The magic book mentioned them too, in the context of finding crystals called "magicite" to empower spells. Selen read gleefully about the elemental flavors of spells, the wicked art of necromancy, and the basic techniques of Mana use. The first-ever spell, it claimed, was Lorinari's Sanctuary, a crude technique used by a desperate Elven hero for raising shelters up from raw stone.

The footman returned, saying, "You're not sleeping, are you?"

She startled, wings flicking outward as she looked up from the book. "No, this is interesting! I just started using magic and this material is, ah, a lot more relevant to me than it was a few days ago. Did you know that this magicite stuff can emit energy even when it's not being attended? I want to measure the output and whether it declines over time."

He raised one eyebrow. "Indeed. What might it tell you if the output did decrease?"

"It's the difference between one of these crystals containing a fixed amount of energy, and being a permanent source. We could also measure the efficiency based on how quickly it wears out when actively used versus sitting on a shelf. This is a whole potential field to study. Can a heat-emitting crystal boil water?"

The doorkeeper looked her over, then at each of the books beside her. He answered, "And you're literate at your age? What did you make of this other one?"

"The Sundry Lands? It's more information than I had, but very incomplete. The author seems to have given up trying to describe the course of the Starry River."

The man scoffed. "Any sane man would! You've probably never traveled it or you'd know its shifts and surprises."

"I've never seen more than the stretch I crossed today. But I'd like to see it all."

He said, "You've been here for hours. Shouldn't you be out somewhere putting your knowledge to use?"

She was starving. "Oh! Yes, I should go." She headed for the door but paused. "Where can I get ink and paper? I expect to need a lot of it."

"There's a stationer's shop in the north market. But the Society has discounted supplies for members. You may want to join."

#

It was late afternoon, and chilly. Selen had no money in these clothes. Come to think of it, her torn outfit probably helped explain the snooty reception she'd first gotten.

She found her way back to the river and from there to the Two Hoots. Twice along the way she practiced flowing Mana into her wings and giving a quick flap, lifting off and soaring for a second. The bystanders seemed not to care except when she strayed too close.

Back at the home tower, messengers bustled around the rear door with its basement entrance and the exterior stairway. People of several species came and went with bulging bags.

"Hey, Selen!" said a Human boy of no more than twelve. "Got your powers yet?"

She flapped. "A level of Mage!"

"Neat. Your Dad's asking where you went, though."

"Thanks."

She went in. The first-floor inn was fairly busy now, with some rooms being cleaned by a bandanna-wearing Farpeak and a young Centaur. Several people sat around at the central tables to rummage through bags or look at maps.

Bluemoon peered down at her. He was perched on his elevated desk and scribbling with a blue quill pen. "There you are! I thought you might wander off, but you really should have checked in after what happened last trip. Did you at least get a proper meal?"

"Ah, no. But I did get the level, thanks to your lesson." She showed off the flapping again.

"Good! Slowfall feat, or...?"

"Yes, that."

"That's the best for us, really; it'll give you more confidence in the air. Keep practicing. But goodness, you've barely eaten yet, have you! Shoo; off to the Shrike with you. See if you're recovered enough to lend a hand in the mailroom afterward."

Now that she'd gotten through the magic and flying and books and two or three of her thousand questions, she noticed she was starving. "I'm a little short on money."

"Oh, that's right. I'll advance you your wages tomorrow." Bluemoon shook his head. "How bad was it, really? You seem to have bounced back quickly from the ordeal."

"It looks like whoever attacked me, just rifled through my bags and left. I'm all right otherwise. I... am in better shape than I have any right to be."

"I'm sorry if I seem unconcerned. I'm just relieved, really, because I don't need to gather the family and take up our weapons again for revenge."

His matter-of-fact tone made Selen's tail twitch uneasily. "Glad to hear it."

#

Selen went next door to the tavern, and asked awkward questions until she figured out that she had a standing tab here. Discounted for being a near-daily customer. There was a menu on a board, with pictures. She tried asking the bored Human teenager behind the counter -- some things carried over between worlds! -- for "the usual".

That turned out to be a plate of vegetables, something like sweet potatoes served with a skewer of unidentified berries and a steaming-hot roll. She asked for some utensils and got a funny look from the nearest serving-bird. "You forgot yours?"

In hindsight, the other customers had mismatched sets. "Uh, looks that way."

They loaned her a crude iron spoon and she got to figure out how to eat and drink with a beak. Was she supposed to swallow pebbles to grind her food? She seemed able to handle this meal and didn't need to cut it up.

Now, if only she'd been allowed to borrow books! She thought back to her favorite restaurant and spending an hour or two at a time there, absorbed in a book on paper or computer. No such luxury here. The good news was that since she lived at a post office, she could probably get paper there, too. To write what, she wasn't sure.

