Waking up in the morning was surprisingly relaxing because I realized upon doing so that Callie had been wrong. We didn't have training, we'd both gotten so wrapped up in working with our centuries we'd forgotten weekends were free time, even for commanders. Callie had to force me to promise not to strain my soul today, since I was still raw from creating my Dust Construction Mastery.

So we headed for Anna's place after stopping to pay, Camden and banking a tenth wish. When we arrived, we didn't even have a chance to go in. Anna met us at the door. "Oh good." She said, stepping out and pulling a shawl around her shoulders. "You're both here. I arranged a meeting with my historian friend, but we need to go now." It was surprisingly cold today, not that I really felt it in my costume. Our meeting with Camden's artisan had been pushed back, and would be tomorrow, having been delayed when he found out about the plot against him.

I glanced at Callie, shrugging. "I kind of wanted breakfast, but if it's time sensitive I'm fine waiting." I smirked at Anna. "But it's going to be on the house." We were supposed to meet everyone, but Zeke would have heard this conversation even if Anna hadn't told him, and my uncle wasn't going to leave everyone hanging.

"You're a petty little thing for someone from one of the richest families in the universe." She complained as we set off. "Shouldn't you be inured to the trappings of wealth?" She was talking in her formal businesslike tone, which kind of clued me in to the nature of her friend.

I burst out laughing at that. "First of all, I'm a candidate. I grew up on a backwater pseudo D-rank planet in the ass end of Conglomerate space. No one on my planet has even MET a D-ranker, much less become 'inured to their wealth' second of all, have you met scions of wealthy houses? They're the most particular people I can imagine. In case you missed the overarching theme here, I'm cheap, and I want you to give me free food."

She threw her hands up. "Don't you have any pride as a Wyndham?" She said in disbelief. "The other people I've met with your ability carry themselves with a bit more...decorum. I doubt they would be impressed with your demeanor." Despite the words, I could see a twinkle in her eye, like this was some kind of test, not that I cared.

"Fuck em." I said bluntly. "I'm not overly impressed with them either. This whole cuckoo bird child rearing strategy is bullshit. I love my dad, and my cousin, but I don't know anyone else in my family. I'll act however I want to, and if they have a problem with it they can kiss my ass."

Part of my big soul realization in the temple was that I wasn't doing what I was doing for my family. Not really. I wanted to change them to make things better, but I didn't need their approval for that. All I needed was my own peace of mind, and I was going to prioritize that. It was the biggest part of what Abel had said that resonated with me. I wasn't like him, I cared what other people thought, but only to a certain extent.

Honestly, it almost felt hypocritical to make a declaration like that while trying to learn politics, but it made sense to me. I was here to make my own faction, to draw people in and convince them to support me. To do that I needed to know how to act in political situations, even if I made the choice to act counter to that information. Knowledge was power, and being stubborn wasn't the same thing as being stupid.

She laughed aloud at that. "Well look at you. How bold. How about you? You going to support your man as he tells his whole clan to go to hell?" She aimed that question at Callie, but I wasn't worried.

I felt a torrent of love and support rush through the bond, enough to stagger even me. Callie took my hand and held it tightly as she stared down the D-ranker. "Without a second of hesitation. You might not know this, but Shane supported me when I went against my family back home. It's the least I can do to offer my own support. He wants to win the competition, and I support that dream, however he decides to pursue it."

"You know." Said Anna thoughtfully. "Seeing you two looking all devoted and steadfast, I'd ALMOST believe he might pull it off. Almost. It's almost sad you kids have no clue of the depths of the waters you're wading in. But hey, I've been surprised before. Even if you don't go the distance, I think you'll make it far." Her tone was firm, like she'd just made a decision, and part of me realized this HAD been a test. She wanted to see if we were worth following. I didn't know what she'd decided, but I wouldn't have changed my answer even if it had been a negative.

Finally, we arrived outside a large stone building, columns holding up a massive stone roof. "Welcome to the Saltzberg Archives of Imperial Knowledge, the largest library in a thousand miles. It's not under the control of the nobles, but is an extension of the imperial power. All citizens are entitled to basic knowledge about possible jobs and career paths. It's what makes the empire function. Though some, like nobles, require certain conditions like birth or bestowal to gain."

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"That's actually kind of cool." I said with interest. "Shame we don't have time to hang around. Maybe we should mention this place to m-" I caught myself. " To my friend Chelsea, she loves books." My sister had moved away from the Holy Dominion to experience life, but that didn't mean she automatically hated reading now. I was sure she'd be excited about such a big expansive library.

I was also hoping that Anna hadn't caught my slight slip up, though even if she had it would be covered by our contract. Gesturing us inside, she steered us through the stacks and to the back of the library. In a far corner, surrounded by walls of books, we found an overburdened table stacked with piles of tomes. I could hear someone moving around. "Syl." Called Anna loudly. "I brought guests, come say hi."

