[You have come into contact with ‘Whispers’.]
Just by looking at that exquisite snuff bottle, Shard was deeply attracted to it.
Though Shard had seen even more exquisite things in his own world, at this moment, he felt an intense desire to possess this one. Fortunately, the woman’s voice pulled his thoughts back to the right track, and Dr. Schneider merely smiled at Shard’s loss of composure:
“Even a [Miracle] at the Poet level can affect ordinary people, which is why the church and the academy try to contain and control [Miracles] as much as possible. However, you really recover quickly. After I open it, you will fall into a dream. The dream will last 7 minutes and 23 seconds. In the dream, you will understand the past and present of the academy, which will help you believe what I’m saying.”
“Such precise timing?”
Shard asked, then, under the doctor’s guidance, slightly leaned back against the sofa, making himself comfortable for a short nap.
“Nearly every correspondence rings adept who joins St. Byrence has to verify the information they receive with this [Miracle]. It has been used countless times and never failed.”
The doctor smiled.
The phrase “never” made Shard a bit worried. But he did not express his feelings and instead signaled the doctor to proceed.
“Okay, please prepare—”
The doctor stood up and covered his mouth and nose with a damp towel to prevent himself from falling asleep; at the same time, he made a retreat posture:
“Begin.”
The bottle cap was lifted, and colorful smoke burst out. Shard immediately lost consciousness.
Shard had a dream, in the dream, his soul left his body, ascended to the distant sky, and watched the bustling steam city in the gray mist, looking at the steam factory spewing thick smoke in the distance.
Then he flew northward, over the city, over the mountains, over the grasslands, over the forests. Eventually, he saw snow-covered peaks and, behind the highest peak, a great ice cap in the far north.
Perhaps in an instant, perhaps for several hours or even days, the northernmost sky dimmed. In that darkness, under the colorful auroras, behind the sparkling glaciers, appeared a colossal complex of buildings.
It was an unprecedented strange dream. When Shard woke up, he only remembered walking in the huge academy, strolling through the ancient castle, gazing at the starry sky from the top of the spire. He traversed in stepped classrooms with rows of seats, searched for herbal formulas in the basement, and checked the list of [Miracle] containment in the library.
Mysterious, ancient, profound, and secretive, that was the St. Byrence Comprehensive Academy, but also the meeting place for the mysterious ones. It stood behind the far northern glaciers from distant past to now.
His vision was still a bit blurry when he opened his eyes. The doctor’s figure on the opposite sofa gradually became clear. He was busily covering the snuff bottle’s cap and put the poet-level [Miracle] back into the box.
“So, now you know that the academy truly exists, don’t you?”
Putting away the snuff bottle, the doctor smiled and asked Shard. Shard sighed wistfully, missing that strange dream.
“It is indeed true; what the doctor said is indeed true.”
Even though it was just a dream, this special dream was enough for Shard to make the right judgment.
“The only side effect of this poet-level [Miracle] is that it has a very mild addictive nature.”
Dr. Schneider’s voice was gentle, carrying a peculiar power, seemingly to pull Shard completely back from the dream world:
“Forget that dream, Shard Hamilton. But someday, you will join us as a rings adept, travel by steam train to the far northern city, trek across the ice cap under the aurora, huddle together through long nights in blizzards, assist in climbing the highest glacier, and then enter there, the St. Byrence Comprehensive Academy. As for me, my dream is to attain the Ten Rings in the academy and secure a lifetime teaching position at St. Byrence. Shard, if you like it there, then join us.”
That real yet surreal dream took Shard a while to recover from. When the doctor officially asked for his opinion again, this time, Shard nodded without any hesitation:
“Yes, I wish to join the academy and become a correspondence rings adept.”
Dr. Schneider beamed with a heartfelt smile:
“Then congratulations, Shard, let me call you that. You are about to become the fifth rings adept in our team. Wait a moment, Miss Dorothy Louisa was here just now. She will join me in performing the entrance ritual for you; I can introduce you to her. Also, she should know that I’m not always that unlucky. The entrance ritual requires at least two present team members to prevent the new adept from being deceived.”
Even though the doctor had been enthusiastic since visiting No. 6 St. Deland Square this morning, his enthusiasm was further heightened now:
“Oh, Louisa is a fourth-year correspondence four-ring adept and a novelist by profession. I know you’ve just ‘awakened’ from your blinded state and probably haven’t read her works, but she is quite famous. Her short stories ‘The Dream of the Snail’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Wish’ won the kingdom’s literary award three years ago and even earned her an audience with His Majesty the King alongside 35 other awardees.”
“You really didn’t need to mention the total number of awardees from that year.”
The door opened, and the blonde woman he had seen earlier stood outside the door. She was still dressed the same way but looked a bit angry:
“Doctor, is it necessary to mention all unimportant information whenever you introduce your friends to others?”
It seemed the atmosphere in the doctor’s four-member correspondence rings adept group was quite good; at least, they were all friends, which made Shard happy. However, Shard also guessed that this blonde novelist lady had probably been eavesdropping on their conversation from outside the door.
“Sure enough, not everyone can be entirely trusting.”
He thought silently, preparing to get up and greet her.
The doctor evaded the blonde lady’s question and signaled Miss Louisa to sit down with a smile:
“Detective Hamilton has accepted my invitation. Now, our group finally has five rings adepts.”
“Doctor, did you really not use one of those oddities that overdraw luck?”
She doubted but still walked in and extended her hand towards Shard:
“Dorothy Louisa, novelist, and part-time journalist.”
Miss Louisa seemed very efficient in her work. Shard also stood up and lightly shook her hand:
“Shard Hamilton, a detective, I suppose.”
“That profession is quite impressive.”
Saying this, they both sat down again. The doctor coughed, signaling that he was about to discuss something important:
“Shard, allow me to call you that. Before formally enrolling, there’s one last thing I need to talk to you about—the tuition.”
Shard’s heart skipped a beat, and the joy in his heart was once again dispelled by sad reality. He blinked:
“Yes, the tuition.”
He realized that in the doctor’s introduction to the church and the academy, he hadn’t mentioned the academy’s significant downside. After all, the True God’s church wouldn’t charge for recruiting members.
“The school charges fees based on the grade. Hold on a moment.”
Dr. Schneider retrieved a document from the bookshelf behind his desk, while the blonde lady watched the two of them with interest without saying a word.
“This is the fee schedule. Because we are correspondence adepts and won’t directly communicate with the academy, the academy created these documents to prevent the group leaders from overcharging. It’s said this was quite common a few hundred years ago.”
