The owlet started making strange sounds. Sometimes they resembled whistling, sometimes hissing or creaking.
"What do you want? I don't understand you," Cassian said, looking at the owlet standing on his hand.
The owlet turned its head toward Cassian but didn't stop making the noises.
"Damn, when is Marcel finally going to come back?" Cassian thought.
Suddenly the owlet spread its wings. They looked a little over a meter in span. It tried to take off but couldn't and nearly fell off Cassian's hand.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Cassian said in confusion.
The owlet dug its talons into his elbow — not the part covered by the leather glove, but the bare area only protected by the fabric of his white shirt. Trying to hold on, it tore the sleeve of Cassian's shirt with its claws.
"Hey, that's enough, calm down!" Cassian shouted.
The owlet finally got a better grip.
"Ouch, that hurts! What are you doing?" Cassian said.
The owlet's talons were incredibly strong, even though it was only a month old.
"Damn it. I only had two white shirts to begin with, and you just ripped one of them," Cassian said grumpily, looking at the owlet.
After that, the owlet calmed down. Cassian tried to stroke its head again — for the third time. This time the owlet allowed it.
"Wow, you're already letting me pet you. Progress," Cassian said with a smile.
At that moment Marcel returned. In his hands he carried the now-clean owl cage.
"All done, I washed the cage," he said and placed it back on the nightstand where it had been before.
"Finally, you're back," Cassian exhaled in relief.
Marcel looked at him.
"What happened to you?" he asked, bursting into laughter.
Cassian glanced at his bleeding index finger, at the torn sleeve of his shirt, then at the owlet, and back at Marcel.
"Well, at least he let me pet his head," he said.
They both laughed.
The owlet started making various sounds again.
"Damn, is this going to go on for long?" Cassian asked.
"That means he's hungry," Marcel said.
He walked over to one of the boxes with freezing magic crystals. Inside lay two frozen rats — the same kind he had fed the owlet that morning. Marcel picked them up.
The owlet immediately jerked and spread its wings again.
"No, no, no, this time I'm not letting you," Cassian said.
He carefully took the owlet with both hands and placed it back into the cage. After that, Marcel put the two dead rats inside. The owlet immediately started eating.
"Ugh, I don't think I'll ever get used to this," Cassian said, turning away.
"Yeah, we can't keep him in such a small space. We need to find a proper place for him," Marcel said.
"Couldn't you have thought about that earlier?" Cassian asked.
"Calm down, we'll figure something out. When have we ever not figured things out?" Marcel replied. "By the way, young owls need about five hundred to seven hundred grams of meat per day in their first few months. But not just any meat. It has to include feathers, fur, and bones — it's necessary for their digestive system."
"In short, we'll keep feeding him rats?" Cassian asked.
"Yeah. They sell them at the same shop where I bought this owlet," Marcel answered.
"Well, nothing to be done. Guess we'll have to spend money on him too," Cassian said.
"But he'll be your companion for life. Owls usually live a long time," Marcel said.
"We'll see what happens in the future," Cassian replied.
"Okay, I need to wash my hands," Cassian said and went into the bathroom.
The bathroom was small: about one meter wide and two and a half meters long. It contained a toilet, a sink, a shower, and one mirror. Cassian looked at his reflection. He looked completely ordinary: a fair face, wavy unkempt black hair of medium length, and bright blue eyes.
He washed his hands, rinsed the blood off his finger, then took off his shirt. His gaze fell on the black bracelet on his right wrist — the very one Professor Joseph had left him.
"Speaking of Professor Joseph… what happened to him?" Cassian thought. "He was running from some people. I hope he's okay."
He looked at the bracelet again.
"What is this bracelet? Why is it so strange?" he thought.
Cassian tried to take it off, but the bracelet seemed glued to his wrist.
"What? Why won't it come off?" he muttered.
The bracelet wouldn't budge. At that moment, a voice sounded in his head.
[Attention! Removing the bracelet is temporarily prohibited. Initialization of the new owner is in progress. Please wait.]
The voice was pleasant and feminine. Cassian jerked his head around, but there was no one in the room.
"Was that… a voice in my head?" he thought and tried to remove the bracelet again.
[Removing the bracelet is temporarily prohibited. Initialization of the new owner is in progress. Please wait.]
"Is this because of the bracelet?" Cassian thought. "It looked strange from the start. It's like it's made of thousands of separate black strands, and each one is rotating around my wrist on its own path."
"Tomorrow I absolutely have to talk to Professor Joseph," he decided.
Cassian washed his hands once more and walked out of the bathroom as if nothing had happened.
"Wow, did you buy a new bracelet?" Marcel called out.
"Nah, it's a gift from one of the professors at the university," Cassian replied.
"It looks kind of unusual. Like it's moving," Marcel noticed immediately.
"Maybe it's something magical," Cassian answered.
"Okay, what are we doing for dinner?" Marcel asked.
"No idea, any suggestions?" Cassian replied.
And so another day passed.
…
A new day arrived.
Today Cassian's classes were in the afternoon, and he had no tutoring sessions. So he woke up at ten in the morning, after Marcel had already left. On the table Marcel had left a note.
"I fed the owlet. Your breakfast is in one of the freezing boxes. We're out of food for the owlet. Don't forget to go to the shop and buy some."
Below was the address of the shop written.
Cassian read the note, put it back on the table, and looked at the bracelet. He tried to take it off again, and to his surprise, this time the bracelet didn't resist.
Suddenly a voice sounded in his head, and text appeared before his eyes. It was semi-transparent and emitted a faint blue glow. The voice read out the text that had appeared in front of Cassian.
[Attention! Initialization complete. New owner — Cassian Vale. You will not be able to use the system if you remove the bracelet from your hand. The system will be disabled until you put the bracelet back on.]
"Holy crap," Cassian muttered.
Another line appeared before his eyes.
[If you wish to transfer the system to another person, you must begin the transfer process three days before the moment you hand over the bracelet.]