Ivaldie put down the sandwich, giving me a curious glance. “Through effort and birthright.” The answer was simple, but it couldn’t be that simple.

  “How specifically were you training?” I took another bite from the sandwich.

  Ivaldie tilted her head. “I used the gravity modulators and trained the draconic blade mastery style.” She didn’t seem to give it a second thought.

  “That’s it? No special regimen or medicine? You just swung the sword and did muscle training?” I expected someone at the top of the class to use training techniques or something like that.

  “I was born with a trait.” She said quietly and took a bite out of her own food. “It is in my blood.”

  I tilted my head. Just like me… Maybe she was sent to this galaxy too, I only had one point and that was enough for a rich trait, it barely does anything but who knows what powers she has. I couldn’t bring more suspicion to me, if she was sent by others of Betrayer’s kind she was a potential enemy. “Say, what’s the whole thing with the line?”

  Ivaldie tilted her head, mimicking me. “We are following in the steps of Lord Rame. Just as he was part of a line, so are we.” She turned back to her sandwich and kept eating.

  “So… What were you taught for the last year?” I had to gather more information.

  Ivaldie’s eyes glimmered. “We were taught about the possible paths. Everything else we learned during gestation.”

  “By gestation… what exactly do you mean?”

  With her head raised high, Ivaldie spoke, “We relived the glory of Lord Rame, going through life with him.” A rare smile appeared on her face. “It was fun.”

  The topic wasn’t getting any less confusing. Have they just downloaded some memories into them? Was Ivaldie just like me? I’ll figure it out eventually. I took a deep breath, gathering my thoughts. “Speaking of paths, do all of them require combat?”

  “No.” She didn’t elaborate further, staying silent and eating her sandwich.

  “Are you just not going to say anything?” I sighed and gulped down a whole marshmallow. It was so sweet my tongue hurt. “Will I have to fight a lot?” I had to make plans.

  Ivaldie stood up, wiping her mouth. “Everyone will.” Then she turned around and started walking. I just stared at her leaving, while thinking about my life. There were far too many things to do and to learn. I couldn’t let myself be outmatched by children. Hopefully Ivaldie was just a child…

  ---

  The smell of electronics permeated the Archive. The massive spire of knowledge was piercing straight through the center of the station. Dragons walked around the place, some standing in front of terminals, others going to the Archive.

  My aim was simple, I avoided all the people standing near the terminals and strutted straight towards the spire. Its surface glimmered with electric signals; many dragon girls were stuck to it, touching the Archive with closed eyes. Repeating after them, I approached the Archive and touched it.

  For a second, nothing happened. Groaning, I flared my starpower, sending the energy with a push. Just as it connected to the pillar, a message appeared.

  Insufficient certification. Please read through the user manuals found in the terminals.

  “Are you fucking serious?” I took a deep breath. Of course, it couldn’t be that easy. Was it that big of an ask to use the modern version of the internet?

  Turning around, I went straight to the closest terminal. There were no buttons there, just a hole… I glanced at one that was in use. You needed to stick your hand into the hole. What a weird design.

  “Creepy-ass design...” I slowly pushed my hand there; the cold surface was alien, flowing like liquid.

  Thank you for using Local Archive

  Access level: 1

  Initiating neural connection

  “Ouch!” A painful pulse of electricity passed through my hand. The machine sucked my hand in, clamping around it.

  Welcome to the Local Archive

  Please think of the required information.

  Right at the edge of my awareness was a massive library of information. Almost like the package VITA put into my head, but distant. This was mental communication.

  My first thought was – the basics of starpower. Like lightning, I felt the names of books inside my head. Starpower for Dragons, Channeling Affinity, Fundamental Forms… The hurricane of titles was never-ending. With access level 1, there were still far too many books to efficiently read. Magic was beyond fascinating, and I was determined to learn everything. Specifically, I needed a way to learn faster.

  I read through their synopses and selected any that caught my fancy. It felt like I spent hours just picking books and adding them; every single one was interesting or useful. Even just within the synopses, there was so much useful information. Training by repeatedly healing and injuring yourself was possible, creating life with magic, mind controlling people, seeing the future. I felt like I was going insane with possibilities.

  “100 Ways to Raise SE, how was that different from Growing SE?” It didn’t matter; I added all of them to the metaphysical cart.

  Chosen Books: 334

  Insufficient Mental Power. The maximum safe amount is 5 books.

  “Come on!” It would’ve been nice if it had told me from the start. I assessed the most important ones, sorting through the massive list and leaving pins in what I wanted to learn next. I had to become a better fighter. Boxing is useful, but it won’t be enough to match magic… I wasn’t that good anyway. So starpower, magic, more information, and some combat tricks.

