Chapter 660: Wait, You’ve Caught the Totemology Bug?!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 660: Wait, You’ve Caught the Totemology Bug?!
After leaving Teacher Lina’s office, the preliminary preparations for the proctoring assignment were finally complete.
I had successfully invited trouble upon myself—at least, that’s how it looked to everyone else.
I pulled out a coin. This was the object the Luck Alchemist had forged using my Luck Seed.
I examined it using my Ley Line Identification Art, but I found that the information available was sparse. However, what mattered to me wasn't that the information was "sparse," but that there was information at all!
The details were even more comprehensive than the brief description the witch Teryx had given me. This proved one thing: this type of creation had appeared in the Main World before.
This coin was a prototype... of a Luck Alchemist item.
The method to refine it required a Child of Destiny to sacrifice one of their own Luck Seeds, along with their entire store of Luck, as a prerequisite for the refinement ritual.
As of now, it was merely a "pre-form" or an embryo of the final product.
So... the Luck Alchemist Teryx was right. She really could help me completely rid myself of the Luck Seed's endowment. There was no cleaner way to get rid of something than through sacrifice. I just didn't know if it would have any additional side effects on me personally.
Perhaps I could ask Sister Mei about Luck Alchemists. And, while I was at it, I could ask about the Rebel Witches.
Since that one time she contacted me, Sister Mei hadn't explained anything further regarding that matter. Or rather, she hadn't even mentioned the concept of a "Rebel Witch" to me; I had to find out about them on my own.
This was the perfect opportunity. Using these two topics as an excuse, I could also ask if she had any materials on Totemology. I was increasingly feeling like I had some potential in that field; I just lacked the foundational knowledge to help me understand it.
With these thoughts in mind, I opened my communications for the first time in a while to contact Dean Mei. Simultaneously, I used a teleportation spell to arrive at the landmark near her office.
"Hey~ Sister Mei, are you busy right now?"
"Xiao Han? Why the sudden call? I actually am quite busy; my main body isn't even at the academy. I did leave a clone in my office, though, and she’s pretty free."
"Oh, then I’ve arrived at your office. There are some things I’d like to ask you in person."
"Mm, come in." Mei Lind nodded simply, granting my request. Since we had chosen to speak face-to-face, there was no need to say too much over the comms.
Besides, I was already well-acquainted with the way to the Dean’s office. However, when I arrived, I noticed the place seemed a bit more... deserted than the last few times I’d visited.
Sister Mei was the only witch there. No, wait—this was just the clone left behind to watch over the Witch Academy!
Usually, there would be other witches in Dean Mei’s office. For instance, when I came here regarding the Fool's Dream incident, there were several witch sisters present.
Even so, the massive Qi Observation Instrument in the office was still running, transmitting various data in real-time via the Great Knowledge Sharing Spell.
It looked like the equipment had been upgraded.
"Xiao Han~ what brings you to my office this time? Or did you just come to catch up? You were in the Expansion Realm for quite a while, after all." Sister Mei greeted me first. It really had been some time since I last visited.
"Mm, I don't have too many things to trouble you with this time, Sister Mei. I just have a few questions I wanted to consult you on."
"Questions? What kind of questions could possibly have Xiao Han stumped?" Hearing this, Dean Mei’s interest was piqued.
"Well, it’s related to you, Sister Mei. Specifically, that time you reached out to me."
"Reached out to you... Oh!" At the mention of it, Dean Mei quickly remembered. Looking at her expression... she had probably forgotten about it, treating it as a minor matter.
"That incident. Are you still worried about it, Xiao Han?"
"Yes, I’m very concerned. I’ve been wondering what exactly happened. I’ve barely had an appetite these past few days..."
"That serious?!" Dean Mei was a bit surprised by my description, even though she could tell I was mostly just "venting" a little. "Alright, alright... that was indeed my fault. I originally didn't plan to tell you, but then the matter was resolved..."
"Does it have to do with the Rebel Witches?" I asked directly, laying my cards on the table.
"Rebel Witches? You even know about that, Xiao Han?"
"Yes, I’ve looked into it, but I don't know much."
"Well... the Main World has indeed been a bit chaotic lately, but it wasn't just the Rebel Witches who came."
