Chapter 41: Special Notice |
Shad frowned as he studied the parchment listing elective courses. It resembled more of a price list than anything else. Based on his circumstances—city of residence, profession, age, enrollment in the academy, and core rune—the academy had opened nearly two hundred elective courses to him in his first year. Among them were seemingly useful ones like “Inspirational Divination” and “Simplified Acquisition of Four Element Runes.”
Some courses required completion of foundational or other elective courses beforehand. Without these prerequisites, the number of electives Shad could see would have been even greater.
The cost for the more affordable courses exceeded 20 pounds, while the priciest ones could not be paid for with money at all; instead, they required relics or completing specific tasks or challenges.
Fortunately, electives could be selected at any time. Every Saturday, when visiting the doctor, Shad could pay and coordinate enrollment with the academy if he decided to take one.
Dr. Schneider advised Shad to focus on foundational courses for now before considering electives. The old priest recommended some particularly practical ones, while Miss Luvia outright crossed off a portion of the list. Having spent a significant amount of money on electives in her first year thanks to her sizable manuscript royalties, she knew which ones were unnecessary at the start.
"Electives can be failed. The academy and professors don’t mind. But electives are a crucial opportunity for us correspondence warlocks to interact with and familiarize ourselves with the professors. Keep in mind, the availability of some valuable electives depends on the professors' willingness," Miss Luvia explained.
Shad was already familiar with this system. While slightly different from his past experiences, he easily adapted to the rules. As he flipped to the reverse side of the parchment, he expected it to be blank. To his surprise, there was text:
To First-Ring Warlock Shad Suellen Hamilton,
At midnight tonight, in an empty room, prepare four wooden chairs without divine holy emblems. Arrange them facing each other in the cardinal directions (east, west, south, and north) surrounding a basin filled with clean water, not pure silver. At midnight, sit on the northern chair, ignite this parchment, and drop it into the basin.
Please dress formally, light the gas lamp, close the curtains, and do not tell anyone about this, including your fellow warlocks. Professors Hams Sanchez of the Library Management School and Hessinger Garcia of the History School wish to meet you.
St. Byrons Comprehensive Academy - Student Administration Office
Professor Hams Jane Sanchez
“What’s wrong?” Luvia asked, noticing Shad staring at the parchment’s reverse side in a daze. She glanced at the blank page.
“Nothing unusual about blank parchment, you know? Oh, wait—let me guess. You’re not used to parchment? Normally, we don’t write on both sides, so there’s nothing to see on the back.”
Though Luvia could clearly see the reverse side, she acted as though it was blank.
"Am I the only one who can see this? What does the academy want? A secret task? Are they onto my identity as an outsider?" Shad thought to himself. He noted the instructions, rolled up the parchment, and placed it on the sofa.
The History School had promised Shad a Secret-Keeper-grade relic for self-defense due to his Space-Time core rune. This relic only arrived after he confirmed receipt of all books and documents. Poet-grade relics could only transfer Secret-Keeper-grade items under specific conditions, showing the great lengths the History School had gone for him.
The relic was stored in a small rusted bronze cube, no larger than the palm of his hand. The box’s exterior featured incomprehensible vine-like patterns etched into the tarnished metal. Beneath it lay a document explaining the relic’s properties.
The relic wasn’t gifted permanently; if Shad left the History School or dropped out of St. Byrons, he had to return it. But graduating normally would let him keep it.
“You have encountered ‘Whispers.’”
Normally, Shad shouldn’t have immediately recognized it as a relic, since its traits were unknown to him.
"The Dice of Twenty Fates?" Shad opened the antique-like bronze box without hesitation, not hiding it from the others. Inside, embedded in almost solid metal, was a tarnished bronze twenty-sided die. The numbers on its surface, etched in gold, were partially fused with rust, bearing the marks of age.
“I recognize that!” Luvia exclaimed in surprise, raising her hand as though to touch her earlobe but then stopping herself.
“No, I should say ‘another me’ recognizes it. I must have read about this die in a book… but why would the academy entrust you with such a dangerous relic?”
“All relics are dangerous. They are horrifying remnants crystallized from the whispers of time,” Father August reminded them.
Luvia shook her head, her golden hair shimmering slightly.
"This one is especially dangerous. Its traits manifest in two ways:
First, carrying it disrupts most divinations targeting the holder, but only while it’s carried. Long-term possession, however, permanently lowers the holder’s luck. I know luck is an immeasurable concept, but the Whispers element truly affects it.
Second, the die can be actively rolled once per day. Upon rolling, a situation related to the user will be affected by the die’s result. Higher numbers mean good fortune, but the effect is entirely random and cannot be controlled."
“A situation related to the user?” Dr. Schneider, often considered unlucky by his peers, immediately latched onto the detail.
"Yes. However, the affected situation won’t be immediately apparent. Its connection will become clear over time, which is another unique trait of the Dice of Twenty Fates," Luvia added, stepping back fearfully from the bronze box in Shad’s hand.
"But the die usually rolls numbers under 10, which lean toward bad luck. And if it rolls a 1… well, something worse than death might happen. Why would the History School give such a dangerous item to a detective?"
The academy’s documentation confirmed most of what Luvia said. The die could only be stored in its specially crafted bronze box. When left uncontained, it would subtly lure the holder into rolling it. The distribution of outcomes wasn’t even, with numbers below 10 most likely, often leading to dire consequences.
Luvia strongly advised Shad never to use the die’s active effect. Instead, it should only serve as a relic to interfere with divination.