Castor's Wood was darker than the one I traveled through to get to Bellana. The trees were the same, but they grew much closer together and seemed a lot older. I could hear many more animal noises and the air seemed heavier, denser, like I could sense the magic in the air.

  Getting here was easy enough, though it did take two hours. I wasn't looking forward to the walk back while I was all pooped from working but there was nothing, I could do about that now. I didn't pass anyone on the road, but I was sure I wasn't going to be the only person wandering around these forests before the day was out. On the class E board alone, I saw at least two other quests for this place. I thought about scooping them all up but required information about this world that I just didn't process yet. There fore I played it safe and just went with this one.

  It was working out well so far actually. I had already dug up five of the little dark brown roots from the moss-covered earth. They were not too hard to spot as the white flowers the roots were attached to stood out well in the dark forest. It made me realise that there may very well be other valuable plants all around me and I couldn't even tell. I really needed to get a book on plants so I could figure out what was worth collecting and selling. That was one good thing about this world compared to earth: just about everything was an opportunity to make even just a little money. With a little research, trial and error, and a splash of tenacity, I could easily make enough money to keep me alive.

  Four hours later I was sitting on a mossy rock, munching on the Jerky from my bag, and stuffing my fortieth root into the bag. I had more than enough for the Job and extra to sell. I even manage to pop several slimes. Two squirl like creatures that were the size of a bob cat also met their ends at my claws. This left corpses behind and I regretted not having some kind of knife on me. Being a tamer apparently made me better at skinning and harvesting from monster corpses, but I didn't have the tool I needed to do it. It seemed like a terrible waist to just leave the corpses there but there was nothing I could do. I couldn't drag them back with me.

  I did get two larger sized magistones from them, however. They were by no means big, but they were still double the size of the slime ones. I was amused to find that the stones just dropped to the ground once I killed the monster squirrels. Just appeared out of no where and fell to the ground. I hadn't thought about it when I killed the slimes because they popped on contact. I just assumed that the stones had been inside the slimes and fell out when they exploded. Apparently, these things just appeared out of thin air.

  It wasn't long after my lunch that I came across my first truly intimidating monster. I had just jumped a log when the bushes near by shiver. I shivered too. Something told me that I was in danger. So, I was mid leap when a massive wolf like creature burst out of the forest exactly where I had been a second before. It was a grisly green colour that made it blend well into the trees, its eyes a pale yellow. Its fangs were massive enough that they distracted me from the two black, ram like, horns sprouting out between its ears.

  The most frightening thing about it though was its sheer size. I hadn't measured myself since arriving here but I would estimate I was still about the same height I was on earth: a measly five foot five inches. This wolf was at least a foot taller than me.

  As it bared down on me, spittle flying and savage snarls rumbling around me, I briefly thought about taming it. Then I realised I hadn't read how to do that from the grimoire yet. A massive oversite on my part that I cursed myself for. But looking at the wolf I decided that I wouldn't want it anyway. There was a madness to the monster that I wasn't fully comfortable with.

  So that left killing it. I wished I knew some way to see the monsters' stats like I could see my own. I was just hoping I could defeat this thing at this point. For all I knew this damn dog was the big boss of this forest and I was about to get eaten as a fool. Damn it.

  Still, I took a fighting stance, or my best, untrained, approximation of one. On instinct my tail unwound itself from my waist and whipped out around me. The wolf lunged and I dodged to the side, slashing out with my claws as the wolf sailed past, a rotted stench wafting off it. I felt pressure, warmth, and wetness on my hand as my inhumanly sharp nails carved through the wolf's soft flesh. It howled and landed behind me.

  It was faster than I expected as it spun around and lunged again, its mouth engulfing my arm easily. Panicking a little I slammed my fist into its nose and wrapped my tail around its neck. I felt a tingling of the flesh under the scales of my tail, like when the hairs on your arm raise. In a single swift motion, I yanked my arm out of the wolf's mouth before the jaws could snap shut and pulled my tail. To my shock the world was sprayed with blood.

  Terrified I stumbled back, thinking that the wolf had some how torn my arm off at the last second. It took only a glance to see that that was no the case. My arm, shaking like a leaf, was firmly attached to my body. Then what-?

