Warm yellow sunlight welcomed me as my eyes gradually opened. I had slept all night without dreams and without another visit to the void. Thankful for the full night's sleep, I rolled over onto my back and stretched out my arms and legs. The aches of yesterday were healed, leaving instead a wonderful relaxed and rested feeling in all of my limbs.

  "Mia, wake up, we've got a lot to do today!" I broadcast to my melded assistant.

  "Awaiting instructions."

  "Did you get all the books that I ordered?"

  “Delivery is currently in progress. The library will receive the shipment of books shortly thereafter. The hour after sunrise is when Estates normally receive next-day orders."

  "I don't remember seeing a library. Where is it?"

  "The library, according to the floor plans found in your estate management system, can be found directly across from the bedroom, at the far end of the hall."

  "Oh sweet! Does it have a sofa?"

  "The floorplans do not contain specific information. However, the odds are around eighty-three percent that there is a sofa in the library."

  "Let's go see!" I exclaimed before sitting up, but a gurgling sound from my stomach announced that my body was more interested in food than books at the moment. As I allowed myself to sit with the feeling of being hungry, my newfound Sensate abilities kicked in. I could tell that my muscles and liver had used up most of their energy reserves and needed replenishment, so I poured mana into my body, directing it to the proper places. It only took a few points of mana to stave off the hunger pangs for a little while.

  Hopping a bit belatedly out of bed, I noticed a flash of pink and checked out my clothing. My pink shirt and pants had reformed themselves flawlessly while I slept. After all the conscious effort I had made the night before, I found this trifling detail to be insanely annoying.

  "I should at least look presentable," I griped as I expended a bit more mana and focused my will on reshaping my clothing into the robe I had worn for the Metamorphosis. It took only a moment for it to take the proper form and color.

  Ready, at last, to head out, I made my way to the door and opened it, half expecting to see Clemencia standing there waiting for me. Thankfully, the hall was empty. I padded swiftly down the thickly carpeted hallway until I reached the far end. There I found a double door made of white wood that had been carved to resemble an open book. Somehow I had completely failed to notice these doors yesterday.

  The library itself was amazing, and, yes, there were sofas. Two of them! Am enormous glass chandelier hung from the vaulted ceiling. Thick red and gold carpets with an array of geometric shapes covered most of the hardwood floor. A small writing desk occupied a nook along the right-hand wall. To the left of the desk was the fireplace, and beyond the fireplace was a pair of overstuffed cream-colored chairs with a small round table between them. It was just as warm and inviting as the reading nook at Bandar's had been.

  "I may have to move in here," I thought to myself.

  I finally tore my eyes away from the cozy sight and took a look around the rest of the library. In the middle of the room, the two sofas faced each other with a large coffee table between them. Beyond, there were rows and rows of empty bookshelves, but in one small corner of the shelves was a small pile of books bound in rich leather of various colors.

  I walked over to the stack to collect the books and made my way to the sofa, where I could examine the titles at my leisure. There were six books in all.

  Ancient Numerology and Modern Number Theory - By Nate the Great

  Think and Grow Strong - By Unamessa the White

  Micromananomics - By Nerdista

  Welcome to Your New Life - By Her Royal Majesty, Empress Vashti

  Zeelax, Mother of Dragons (and other myths) - By Commander Gary

  Seven Habits of Highly Effective Citizens - By Stephanie Coven

  Intrigued to know just what wisdom the great Empress Vashti was willing to bestow upon her subjects, I put all the other books on the coffee table and propped myself up using a couple of throw pillows. Having made myself comfortable, I started reading the preface, which, despite using some big words, was perfectly clear to me.

  My dear child, as this book is only readable by those who have undergone the Metamorphosis, I laud your accomplishment. You are now ready to take your place in the Empire as a Citizen. You join an illustrious circle of talented individuals who have been tasked with providing stability, leadership, and guidance to the entire world. I am both proud and humbled to be in a position to provide those things to you.

  We will cover a lot of ground throughout this volume, starting with an outline of magic theory and moving into its practical applications, with a special emphasis on using your magic to be a productive Citizen in an increasingly complex global economy. I hope that you have rested and recovered from the Metamorphosis process. If not, please recover your strength before you read further.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  Right now you are probably feeling confused, overwhelmed, and possibly a bit lonely. I understand: change is hard. Your body has gone through the entire process of puberty in only a few short days, along with other, more drastic changes. Take some time to get used to your new environment. Try to forget the routine of the creche you left and your former playmates that were not worthy of citizenship, and...

  I threw the book down and bit at my thumbnail angrily. There would probably be lots more insulting comments about slaves and I wasn't sure I was ready to read them. At least not on an empty stomach.

  I closed my eyes and focused on the image of my steward. She arrived a minute later and knocked at the door.

  "Come in," I called.

  Clemencia entered the library and curtseyed. Today she was wearing a bright yellow dress with a rectangular black cap.

  "Mistress Arabella, I imagine you must be hungry. Your breakfast is ready, please let me know if you would like it served here."

  "Yes, that sounds like a great idea."

  Clemencia clapped her hands and three slaves, two boys and a girl, entered the library bearing trays. One of the boys tripped over his feet as he attempted to navigate the rug-laden floor. He almost wiped out but recovered himself at the last second.

