It didn’t take too long at this point for Lukas to find the library. This was a substantial change from when he was first learning to navigate. That was in no small part because Lukas assumed space worked like it did everywhere else.

He had begun to discover over time that while things were in particular locations, the stretches of hall between them were often what the fae called “Paths”. Innocuous and deceptive, much like the fae themselves. The name that made more sense to him, the one that most regular mortal students used, was “Floating Space”. As it turned out, those hoops and orbs of light weren’t lighting at all, as the entire area was a consistent brightness; the lighting around them didn’t actually vary at all. They were warnings that you were in a Floating Space.

But it turned out that understanding this only made navigation even easier. All he had to do was have a clear image or desire in mind of where he wanted to go, and the Floating Space would accommodate and shift to bring him there. For the most part, the halls were relatively safe. You might end up in the cafeteria instead of the classroom if you’re distracted thinking about lunch, but you’d be fine. There was an exception to this rule, however.

The back hallways, typically intended for staff only, were much more particular about your destination, and much more wily, like a Twilight Forest. They were much more dangerous as well, with rumors circulating that it was even a secret pathway to multiple different fae dungeons, that it could even take you across the world if you took the right directions. Students were not recommended to take these paths, the lights designating when you were on something a bit more treacherous, but it happened from time to time all the same.

Atsix and Atel had gossiped to him about a younger student that wasn’t seen for a week because they had gotten lost in the labyrinth of the back halls. They were already a petite thing, for an orc anyway, and by the time they were found, they looked like they had lost twenty pounds of weight and babbled for weeks about escaping from a beetle that Lukas would compare to a skyscraper. There was also mention of the Glasscutter Dunes, the scorching home of the Naga and the strongest living dragon, which explained the terrible burns on their hands, feet, and face. How they got there was the biggest mystery though; ordinarily one couldn’t enter them at all without proper authority or being let into them by one of the fae, and any fae caught letting someone unauthorized in was severely punished.

Needless to say, Lukas was avoiding those areas. He had no interest in getting lost, or being horribly traumatized. Just the thought of it made him shudder. Luckily, he was fairly good at focusing, so getting to his destination was no trouble. It took no time at all to reach the library, taking a right turn that just yesterday brought him from class to the bathroom.

The doors into the library were a grand affair, a beautiful set of french style double doors decorated in shifting, unfathomable pictographic stories tailored to every individual that looked. If you looked into the glass, one didn’t see the library, instead seeing countless layers of these tales. Some people stood outside of the library for countless hours, studying the images on the door and learning the tales thereupon. Allegedly some of the greater feats of ki done by students and staff here were accomplished by learning from the door.

Allegedly, the effort drove some mad, and left countless others strange and different than they were before.

Wary of the latter, Lukas entered the grand space, always awed and thrilled by the sheer scale of the space and breadth of knowledge therein. The area inside was the dungeon of a Norn under the Fae Lord, and you could tell immediately. A night sky showed overhead of a vast grassy field, with no less than eighteen moons overhead in various colors and phases. Notably, more moons than could actually be seen at one time on Yuen.

As a result, though, the library was incredibly well lit, as bright as day, but hewn in many colors. The books themselves weren’t even anchored to shelves, floating around seemingly at random. It was almost impossible to actually find books on your own, but there was a vast number of more orderly lesser fae working there to help guide students to where they needed to be, sometimes walking for what felt like miles, even straight up in the air. A few books were even stored underground, though those were generally secret texts that only certain personnel were supposed to be able to locate.

This wasn’t the only library of the school, acting more like a warehouse dispatching copies to other libraries both at the school and elsewhere on the planet at the Norn’s will. However, Lukas preferred to come to this one, since it was both the largest and the most beautiful.

Finding one of the fae, this time what appeared to be a bipedal, humanoid moth with large, pupil-less rainbow eyes common to all with fae blood, Lukas found the books he was looking for relatively nearby. “ for the Inept” and “System-Free Magic Usage, a Compendium for the Sage and Creative” were their names, and both were rather thick. Thankfully, he was a fast reader. Opening Mana Manipulation for the Inept as he left the library, Lukas found his way out of the school in short order.

It didn’t take all too long to reach the same restaurant they supped at the evening before, and per her instructions, the store he was looking for was even closer. Most of the street's buildings were connected on each side, and this one was no exception, though it was made of smooth grey stone instead of the dark stone that most here was. He supposed that was probably a sign of the builder; stone created with Earth or Stone Aspect magic could have more or less whatever properties the owner could imbue them with, so the builder often just made its visual style to the clients specs, or to a particular signature. Most on the street were made dark and smooth, with a swirling pattern made of sharp angles, sometimes even crossing between buildings. Must be a pretty popular architect, thought Lukas, trying to do almost anything but focus on the drab text he had picked up. Despite its sassy name, “ for the Inept” was about as exciting as watching grass grow. It was pretty much inevitable for collegiate texts, unfortunately.

What was much more interesting, however, was the actual store itself. From the outside it was nothing special, with a carving depicting a quill writing on a screen like those made by the system. But inside was much more interesting. It was a packed space, with many shelves and rows filled with items. The odd part was that they were all the same; rings with small eyelets on the side, fit to stitch into clothing, which could be removed if worn as a ring. There was a simple illusion above each that displayed what they did.

The interesting part, moreso than the items themselves, was the floor. It was… flooded. It didn’t sound like water, and didn’t soak into his clothes despite the fact that it only went up to his ankles. Nor did it move much. It was more like he moved… through it. Like it was only partially there, physically.

The explanation for that came into view before long. A tall female form, but more or less only that. She was partially transparent, her borders defined in part by faint swirling colors and the way that it softened any hard edges around her. From the ankle, she connected to the water, her feet disappearing with every step. “Ah. Lukas. Just when Lady Kax said you’d be arriving. Very good, I just finished the piece she commissioned,” she said, her voice resonating from all around.

He looked around before his eyes settled back on the woman. “Are you a… ghost?” He asked, forgetting his manners in the moment. That was… absolutely wild. Magic, fine, that’s one thing. Other races were comprehensible enough. But Lukas was not someone of faith. He never really was. But a ghost? That implied a soul, an afterlife, things of that nature. What did that mean for him…?

This just got a laugh from the shape, resonating from all points in the room. “No, no. Though it wouldn’t be the worst thing I’ve been called. She did mention you’d be ignorant of things. I assume part of why she sent you to me instead of Master Graf down the way. I am what they call a Nixis. A Hyyn in particular. Nice to not have to offer a free vial of fae blood with a purchase for once, though, I must admit.”