  There was a solid bump and a sticky warmth on my sandaled foot that made me jump a surprising height. I guess demons had strong jumping power too. I looked down and saw my foot was splattered with sticky red blood. My eyes slowly traveled along the blood-soaked grass and two feet away, where I had just been standing, was a massive, severed, wolfs head. Its eyes were glazed over, and its tongue was black where it hung out of the open maw.

  Hyper ventilating, I stumbled back, hit a tree and slid to the ground. Shivering horribly, I looked over and saw the headless corps gushing what was left of the blood out into the roots of another tree. I clutched at my heart and tried to get my breathing under control. It had been a long time since the sight of blood had sent me into a panic. Not since I was a teen. But now as I sat swimming in it I fought back the old memories.

  Hoping to distract myself I looked to my long thin tail. Had I really ripped a head off with it? It was too skinny you have muscles like that! After a second, I realised that it seemed twice as thick as it had been and there was gore all over it. Not just blood but literal chunks of meat...

  I immediately vomited over the side of a root. The jerky the only thing there to chuck up. Once done I took one big, calming, breath... then another for good measure. Then I looked back to my tail, lifting it to eye level to get a better look. The scales. The scales had lifted on end like arm or leg hairs. But these were hard as rock, sharp as knives, scales, not hair. I hadn't ripped the head off- id sawed it off!

  I took another deep breath and got to my shaky legs. Well, they didn't show this in video games. There wasn't crazy amounts of blood and gore when slaying monsters in those. I pulled myself together and, only a little shaky now, grabbed the fur on the dog's head and lifted. No magistone under there. There was one of the horns cleanly broken off on the ground though. I dropped the head a few inches over and bent down, picking up the black horn that was about the size of my fist. I didn't play many video games, but I knew a monster drop when I saw one.

  There had to be a magistone somewhere though. I eyed the main body of the corps. That was going to be heavy. But hell, I had a strength stat of one fifty. That had to count for something. Staggering a little I approached the corps. It smelt something awful. Even if I had a skinning knife I don't know if id want this pelt. It would take a lot of shampoo to get that stink out. I grabbed two fistfuls of curse, dark green fur, and yanked. It was a little heavy but I manage to lift it up and flip it over with more ease than someone my size should ever been able to do.

  There! The magistone. It was about half the size of a tangerine. Several times bigger than the ones I had already gathered but not even slightly close to the one back at the Adventurer's Guild. It made me wonder what insane monster they had to kill to get that massive stone. Surly it had to of been an SS ranked monster.

  I reached down and lifted the stone out of the puddle of blood, almost gagging again. Yuck. I really needed to clean up. No way could I walk through town looking like a walking corpse. Not to mention the blood would smell something awful in the three hours walk through the forest and along the road. Id needs to find a stream or something to wash up in. id take walking home sopping wet over the state I was in now any day.

  It took much longer than I would have liked to find a place to clean up. I also had to sneak my way around a group of four adventurers as well. I didn't need them asking questions. They seemed young and inexperienced. I hopped they didn't come across any of those wolves. Though there was four of them so maybe they could handle it.

  Luckily the stream I found was deep enough that I could lie down in it and soak all the blood out. I would be giving Sally another copper for a tub of water tonight. Maybe I would splurge and go for the baths. I was so gross I didn't think hot water and a towel would cut it. But she had said the baths were public. I was by no means body shy. Bathing with a bunch of strangers didn't bug me in the least, but then they would all see, without a doubt, that I was a demon. And even though I was now feeling that that was a fact I wouldn't be able to keep hidden for long, not if I was going to stay in town and keep interacting with people, I still didn't want to just come out and say it.

  I sighed, pulled my self out of the water and began stripping. I had to make sure as much blood as possible was out of my cloths. I wrung them all out and slip the cold wet fabric back on. I hopped I didn't catch a cold. The sun was warm today but I was in a very shady forest. Then I soaked my cloak and used a thin tree trunk and a stick to twist the cloak as much as I could to get the water out. At least the stone and horn were easy to rinse off.

  As I thought, it was about a three hour walk to get back to town. The hour in the forest was a miserable one but once I made it to the road my cloths dried off fast enough. I had to remove my cloak to get it done though. It was a stressful forty minutes, waiting for the grey cloth to dry, while making sure no one else was on the road to see me in all my black-red haired, horned, clawed, and devil tailed glory. I got lucky though.