"Other Transcendent experts... their target couldn't have been me, right?"
"Regrettably, the target was you. However, compared to the Main World itself, you were merely a secondary objective for them."
"Secondary... I see..."
"You look disappointed?" Dean Mei asked with a light chuckle. "If you truly became a primary target, that’s when you should really be worried. But you mentioned Rebel Witches just now—how much do you actually know about the concept?"
"Rebel Witches... I heard it’s a sub-topic under the major Witch research topics, the Rebel Witch Project. And within the Rebel Witch community, there’s a group of traitors."
"You’re quite well-informed. I thought you’d just heard the name 'Rebel Witch' and lumped them all together as villains. In truth, Rebel Witches are all good witches; they just have rebellious personalities. Or rather, the Rebel Witches are the ones who most closely fit the stereotype other races in the void have of witches."
"Uh... is that so?" Hearing Sister Mei say this gave me a deeper understanding of the group. I had always thought the Rebel Witches were constantly at odds with the mainstream, but I didn't expect Sister Mei to hold them in such high regard.
They even represented the stereotypical image of witches in the void?
"Yes. They are witches too, aren't they? Only those who abandon their research paths, trample on the bottom line of the witch race, and violate witch contracts are called Betrayer Rebel Witches. There is a fundamental difference between them and a simple Rebel Witch." Sister Mei seemed to be explaining the distinction very carefully, as if afraid I would mix them up.
"Furthermore, there’s one thing you need to remember: the Rebel Witches are also the primary organization within the witch race responsible for hunting Betrayer Rebel Witches! They take it upon themselves to hunt down the traitors from their own project, killing them personally to uphold their honor. Therefore, Rebel Witches cannot be confused with betrayers. The threshold for joining the Rebel Witch community is to have killed at least one betrayer."
"Wait... wait, I’m a bit confused... Isn't 'Rebel Witch' just a research topic? Why do you have to kill a betrayer to join?" I asked, puzzled.
"Correct, 'Rebel Witch' is indeed just a topic. You can embark on that path at any time. But the threshold for joining the actual Rebel Witch organization formed by those witches is killing a betrayer. And... a Betrayer Rebel Witch doesn't necessarily become a betrayer just because they went astray on the Rebel Witch path. That’s only one way. Trampling on the witch race's bottom line—such as maliciously killing a fellow witch or betraying a witch contract—all of these are seen as being forced onto the path of a Betrayer Rebel Witch."
"Oh... I get it now!" I nodded quickly to show I understood. The Rebel Witch community wasn't dangerous to me; in fact, they were quite safe. They voluntarily shouldered the duty of hunting down the betrayers who had lost their way!
So, if a group of Rebel Witches appeared in the Main World, I really didn't need to be afraid. "Then... Sister Mei, was that incident resolved with the help of the Rebel Witches?"
"Indeed. The Rebel Witches did step in to help a little, so you can put your heart at ease, Xiao Han~ No Betrayer Rebel Witch will appear within the Main World. Of course, if one does appear and I can't stop them, I’ll notify you immediately." Dean Mei gave me a promise then and there.
This was enough to show her confidence. However, there was one thing she didn't mention: why the Rebel Witches had come here in the first place.
"Then I’ll thank you in advance, Sister Mei~ I can finally stop worrying." I said to her. But... it was just talk. Even without Betrayer Rebel Witches, I might still have to face Transcendent experts from other Transcendent academies!
I couldn't afford to relax at all.
However, that topic was more or less concluded. I had another matter to ask about.
"By the way, Sister Mei~ are you familiar with the concept of a Luck Alchemist?"
"Luck Alchemist? Wait... Xiao Han, what have you been doing lately? Why does it feel like you’re constantly getting involved with strange things?"
"Uh... is there something wrong with Luck Alchemists?" I asked tentatively.
"Did you run into them... or did they seek you out? Who was it? Osmon Cumberland? Or... Loriel?" Dean Mei’s expression turned complicated. Not exactly stern, but rather... helpless?
"Huh? Are there that many Luck Alchemists in the Witch Academy?" I asked in shock. But none of the names Sister Mei mentioned matched.
