fictionpage Chapter 109: Draw a Card Before Leaving
Chapter 109: Draw a Card Before Leaving
“It sounds like you’re about to do something dangerous.”Madame Mina, bringing over tea and snacks, looked worried.
“Be careful.”
“Speaking of that, Madame Mina,” Aiwass said, a spark in his mind as he smiled, “does your shop sell anything special?”
Madame Mina blinked, puzzled.
“Special? You mean my divination shop?”
“Exactly. Do you sell antiques or treasure maps, anything like that?”
Aiwass was eager.
Madame Mina laughed, amused.
“No way, it’s just a regular divination shop.
I do collect antiques sometimes, but those are personal and not for sale.
Though Meiya says my divinations aren’t accurate, that’s because I sometimes misinterpret on purpose to keep a normal hit rate.
I don’t want people to rely on me too much.
The future can’t be predicted precisely, even by the strongest seers.
The act of prophesying, or sharing the vision, changes the future.
Over-relying on divination risks falling into a ‘prophecy trap,’ fulfilling it unwittingly.”
“Mina’s divinations are actually quite accurate,” Bishop Mathers chimed in.
“She came here to study art, but her true path isn’t Beauty—it’s Adaptation.”
“Indeed,” Mina nodded gently.
“I left Iris Flower because my divination warned of great danger if I stayed, but coming to Avalon would let me meet my lifelong knight—my teacher, my sun, my protector.
And I did meet Mathers.”
“An Adaptation Path [Seer]?”
Aiwass was stunned.
That was a rare profession, exclusive to NPCs, unplayable by players.
“Want me to divine for you?” Mina offered, smiling.
“I’ll do it properly this time, no misinterpretations.”
“Can you divine anything?” Aiwass asked.
“Each person, each day, each matter should only be divined once,” Mina explained.
“Repeated divinations tangle the threads of fate.
Longer intervals make results more accurate.
In Iris Flower, the simplest way to block seers is to have them constantly divine for you, manually scrambling your fate.
Since you’ve never been divined, your first reading will be the most precise.
Want to try? It’s free.”
Aiwass hesitated briefly but decided.
“…Please, go ahead.”
Might as well draw a card before leaving.
If it’s a hit, it means he’s on a roll, and tomorrow’s mission will go smoothly.
If it’s a miss, it’s just padding for tomorrow’s success!
“You go ahead. I’ll head back to rest.”
Sherlock, uninterested in divination, returned upstairs to read.
Mina led Aiwass and Lily to her divination shop.
“What do you want to divine, and how?”
Mina, already veiled in black, donned a wide-brimmed hat, her green eyes faintly visible through the veil.
She gazed at Aiwass with calm confidence.
Aiwass didn’t think meeting Lawyer York would be dangerous.
Though Mina’s shop didn’t sell antiques or treasure maps, her divination might yield something valuable.
It’s free—why not?
“Can you divine anything?”
Aiwass confirmed one last time.
“Anything,” Mina affirmed.
“Accuracy aside, what can be divined depends on the diviner’s skill.”
“In that case, I need a proper weapon.”
Aiwass clasped his hands sincerely.
“Please tell me where I can find one.”
“…Huh?”
Mina froze, caught off guard.
She’d expected Aiwass to ask about his fate, achievements, love, career, health, or even a dilemma with multiple choices.
But such a direct, pure request?
“Is that not okay?” Aiwass asked, disappointed.
“No, it’s fine!” Mina said, wincing as if in pain.
“I just didn’t expect that.
Give me a moment to figure out how to divine this.
Let’s try the Dream Vision method.
Sit here and wait.”
Mina took a few strands of Aiwass’s hair, wrapped them, and tucked them close to her chest.
She drank a silvery, glowing alchemical potion and immediately slumped into her chair, fast asleep.
Aiwass sighed, bored.
Noticing Lily’s hand on his shoulder, he gently took it, playing with her fingers to pass the time.
He studied her slender, slightly rough fingers.
Lily, shy, curled her pinky but didn’t pull away, casually asking, “I thought you’d ask where to find a new esoteric book, Young Master.”
“Because you just saw one,” Aiwass chuckled.
“You think esoteric books are great—and they are—but I’m not short on mystic arts right now.”
Meiya was planning to lend him a Path of Devotion esoteric book.