  I got back to town with plenty of time to spare. The first thing I did was to turn in the job request. A human woman assisted me this time but she had the same cheery attitude the last receptionist had. She took the roots with a big grin and handed me the two silver coins and a form to fill out to confirm it was me who finished the task and that I had received my payment. That done, I sold her my magistones. The larger one didn't seem to surprise her, so I assumed that stones that size were not too uncommon here. I ended up getting seven coppers for the squirl stones and a whopping fifty for the wolf one.

  I then asked here where I cold sell dropped monster parts. She explained that I could sell them at the guild if I liked but that sometimes you could get better prices going directly to the venders around town. Either the ones in the central market or the shops located in the southwest part of town.

  I showed her the horn. "Oh, a forest wolf horn. They are used in potion making. We can give you thirty-three coppers for it. You may get as much as forty for it to the right vendor though."

  I shook my head. "No that's alright. I will just sell it here. I have extra roots as well. Are you able to take those?"

  "Of course! It is ten copper per root."

  I didn't bother to take another job when I left the guild. Id go look again tomorrow. I did leave with a significantly fuller coin purse, however. I decided to check out the baths after all. I felt so gross it was almost like a second skin of filth.

  As it turns out the baths were just a short way down from the market back along East Road, a couple doors down from the garrison building where I met Wells and the other soldiers. The sight of the large stone building reminded me that there may or may not be a butt hurt noblemen out to get me. I glanced over my shoulders, just to be safe, and approached a clean, white stucco building that was the bath house.

  I wasn't the only one here. There were groups of girls giggling, coming in and out of the wooden doors, a mother and father with dog like faces, three young doggy children trailing behind, and an older, over wight man grumping about prices while eyeing the girls.

  The inside of the building was just as crowded with people of all shapes and sizes, and it was also warm. Warm and humid. I wandered up to what looked like a service counter and a small girl walked over to great me. She was maybe eleven or twelve with long dark hair that was in a little disarray, probably because of the humidity, and bright green eyes.

  "Good afternoon miss!" She said in a pretty sing song voice. "What can I do for you?"

  "Hello. I am new to this establishment. Are all the baths public or is there private ones as well?"

  "There are women's baths, men's baths, and joint men's and women. This one is usually used by family groups. We do not have private baths, but we do have private stalls. They are just curtained off areas with a wash tub big enough to fit a small child and a spout for hot water to come out."

  "That would be fine thanks. Do you also sell soap here?"

  "Oh, yes, we do! For the private stall it is three coppers, the bar of soap is two coppers. We sell linens here as well if you are interested?"

  Ten minutes later I was in a cramped, public bathroom, sized stall. There was a stone ledge with a tub like the one Fenny had brought me yesterday at the in. Above the tub was a bronze facet. Curious I turned the knob and immediately hot water spilled out. I wondered how they had hot, running, water here. Probably magic I decided.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  I quickly undressed and used the cloth and soap I had bought to begin cleaning my self. The water was a little hotter than was comfortable, but it was better than cold, so I wasn't going to complain. Finally clean, I used my new fluffy towel to dry off and redressed myself. It was amazing how much better a person could feel just from being clean. I desperately needed new cloths though. All the fighting was taking its toll on my poor grey cloths.

  I left the baths and made my way back to the Birch Tree. They were not very busy now as it was still a little too early for the evening meal. I could smell the simmering meat though and it my now empty belly grumble. I waved to Sally who was setting up the bar and made my way to my room.

  I was beat but I didn't have time to rest just yet. I wanted to go and see about upgrading my gear. While I was at it, I would get something to snack on. But the gear was the biggest need at this point. Had that wolf even knocked my cloths id be running around naked right now. I desperately need more durable cloths. I doubted I had the coin to afford anything magically enhanced but may be a new shirt and pants, plus some light leather armour. And a new pair of shoes. Sandals provided zero protection.

  That decided, I dropped off my new toiletries, made sure my pack didn't have anything missing, and hurried back out to the streets. They were much more crowded than they were when I left this morning and I enjoyed myself people watching as I made my way toward the market square.

  I was nearly at the garrison, watching a woman with bright red hair shout profanities from a balcony to an older man, also with red hair, though his was very much greying. The man was clearly drunk and seemed to be begging the woman to let him come home. She was screeching at him while tossing what appeared to be freshly laundered socks at his face while several others laughed. I was just letting out a chuckle my self when I felt the tell-tale flutter of someone shifting my cloak.

