Motivation can come from the smallest things, hardly the least of which would be inequality, whether perceived or not. The pursuit of knowledge was something that Mira took a liking to, because if you knew everything, there would not be anything that could surprise you. People were her first study, and she was surprised at how much paying attention could show you. Her attentiveness won her favor, and that favor turned to sponsorship after she managed to root out an annoying string of thefts from the residence of her benefactor.
Asked to demonstrate the same for a friend of said benefactor, another successful resolution saw that favor turn towards sponsorship. While she was not always successful in some of the tasks that got asked of her, there was more than enough success to propel her further. When she had reached academia, observation was a habit, and too ingrained to turn off. A few unfavorable resolutions to nearby occurrences saw her shunned, and refuge in the library suited her just fine.
Still, her reputation was not left fallow, as occasional "task requests" proved that the tasks— more like tests– were again, successful for the majority of them. One significant task solved unfavorably gave her a debt owed, and that debt owed saw her scouting for an expedition on short notice... That was fine with her, since that got her out of the eyesight of people that were starting to wish ill things upon her.
She would miss the library, though
