Library Magic (Ibaraki-K)





Library Magic (図書館魔法 / Toshokan Mahou) is an Ancient Caster Magic and is the precursor to modern Archive Magic. With this magic the user can store massive amounts of information in the form of an incorporeal library that exists within a metaphysical pocket dimension inside their mind. The only known current users are Cattleya Watergleam and Luna “The Wandering Great Library” for whom this magic gives his epithet.



Description
Library Magic allows the storage of information with a single user, unlike modern Archive Magic which can link several users together. With this magic they can also retrieve this information with ease, though as their knowledge grows this process takes indefinitely more time to perform. Oddly this magic is incapable of storing memories, only information, which leaves the user just as vulnerable to memory loss and forgetfulness as any other. The user can materialize a book on any subject they wish, so long as they have the knowledge to fill it, allowing others to access their knowledge for a time until the book vanishes.

A user’s Library has no definite space limit, as evidenced by Luna who has spent the better part of 400 years adding all sorts of knowledge from magic to music to medicine to copies of published stories within his library. It seems to only be limited by one’s own lifespan.

It is also implied that the contents of one user’s library may somehow be transferred to another, as Luna made a comment that he may have finally found one to “pass on [his] knowledge to” when he realized Cattleya also uses Library Magic. However the details of this process, or if he simply meant that he would like to mentor Cattleya before his death, remain unclear.



Spells
Though lacking much in the way of traditional individual spells, there are some particular abilities that can be achieved through Library Magic. They are:

Book Materialization: A user of library magic may call forth a book holding all of their collected knowledge on one subject; or, if their knowledge is vast enough, a series of books pertaining to the subject. This allows others to read what the user knows and gain knowledge for themselves, however the books automatically vanish after a certain period of time.

Page Cast:  Users of Library Magic can encode a spell within their repertoire onto a materialized sheet of paper. Whoever is holding that paper may use magic power to invoke the spell encoded onto it, even if they have no knowledge of the spell itself. This can be something of a double-edged sword, as any spell is infinitely more useful if you properly know how to use it which may limit a Page Caster’s ability to properly execute the magic, and that the encoded spell will always attempt to take the required magic power to cast it, even if the Page Caster is already beyond the threshold of magical power, leading to instant and complete magic exhaustion.