  With a snap of my wrist, I snatched my hand firmly around a small wrist. I looked down and saw the horrified, dirty face of an urchin boy. He was maybe seven with big, dark blue yes, messy grey hair, and a set of cute grey dog ears on his head. A glance down showed that he also sported a fluffy grey tail. I gave the would be pick pocket a dirty look.

  The boy tried to tug out of my hold but there was no way he could do it. I saw he was about to scream. Probably to cry child abuse or something. I would have when I was his age.

  "Ah!" I hissed in warning, crouching down to his level. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." I lied. I totally would have done it.

  "Let me go lady." He hissed in an equally low whisper, rethinking drawing attention to himself. "I ain't done noth'n"

  "Well, you did nothing very poorly." I said with a little laugh. "You can't pick a pocket if the person knows you are doing it. That's how you get yourself a beating, Kiddo." I slid my bag off my shoulder and the kid eyed me warily. One handed, I pulled out my coin purse and took a copper out. I pressed the copper into the boy's palm. "You take that okay. And best tell all your little friends to not try that stunt with me." I curled the boys' fingers over the coin and glared down at him, letting him see the glowing red of my eyes and my fangs pocking out.

  I saw the fear enter the boys' eyes. He probably didn't know why, but he knew that I was no goat lady and it scared him. Good. It was dangerous to approach what you didn't know. If he didn't get smart he'd find himself in a ditch.

  Softening my gaze, I smiled. "I won't tell you off for stealing. I know what its like having no choice. But a good rule to follow is not to pick a mark you know nothing about. Random people under cloaks could be big scary monsters. Now you promise to spread the word Kiddo?"

  The kid nodded nervously, the fear a little lessened. He was so small. Was he an orphan. Poor thing.

  "Good." I said and pulled five more coppers out and held them out for the boy, releasing his wrist. "A real man keeps his promises Kiddo."

  He held the fist with the single copper close to his chest while eyeing the coppers in my hand. Slowly he reached out then snatched the other coins away, taking a step back. He eyed me like I was a weird bug, then took off into the crowd. I sighed and got to my feet, slinging my bag back over my shoulder.

  "Should you really be encouraging kids to be better thieves?" Said an exasperated voice.

  I hand known he was there, but I made sure not to show any surprise. "Better?" I spoke. "No. Smarter, perhaps." I turned to face Wells head on. There was no way he would find that kid now and I may be new to this world, but I doubted it was a crime to give a street urchin some money. He was eyeing me strangely. "I could tell him to stop but he wouldn't. Probably couldn't. But maybe I can give him some advise that will keep him alive for a birthday or two."

  Wells sighed and scratched his head. "I doubt he will try picking your pocket again at least."

  I laughed. "I wouldn't count on that. An empty belly will make a kid do any number of stupid things."

  "You managed to stay alive for the day then? I thought for sure Vincent would have tried something."

  "Meh. I wasn't in town most of the day. Out hunting roots, of all things." I walked over to the guard, and we walked side by side towards the market. "Are you still working? They don't give you much down time in the guard, do they?"

  This time it was wells who laughed, the evening sun bouncing off his curls. "I was just heading back to the garrison when I saw you and was curious. Even under your mysterious cloak those eyes glow like coals. Makes you easy to pick out of a crowd. That and you are short."

  "Gee, thanks. I was just heading back to the market. Today showed me that I can't keep heading into the forests with noting but this mysterious cloak to keep me safe. Time to get what ever gear I can now."

  "You went into Castor's wood like that?" Asked a shocked Wells. "There are forest wolves in there. Not to mention several species of giant fungus that can knock a seasoned fighter on their asses. And I have heard rumors of goblin activity. You really should not have been there..."

  He couldn't see it but I rolled my eyes all the same. Men. "I was fine. Just inexperienced. I took out one of those wolves with out any real trouble with my bare hands- "tail, but he didn't need to know that. "It just scared the crap out of me. I have no doubt that I can handle anything in there, I just need to educate myself better first before going in again. I don't need to die because I went and stepped on a poison flower without realizing it. I don't suppose you know a place I can buy a cheap bestiary around here. That would help."