  Chosen Books: 5

  - Starpower and its Nature

  - Fundamental Forms

  - Archive User Manual vol. 1

  - Ice Bomb Technique

  - Mind Acceleration Technique

  Prepare for integration!

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  My body became paralyzed as weakness consumed everything. Against my will, my eyes closed. When I opened my eyes, I was back in my old flat, sitting in front of the computer table. Five massive books were stacked on it.

  Welcome to the mindscape interface. You can read through selected books without using any time. If you wish to leave, use the leave command.

  - 11 hours 59 minutes 40 seconds left

  The clock was slowly ticking down. “Are you fucking kidding me? This… this is absurd.” I couldn’t stop myself from laughing hysterically.

  Anger burned in my heart. This fucking galaxy. “So you can put all the knowledge into a fuck-ass spire, but you can’t make the internet? Yeah, sure, put my mind into a magical machine, I don’t have any problems with that!” I slammed my hand on the table. “You hear me, machine?”

  Only silence met my call. After I sat here and stared at the silent room, seething. Resignation filled my heart. If I can’t have the comforts of Earth, at least I have to take what I can. I relented.

  “No time to waste, let’s get into it.” I opened Starpower and its Nature and read the first page.

  “Starpower is a special type of matter, produced by souls and stars. It exists overlapping with both material and spiritual dimensions, thus it acts as a bridge between them. To measure the overlap, use the following formula…”

  A migraine throbbed behind my eyes. Unblinkingly, I stared at the book, trying to work out the formula. Multiplying the emotional coefficient by the distance cubed and some more math. It was a multidimensional complex analysis of the properties of my starpower. Using the combination of the scouter and these formulas, I could better understand myself. Eventually, I managed to complete the analysis.

  Starpower analysis

  Soul Resonance: 41%

  Phase: Gaseous

  Spiritual Coordinates: 41,3 Ambition; 11,4 Pride; 31,9 Intelligence; 2,23 Focus;

  Wavelength: 387 nanometers

  Conclusion: We have to focus more on aligning with the coordinates. If we can raise the soul resonance, we’ll be able to control more starpower.

  My spiritual coordinates made sense. It was how I flared starpower – through ambition, pride, intelligence, and focus. My numbers were unusually high, contributing to the ease of flaring.

  Resonance, on the other hand, was quite low. I had to embody myself more when flaring, that way I’ll emit much more starpower and hopefully grow my SE.

  “One done, four to go.”

  - 6 hours 11 minutes 7 seconds left

  “Dammit. I won’t have enough time.” Nevertheless, I ignored the headache and opened the Fundamental Forms.

  “There exist five groups of forms. Phasics, Catalytics, Reflectics, Symbolics, and Imbua. Some are overlapping, but their combination can be used to create techniques – powerful ways to shape the starpower to your needs. In this book, you will learn the most fundamental forms, necessary to start creating your own techniques…”

  Time passed. The book spoke about the force form, the strengthening form. I quickly skimmed over those parts. Then came the solidification form. Not only did it turn starpower into a material thing, but it could also be shaped however I wanted. I spent time experimenting, making the form in my mindscape, and trying to match it to the pictures.

  Then I opened the next page. “Detection form is the most fundamental of the reflectics group. It spreads out a field of awareness that interacts closely with starpower…” There were many pages dedicated to this one form, often confusing and weirdly structured. I got the gist of the form, but some parts still befuddled me.

  “Detection form reflects the outside world through a spiritual lens, thus it is important to infuse your affinities sparingly so as not to get defective results. This form will be insufficient to detect the layers of overlapping starpower...”

  I understood the words, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t understand that. My head was pulsing with agonizing pain.

  I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and re-read the paragraph again, hoping that something would change.

  - 0 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds left

  Maximum limit reached – ejecting!

  “No! NO! Not now.” My eyes closed involuntarily as I returned to reality. Still standing near the loud spire, surrounded by dragon girls.

  Please learn all the remaining books and rest before accessing the Local Archive!

  Books learned 1/5; Rest Left 6 days 23 hours 59 minutes;

  My hand was ejected from the terminal. Pain pulsed in my skull. I wiped my nose, only to discover blood on my arm. “Of course, I’m bleeding. Stupid child body.”

  I flooded my body with starpower, trying to apply what I learned. The cyclical nature of the strengthening form was so clear to me now. It relied on breathing patterns, and the one in the books was crystal clear in my mind. So long as I repeated the cycle, the imbuement properties would be amplified. And if I focused closer on the flow, I could strengthen the necessary parts.