There was a thump, and a curse, and then an incredibly tiny woman crawled out from under the table between a few book stacks. "I'm here." Said the small blonde. She had huge glasses that made her eyes look massive, and was only about halfway past four feet tall. Her face was serious and focused, and she didn't give the feeling of being young so much as just very small. "What do you want?"

Anna had explained on the way, after our heart to heart that her boys had gone down into the tunnels. They hadn't found any easy answers, but had found a few clues. That was why we were having this meeting now. She wanted to get Sylvie's opinion on what they'd uncovered so we had a direction to focus on.

Snapping her fingers, Anna pulled out a stack of papers, passing them over to Sylvie. I'd expected some plesantries, but the small historian was apparently not one for niceties. She snatched the papers, scanning them over. She paused, raising an eyebrow. "Someone is mucking around with the Undertrek? Terrible idea. All sorts of nasty things down there. In the deepest parts there are things even the Earl wouldn't want to disturb. Planets don't reach C-rank overnight, after all. This one has been here for quite a while."

She flipped through the papers, held up a hand, and then climbed back under the table. There were a series of bangs and grunts as the table was battered from beneath, book piles wobbling as she knocked into them. Finally she came back out holding a pair of books. "Those will help us?" Anna said hopefully.

"A bit generalist." She admitted. "But yes. One moment." She flipped through the books. And I mean that literally, she riffled the pages, barely glancing at them as she 'read'. "Ah." She stopped on a page. "That might be it." She switched books, did it again, and then switched back. She pulled a pen from behind her ear, somehow woven into the braid and then started scribbling things down.

Callie raised an eyebrow. "Don't you need any more details? I mean they only went down and scouted around. Unless they found some kind of big neon sign that said 'CLUE' I don't see how any of their accounts will help."

Sylvie snorted, looking up over her glasses, which had fallen down her nose. It was a very disdainful look. "The Undertrek is made up of millennia of sunken architecture, natural cave systems, and various other oddities. I've made a career of studying this planet's history. I know when certain civilizations fell, how they interacted with others, and where those interactions took place."

"So...this planet predates the empire?" I asked in amazement. "I thought most planets people lived on were seeded by the five factions? To grow the population."

She rolled her eyes. "One!" She said sharply, holding up a finger. "Seeded by the five factions doesn't mean terraformed. Several powerful planets had native inhabitants. Second, most is an accurate qualifier, but you have to understand that there are hundreds if not thousands of lower ranked planets for every one that manages to Ascend. Low ranked planets are the strong majority, and the ones the factions seeded trended strongly toward those. Makes it easier to raise a new population."

"People like Sylvie aren't exactly uncommon." Anna said with a nod. "Archivists and historians that study the ancient ruins of previous civilizations on inhabited planets. They share and cross reference their findings between factions freely, using their knowledge to enrich us all. The Vikram family heads the History Hunters, and they're an S-rank clan. There are also a few other major subfactions under the banner."

I got the gist. "Ok, so Sylvie has all sorts of reference material and has been crossreferencing the various societies and cultures here. How does that help us?"

"Idiots." Sylvie muttered as she went back to rifling through books. "The cave systems are made up of sunken ruins as well as normal stone. The qualities and design of those ruins heavily informs what might be lurking there, as do the locations, the depth, the type of stone in the tunnels, and about a dozen other factors. These caverns were relatively close to the surface, so the problem shouldn't be too difficult to discern. The issue is as I said, C-rank planets take a long time to form. Close to the surface not only doesn't mean recent, but can be a variety of possible cultures."

I gestured to the list she'd been making as she came back out, and she passed it to me. I scanned it. "Mykean, Radikt, Vessar. Ground dragon nest? Bubonic Hate Rats. Toxic spores, Stone Lion Prides, Necromantic Armies, Tomb Guardians, Mummies, Lantern Fiends." I scanned the variety of possible suggestions, some monsters some just vague references to civilizations. "What the fuck is a Spine Burrower Horde?"

"What does it sound like?" She said sweetly. Obviously done with us, she shoved several books into my arms, which I slipped into my ring immediately. "That's everything you should need. There are detection methods and tests you can run. Now I've taken too much time from my latest paper. I'm researching the trace stat elements in the soil and how they've leached in. Some of it is from the planet, but I think I can conclusively prove the effect of groundwater on specific stat proliferation."

Anna cut her off. "That was all we needed Syl. No need to bother with us plebian morons. Just get back to work." From her hasty words, I gathered Sylvie would have talked our ear off. With a shrug the small woman slipped back under the table. I glanced down at the list. Seemed like we had a place to start.