Chapter 285: Summoning Scrolls

  Professor Tobias closed the sandalwood box to draw the remaining two items.

  Luo Wei watched her movements intently. What would be next—a kitten or a Pegasus?

  Two seconds later, Professor Tobias opened the magic box and took out a parchment scroll.

  Having learned from the puppet misunderstanding, Luo Wei didn't feel disappointed this time. Maybe the kitten was wrapped inside the scroll?

  She waited for Professor Tobias to explain, but instead of immediately handing over the scroll, she took it out and opened the box again, producing a second parchment scroll.

  "These are summoning scrolls with summoning runes carved on them," Professor Tobias handed both scrolls to her. "Pour magic power into them and you can summon the corresponding magical creatures."

  It wasn't directly getting a kitten... but being able to summon one herself seemed pretty good too!

  She took the scrolls, then heard Professor Tobias say: "Though I don't know if these two summoning runes still work."

  Luo Wei: "..."

  "Professor, if they don't work, can I exchange them?" she asked unhappily.

  "I'm afraid not," Professor Tobias shook her head. "The runes themselves are fine, it's just that magic cats and Pegasi have been extinct from the continent for nearly a century. I don't know if they have any descendants left."

  Summoning runes were actually contracts made between ancient mages and magical creatures. Different summoning runes corresponded to different magical beings, and each species' contract mark was unique.

  Only magical creatures willing to cooperate with humans, or descendants of creatures that had made contracts with humans, could be summoned through summoning runes.

  Powerful magical creatures' summoning runes were basically private family heirlooms. Professor Tobias had gotten these two summoning scrolls because their previous owner had tried many times without success, believed the creatures they corresponded to were extinct, and sold them to her at an extremely low price.

  This time Luo Wei really had a headache. She felt like she'd been scammed!

  These rewards she'd gotten were completely different from what they'd agreed on!

  "Professor," the fish hook in her mouth turned out to be empty, and Luo Wei was too heartbroken to breathe, "what if I can't summon anything..."

  Professor Tobias: "Try first. You're a child beloved by heaven—maybe you'll be able to summon them?"

  Luo Wei felt despair. With her luck, she'd be lucky to summon a ghost!

  Fortunately, Professor Tobias wasn't completely heartless and offered a remedy: "If you can't summon anything for a month, I'll give you an owl. Sherry's babies will hatch in another month."

  So the owl was named Sherry.

  Luo Wei was too tired to complain. Professor Tobias was completely dishonest.

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  She clearly had baby owls but claimed she didn't at first—she just couldn't bear to give one away.

  Professor Tobias probably felt bad about how she'd handled this too, saying uncomfortably: "That's it then. Take the summoning scrolls home and try them. If they don't work, come back in a month."

  Luo Wei said weakly: "Alright, Professor."

  She put the rewards on the desk into her new spatial ring, including the seed, the stone, and the little stick.

  Though these things looked unremarkable and seemed worthless, she followed the principle of taking whatever she could get and stuffed them all in her pocket.

  Her intuition told her these things might come in handy someday. When she'd first drawn the turtle shell, she never thought she'd use it for divination, right?

  Finally getting the competition rewards she'd been dreaming of, Luo Wei felt empty inside and looked gloomy on the way back to Star Luo Residence.

  Of the big promises Professor Tobias had made before the competition, only three actually made it to her mouth: a mermaid pearl, a sword-dancing puppet, and a magic bookworm.

  ...Actually, maybe it wasn't too bad a deal?

  The remaining two were Schr?dinger's rewards—whether she could successfully claim them would be clear once she got back to Star Luo Residence and tried.

  The servants at Star Luo Residence had to help at the mulberry orchard every day, so there was no coachman. Luo Wei had to walk back on her own legs.

  The streets were lively because of tomorrow night's victory celebration ball. The competing teams from various academies hadn't left yet and were currently touring the city.

  After walking for a while, Luo Wei felt like she had a target on her back.

  She was sensitive to others' gazes. Though that stare was hidden, it was focused on her so intently that it triggered her sixth sense.

  Luo Wei calmly covered her money pouch at her waist, using her sleeve to hide yanking it off, pretending it had fallen to the ground.

  "Oh!"

  She bent down to pick it up, quickly scanning both sides behind her with her peripheral vision, then stood up with the pouch and continued forward.

  She didn't spot any suspicious people, but that gaze still clung tightly to her.

  The person following her must be very confident in their stealth skills to dare watch her so boldly.

  Luo Wei suddenly frowned. If this person was a stealth expert, they shouldn't make such a basic mistake.

  Had they been following her so long they'd gotten careless, or... had her perception abilities improved again?

  Luo Wei remained calm the entire way. Even after walking through the front gate of Star Luo Residence, she never looked back once.

  Only after entering the living room did she look around. The doors and windows were wide open, the courtyard was quiet, and the feeling of being watched had disappeared.

  It seemed that gaze hadn't followed her over the wall.

  Only then did she take out her magic wand and cast a sound-blocking spell on the house.

  "Master, you're back!" Chris hurried over to bow.

  Luo Wei put down her wand, turned and asked Chris: "Have there been any suspicious people outside the gate these past few days?"

  "Suspicious people... I don't think so..." Chris shook her head.

  "Strangers?"

  "None either..." Chris wasn't sure. "Maybe I didn't see them. Master, should I go out and check?"

  "No need," Luo Wei didn't want her to alert anyone. "You can go. Have the bath house prepare hot water—I want to bathe."

  "Yes, Master." Chris withdrew.

  Luo Wei lifted her skirt and went upstairs to the second-floor bedroom.

  With Troy not at Star Luo Residence, this place was no longer safe.

  She closed the doors and windows, carved a binding rune on each of the four walls, the floor, and the ceiling. Only after activating all six runes did she relax slightly.

  She hadn't put much magic power in—these runes would only run for a day. She'd have to come back and recharge them before this time tomorrow afternoon.

  If she had magic stone veins, she wouldn't need to be so troublesome.

  Wait, magic stones!

  Luo Wei bent down and dragged a box out from under the bed, taking out the small wooden case hidden inside.

  This was the box she'd found in the bell tower, filled with refined magic stones.

  She used wire to pick the lock as usual, and the contents sealed in the box saw daylight again.

  "Borrowing one from you—I'll pay you back double later."

  Luo Wei spoke to the box and reached in to pick out a dark purple magic stone.

  A high-purity magic stone infused with dark elements—using it to power binding runes was overkill, and she hesitated.

  Actually, there was no need to overreact. Carving binding runes all around would be like protesting too much and invite suspicion.

  Now that she had a spatial ring, she could store some of the unspeakable things in her bedroom inside the ring.

  However, she still felt uneasy using a ring issued by the Church.

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