My first priority? Enchanting the flask where I was keeping the water from the pool in the tower. I didn’t know if the effect that had given me my attunement was inherent to the water, or if the water was just a conduit for the goddess to use to give people attunements. If it was the former, I couldn’t know if the water’s magical properties would remain stable forever. Or maybe it would just evaporate if it was left alone. I didn’t want that to happen.
After doing that bit of reading, I grudgingly got back to the stack of paperwork on my desk. I skimmed over school rules and regulations, as well as things like the details on earning points for graduation. I could worry about those later.
I was looking for the campus map. I had something important to do.
Finding the map was easy enough. Actually navigating the campus to find Professor Orden’s office was considerably more challenging. Not only were there several buildings that didn’t appear on the map, many of the labels were out-of-date.
All in all, it took me nearly two hours to find Professor Orden’s office on the opposite side of the campus. She was, predictably, not even there.
I did, however, find a list on her door of her office hours. The next time she’d be present would be Wyddsday, the day before classes. I made a note to come back then. Not only did I want to fulfill my obligation to the Voice, I needed to know how the professor was connected. Was she some sort of servant of Katashi? Or maybe Tenjin?
Valia’s patron visage was Tenjin, the Visage of Inspiration. It was commonly known that the visages often employed mortal help, even outside of their priesthoods. The presence of a foreign visage in our tower was very strange; if Professor Orden worked for Tenjin, it was likely she needed to know about it.
Was there some kind of power play going on, or was I just indulging childish fantasies of visages playing political games against each other? It was the type of thing I’d read about in stories since childhood, but the last known direct conflict between two visages had been over a hundred years ago.
I headed back in the general direction of my room. The trip hadn’t been a total waste of time; I’d discovered the locations of several facilities I intended to visit later, including the mess hall, multiple shops, the apothecary, and my current destination: the library.
Predictably, I found Sera already inside.
She had annexed an entire table, with a massive stack of books on her left and three open tomes spread out in front of her. Most of the pages I could see showed complex diagrams with runic markings. She was scanning one of them intently, apparently oblivious to my presence.
I pulled up a nearby chair, making enough noise that she turned her head with an annoyed look. Her expression shifted from irritation to an inquisitive shift in her eyebrows when she processed who had dared to disturb her studies.
“Yes, Corin?”
I leaned over the table to examine one of the closer books. “Summoning diagrams? Trying to find something powerful to summon to impress everyone before classes start?”
She shook her head, her expression sinking into a frown. “Common misconception. Summoning monsters is actually one of the least common things that Summoners do.”
I blinked. “What do you do, then?”
She stabbed a finger at a diagram in front of me. “This isn’t a summoning diagram, it’s a contract. The runes indicate the terms of the contract, and mana is used to enable it. Summoners make contracts with creatures to draw power from them.”
I scratched my chin. “Like, individual monsters? You have to meet them and bind them personally?”
“Yes. If I want to make a monster do anything — give me power, protect something, or if I want to summon it from a distance — we need to agree to a contract.”
I turned to look at her, my eyebrows knitting together. “How does that work with monsters that don’t talk?”
She flipped the pages to another diagram. “Different diagrams for different monsters. Once I charge it with mana, they basically touch each of the runes to examine them. If they ‘agree’, they contribute their own mana, signing the contract.”
“Huh. Are things like slimes really smart enough to know how to do that?”
She smirked. “Evidently. But I’m not the type to make a contract with a slime.”
“Of course not.” I huffed out a short breath that could almost be called a snort. “Planning out your first contract already?”
Her smirk broadened. “Who says I don’t have one already?”
I narrowed my eyes at the implication. “When would you have had the opportunity? Attunements are given at the end of the Judgment, and I doubt you’ve had a chance to track down any wild monsters in the week since we finished.”
“Maybe when you tell me about the rest of your tower escapades, I’ll let you in on my secret. Maybe.” She tilted her head to meet my gaze. I rolled my own eyes in response, standing up.
“Oh, I think I can figure it out on my own. Enjoy your studies.”
She laughed. “I’ll look forward to hearing your inaccurate guesses.”
I chuckled, already turning over ideas in my head as I continued toward the enchanting section. Removing a list from a pouch on my side — I’d abandoned my much larger backpack at my room — I looked at my list of classes and their book requirements.
I’ve got Magic Theory on Tashday and Fersday, Understanding Attunements class on Kyrsday and Tensday, Physical Combat doesn’t need any books... Let’s see, I need the books for Introductory Runes on Fersday and Vasday and Mana Manipulation on Tashday... And it looks like I need to pick an elective at some point, too.
Looks like Fersday and Tashday will be the busiest, since I’ve already got two classes on each. Might be smart to pick an elective for a different day.
I was sufficiently distracted that I nearly bumped into someone. I looked up just in time, only to freeze in the shock of recognition.
She froze, too. For a moment, our eyes met, and I felt a surge of long-buried emotions.
Clutching her books tightly to her chest, the girl — no, a young woman now — looked away, fleeing without another word.