“You attempted to alchemically infuse your flesh with arcane potential. But… you made no effort to tie it into your spirit in any way…” Conperion mused, peering at the projection that hovered over his massive golden diagnostic circle and the ragged man within it. “In fact, you must have taken significant measures to keep the two separate. An unusual choice. Why?”

  He had, of course, been keeping track of this young wizard for years, as he did all those who chose to pick up one of his many research projects, knowingly or not. That this little side project of his had practically stormed into his lair had been a nice bonus – a convenient opportunity to examine the young man’s work directly.

  The small figure looked like a homeless vagabond, dressed in a dirty, gray robe, his face bruised and covered with an unkempt beard. But Conperion knew that humans tended not to thrive in captivity, especially not lately. His kobolds bore something of a grudge after their recent encounter with the little human city.

  The dragon didn’t let it distract him. When deciding who was interesting and who was not, it was the inside that counted.

  The wretched wizard shivered, eyes rolling as he tried to get his breathing under control.

  Conperion waited patiently. Terror was a natural and appropriate reaction to meeting a dragon, after all.

  “I… I was trying to protect my mana network architecture,” he finally blurted.

  “In what way? The original theory was sound enough, was it not?”

  The human scoffed, forgetting for a moment who he was talking to. “Archwizard Rimius provided an interesting thought experiment, but it was flawed! It would completely ruin a mages’ natural mana flow, and their ability to cast spells. I had to approach it from a different angle, or it wouldn’t have been viable.”

  The dragon narrowed his eyes, offended at the insinuation. Was that why nobody had tried it before? He had placed that particular book over two centuries ago, expecting that an enterprising wizard would find a workaround – for example by properly controlling their internal mana flow instead of leaning on their spirit to do all the work for them. His divination had suggested good odds that precisely that would happen. But it hadn’t.

  Perhaps he’d been expecting too much. Mortals couldn’t be relied on to think in the long term, even when fate itself pushed them to do so. They were too impatient, trying to squeeze true magical achievement into their short human lifespans instead of fully mastering what any true dragon would consider basics.

  But he had to rely on them all the same. He couldn’t perform these experiments on himself – not without risk – and his sorcerers were unsuitable by their very natures. It was a frustrating problem. Fortunately this very impatience, coupled with their curiosity, was what made humans such useful tools for research – they considered their lives a cheap price to pay for knowledge. He had hundreds of such projects running even now, despite the enormous effort in scrying and divination that it took to ensure that his questions and theories reached the right ears.

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  Just a few months ago, another young human had picked up an unfinished theory of his that he’d placed half an age ago and nearly forgotten about. He’d need to remember to check in on that project soon, perhaps in another year or so.

  “So,” he continued, thinking out loud as he returned his focus to the specimen before him, “can you absorb ambient mana, or do you have to feed it into your flesh manually?” It was an inelegant solution, but if it worked…

  The human swallowed. “I do it manually. I can absorb some ambient mana, but it’s extremely slow and I was worried that it would have no effect.”

  Well, Conperion decided, this was interesting, though not for the reason that the human likely thought. Infusing living flesh with magical potential and then charging it with mana was nothing new. Most magical creatures did it instinctively sooner or later, though this more natural process always involved manifesting the spirit physically. Human alchemists used an artificial process to achieve a cruder, but still effective result, augmenting the bodies of those who could afford it. Their process was quite destructive to a spirit’s structure, though, which made it unsuitable for spellcasters.

  This sorcerous infusion of arcane potential was of no real value to one such as him. The limits and potential of spirits manifested fully into the material realm held little mystery anymore. No, he’d moved on to researching greater things.

  Unlike everything else on this plane, the gods were not physical beings. They were above, beyond and apart, yet somehow also here. They existed in a metaphysical space, unchanging and immortal on a plane that transcended and intersected all planes. A physically manifested spirit could not compare to them. If it could, Conperion would not be forced to cower before their might and wonder at their mysteries.

  The human had, in his own bumbling way, finally managed to achieve something. His spirit remained in its rightful place, occupying that nearly untouchable non-place instead of fully manifesting on the material plane. And yet his flesh absorbed mana like a sponge. It was new. Finally, he’d be able to get his claws on some useful results. New answers to lead him to new and better questions.

  “What have you observed so far?” he asked, not bothering to disguise his curiosity.

  “Nothing, really…?” the wizard responded uncertainly. “I’m only thirty-four years old. Results will take decades to show themselves, and I’ve stalled my advancement. My flesh is saturated with potential and it contains a lot of mana. If I attempt any further investitures, I risk spontaneously forming new channels that might then meld into my spirit – it could ruin my entire mana network. There’s nothing to do but to wait and see if it was worth it.” The human looked down at the golden rune circle, at the cave all around, and finally, nervously, back up at Conperion. “Assuming I live that long…”

  “Oh, you will,” the dragon said with a pleased, toothy smile. This had been an excellent investment. “You will join my collection at the Forgotten Library. There, you will enjoy better accommodations, food and the company of other interesting spellcasters and researchers from all over the world. You may pursue your research in the company of your peers, and even attempt to resolve your little advancement problem. We’ll review your results together in a few decades.”

  The ragged wizard’s eyes widened, relief and horror warring visibly on his face. His eyes flicked from the stone walls to the black waters behind Conperion, searching for an escape.

  There was none, of course.

  “My organization won’t just ignore my disappearance,” he tried to bluff, but his tone came out pleading. “They’ll come looking for me, and they’re more dangerous than you realize!”

  “Oh, I very much doubt that.” Conperion answered. He'd solved the problem of uninvited guests long ago. “I don’t call it the Forgotten Library because of its location. The moment you set foot into my home, the outside world forgot you ever existed. I made sure of it.”