Julie promptly gave the Artifact to student Blue and explained,
“This is something my grandfather decided to give you for safety. It will help prevent any unexpected disaster upon you. Make sure to always keep it on your person and treasure it well.”
He took the golden locket compass carefully and replied in a grateful tone,
“I will humbly accept this concern shown to me. Please give my gratitude to Baron Auburn.”
“Haha, it is because he values you a lot. Now, let me explain about this item. You do know about items and equipment that use the aura attribute to cater to the players' needs, right?”
“Yes, your ladyship. General knowledge lessons did teach us well.”
“This locket compass is also such an object as you could already see from the aura on it. However, it is more precious than any typical one out there. Now you will get to know about items and equipment known as an Artifact within the void.”
“This type of knowledge would only be available to you after graduation or through some fortuitous encounter, maybe? Anyways, it is imperative that you know such things in advance as your recent situation doesn't allow you to be still going at the same pace as other students on information access.”
She watched his focused expression and decided not to keep him in suspense as she got to explaining,
“Artifacts are those items and equipment that have at least one of the four primordial elements power in it. However, not just any produced items and equipment with elemental power could be counted as such. Only those from the previous epochs and has the property of being life-bounded can be considered as an Artifact.”
“From history lessons you should know the epochs of Endless Void. Let's test your memory. Review it for me.”
Upon her test he instantly replied like a model student that he was,
“There had been six epochs since the genesis of the void. The Chaotic Epoch, Six Regions Epoch, Calamity Epoch, Liberation Epoch, East-West Epoch and the current Imperial Epoch.”
“Brilliant! Let me elaborate further for you. The current epoch of our universe is called Imperial Epoch for a reason. After the last epoch the four cosmic empires finally saw the balance where they would keep to themselves without being need to occupy for resources or be constantly defensive against each other. Of course, the two calamity races were still as is but that's just a helpless fact for us. After all, who could even negotiate with those creatures? They are a calamity for a reason.”
“Anyways, with Netherworld and Tian Dao Continent being warded off from their dominance over the other two empires the Imperial Epoch began where the balance of power among the four was finally established. Thus the fitting name for this epoch where no one was dominant over others but had some semblance of equality.”
To her additional information he gasped from the enlightenment as he commented,
“Thank you, Lady Auburn. I have further broadened my horizons.”
“Hmm. This Artifact is from the previous epoch and it is a luck element Artifact called Compass of Fortuity. This has the effect of being able to point towards where its owner would face something auspicious or on the point that is inauspicious.”
“Luck element… indeed profound. That being said, Lady Auburn, how do I tell which is auspicious or inauspicious? Is there some indication for it?”
“All of your questions about the usage and effects it contains will be revealed after you bound it to yourself. Be warned that after having bounded the Artifact you must not, in any circumstance, let others be in its custody. It will permanently be related to the four elements you possess as an existence. I presume that I don't have to explain the seriousness of this matter?”
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To her inquiry, he nodded his head in assurance as he solemnly replied,
“Please rest assured, your ladyship. I am aware of the significance of elements thanks to teacher Franklin’s guidance.”
This teacher Franklin was someone she had invited to the academy for him to be taught about the space element. He was also an elemental affinity player but since he was just a commoner he naturally accepted the “invitation”. At that time, Julie was still not that interested in student Blue even though he possessed an elemental affinity.
After all, her family never accepted any outer denizen under its employment and she also thought that would be the case for him but of course, life was ever surprising. Now, he was considered a valuable asset for her family to even be bestowed an Artifact without still being formally recruited.
“Okay, then. Follow my instructions. Drop your blood on it and use the aura to try interacting with it after doing so. That’s all. Pretty simple, no?”
“Well, I was expecting some complex steps I had to take but surprisingly it is very easy.”
He replied somewhat dumbfounded but without wasting any time he followed her instructions. After having the Artifact life-bounded with him there seemed to be some reaction from it. The golden compass became more vigorous on the amount of aura it previously showed on the surface.
He seemed to have gained the information of its power as he raised an eyebrow in surprise.
He put the locket on his neck. With his usual all-black outfit the silver chain sticking out on his fair neck did seem more pleasing to the eye. Julie couldn't help but marvel how just a bit of jewelry magnified his handsomeness and charm.
Truly an eye candy!
Wait! What's she thinking!? As a noblewoman she seemed to keep finding herself unbecoming of her status by having such inappropriate thoughts from time to time. No matter how handsome and pleasant he was as a person but he was still just a commoner and a man much younger than her actual age.
She really should focus on some mental temperament training!
Anyways, she asked about the power this Artifact held and he replied with a pleasant smile,
“Just like her ladyship said earlier it indeed has those effects but there's also another power it holds. It would point to where auspiciousness lies for me with a green mist arrow hovering above it and for something inauspicious, a red mist arrow. There is also a yellow arrow that pertains to ambiguity where fortune and misfortune lies hand in hand for me.”
“Hoh! There was another power as expected. Well, try to avoid the yellow arrows if it activates later down the line. In my opinion, only when your level and three attainments are much higher should you try taking risks. With your potential, as long as you grow up safely till you can assure your safety even in front of a senior player’s hostility then there's no need to worry about the ambiguity. You will surely become an outlier by then.”
“An outlier? Lady Auburn, maybe I am being too overestimated? With how those two evil men toyed with me, I don't see myself being able to contend with senior players to be considered an outlier among my peers.”
“Ayy, don't look down on yourself. With my guidance and your own inherent potential even a hundred of those cultist seeds could do nothing to you. Trust me when I say all you need is a safe environment and some time to reach such a stage. What now? You don't believe my evaluation?”
“I don't dare! Since Lady Auburn is certain of it then I will be diligent and… cautious to be able to become such.”
“That's good. Now off you go. Be sure to still rest for two more days before attending lessons. Also tell that friend of yours to do the same.”
“I will comply with pleasure. Farewell, your ladyship.”
Julie observed his retreating figure after he bid his farewell with a polite bow.
She checked the time and found to her delight that there was still time to slack off a bit.
Before she had to go back to her busy schedule she decided to watch some content made by those students in the video sharing platform to pass some time.
The union has progressed much on technology in this epoch making life convenient. Unlike other empires the union had focused on such developments. That being said, it didn't mean that others were backwarded because of not going the same direction as them.
They also had their own speciality that was on par with the union’s technology.
This epoch was built on the foundation of equilibrium and any side that could progress by leaps and bounds was certain to tip the scale of geopolitics in their favor.
Julie knew of cultivators from the Tian Dao Continent who used items and equipment, which they called spiritual tools, that could also do the same functions as the internet, smartphone, supercomputers and many other sophisticated technologies.
At the end of the day, whether aura or “spiritual qi”, all races had their own foundation based on it.