The girl cast a casual glance at Aurelius as he walked in. She had a messy look, her hair scruffy, her robes slightly crumpled, and a constant smirk that contrasted with the sharp, intelligent gleam in her eyes. She wore the school robe over loose home pants decorated with mice and a plain white shirt.

  “Hey, shaman kid, here to create another monstrosity?!” she greeted playfully, before turning back to scour her notebook and rummage through the cabinets once more.

  Aurelius coughed lightly in embarrassment. The last time he had contracted the earth spirit for his golem, it had snuck out of his dorm during lessons through the window.

  After balking at the thought of losing the value of his money, he had rushed out, immediately using the mystical connection to locate the runaway golem.

  The long trail of suspiciously fresh blossoms assisted his search, and he had cursed how far the golem had managed to wander on its stubby little legs. To his horror, he had found it joyfully dancing around Seraphine, her small white mouse familiar clinging tightly to its head.

  She had coaxed a small circle of flowers from the ground for the spirit golem and had been watching with amusement as it tended them. Her familiar seemed to have taken a liking to the golem, riding on its head as it poured mana into the blossoms.

  She complimented Aurelius on his work but reminded him airily not to let unsupervised spirits loose on school grounds. The whole experience had been mortifying in front of an upperclassman like her.

  Keeping his eyes lowered, Aurelius made a beeline for the spirit powder section. He opened the cabinet, removed the jar, and carefully scooped out about one hundred grams into the pouch he had brought, weighing it precisely on the scale in the middle of the room.

  At some point during this process, Seraphine had shut her neon pink notebook, evidently finished with collecting her own ingredients. And she was now leaning against the wall, watching him with a cool gaze. Her familiar had also poked its head out of the pocket of her baggy pants and stared intently at him, making Aurelius feel even more awkward.

  He found a renewed sense of urgency at the gazes of his unexpected audience. Seraphine had a rather talkative nature, something he was keen to avoid. He hurriedly finished weighing out his powder, nodding imperceptibly at her as he turned to leave the room sneakily.

  To his dismay, Seraphine decided to strike up a chat.

  “Don’t you only need around half of that for a lesser spirit? Have we moved on from lesser spirits, Aurelius? Or are you planning on setting loose an extra golem to terrorize the school this time?” she mocked.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “It’s really not your business!” Aurelius shot back indignantly, his cheeks flaring up in embarrassment. He had made it a point to avoid her after his golem incident, but she had taken an interest in him and his antics, occasionally trapping Aurelius in conversations.

  “You do know that the Bound Book will curse you if it senses you misusing the potions equipment, right?” she replied casually.

  A Bound Book was an enchanted book, bound with wind magic.

  The Bound Book protecting the potions cabinet cursed those who did not check out the ingredients from the cabinet. This was mainly to provide a reliable record for the visitors of the room, but had the effect of deterrence against pranksters.

  Aurelius had always treated the Bound Book with casual indifference. After all, he never deviated from their rules whenever he encountered one. But could it sense his intent to use the spirit powder for his own protection? A curse would put a cherry on top of the terrifying day that it had already been.

  Worried, he asked, “I—uh, would making spirit-warding charms count as misuse?”

  “The shaman kid wants to ward against spirits! Now this I gotta hear!” Seraphine squealed in delight.

  “Did you piss off some weirdo spirit? Or maybe you’re being haunted by a fae!” she pressed, eyes glittering with curiosity.

  Aurelius’s face soured. He was absolutely not going to tell this irresponsible senior that he might be watched by an evil god. She would either laugh at his misfortune or teleport away to report him to the Magic Commission. The former seemed far more likely, given her strange sense of humor.

  “Ah, charm making counts as appropriate use of the materials,” Seraphine said with a smile. “But now, I’ll need to supervise you!”

  Aurelius stifled a groan. He was not an introvert by nature, but dealing with someone as high-energy as her drained his patience and his social battery. He usually preferred to stick with a few close friends rather than people like her. On top of that, given the strange nature of his contract, he would have much preferred to keep her out of the process entirely.

  Still, he knew she was knowledgeable about golem making and Earth spirits, making her a capable overseer. More importantly, she was extremely stubborn and obsessive about the things she set her mind to.

  If she pressed him for details on the strange nature of his contract, he could probably run away or shake her off the scent with a story about a botched summoning.

  Aurelius sighed, knowing that the conversation would only drag on with refusal, and relented.

  “Haaa… okay. Thanks for your offer. I appreciate the help. I’m a novice after all. Just… promise not to talk too much while we do it.”

  “You’re no fun, kiddo!” she laughed.

  Seraphine mimed zipping her mouth shut, throwing him a playful wink.

  Aurelius rubbed his forehead and checked his ingredients against the Bound Book, signing his name with care. After all, the curses carried by Bound Books were terrifying, depending on the creativity of its binder.

  Seraphine trailed after him, glancing through her own stock of potion materials in a bid to double check the quantity and type of items she was taking.

  To Aurelius’s dismay, it didn’t take long for her to break her vow of silence. She began pestering Aurelius with questions about the purpose of the spirit-warding charm, reasons for making another golem, why he had such a large wad up his ass, etc. Every vague answer he gave only seemed to heighten the intensity of the interrogation.

  “Why are you so interested in my golems anyway? Why harass an underclassman over shoddy craftsmanship?” he asked as they made their way into the school halls, half desperate to change the subject.

  “Well, most students don’t bother crafting spirit golems. They’re expensive, they don’t last long, and honestly, I think they’re a waste of time too. I mean, I already have a familiar!” she said cheerfully.

  “But since it’s not at my expense, I don’t mind watching. I’m an aspiring scholar, after all! Curiosity is the foundation of all good scholars — or so my mentor says.”

  Aurelius resisted the urge to facepalm. What a troublesome person! Freeloading off his money so shamelessly. Did she really have nothing better to do? Once again, he cursed his luck. Fate had truly screwed him today.

  He had been taken hostage as someone’s experimental subject!