need a history book, simple common knowledge of man, a Theory book on contracts and spirits. So many books, so little time.

I follow the rule I gave myself and only chose three books before returning to my seat. The books I chose were; 'A Beginner's Guide: Water Spells,' 'A Beginner's Guide: Air Spells,' and ' A Beginner's Guide: Storm Spells.' Opening each one, made several pop-ups occur.

Skill Gained

Water Magic Mastery I: Able to start learning Water Magic

Water Magical Arts I: Able to learn the most basic Water Spells

Air Magic Mastery I: Able to start learning Air Magic

Air Magical Arts I: Able to learn the most basic Air Spells

Storm Magic Mastery IV: Knowledge absorption in Storm Magic is increased

Storm Magical Arts IV: Able to learn some Advanced Storm Spells

Ice Magic Mastery VI: Ice Spells are more Mana efficient

Ice Magical Arts IV: Able to learn some Advanced Ice Spells

Beginner's Guide: Water Spells

Flood, Water Booster, Short Stream

Beginner's Guide: Air Spells

Speed Runner, Razor Wind, Gentle Breeze

Beginner's Guide: Storm Spells

Thunder Clap, Rain, Power Surge, Hail, Snow, Sleet, Lightning Flash

Dismissing all of the pop-ups, I realized that the attribute boost was a little more powerful than I initially thought. My Ice Magic was boosted by a whole level despite it being decently high, and not only that but my Storm Magic that I just learned is now almost at the same level as my Ice Magic because it got boosted three times as much. This is clearly a really good discovery, but I think this might be to good to be true. Dismissing the negative thoughts I return to the black grimoire, 'The Tome of Deals and Contracts' strapped to my side.

I look through the pages carefully and I notice that by each summonable creature, there is a magic circle and a procedure for a ritual written by them. I focus on the words, as I could understand them all the same, but they appeared different. Unlike the loops and angles of the books in the Library, this book's words were very linear and thick, as if written with a stick. The words looked very primitive, and yet reminded me somewhat of the phonetic alphabets back on Earth. This must be Xernurochii

The same pop-up appeared from when I first opened the book, but I ignore it and I thumbed to what appears to be the table of contents.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Residents of the Plane of Chaos

Chapter 2: Divine and Demon God Deals

Chapter 3: Divine and Demon Beast Summons

Chapter 4: Residents of the Plane of Creation

Chapter 5: Spirit Summons

Chapter 6: Soul Summons

Hmm, well I am not going to commune with a god anytime soon, I do not want that kind of attention yet. Nor do I feel like affiliating myself with the Plane of Chaos yet. The book, 'Laws: The Governance of Magic' did say something about Mastering a skill with the help of Spirits, so let us try to make a contract with one first. I will find a book about them later.

I opened the book half way down it's spine and flipped a few pages and I read down the page to find out I was in Chapter 4: Residents of the Plane of Creation. I place my index finger beneath a few more pages and pulled them back to reveal a Magic Formation. I flipped a few pages back and I saw that I was in the right place.

'Chapter 5: Spirit Summons. Spirits. I, Xertur'cra Toh, have no use for these spirits, as I have attained Cra status, which is a high honor of Xernurochs everywhere. I am powerful, and I do not need these pesky spirits as those of less power than I, do. They are not very cooperative unless you force them into a slave contract. I would like to not include these annoyances in my grimoire, but I feel it will make it complete.

Spirits are everywhere, especially when there is mana involved. Though Aezorish has less mana being produced in its lay lines than it produced an eon ago, these mana suckers are not hindered as their numbers have hardly dropped. They are visible to most, as they hardly like to be seen. They are rather simple creatures as well, with your intention forced and a little mana provided, even spirits you can't see will move the way you want.

For less powerful beings than I, Xertur'cra Toh, spirits heavily influence a spells effectiveness. Different spirits affect different schools of magic, such as a Nymph will affect Water spells, and a Flamenid will affect Fire spells. More of their numbers increases the effectiveness of a spell, none of them weakens the effectiveness of the spell. Of course, I, Xertur'cra Toh, do not need them, so I influence them to remain away from me and my spells.

To summon one, simply copy the Summoning Circle on the next page onto a flat surface. I advise you, once again, not to use the one in the grimoire, as it will destroy this grimoire. The circle needs to be at a minimum, the size of your palm, as the spirits are not very big, and do not require a lot of Mana. Though to actually summon one is a waste of time. You won't be able to see them until you have acquired a Spirit Manipulation Skill, which takes a bit time to acquire. But despite my disregard for the vile creatures, I digress. Like the other Ritual Circles, simply put your mana into the formation and the nearest Spirit, which maybe next to you, will be drawn to the circle with a temporary contract. Use this time to instill your slave contract, as useless as Spirits are, they may have a use for you.'

The next page had a Magic Circle drawn onto it. It was very detailed and it had some word written around than interior, connecting each one with a line. Though looking closely at these were written in another language, and if I had to guess, they were written in the Language of Magic, Aetherzii, or Old Elvish. Each Word was rather short but from what I could tell, they had short thick lines like Xernurochii, and thin, wispy swirls, almost like the Aezordii, or the Common Language. Maybe all the languages are connected some how...

Looking at each word I saw the words: Invisible Person, Slave, Summon, Mana Currency, Any Element. I wonder if I can alter the words in a Magic Circle, like I can with an incantation. I copy the Magic Circle Pattern without the words onto a spare sheet of paper I had. Looking at 'Invisible Person', I can assume this is the word for Spirits, I write that down in the circle. Instead of 'Slave' I write 'Friend', I also copy 'Summon' and 'Mana Currency' and instead of 'Any Element', I write down, 'Ice.' There, all done.

I set the paper down in the middle of the table and I place my hands onto the edges of the circle and I close my eyes. I will my Mana to my fingertips and then just a bit further into the Magic Circle. I open my eyes and I witness the Magic Circle shining with a faint light blue color. The air above it was shimmering slightly, it seemed like a really blurry photo becoming more focused, becoming more clear gradually overtime. It took a few seconds, but eventually I could see a tiny, blue girl, the size of my hand. She had white hair that seemed to be made of frost and a light blue gown that had ice coating on the edges. She had large black eyes for her otherwise tiny face, that held a very confused look.

Skill Gained

Spirit Manipulation I: Able to see and slightly influence Spirit Movements through your will.

“May I help you?”