"I'm a diviner myself, actually," Jenkins explained. "I've had very systematic training in both divination and astrology. My teacher is an extraordinary woman."
Left with no other choice, Jenkins played this card, hoping she might help him out of professional courtesy.
"If you can perform divinations yourself, then you have no need of my help."
the diviner retorted, slamming the door shut with a loud bang and bringing the conversation to an abrupt end.
"Hey, listen!" Jenkins shouted at the house. "I'm a hunter who travels the world slaying vampires! You don't really think I'm so law-abiding citizen, do you?"
Jenkins shouted toward the house. And just as he expected, he heard the diviner's voice again:
"For the gods' sake, what on earth do you want? I really don't know anything!"
The young woman flung the door open again, clutching her crystal ball and looking as if she were about to hurl it straight at his head.
"I want to..."
His gaze fell upon the crystal ball. While one sphere of polished quartz looks much like another, he felt certain he had seen this one before. Not long ago, Brolignans and Audrey had formally invited him to join their school of thought, and he had imprinted his Soul Emblem into a crystal ball passed down since the 17th Epoch.
This was, of course, a far more ancient epoch than the seventeenth. Yet the crystal ball the young woman held was, in Jenkins's eyes, the school's "roster globe." This ant it hadn't just been passed down from the 17th Epoch—it had been passed down from an era even older than this one.
"What I want to say is... I'm from the future."
"I know you wandering adventurer types love to spin tales. Sir, please get away from my door!"
"It's the truth. I really am from the future. Your school will flourish, and the crystal ball you're holding still exists in my era, imprinted with the emblems of countless successors."
"And you expect to believe that?"
the young woman replied, leaning against the doorfra. This ti, however, she didn't refuse to continue the conversation.
"I know it sounds unbelievable, but it's true."
Jenkins realized he had no way to prove it. Though he had joined the school and received systematic training, he had yet to complete even the most basic divination exercises, let alone master their unique abilities.
"I only have this," he said, "It was a gift from my teacher's teacher when I joined the school."
As he spoke, he pulled the athyst pendant from around his neck. Brolignans had said it would bring him good fortune, so he always kept it with him.
He tossed the pendant across the distance to the young woman. She caught it deftly and examined it, her gaze shifting back to Jenkins with suspicion.
"This crystal is certainly special. The craftsmanship is beyond the technology of this era. While I still have my doubts about you, you can co inside and tell more of these... stories of yours. And for the record, I don't know anything about a 'school.' I've always been on my own. All my knowledge cos from books I've studied or insights I've reached myself... Still, if I ever decide to pass on my learning, recording a roster in a crystal ball does sound like a fine idea. Co in. But I don't have any tea or snacks for you."
The cabin's interior was simple and spartan, with a wall-mounted bookshelf overflowing with books—an incredible sight for this era. As Jenkins spoke, the young diviner learned of his origins and the story of how he began to study divination. In turn, Jenkins learned about her life and her plans for the future.
Jenkins was now certain: the young woman before him was the founder of his school of divination. She was his teacher's teacher's teacher's... teacher.
"Diviners believe in fate, and our fates are intertwined. That I would accidentally travel through ti and et you, against infinitesimal odds, is proof enough that everything I've said is true."
"Don't use fate as a convenient excuse. I don't trust you completely."
the diviner said, though Jenkins suspected she believed him entirely. Otherwise, her face wouldn't flush with excitent every ti he ntioned the history of her school.
"You're not the only predecessor from the school's history I've t. There was another, but he has already answered the call of a greater being. His soul passed on to another world after his death."
Jenkins continued.
"Another world? It seems you really do know a great deal."
The diviner was clearly aware of the great powers and their domains. She poured Jenkins a glass of water, a gesture that showed she accepted his presence and wouldn't be throwing him out anyti soon.
"In any case, regardless of who you are, if you're truly from the distant future, you should be more careful. Did your teacher never tell you that ti is a domain mortals should never touch? Telling these things could cause unforeseen complications."
the young woman said.
"Don't worry. The river of ti in the material world is incredibly stable; it won't be altered by a few ripples. Besides, I don't make a habit of discussing the future with people from the past. I only did so now to earn your trust and get information on the vampires."
Jenkins replied.
"The vampires..."
The diviner hesitated, then stood and retrieved a book from the shelf behind her, handing it to Jenkins.
"It's true that I can't obtain information about it through divination or prophecy, but I do know sothing of Black Town's peculiarities. In an epoch even more ancient than this one, sothing terrible was born here. Ever since, dreadful things have occurred in the town every few centuries, yet it is never destroyed. This must be connected to the astonishing power of that terrible thing. Its residual influence alone has shaped this place into what it is today.
I moved here to study the town's history, hoping to gain so fated inspiration. But I was naive. The horror here is beyond what any mortal can handle. You see, no matter what happens, no one from the outside world ever notices anything strange. Even when the locals compile their legends and tales into books, it doesn't arouse the slightest suspicion in anyone.
It's a phenonon more terrifying than any curse, almost a natural law of this place. I've given up on staying here and plan to leave soon. But that doesn't an my research was fruitless. According to local legends and town hall records, about a thousand years ago, a duke-level vampire died sowhere nearby. Its body was never found. Do you understand what that ans?"
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