Chapter 84: I Just Have A Feeling

Chapter 84: Chapter 84: I Just Have A Feeling

Xavier went silent, considering it. He imagined Elena’s face and her voice saying the word. In his imagination it didn’t sound bad at all.

She meant it as a joke but watching him stay quiet, Elena grew concerned.

"Wait... do you really want me to?"

"You can call me whatever you wish," Xavier replied.

They had the next day off for rest. Compulsory classes would resume on Tuesday with diplomacy and mana control for the whole week, since the other lectures would only start once every student from all years had returned.

Monday morning, on his day off, Xavier woke early and went to the main building to seek out Professor Grushka, his enchantments professor, to ask her about the pendant. Rather than digging through book after book in the library, it was simpler to ask an expert.

He stood at the entrance of the main building and checked the map posted on the board for the location of her quarters. Enchantment lectures were not scheduled to resume until the following week, so she would not be in her classroom or the staff room.

After locating the office, Xavier climbed the stairs that led directly to the fourteenth floor near Grushka’s quarters. He knocked on Professor Grushka’s door.

"Come in," her voice answered from the other side.

He opened the door and stepped inside. The office was just as spacious as Lilith’s, though this one was decorated with a few tribal ornaments hanging from the walls—clearly pieces from an orc tribe.

The first thing that caught Xavier’s eye was Grushka’s back with her plump, round ass in a tight pencil skirt facing him. She stood in front of her desk, hands resting on the wooden surface, eyes fixed on whatever lay before her.

"Professor, if you’re not free right now, should I come back later?" Xavier asked.

"No, no, it’s fine. Tell me—how can I help?" she replied without turning around. Her attention remained on the object on the desk.

Xavier closed the door behind him and walked closer. She was studying a glowing, teardrop-shaped jade crystal.

"Is this something important?" he asked.

"It was found in my home village. The chief sent it to me to identify." She picked it up and raised it toward the sunlight falling from the window. "If you look closely there are tiny inscriptions inside the crystal. They appear to be enchantments, but I can’t quite make them out. I suppose the chief realized it was an enchanted object and that is why he sent it."

Still holding the crystal up to the light at eye level, she turned toward Xavier so he could see it as well.

"Anyway, that’s for me to worry about. What brings you here?" she asked.

Xavier took out the pendant and handed it to her.

"This pendant seems to be an enchanted object. I tried supplying it with mana, but nothing happened. Do you have any idea how to use it?"

"Hmm, let me see." Grushka examined it closely. "The inscriptions are clearly enchanted writing, but what’s more important is the material. This feels like Orichalcum—quite a high-grade metal for an enchanted object."

"Does that change anything?" Xavier asked.

"When high-grade materials are used in enchantments they become something more powerful and turn into talismans. Talismans are blood-bound, so you probably need to feed it a drop of your blood along with some mana to activate it." She handed the pendant back.

"Thank you, Professor."

"It’s my job," she replied. "Feel free to come by any time if you have more questions." She tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear and smiled.

Xavier left her office and headed back toward the dorms. A sudden thought crossed his mind: Was she flirting with me? no way, right?

He went to the third floor and entered Elena’s room without knocking. She was seated at her study table, going through the founder’s diary.

She turned noticing him.

"Hey," Greeted Elena in her sweet voice.

Xavier walked up to her, leaned down, and took her glossy black lips in a soft kiss.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Looking through the diary, trying to find anything about that pendant. So far, nothing." She glanced up. "What about you?"

"I just came from Professor Grushka." He took out the pendant. "Apparently it’s a talisman and needs blood to activate."

"Are you going to give it your blood?" Elena asked.

"That’s why I’m here. I wanted to ask if you wanted to do it instead. Once it’s blood-bound, only one person will be able to use it."

Elena thought for a moment. "You should do it. I don’t know why, but I just have a feeling."

That was enough. Xavier trusted her judgment.

He held the pendant in one hand, pricked his finger with his teeth, and let a drop of blood fall into the center of the circular disc. With his other hand he supplied a trickle of mana. The blood was absorbed into the metal.

Suddenly the pendant vibrated. The concentric rings inside began to expand outward, intersecting at different angles until they formed an almost sphere-like shape.

"Do you have any idea what it is?" Xavier asked.

"Try moving it in different directions," Elena suggested.

He did as she said, walking around the room while the metallic rings continued to shift and reconfigure.

"So?" he asked returning to her side.

"It appears to be a compass"

she closed the diary, then sent a small thread of mana into it while focusing on the ideas of compass, treasure, and the pendant. She opened the book again and didn’t need to turn many pages before finding the words she had been searching for.

Follow the path where the rings align.

What you seek is what you’ll find.

"We need to go in the direction where the compass’s rings align," Elena said.

Xavier kept the compass in his hands and Elena followed him out of the dorms. The farther they walked, the more the rings began to settle back into a flat disc.

They realized the compass was leading them toward the roundabout. When they reached it, one final ring in the center still refused to settle. It kept rotating. The moment they moved farther away from the roundabout, more rings began to expand outward again.

"We’re here, but this last ring still won’t align. Are we missing something?" Xavier asked.

"It just means we’re not there yet—at least not completely," Elena said, turning her head toward the non-functioning fountain.

Xavier understood. He stepped over the boundary of the fountain’s pool and approached the fountain head. There, where the nozzle should have been, was a small hole exactly the size of the compass. He held the disc above the opening. The final ring settled, forming a perfect disk of concentric circles. Xavier dropped the disc into the hole. It fit perfectly, sank inside, and began to turn and rotate on its own.

He suddenly felt the entire structure of the fountain begin to hum beneath his feet.