It was a loan, as he’d learn it after one read, and he’d return it politely since it was her cherished possession.
His grandfather likely hid something, probably another skill book, possibly esoteric-level.
Esoteric books were the highest tier of mystic texts, their knowledge alive.
They were translations of “Unnamed Scriptures” in Gupta script, themselves a form of “scripture.”
Only Path of Wisdom users could read Gupta script’s demonic text; other paths’ minds couldn’t retain even a single symbol.
Those qualified to read and withstand an esoteric book’s knowledge could instantly master its mystic arts.
Copied versions were just mundane text, devoid of mystic value—like , a mere ancient legend in written form.
In short, esoteric books were “limited pools.”
Miss one, and you’d wait for another language’s “rerun.”
The Curse-Rite Mage profession required mastering curse and ritual arts without demonology knowledge upon entering the Path of Transcendence.
Rituals were easy to learn, but curses were hard, tied to the complex art of blessings.
Avalon lacked such advanced mystic traditions.
Yet the original Scaleless Hand produced many Curse-Rite Mages.
How could uneducated folk transcendents master curses when trained priests struggled with blessings for years?
Aiwass believed the Scaleless Hand had an esoteric book on curses, mass-training candidates into Curse-Rite Mages.
Why take the hard road otherwise?
It must’ve been a “shuttle service” path.
The Inspectorate never found this book.
If the Iron Hook Demon’s intellect couldn’t locate it, it might still be in that village.
Aiwass was set to acquire at least two esoteric books soon.
Advancing mystic arts required experience and effort.
He was like a gacha whale with a stack of great cards but no resources to level them.
Lily’s two fine pieces of gear made him a bit jealous.
The chapel key had to be returned to Bishop Mathers—it was his duty-bound relic.
A tomb guardian without the tomb’s key was absurd, like a gatekeeper who lent his key to a friend.
Mathers would get in serious trouble; his actions were already a major violation.
But Aiwass truly lacked a proper weapon.
Their makeshift team was comically under-equipped.
Sherlock, a mage and law mage, had no staff, codex, or disciplinary sword—borrowing Edward’s when needed.
Haina, a warden, had no griffin, only a sword, no spear.
Aiwass, a priest and demonologist, had no holy crown, scepter, grimoire, or ritual kit.
Three empty-handed high-levels.
Their only weapon was Aiwass’s small-caliber lady’s pistol.
Ironically, the lowest-level Lily had a main weapon—her silk threads, free to use.
Later, she could tie eagle feathers to them.
It was like three high-level players boosting a low-level, but the high-levels forgot their gear while the newbie was fully equipped.
Even in this peaceful era, where only soldiers and enforcers typically carried weapons, it felt ridiculous.
After a while, Mina stirred awake.
She looked at Aiwass, hesitant to speak.
“Did you see the future, Madame Mina?”
Aiwass’s eyes lit up, sensing she’d seen something.
[Jackpot, a real gacha pull?]
“Though your request was bizarre—the first I’ve ever heard—I saw it,” Mina said, shaking her head helplessly.
“I saw you freely summoning butterflies of pure flame as a protective weapon.”
Aiwass immediately recognized her prophecy’s weight—she’d seen his Illusory Demon card, not vague mysticism.
He looked at her with newfound respect.
“And? Anything else?”
“There’s a book,” Mina nodded, struggling to explain.
“It’s odd, but it’s a book.
Per my Dream Vision, responding to your need for ‘a weapon suited to you,’ it pointed to a book.
Not an esoteric book, though.”
[Must be a grimoire,] Aiwass thought, nodding.
“What kind of book?” he pressed.
“Can you pinpoint where it is?”
Mina wiped sweat from her brow, exasperated.
“A disclaimer: after this, I may not be able to divine for you for a while, and I can’t guarantee precision.
Your fate threads are chaotic, tangled with many powerful figures.
It took ages to find yours, but your destiny feels… not of this world.
I’m a fourth-level [Seer], and you’re just second-level.
With that gap, I shouldn’t struggle to see your future.
If I were younger or you were stronger, I might’ve fainted.”
After her detailed disclaimer, Mina yawned, visibly drained.
As she tidied up, she answered casually, “The place is Eagle Cape Village in Shepherd’s Bay.
I saw you finding the book with Sherlock and others I don’t know.
I glimpsed its name… it’s called .”