Day 86, 6:20 AM

  Hadriuse’s servants slept better than anyone currently alive in this world, assuming Harlos’s inn is any indication of average bedding quality. Unwillingly, I get up from the mattress made of firm, flexible foam.

  I stretch my back and my joints pop softly.

  How long has it been since I stopped doing my stretches? When was it that I realized my mind would fail long before my godly body decayed? Or was it just laziness?

  I start doing the simple exercises. Maybe it’s a meditation, maybe a promise that my mind will outlast my body this time. Whatever it is, it was almost certainly ten minutes wasted from the practical point of view.

  I go to the communal bathroom, wondering whether every room in this giant mansion is covered with identical tiles. So far, everything is black and white.

  Maybe it has some meaning? An allegory? A fond memory? Whatever it was, I doubt the person who has golden faucets and toilets installed for their servants lacked options.

  I enter the communal bathroom, head for the shower, and enjoy myself after adjusting the water. The bathroom has ten showers, each with its own opaque booth, each with hot and cold water, and most importantly, centuries later, the water heater still works.

  Surrounded by dense steam, I consider what I’m about to do. My hands tremble, my gut flips, but I’m all right. I can handle it.

  I towel myself dry and with some disgust put on my old, smelly clothes, and head to the kitchen. Gila’s already there, cooking our stew on a smokeless, fireless stove, which Edna taught her how to use last night.

  “Good morning, Gila. Do you know where Lucy and Edna are?”

  “Lucy is still asleep, and I can’t blame her. I don’t know about Mistress Edna, maybe you can check in the library? The breakfast will be done in half an hour, and I was about to go and wake up Lucy.”

  I nod and head for the library. It’s a long walk through the service corridor, out into the empty gaming room, the entrance hall, beyond which lies a giant study, large enough to fit a whole class of students. I enter the wing’s service corridor and take the third door to the right.

  The library is just as majestic as it was last night. The outer wall is free of shelves, with small coffee tables by the windows. Two dozen dark-wood desks occupy the central portion of the chamber, while shelves line the remaining three walls, housing nearly one hundred thousand books.

  Edna is sitting at a corner desk, absorbed in her book.

  “Breakfast in twenty minutes.” She doesn’t hear me, so I walk over and tap her on the shoulder.

  “I heard you, breakfast in twenty minutes. I’ll be there.”

  You could’ve acknowledged me, or at least grunted.

  I sigh and my gaze roams the shelves. The books are uniform, bound in red leather, their titles and ornaments done in gold.

  Did they publish all their books with identical covers, or did Hadriuse have them custom made?

  I pick Elements Vol. 7 from the shelf because it seems average-sized and open it. The book is written by hand, the thick pages soft like velvet under my fingers, the first letter of the chapter is an elaborate drawing of what looks like fiery and watery imps frolicking around the letter E, which covers nearly half the page.

  ‘Esteemed reader,’ the book starts, addressing me before explaining the contents of the seventh volume. I read the first two pages. The endeavor takes around a minute and a half. Then I check the last page. The page number says five hundred and twenty. I close it and replace it on the shelf. My eyes drift upwards, my mind racing. One hundred thousand books with five hundred pages each equals fifty million pages. Reading at the rate of one and a half minutes per two pages translates to thirty-seven-point-five million minutes, or six hundred and twenty-five thousand hours, or some seventy-one years and four months of reading. If I were to sleep, eat, and take care of myself, it would take a hundred and fifty years to read everything.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Abusing the hyper-stimulator, I can realistically read it in fifty, possibly even thirty years.

  That’s about eight hundred redos.

  My heart beats faster, and my vision blurs for an instant. I draw a deep breath and close my eyes.

  There’s no difference between reading books one at a time for a year straight and doing it by redoing twenty-six times and spending half a minute to get it over with. All I have to do is eliminate human interactions, and read this whole library one day at a time. I can even take breaks when I get tired of it.

  This mansion is the perfect place to try to gain some control over Redo. It’s fairly isolated, and while I’m not alone, having only three people around, all busy with their own matters, should be as close to ideal as possible.

  “Are you all right?” I jump from Edna, my heart beating like a rabbit’s. She graces me a concerned look.

  “I’m fine, thank you. I was just thinking about something. Which books do you think I should start with?”

  She holds my gaze, not buying what I’m saying, but that’s fine. She turns around and walks to the center of the library, beckoning me to follow. Edna points towards the highest shelves furthest from the library’s official entrance.

  “The novice books are up there. Hadriuse, like most other library owners, kept the books he read often close to the entrance, while those rarely used were furthest from the door. Since few would ever want to read basic books he kept them out of the way, but he still had them for the sake of owning a complete collection of the works he had read.”

  “You mean he read all of these?”

  Edna nods. “He wrote some of them, too.”

  I wonder where he put the ones he wrote himself? Close to the door or in some distant corner? Would the choice speak of Hadriuse’s vanity or the fact that he penned what he and his students often read?

  “Let’s go eat.”

  She follows me through the corridors without a word, and soon enough we’re in the kitchen. Gila has spread a white tablecloth she found somewhere, stew smoking in a ceramic pot, and even a vase full of blue and red leaves stands at the center of the table.

  My stomach roils as I eat, and nobody says a word.

  I finish first and wait for them to conclude their meal. Edna looks at me, obviously aware I wish to say something, and she waits, an inquisitive glint in her eye.

  Once Lucy and Gila are done, I clear my throat.

  “I will separate myself from you for about two or three weeks. Gila and Lucy, you guys should work on your magic and try to reach the mage class. Edna, I’m sorry to push you into doing this, but could you please handle their instruction for this period? I will help when I can.”

  The old magae pierces me with her gaze.

  “And what do you plan to do?”

  “Read the books in the library. I want to practice the hyper-stimulator and use it to read and study more quickly.”

  Edna nods, pride in her simple gesture and approval in her eyes. If only she knew I was planning to detonate myself in her idol’s mansion several dozen times.

  “Gladly. Your goal is to increase your mana capacity, but educating yourself will provide greater benefits in the long run.”

  “Thank you.” I smile, freed of a great weight. “I will study as long as I can, my sleeping and eating schedules will be completely off. Gila, if you don’t mind, could you leave food out for me on a plate whenever I miss a meal? I don’t mind if it gets cold.”

  The girl nods.

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I may ignore you, walk around frowning, brooding, or even muttering about things I’ve read. Please, just pretend I’m not there and leave me to my thoughts.”

  The girls look at me with worry, but Edna seems unfazed. Such eccentricities are common in the world of researchers and people overly investing themselves into books.

  “Edna, do you think it’s better to start with theory, or should I start learning new spells?”

  “Theory, definitely. You learn spells much quicker than Lucy and Gila, you might even be faster than me, so you shouldn’t worry about increasing your repertoire. I have a suggestion, if you don’t mind?”

  I motion her to speak with my chin.

  “Use hyper-stimulator as much as possible and invest as much mana as you safely can. The more you tax yourself, the more you drain your mana, the quicker your capacity will grow, and the closer you will be to leveling up.”

  It’s a valid piece of advice for most people. And I guess once I’m reading the last handful of books from the library, I should exert myself as much as possible, but it doesn’t matter in the first few runs. I’ll quicken my mind as much as I’m comfortable with, which may or may not be my maximum.

  “I will do that, thank you for your advice.” I hold her gaze, the look at the girls. “Does anyone else have something to say before I start ignoring you?”