  Wells sighed again, clearly thinking me a lost cause. "If you want cheap than usually, I suggest just sticking to the market square. You will find better gear at the actual shops, and I would be warry of scammers, but they do have the lower prices. It isn't a market week though, so it won't be as busy there with things like weapons and magical items. Mostly it'll be food stalls and provisions."

  We stopped in front of the garrison and there was an awkward pause. I wasn't sure why, but Wells seemed nervous. I wasn't a social butterfly, but I almost never got embarrassed when speaking to people. Usually, I just pissed them off as my filter was broken. Wells seemed nervous though. Maybe he didn't talk to random, red eyed girls too often?

  "Try to keep out of trouble out there." He spoke.

  "No promises." I replied with a wave of my hand and made to walk off.

  "You two connected at the hip now or something?" Came a good-natured chuckle. The commander of the Garrison was walking toward us with five or six other men. It must have been a shift change for the guard. That or I was suddenly a cop attractant.

  "What can I say, I am just that irresistible Cap." I said, not even skipping a step. "Best no speak to me too much or you may start stalking me too."

  A few of the men laughed and others gave me hostile looks. The commander just smiled and shook his head. 'Keep out of trouble young lady."

  "The name is Sin." I called over my shoulder, giving the group a cheeky wave.

  Wells had been right about the market. There were mostly food venders about. I did get myself a snack of some mystery meat on a stick that tasted pretty good and took the edge off my hunger. It took me a while to find a woman who was selling cloths, but I did get a new shirt, this one black, and a pair of black leather pants with leather lace up pant legs. The pants coast me half a silver but I considered it a sound investment.

  From a man nearly on the other side of the square I found a dark brown, previously used, leather corset that wouldn't impede my arms so I could still fight with my claws, and a set of fingerless gloves of a similar color. The boots I found cost a full silver, but the merchant slashed them with a knife to prove that they had a minor defence charm on them that would stop them being destroyed by most anything I would find in the Castor's Wood.

  My pocket change was severely depleted by then, but I was still hoping to find a new cloak that didn't hang so long and a knife for skinning. I also hoped to get a larger bag. If I wanted to start hauling more stuff home, I would need something better to put it in.

  The knife I got for much cheaper than I thought I would but the bag I found nearly cleaned me out. It was enchanted to hold more than it looked like it could. It wasn't an amazing amount but what ever I put in there would be nearly weightless too, so it was worth it. It was more of a satchel really and, provided I bought a belt, I could even attach it to my hip rather than have it slung over my shoulder, getting in my way during a fight.

  Exhausted and hungry again, I decided to head back to the Inn. I was ready to do nothing but eat and sleep. I knew I couldn't go to sleep right away, however. I needed to study my grimoire more. I didn't find any books on local monster and plant life, but even if I did, I wouldn't have been able to afford it anyway.

  That night I had a meal of roast beef (?) and steamed vegetables. It was great, especially since it was so cheap. I barely tasted it, however, as I wolfed it down so fast. That done I settled into my bed with the candle lit and opened the grimoire.

  I was confused when I opened the leather-bound cover, but after a second that turned into me being impressed. The book must really be magical because the words that had been written there the night before were gone and all new ones had taken their place.

  This time the header was: Beginner Spells for Beginner Tamers

  All tamers, weather they learn from a veteran tamer or from a book like this one, have a set few spells that are necessary for the job. From the basic contracting spell to the very first healing spell any rooky tamer needs to know, they can be found here in these pages.

  As with any spell, no matter what line of work you decided to go into, tamer spells cost mana. However, unlike many other magic users, Tamers magic doesn't always just eat up your mana at a constant rate (Like most long cast attack spells including Heat Burn or Frosted Air) or take a big chunk of mana that slowly regenerates (Like the heal spell Mass Heal or the trap spell Pit). Nearly every spell in every class falls into one of these two categories.

  A great many tamers' spells fall into a third category. These spells tend to take a large amount of mana as the Quick Cast spells, but the mana does not regenerate till the spell has been released. It is almost a mix between the two former spell cast categories.

  For instance, the basic contract spell takes a mass amount of mana that scales up with the rank of the monster you wish to tame. F ranked monster take almost no mana whereas SS ranked monsters take so much mana that it would kill even a skilled mage to attempt it. When this spell is cast, the mana is spent. It does recover over time but not fully. For as long as that monster is contracted to you a small portion (In relation to the rank of the monster) will always be kept in limbo till the monster is freed from the contract.