She tried to learn what she could from watching the tavern crowd. The people mostly used copper coins. The customers were a mixed-species group, largely Aves like her but with some Humans and a Centaur and a few Elves. They seemed to get along. Some were gambling with dice, others playing darts. But hold on; this was a bar with no pool table? She could invent it and get the credit.

Selen paused in mid-bite. There was a basic question that her mystery benefactor hadn't answered in much detail: Why am I here?

What limited answer she'd gotten, amounted to "it might be amusing". She'd committed to filling in as the new Selen. But otherwise, what did she want to do with this new life? Magic, definitely. She could use her mind to solve/create problems in a whole new way, and turn her imagination into reality. Besides that, maybe she could invent a few things too and make this world a little better-off. While getting rich.

Meanwhile, she had some responsibilities. She finished off her meal and headed home to start learning her actual day job.

First, up in her room, she rummaged for more intact clothes. Her cedar box held only a broad sash, one spare shirt, a skirt, and two pairs of underwear. (Probably a good idea if she were to fly around in a skirt.) She changed into her only backup outfit and looked at the messenger bag sitting beside the box. Then at the leather backpack on the other side of the room.

That thing caught her eye. Unlike everything else here it looked brand-new. Focusing on it brought up a System notice saying, [Unique gift.]

Her wings stirred. She'd been told, in that space between worlds, that she could have one special item handed to her. So this was it. Well made but not clearly magical. She hefted it and found it quite light.

She was about to delve into figuring out what it did, but remembered she had work to do. She put the bag down and headed downstairs to the basement.

The Two Hoots cellar was a low-tech shipping center for small packages and letters. Bins and shelves littered the room, attended by a Human girl, two different-colored Aves and even a Centaur.

The grey-maned Centaur boy -- nobody here looked older than Selen -- waved to her. "Hi! You're just in time. I need to head out; can you handle the sorting?" He patted an already-full pair of saddlebags he was about to carry off.

"I'll try," she said, since she was a little intimidated by all those hooves and legs.

He squeezed past her, very like a pony trying to pass her in a hall. That left the others looking expectantly at her.

Selen scratched her head-feathers. "I don't know if you heard, but I got knocked around the other day and I'm kind of forgetful right now. Can you all please pretend I don't know what I'm doing and give me some re-training?"

The Human snickered. "We get to explain it to you? Good practice. Then come over here first, and look at today's incoming bin."

One of the birdfolk looked skeptical, his seagull-white head tilted. "Is that a real thing, forgetting your job? Do you lose levels and skill points too?"

"I'm just getting started with the System anyway. So I didn't have any, right?" Nobody corrected her.

The group seemed puzzled by Selen's ignorance, but played along with explaining the filing system. The Two Hoots was basically the only post office in town and worked on principles developed by her adoptive father and his siblings, "back in the war". They offered delivery even well outside town. They could take advantage of each species' advantages, too: Centaurs for heavy hauling and quick jaunts. Humans for their "terrifying hiking stamina", as the girl boasted. Aves couriers offered air mail, but it took skill to get the endurance needed for anything but rapidly bouncing and gliding over the ground like a kangaroo.

"I need to get a lot of skills," Selen said, while beginning to sort the various scrolls and envelopes and wax-sealed papers and packages. "I'm a flimsy bird for one thing, so how do I get, what, Toughness?"

The seagull Aves said, "You're lucky you get to start doing that stuff. I have it all planned out. I'm gonna be a Fighter. So I need Toughness and Will for Health, but --"

"So what will you do?" asked Selen. She then realized that the pun didn't work in this language.

"To get Will based skills? Meditation, Resist Hunger that I really would've already earned if I had the System yet, and I dunno, that magic-pushback thing."

"Repel Magic?" said the girl. "But for your flight stuff you kind of have to decide if you want more Mana or more Stamina. Or Health, yeah. Did you crash yet?"

Selen blushed. "Just a little!"

#

Back in her room, she felt slightly competent. She'd gone outside to play with basic flapping every time her Mana refilled, and learned a bit about the city's districts and streets, and knew a few of the skills she ought to pick up. Apparently she needed to cash in three abilities with the same underlying stat to raise that stat, which sort of raised the floor for everything she did with it. And she could do that once a season including now, so there was an incentive to get the bonus right away. Three of the stats had direct effects on the Health number and so on. She had a ton of possibilities. The best way to start was to learn everything and qualify for something good.

As for that backpack, she tried putting things into it. She'd test her theory, from years of fantasy gaming, that it was a pocket dimension. It wasn't... but whatever she put in there weighed practically nothing. Aha, that's what it does!

She owned a key to the basement. Though the post office was closed for the night, the Human employee and the Centaur had tiny bedrooms there. She crept down and performed an experiment, using the package-weighing scale to measure the bag empty versus containing a lead weight. Eighty-five percent weight reduction! Wow. She barely even knew how magic worked or what it could do -- yet.