  Power and clarity rushed through. It was so nice to feel strong. Every movement was lighter, every thought was quicker, every sense was sharpened. I could still feel the presence of the books in my mind. The pages were perfectly memorized in my head, and I could turn to any one and look at it with crystal clarity.

  It was amazing. That was the reason why the VITA gave eidetic memory – so that you could have a library in your head. I straightened my back, ready to test my prowess. They still should’ve made the internet here instead of this.

  Your mastery of Strengthening Form has reached Adept!

  Solidification Form learned at Initiate rank!

  Detection Form learned at Initiate rank!

  “H-hey… I’m sorry, can we talk?” A quiet, shaky voice sounded from behind me, interrupting my silent celebration.

  I turned around, finding a familiar face. Black hair, tired sunken eyes, frail scales. It was Kory. And standing behind her was a tall, bulky girl with torn wings – Steel. The huge one that was in the middle of the line. She had short dark-green hair tied in a ponytail with the scales of the same color. Her SE was only 18, despite the impressive size for her age. I saw them both in class today.

  “Apology accepted,” I said, looking closer at them. Why did my classmates decide to approach me here?

  “Would you like to form a training group?” Steel said with a confident voice, staring at me.

  “Huh?!” I nearly choked from surprise. “Why me?” It didn’t seem smart at all. I flunked my first exam.

  “W-well, Steel said I needed someone to help me with forms…” Kory said sheepishly, and Steel nodded.

  I looked at the two. I needed allies after all… It’s not good to just make enemies. I didn’t have anything to lose. Weak should stick together after all. “Only if I get to be the leader of the group!” I let a smirk fall on my face. Everything wasn’t as hopeless as it seemed.

  The two friends exchanged glances, whispering something to each other. Then they turned back towards me, Kory’s expression almost shone with happiness. “Sure!”

  I could use their help. A study group was better than nothing. “What books have you learned?”

  Immediately, Kory shrank back. “I could only learn two – Starclaw technique and Improved Rest technique.” There was a certain look of shame on her face. Yet she knew techniques.

  “None. Books are too hard.” Steel shook her head with a calm smile on her face.

  A sigh escaped my mouth. Maybe it wasn’t that good of an idea. “When can you learn more?”

  Kory put her hands behind her back… “I need twenty more days of rest.” She gulped.

  Steel didn’t even answer the question. Immediately, my suspicions were proven correct. One of them had a weak body, the other a slow mind. Nevertheless, they could prove useful to my plans.

  The synopses have given me some ideas, and I needed help to get them realized. “Alright. First order of business, we are visiting a friend!”

  They exchanged looks again and nodded. It was going to be a long day.

  ---

  I slammed open the door, enjoying the improved power. “Avennture, my dear ally. I need your help!” The man jumped in the air, dropping a vial of fluid on the ground.

  “You? What do you need?” He said, levitating the fluid into the air and putting it back into the vial.

  From behind me, two girls stepped inside, looking around with wariness.

  “I stumbled on an interesting book called Rapid Healing Body Training. The one that promises an incredible increase in standing emissions. Are you familiar?” That was, of course, just an excuse; I needed healing pills to survive all the pressure I was putting my body under. The nose-bleeding wasn’t good.

  He put the vial into the test tube rack and rubbed his eyes. Very unsanitary. “I don’t know every book under the Source. What do you want, and why are there two brats with you?” Straight to the point, then.

  I calmed my heart with starpower. “It’s not important why they are here,” I said, giving Kory a stern look as she touched a drawer. Steel was still standing near me. “Can you make me a lot of healing pills?”

  The man scratched his head, and slowly a frown appeared on his face. “You’re asking whether I want to make valuable medicine for free?”

  Couldn’t be that easy. “Not for free. You see, Avennture. My dear caretaker, Vogelgesang, is a Lord and she is filthy rich. Say I put a favor in your name. Would that be a good payment?”

  Kory’s eyes opened wide as she looked at me intensely. Avennture sighed. “Sure, why the Source not. But you’ll have to pay a premium, got it? Come back tomorrow.”

  “I knew I could rely on you! Thank you, my dear friend.” I chuckled and left the room.

  “Your caretaker is a Lord? I-is she a dragon?” Kory spoke immediately, her voice shaking with excitement.

  “She is a demon,” I said immediately. “And I’ll do everything in my power to beat her ass.”

  Kory frowned, staring at me strangely.

  “While the biocrafter is working, we’ll get a training room! No time to waste, minions – to action!”

  “Let’s train!” Steel raised her hand. My days here were promising to be interesting.