"There are quite a few, but most are half-baked. They’re just people who are intensely interested in Luck and spend their time shearing off bits of it for experiments and such," Dean Mei said, rubbing her forehead.
"Is that so? But the one I met was Sister Teryx—Teryx Destiny," I said.
At that moment, I recalled how Sister Agnes had described Luck Alchemists... and compared it to Sister Mei’s description... Why were they complete opposites?
I really couldn't tell who was right anymore!
"Teryx..." Hearing that name, Sister Mei rubbed her forehead again. "You didn't make any weird deals with her, did you?"
"Uh... it might be too late for that. I already..."
"Do you mind telling me about it?" Hearing that it was too late, Sister Mei could only sigh.
"Well... she said my Luck Seed hadn't been completely shattered. She said something about 'world investment' having nothing to do with me and offered to help me pluck the Luck Seed out," I answered honestly. "Uh... she also said you don't understand Luck very well and that cutting the Ley Line Shackles was useless..."
"She said that, did she?" I could feel Sister Mei almost laughing now, though it was more of an exasperated, angry laugh. "The Luck Seed wasn't completely shattered?"
"Uh... something like that?"
"Your Luck Seed was already shattered by you. What she showed you was likely just a phantom of a Luck Seed. That wasn't a Luck Seed, but a 'Luck Qualification'—a qualification that allows you to pick it back up and become a Child of Destiny at any time. By cutting the Ley Line Shackles now, you’ve essentially cut off the chance to pick it up yourself."
"Uh... was I scammed?"
"Sigh... it’s not exactly a scam. She probably just saw that qualification and wanted to recycle it for her own use, so she sought you out. Although I’m not a Luck Alchemist, I’ve studied some of the theoretical knowledge. Did she refine your Luck Seed into something?"
"Yes... a coin. I used the Ley Line Identification Art and found it’s a Luck refinement embryo that requires sacrificing a Luck Seed as a prerequisite..." I pulled out the coin.
"A Lucky Coin, huh... Just as I thought." Sister Mei didn't even need to take the coin to know what it was.
"Then I..."
"Since it’s already come to this, the choice is yours. She probably told you this coin is called 'Choice of Fate' or something similar, right?"
"Yes..."
"If you don't regret losing the chance to become a Child of Destiny again in the future, then it doesn't really matter how you choose. The main thing is... did she get it from you for nothing?"
"Uh... I guess so... she didn't give me anything..." I said hesitantly. As expected, my intuition during the conversation hadn't lied to me. She was a merchant—a swindler! A swindler who loved getting things for free!
"Forget it. When I have time, I’ll help you get some benefits out of her. Next time, don't go agreeing to the requests of witches you aren't familiar with. Be careful, or you’ll be sold and still be helping them count the money. Even though you’re a Little Witch now, you still need to be cautious."
"Oh... I understand." I nodded repeatedly, looking like a child who had just been scammed and realized their mistake.
"Good that you understand." Sister Mei let out a sigh of relief, then asked, "Is there anything else, Xiao Han? If not, I’d like to talk to you about the Omni-Link Main Network Tree and the Knowledge Seed. You don't seem very concerned about them, but I think it’s necessary we have a chat."
"Oh... about that... but I actually do have one more thing I wanted to trouble you with..."
"It’s fine. Speak up. Let’s see what else there is." After hearing about Rebel Witches and Luck Alchemists, Mei Lind wanted to see just how much more ridiculous things could get.
"Oh, it’s about my studies. Recently, some of my research has wound down, so I found some materials and notes to teach myself a bit of Totemology. I’m quite interested in it, but materials on Totemology are just too rare. I wanted to ask if you had any materials here, Sister Mei?"
"Totemology... Wait, you’ve caught the Totemology bug?!"
"Huh? 'Caught the bug'? What kind of weird description is that?" I was stunned and looked at Sister Mei in surprise.
"Totemology is a path of no return, Xiao Han! You’re so young—how did you end up falling for Totemology?" Mei Lind asked, bewildered.
She thought it was already eccentric enough that Xiao Han was interested in Runes upon entering the academy, but now she was studying Totemology too! This was... this was as bizarre as a kindergartner enjoying world-class literary classics!