The hushed atmosphere of the library usually calmed me, but today it felt different. The silence wasn't peaceful - it was heavy, like it was waiting for something. I'd come here looking for answers about fire mana, something practical to help me control my abilities better. The book I pulled down, "Thermodynamic Mana Conversion in Elemental Applications," felt solid and reassuring in my hands. At least this was something I could understand.
Then my foot caught on that damned uneven floorboard. The book went flying as I stumbled into the shelf, sending a cascade of older texts tumbling to the floor. Heat rushed to my face as I glanced around, hoping nobody saw my clumsiness. Of course it had to be the section labeled "Pre-Cataclysm Anthropological Studies" - probably the dustiest corner of the whole library.
As I gathered the fallen books, one caught my eye. Bound in some strange greyish hide that felt both smooth and cool, it had fallen open to a particular passage. "On the Origin of Sovereign Species," the spine read. The words seemed to almost glow on the page.
I read about some theory of "exogenous influence" - basically claiming that dragons didn't evolve here naturally. The author argued that after some "Extinction Event," a single being they called "the Sovereign" or "the First Protector" had defended our world. The text was vague, frustratingly so, but it described how this being wasn't from here, yet chose to protect us anyway.
My breath hitched when I read that part about the Sovereign entering a "profound slumber" after its victory, and how its dreaming essence might have shaped the first Drakes. The Dragon's Blessing that had erupted from me in the forest - that overwhelming, ancient power - suddenly felt less like a random accident and more like... something familiar. I couldn't explain it, but reading those words stirred something deep in my chest, like remembering a dream I'd forgotten.
Then I heard it - that soft chime only I can hear. Golden script appeared at the edge of my vision, overlaying the ancient text:
[Passive Skill Activated: Draconic Instinct (Latent)]
[Affinity resonance detected with records of profound significance.]
[Analyzing data...]
My heart hammered against my ribs. Genetic memory? What did that even mean? The text flickered and changed:
[Fragmentary Knowledge Absorbed.]
[Converting to Aetheric Signature...]
[Aetheric Signature recognized. Allocating to core mana]
[Mana +5]
The words faded, leaving me sitting there in the silent library, but everything had changed. The pyromancy book in my lap suddenly seemed childish, irrelevant. I wasn't just learning about fire mana - I was rediscovering something about myself, something buried so deep I hadn't even known it was there.
That strange familiarity I felt reading about the Sovereign wasn't curiosity. It was recognition. And whatever had just awakened inside me, it wasn't just power - it was purpose. I needed to understand what this meant, who I really was. The answers weren't in books about mana conversion. They were in texts like this one, in understanding what had been sleeping within me all along.