Chapter 3

The next day, I said I needed to go home to take care of some school withdrawal procedures.

Sylvia didn't suspect a thing. She even thoughtfully helped me pack my luggage.

She reminded kindly, "Be careful on the road, Lav. Come back as soon as you're done, okay?"

"Yeah." I nodded, looking at her pretentious smiling face and feeling nothing but ice-cold hatred inside.

I didn't go home. Instead, I called my grandmother and told her about my suspicions. She told me to go to the mystic arts street in an old neighborhood to seek help from her fellow junior practitioner.

Kylian Slade held a magnifying glass and carefully examined the rune symbols I had drawn.

"Where did you see this, Lavender?" he asked solemnly with a very grave expression.

"It was on a friend's protective charm," I lied.

Kylian shook his head and said, "This is no protective charm! This is a very malicious transfer spell. It is also known as 'the misfortune substitute.' It can transfer one person's bad luck, illness, and fatigue onto another.

"The person on the receiving end becomes the substitute who gets all the bad things in life. They will gradually lose their vitality and become increasingly unlucky. This spell had long been banned. I didn't expect someone would still be using it."

Kylian's words confirmed all my suspicions.

"Mr. Slade, do you have a way to undo it?" I asked urgently.

"It's very difficult. Once the contract is formed, it's hard to sever it unless one party dies," Kylian answered grimly.

My heart sank to my stomach.

"However…" he continued. "There are always two sides to everything. Since it's in nature a shared fate, it goes both ways."

"Then can I return my bad luck to her by double or more?" I asked.

Kylian froze for a moment and immediately understood what I meant.

He explained, "In theory, yes. The effectiveness of this spell depends on the proximity between the two parties and the mental state of the substitute. The closer the distance, the stronger the effect. The more exhausted and despairing the substitute is, the more energy gets siphoned away.

"If you can push your mental state to an extreme level of excitement—to the point of overexertion in a short time—then the negative effects from that overexertion will overflow and backfire through the spell. It may double, or even triple, several times over onto the other person.

"It is because she has always been taking and never expected any form of backlash. Her body is like an inflated balloon stretched to its limit. It can't withstand any additional pressure."

I had it all figured out after that conversation.

After leaving the mystic arts street, I didn't return to school right away. Instead, I checked into a hotel and stayed there. For three whole days, I turned off my phone and cut off all contact with the outside world. I forced myself to sleep up to 16 hours a day.

Without that emerald pendant anywhere near me, the overwhelming exhaustion that had plagued me for four years miraculously disappeared. My mind had never been clearer. The study materials that used to give me headaches at a glance now became logical and easy to understand in my head.

In three days, I made up for all three years of the high school syllabus I had missed. That long-lost feeling of mastering knowledge brought tears to my eyes.

I hadn't become stupid. I was still me.

On the fourth day, I returned to school. When I pushed open the door to my dorm room, Sylvia was pacing anxiously inside.

The moment she saw me, her eyes lit up with immense relief and joy. She rushed over to me immediately.

"You're finally back, Lav! I was so worried because I couldn't reach you!"

I noticed that she looked a little pale with faint dark circles under her eyes. These past few days must have been hard on her without me, her personal "power bank".

"My phone died, and I forgot to bring a charger," I said calmly.

"All that matters is you're back." She let out a sigh of relief and quickly returned to her perfect roommate persona.

She went on, "The SAT registration is about to close. Are you really not going to give it another try? Don't you want to stand proudly in the campus of Kilnia College with Jeffrey and me? Imagine standing in the place that will launch you to greater heights in life!"

Sylvia brought up Jeffrey as if it were the most natural thing to say. Her tone was laced with an obvious intent to gloat and condescend while sounding like she was trying to spark some hope in me.

I looked at her and gave a small smile. "Sure. I'll go."

Sylvia froze slightly, probably not expecting that I would say something like that when I was on the verge of being expelled.

"Really? That's great, Lav!" She quickly snapped out of it and grabbed my hand excitedly. "Don't worry, I'll definitely help you! We'll both be top scorers!"

I let her hold my hand and maintained my fake smile. "Thank you, Sylvia."

"We're best friends. There's no need to thank me," she responded.

I thought darkly, "Best friends, indeed. My dear Sylvia, I have specially prepared a surprise of a lifetime for you. I hope you'll accept it with gladness and enjoy it thoroughly."