  "Careful, you young oaf!" Clemencia snapped. Her eyes flashed with anger.

  "That's not necessary, thank you," I corrected her. "There was no harm done, and besides," I added, thinking quickly, "I prefer things to be calm on the estate. A simple accident is no reason to breach the peace."

  The three young ones set down the trays and laid out my breakfast quickly before retreating as quickly as decorum allowed for. Clemencia did a pretty good job of not glaring at them as they disappeared, but my enhanced senses could easily tell that she was still steamed. I decided to change the subject.

  "I am going to eat and read here and then I'll pay a visit to Ronaldo. If there is anything that urgently needs to be decided for the estate, we can discuss it before lunch."

  "It will be as you wish, Mistress Arabella, but your Pegasus is in training today. He will return late this afternoon."

  I checked on Ronaldo briefly through our link. Our connection was faint but it seemed that he was having a good time.

  "Okay, that's fine. We can talk after I finish reading."

  "Of course. Is there anything else you require?"

  "No, I'm going to eat and read. I'll let you know when I'm ready to look at the Estate's management system."

  I picked up my fork and looked at the various plates. There was an assortment of flatbread with cheese, butter, and jam, a platter of mixed fruit, scrambled eggs with little bits of meat, a bowl of thick porridge, thin slices of fried pork, and some pastries. To drink there was fresh fruit juice, water, and sparkling wine. It all looked good. It was also not exactly a simple meal like I had requested, but Clemencia probably knew I would be famished. I'd give her a few days to tone things down before speaking to her again.

  After stuffing my face for a few minutes, I slowed down and picked the book back up. The yummy food made the veiled (and not so veiled) insults against humans without magic a bit more palatable and I was able to finish the preface and reach the table of contents. The book was laid out into nine chapters and covered a wide variety of topics.

  Chapter 1: A Brief History of Magic

  Chapter 2: Magic: What it is and is not

  Chapter 3: Why Did my Body Change? Understanding Metamorphosis

  Chapter 4: Insights, Epiphanies, and Beyond - Your Path to Power

  Chapter 5: Magic in Action

  Chapter 6: Becoming a Productive Citizen

  Chapter 7: Estate Management, Controls, and Wards

  Chapter 8: Taking the Long View - Coping with Near-Immortality

  Chapter 9: Putting it all Together

  I tore into chapter one and found the empress's writing style to be perfectly suited to my tastes: bold, emotional, and witty without being flippant. As she described the chaos and death following the Manaclysm, I could feel her longing for order and pace. As she poured her efforts into developing the Metamorphosis, her fear of failure and hope for the future imprinted itself on every syllable. When she finally ascended to the throne upon the strength of her contributions to humanity, the pride and astonishment she felt oozed from the pages. After finishing the chapter, I found it hard to remember that she was the antithesis of everything I believed in and responsible for the caste system that had treated me like a kitchen appliance.

  I sipped at the sparkling wine and nibbled at a pastry as I delved into chapter two. Even with my newfound intelligence, this chapter was not easy to understand. I had to read some of the sentences three or four times before their meaning was clear. Some sentences never really made sense, so I asked Mia to help me understand. Even with her assistance, I often did not fully understand the exact meaning of a particular word or phrase. But I must have understood enough because I felt the now-familiar trembling in my core three times while I was reading the chapter.

  Chapters three and four yielded little in the way of new information, but I did gain two insights from them, so they weren't a total waste of time. The same thing happened while I was reading chapter five, which meant that I had earned another Epiphany. I couldn't wait to dream again so that I could take another step toward my goals.

  With that in mind, I set down the book, took a big drink of water, and snuggled up on the sofa to take a nap. The thing was, though, I wasn't tired at all. In fact, I was bursting with energy. After laying there for a few minutes, I gave up altogether on the idea of a nap and picked the book back up. I had no idea how long I'd been reading, but I was determined to finish the book before calling Clemencia in to discuss the Estate.

  Chapter six was one of my favorite chapters, even though I did not gain any insights. There was a large section on the various employment opportunities that a budding Citizen like myself would be capable of, from crafting minor magic items such as permanent light fixtures to serving as the personal assistant for a Citizen of means.

  Chapter seven was interesting, as it gave me a few ideas to discuss with Clemencia about setting up my estate and how to better protect myself against prying eyes.

  Chapter eight gave me some good perspective on how to take a long view of things. I wasn't going to accomplish all of my goals in a year or even a decade, so it was important to remember that I was essentially ageless. According to the Empress, we were not technically immortal, but the aging process in Citizens was so slow that even several centuries of aging had not yielded enough data to make a meaningful estimate of the average citizen's lifespan. I would have centuries, if not more, to work with barring any mishaps.

  Chapter nine gave an excellent summary of the book and added a few new nuggets of wisdom. I gained another insight from the synthesis of the material, which brought my total up to eight just from reading one book. I had to remind myself more than once that the information contained in the book was so basic that it was given out freely to every new Citizen. The really good secrets were probably never shared by their discoverers.

  I finished the book and put it down, feeling a bit of brain fog from the long stretches of concentration. A walk was the perfect thing to stretch my muscles and clear my head, so I finally stopped procrastinating and summoned Clemencia.