  For instance: if a contract takes one hundred mana to complete than eventually ninety mana will recover but ten mana will always be lost to the caster's mana pool till the contract is released.

  This is true for many of the more advanced Tamer spells, such as summoning ones tame to their location. This spell costs a great deal of mana depending on how far the tame needs to be summoned. It is useful in a bind, especially if the tamer has a healthy mana pool, but it is always more efficient to just take your tame with you. A tamer need, always, to be prepared for any given situation. If you know you are going to be traveling over water, perhaps be sure to take an aquatic monster with you rather than sacrificing a large store of mana to summon one from home.

  Further pages held diagrams of magical circles for spells that would be useful to tamers. Casting them meant I needed to be able to picture the circle in my mind and remember the verbal activation. Later, when I become more advanced, I could possibly use the spells with just the memorized array and no verbal command. I thought memorizing the complicated designs would be impossible, but they stuck in my head easily. Apparently, the way the magic worked was that the spell just got engraved into your memory over time. Helpful but a little scary too.

  I decided to take the time to memorize the contract spell, healing spell, and summoning spell before moving on. There were a few support type spells there too, like one to boost your partners strength stat and such, but my head hurt too much to try and memorize them right at that moment.

  I flicked a head a couple pages to see where the chapter ended as I wanted to go to sleep. I was shocked to find that there was only one page left. Every other page was blank... well, it was a magic book. Maybe it knew I was sleepy, and it was telling me to go to bed. The thought made me smile. Id read the last page and go to sleep. Hint taken, book.

  An important difference between Taming and Summoning a tamer must all ways keep in mind is that, unlike summons, who return to what ever world they came form once a certain amount of damage is taken, your tames can and will die. A tamer must constantly be aware of their partners health so that they do not loose their lives. A tamer who lets their tames die purely for the sake of convenience or because they do not care are the absolute worst. If you see that your partner is close to dying you must call them back.

  That being said, you are now the owner of this grimoire. This grimoire is not just a teaching tool but also a magical item designed to give added advantage to its owner. You can always use the basic taming method to tame your partners, however, there is another way open to you. But it is one that comes with certain risks.

  If you so wish it, you can draw out the taming spell on any blank page in this book. You must use your own blood to do this. Then you use the monster's blood (Or equivalent) to NAME your beast. You write the name above the circle and then activate the magic. The act of naming and of bonding yourselves together with a blood contract is extremely powerful. It takes more limbo-ed mana to do this.

  Any blood bound tame can be summoned to and from this grimoire. Also, the act of blood bonding creates a soul connection between yourself and the tame. This can cause such phenomena as mind speech between tamer and tame. It also makes it so that the contract can never be broken unless death takes either the tamer or the monster. This is not to be done lightly.

  Also, the act of naming a monster is a powerful magic. It imbues the monster with new magic and power. The act of naming is a Devine Magic and costs a great deal of mana. This mana cost is more in the lines of a quick cast and will not hold any of your mana in limbo. It does make it so that the cost of taming and F class monster is more like taming a B class. This is an extremely dangerous magic and should never be attempted unless the tamer has at least 1000 mana for a lower tiered monster. The cost goes up massively the higher you go. More tamers than not have died attempting this.

  And that's where it ended. No conclusion or prelude to the next chapter. Just a complete stop. It seemed to accentuate the gravity of that last page. A Devine power? So, normally, only the gods could name monsters? I didn't know enough to be sure... and how is that beginner knowledge?! I can cast Devine Magic?! Hells bells, it only costs 1000 mana for a class F. and by taming that class F in that way I essentially level it up to a class B. And I had a base mana pool of 20,000!!!

  The enormity of just how much mana I did have was suddenly crashing down on me. It was nearly God like. Like I was a demigod of magic. It was insane. Were the heroes like that too? They were still human where I was a demon so the likely had less. Even 10,000 mana would be an insane amount.

  And I had an 80% mana de-buff now to boot. So, if I was in the demon world... I would have 100,000 mana. Holly shit. It didn't make me invincible by any means, but it was on hell of an advantage. Especially once I learned how best to utilize this advantage.

  I blew out the candle and curled my body around the grimoire as I fell asleep. Suddenly this book was more like a friend than a bit of nifty magic reading material.