I left my subspace soon after I woke up. I can’t dawdle there all day when I have to head to the library before sunrise.

It was still dark out when I got there, leaving me maybe an hour or two before I have to head back to the guild. The Aurelia Library appears to be a small building. One story, and maybe a quarter block in size. The entranceway is made of white marble and stone pillars overgrown with vines and ivy.

Surely this can’t be it, considering its reputation? The entryway looks nice, even if poorly kept, but even Norbury’s library is bigger than this.

I walked inside, but instead of lines of bookshelves, I was met with an almost empty room. Other than a single spiral staircase leading downwards, there was not a single blemish nor feature on the tiles that made up the walls, floor, and ceiling. I descended the steps for maybe half a minute before I came to a clearing.

The space was absolutely massive. Perhaps larger than Aurelia itself. I could see for miles in every direction, and the ceiling was higher than mountains were tall. In the center of the room was a gargantuan sphere of purple energy surrounded by spinning silver rings. There were towers upon towers of bookshelves built into pillars, and thousands upon thousands of people going about their business. Not only that, but I could spot several staircases going up and down, nearly identical to the one I came in on.

What the hell is this place? What rock have I been living under all my life? Why hadn't my father brought me to this place when we came to Aurelia? Did he not know about it? Does he not read? And why is the ceiling so high compared to the stairway? Is the staircase a gate, and the library somewhere deep in the earth, excavated by earth mages? Or is this place just one giant pocket dimension? Perhaps both.

This place was created by Vorota, the first S class space aligned and designer of the first interplanetary gate. Of course a library built by him would be impressive, but this is nothing like what I’d imagined.

I don't even know where to begin. I only planned on being here for an hour or two, but there's no way I can get everything I need when each section would take most of that time just to walk through. I mean, even the gardening section is over a mile long. Not even the farming section, just the subsection on home gardening. Why? Who even needs that much information on potted plants?

I'll only have time to grab a book and go before I have to leave. My priority has to be the mana well, everything else is curiosity or entertainment at the moment. But where is the mana well section?

I jogged over to the center of the room. Nearby the purple sphere were short lines in front of counters, where library patrons would ask their questions, either to be directed to another person, an isle, or inside of the giant sphere. A ten minute wait in line got me talking to someone who answered a few questions, and directed me to the mana well section, which was apparently a subsection under magical engineering, which is a subsection under enchantments.

According to them, anyone was free to check out books, so long as they had a valid form of ID to register their rental in case it was lost or stolen. Unfortunately, I don’t have my adventurer card yet, nor any other valid form of ID, so I won’t be able to take anything out.

Interestingly, this was only the first floor of the library. Apparently there are several others, each of which having varying costs and clearance requirements to visit. As for the purple energy sphere, it has a name. I.K.E, short for index knowledge entity. For a small fee of 20 Mana Crystals, patrons can ask one question about any topic they have clearance for, and it will summarize the necessary information. For 100 mana crystals, people can even have a conversation with it. Apparently IKE is a fan of gardening.

I headed over to the mana well section, and was only able to get partway through one book on the topic before I decided it was time to leave. The vast majority of these books are too technical in detail for me to understand, so it took most of my time just to find one that was broad enough to understand. What I read from it before having to leave was only outdated information, indiscriminate mana wells, and stuff that would cost a small fortune. But there might still be useful information in it.

I checked in both directions to make sure no one was looking at me, then stored the book in my subspace. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I turned around to see Ike had manifested a giant eye, staring directly at me.

Without looking away, I returned the book to the shelf it came from, and slowly backed away. Only then did Ike turn his attention elsewhere. As soon as he did, I ran back to the entrance.

---

“Good morning, Sylas. How was the library?” Roshanee called as soon as I entered the guild hall.

“Uh, good morning, Roshanee. How’d you know I went?”

“I’ve got my ways.”

“That's not really an answer."

"You didn't answer my question either."

"It was unexpectedly impressive. What even is that place? How come Pa never mentioned it?”

“Never was one for books. I tried to get him to go, back when we were last in Aurelia together, but he didn’t want to. Said reading was for nerds.”

“That… does sound like him. Anyways, I’ll have to go back when I have more free time. Is my card ready?”

“Sure is!” She went into the back of the guild hall, and returned with my card in hand. “Here you go. Remember not to lose or break it accidentally. There’s a tracking spell in the card that activates when broken, and you’ll be on the hook for payment depending on where you are when it’s activated.”

“So I’ve been told. Any idea when my mentor should be arriving?”

“In about —”

“Dwarf!” I heard someone shout, interrupting her mid-sentence. Several of the tavern’s patrons, and one rogue-ish looking adventurer immediately evacuated the building through whatever exits they could find, including a glass window.

A short, stout man entered the hall. He had a glorious, braided and bushy red beard and hair, with a gem-shaped metal embedded in his forhead.

“Run if you want, it makes no difference to me.” He said jokingly as they passed.

As much as the runners may have overreacted, I don’t blame them for it. Dwarves have been a bit… much since the collective was formed. Now that every dwarf has instant access to the knowledge and power of their entire race combined, everything any dwarf has ever witnessed is relayed to their hive-mind. This includes crime, and therefore the whereabouts of any lawbreaker one happens to find. Every year, there’s at least several dozen cases of some Dwarf stumbling across some poor criminal, and mind controlling them into surrendering to face justice. Since they often borrow the power of their entire collective when they do so, it’s usually quite a spectacle.

I wonder if I’ll get a show?

Instead of chasing after the people who just left, though, he strolled right up to Roshanee and spoke. “Hey Rosh. I saw your signal this morning. Got a new mission for us?”

“Sure do” She said, patting my shoulder.

He looked me in the eye and squinted before turning back to her “Another one? How many more newbies am I going to have to take care of?”

“Maybe this is it. Maybe we’ll have another batch for you once this one is gone. Who knows?”

“Don’t mess with me, you evil woman.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” She winked.

The dwarf sighed deeply, turned to me, and crossed his arms. “My name's Geistig. So, why were you assigned to my party? You deaf, mute, blue, or stupid?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, a jokester, are we?” He leaned in close and unblinkingly looked me in the eye. “I fucking love jokes. What did the dwarf say to the Dryad?”

“Make like a tree and leaf?”

“You look like a sap.”

“Geistig, I will smite you.” Roshanee warned.

“All in good fun." Geistig put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, but really. Why don’t you have a party?”

“Well, I don’t have any power-relevant education yet, and don’t want to start off with a party of kids half my age. Rosh suggested this, so I took the opportunity” I replied.

“I see. Yeah, kids can be rather terrifying, can’t they?”

“Uh, terrifying? Annoying maybe, but why terrifying?”

Geistig ignored the question. “Well, let’s head off. The rest of the party’s waiting.”