Where would she even start?
Scarlett stood at the entrance of the library, neck craned upward, eyes slowly scanning the endless shelves that stretched far beyond what logic or physics should allow. Books stacked upon books, shelves upon shelves, rising into mist and disappearing like they were reaching for the sky itself.
This wasn't a library.
This was a threat.
"This is…" Scarlett swallowed. "…huge."
Her voice echoed faintly, swallowed by the silence of the library space. The sheer scale of it made her feel small, like a child who had wandered into a god's study by mistake.
As if reading her thoughts, a small, smug chuckle sounded beside her.
"Heh."
Scarlett turned.
The little white bear was sitting on a floating cushion that hadn't been there a second ago, legs crossed, paws resting on its round belly like a retired elder. Its eyes sparkled with mischief.
"No, dummy," the bear said casually. "You don't read everything."
Scarlett's eyebrow twitched.
"…What did you just call me?"
The bear waved a paw dismissively. "You just say the book you want. Out loud. Then it comes to you."
Scarlett blinked.
"…That's it?"
"Yes, that's it."
She stared at him, waiting for more.
There was no more.
A long silence followed.
"…You could have told me that earlier," Scarlett said slowly.
The bear shrugged. "You didn't ask."
Her eye twitched again.
What kind of logic was that? How was she supposed to know she needed to ask when no one had given her a manual, instructions, or even a polite warning? Did this space come with hidden rules written in invisible ink?
Also…
Dummy?
Scarlett inhaled deeply, then exhaled.
Focus. Cultivation first. Violence later.
She shot the bear a flat look. "Is this how you talk to your master?"
The bear froze.
Slowly, it turned its head to look at her.
"…Master?" it repeated.
Scarlett smiled. Sweetly. Dangerously.
"Yes. Master."
The bear coughed, suddenly very interested in scratching the side of its face. "Ah—well—ti-titles are flex-ible—relationships evolve—"
"I'll discipline you later," Scarlett said calmly.
The bear shuddered.
"…Let's focus on cultivation."
Scarlett ignored him and turned back to the library. She straightened her posture, lifted her chin, and spoke clearly.
"Cultivation manuals for beginners."
The moment the words left her mouth, the library responded.
Sections of the shelves glowed softly, golden runes lighting up in neat lines. Books trembled, then slid free, fluttering through the air like obedient birds. One by one, they descended and stacked themselves neatly in front of her.
Seven books.
Scarlett stared.
"Mmm..ok…That's manageable."
She picked them up, one arm supporting the stack, and headed toward the study she had seen earlier.
Even though the space operated on a strange time ratio of seven days inside equaling one day outside, it didn't change the fact that time was still ticking. The hunting exam would begin in two weeks which is two days out side.
Two weeks?
That wasn't a lot.
She couldn't afford to waste even a single minute more less a day.
Inside the study, Scarlett settled into a chair and opened the first book.
The contents were straightforward.
Cultivation, at its core, was about sensing mana, feeling it in the air, in the world, and eventually within oneself. A cultivator had to calm their thoughts, empty their mind, and reach outward, drawing in the elements they had affinity with.
Scarlett closed her eyes and tried.
Five seconds passed…
Her mind immediately filled with noise.
Hunting exam. Beasts. Transmigration. Food. Her body tempering. The bear existing. The academy. Survival. Her cheap master. Other continents…
She opened her eyes and sighed.
"…Yeah. That's not happening."
Empty her mind? With this life?
Impossible, she's just less than three days in this world and everything is still jumbled,
She leaned back, rubbing her temples. Meditation sounded peaceful in books, but in practice, it was like asking a storm to politely stop raining.
Thankfully, she had one advantage.
Her memory.
Scarlett had always had an unusually sharp mind. Once she read something, it stayed with her. Word for word. Diagram for diagram.
If she couldn't meditate properly yet, she could at least understand.
So she read.
And read.
And read.
The seven books covered the basics: cultivation stages, elemental sensing, circulation routes, common mistakes beginners made, and warnings about forcing mana absorption too quickly.
Some of it overlapped with what she already knew.
Some of it corrected misunderstandings she hadn't realized she had.
Five hours passed.
When Scarlett closed the final book, she leaned back and exhaled.
"…That was fast," she murmured.
Even for her.
But it was good. No time wasted. No unnecessary confusion.
She gathered the books neatly and headed back to the library.
The little bear sat in a corner, munching on a fruit so large it completely covered its face. Juice dripped down its fur.
Scarlett paused.
"…Where did you even get that?"
The bear didn't look at her. "The trees."
"…Of course."
She returned the books to the shelves, watching as they slid back into place on their own.
"There's a cultivation room over there," the bear said suddenly, as if commenting on the weather.
It pointed lazily with its fruit.
Then turned away from her and kept eating.
Scarlett froze.
"…What?"
The bear ignored her completely.
Scarlett slowly turned in the direction it had pointed.
A cultivation room?
Her eyes narrowed.
"Oh," she muttered. "So now you mention that."
She looked back at the bear.
Nothing.
It was fully committed to its fruit.
Scarlett sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
A cultivation room…
She had read about them before. Rooms designed to amplify mana density, stabilize circulation, and help cultivators enter meditative states more easily.
In other words—
Exactly what she needed.