“So where are you coming from?”


    Echo looked on her side. She saw a very tall girl sitting right beside her. After the oath ritual was finished, Rowan prepared a feast for celebration. Eating after midnight… the dorm warden was surprisingly lenient. Right now Echo was stuffing a mushroom and meat pie into her mouth. She was taking a moment before answering the question.


    After she emptied her mouth, she quickly answered, “From the far north of this country, goes by many names. But people here called it, Zarasa Fallen Empire.”


    The tall girl’s eyes widened for a moment before it returned to normal. “That’s an interesting homeland you got there. If you don’t mind, please share some stories with me.” She smiled gently.


    “Sure.” Echo didn’t mind about it. Although she knew her homeland wasn’t famous for great things. But as someone who was born there, it was just a normal home, just like everyone else in this world.


    “Oh, right!” She suddenly clapped her hand once. “I forgot to introduce myself. Since I went to the main city earlier, we haven’t seen each other yet. My name is Fortuna. Nice to meet you, dear little sister.”


    “Hello, Fortuna.” Echo stopped herself from introducing her name once again. She was pretty sure everyone here already knew her name at this point.  “Nice to meet you too.”


    “What’s your speciality, Echo? You must be good to receive a recommendation from a professor.”


    Echo sipped a sweet fruit juice from her mug. She couldn’t recognise what fruit was used in it at all but it was tasty and fitted right to her throat. “Potions. My master taught a lot about potions.”


    “I see~ That’s great. Many people think potion-making is easy since it is just a mixing process. But I have some experience in it and could tell it wasn’t easy at all.” Fortuna suddenly reached for a slice of orange-looking cake and pushed it in front of Echo. “Here, eat this. This is a local famous delicacy.”


    “Thank you.” Echo picked up her fork and dug the cake. When she put it into her mouth, she tasted a tangy and sweet flavour. The taste was unique for Echo, as she usually ate something hot and spicy before coming here. “It’s quite tasty.”If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    “Really? They sell this a lot during important celebrations. You can even find the variants of this.” Fortuna sipped her drink. After she put down the mug, her right hand suddenly swiped some balls. “As for my speciality… I am well-adverse in fortune telling. Are you interested?”


    Fortuna placed the balls on the table. The tiny balls were like gum jelly, shiny and transparent with orange in colour. Echo had never seen this type of fortune-telling before.


    “Yes.” Echo had never felt such a strong curious feeling before.


    A smirk curved on Fortuna’s lips. Her index finger then tapped the table twice. In a flash, the coloured balls floated and emitted a soft light on the surface. “Here. Try to touch it.”


    Echo accepted her invitation. Her hand reached out to the floating balls and tried to touch them. Just a mere contact, the shining spheres emitted even stronger light, making Echo put on her guard.


    The balls disappeared with the poof like a fairy sparkle, only three balls were left behind. “Let’s see what your fate looks like.” Fortuna summoned the remaining balls into her hands. “Ready?” She looked at Echo for her confirmation.


    Echo nodded in her consent.


    Fortuna smiled in excitement. Her index finger touched the first ball. Then, it floated a little higher and popped. A pair of white-feathered birds flew out and disappeared into the thin air. “Ah~ I see. It looks like you will meet your soulmate soon.”


    Echo tilted her head. “Soulmate?”


    “The one that knows and understands what’s hidden in your heart.”


    Echo’s heart was beating strongly like an earthquake. The mixed feelings of uneasiness, curiosity and excitement suddenly came to wash over her like a tsunami. She didn’t know whether to be elated with the news or not.


    “Now, let’s continue to the next one.” Fortuna’s finger touched the second ball. Once again, the ball floated and exploded. This time, a mist expanded from inside the ball. A frown appeared on Fortune’s face. “I see…So you will face the uncertainties in your relationships. You probably don’t know whether they are your friends, a family, a lover or foe. Probably more than one.”


    Echo’s heart skipped a beat when she heard those words. But she couldn’t care less about something she hadn’t met yet. It was something for future her, to worry about.


    “And the third one…”


    The last ball released some broken mirror shards which disintegrated into silver particles and disappeared. “Hmmm, there are some pieces of truth that you must gather. Until then you will see the light.”


    Echo silently swallowed Fortuna’s words without many questions. As curious as she was, it was not something happened yet. And for that, she decided not to press it further. “Is your divination accurate, Fortuna?”


    “Hmmm…” The older girl scratched her chin. Her eyes went around the room for a moment before settling back on the younger girl sitting beside her. “Well, nothing can come as ‘accurate’, but you can say that it will be fairly ‘reliable’.” She winked at her junior, reassuring her that she indeed was not a troll.