Lorian enjoyed the evening with everyone, but his mind was racing to check his mystic coin and what it could bring.
The night went well, and he rushed back to his chamber and closed the door shut from inside.
"Feelin' excited, my man!" spoke a familiar voice in the empty room.
However, Lorian had been used to it by now and thus did not get worried or afraid.
"Now tell me how to access the coin and how to use it." Lorian asked.
"Hmmmmm! It's a game of manifestation, babe!" Azal'Gul replied as his body was slowly taking shape as if smoke was solidifying.
Lorian nodded, closed his eyes, and tried to manifest the 'Mystic Coin.'
To his surprise, in his hand appeared a coin just like he had imagined—a gold coin with a warm glow and strange inscriptions.
He wondered how it was possible, and suddenly it dawned on his mind.
He threw an angry, suspicious stare towards Azal'Gul. "You did not know the design, so you let me, right?"
Suddenly, the Demon's usual smug and cocky appearance changed, as if his trick got exposed.
He fumbled, "Well, between you and me, I am a new demon prince; I have been there for not more than ten thousand years."
"And…," Lorian pressed on.
Azal'Gul fell silent for a bit, took a deep breath, and then there was a faint smile.
"I am a new kid on the block. And my imagination is largely based on your memories you left behind in the Great Dark!"
"How did you access my memory?" Lorian gets further suspicious.
"You have accessed my memories? When and how?" Lorian suddenly got alert, feeling his personal space being invaded.
"No need to get alert; you see, the Great Dark is made of what you call emotions. There is nothing physical that exists, as you know; everything is a different shape of emotion.
So when you entered there and stayed, your emotions continuously seeped, and I, being interested in you, had picked them up. Your emotions are always entangled with memories—which is how I got hold of your memories!"
Azal'gul moved his hands like rappers, "Like your love with rap music, aah, man, I love them!"
Lorian smiled and realized why he was earlier acting like this.
After these clarifications, Lorian moved on to the use of Mystic Coins.
However, to his surprise, Azal'gul suddenly became a bit secretive and uncooperative.
According to him, there were a lot of restrictions on beings like them interacting with mortals and other denizens of the world.
So he made this slot machine to help Lorian indirectly, with the added function of unpredictability so that it does not give Lorian an undue advantage in the form of divine intervention.
And if he divulged that secret technique, the factor of unpredictability would be lost, making Lorian a target of investigation by other divine beings.
However, Lorian was confused at this, as he felt he was constantly being observed by a divine being who had transmigrated his soul into this world from his old world.
But Azal'gul assured him that the Divine beings make such a bet on hundreds of souls at any given point of time, as it is their favorite form of entertainment, and focusing on only one soul for long would make them restless, and it could lead them to actively participate, messing up the worlds.
That made sense to Lorian.
However, Azal'gul gave him two clues—
1) There are three tiers of rewards; each will be unlocked after spending a certain amount of Mystic Coins.
2) The rewards are perishable and expire within 48 hours. However, if one wants to keep it for longer, he can purchase 'Potion of Preserve' with 5 mystic coins for tier 1 rewards, which will keep a reward usable for a whole month.
Lorian thought for a while.
Should he wait using the slot machine for a moment? He needed a divine intervention, or should he check the reward and decide where to use it?
He made up his mind after pondering for a while and decided to use the slot machine.
He manifested the slot machine as he summoned it, then put the mystic coin in it and pulled the trigger.
A familiar sound of it working, and from the dispenser hole a scroll popped out and fell in Lorian's hand.
The scroll was tied with a red velvet ribbon.
He was wondering what to do when a blue ornate window appeared floating in front of him.
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"Hidden Detail"
Tier: 1
Category: Information Snippets
Description:
"Suddenly, when looking at an old desk in the library, your eyes are drawn to a loose panel or a slightly misaligned book on a shelf. You find a small, forgotten key or a hidden message from decades ago. It is about spotting things that are literally hidden in plain sight, usually minor, overlooked items or clues in his immediate surroundings.
The power manifests thrice after consumption of the scroll and remains for the next 24 hours.
When you are lost, at your wit's end, or miss something obvious, this power will manifest automatically!"
================================
Lorian was excited.
He was afraid it would be something with little to no real help.
But this reward seemed pretty useful, and he was excited about how it would work.
From the description it appeared that the power was not going to manifest when he wished, but when it was needed.
Well, it was promising, Lorian thought.
But anyways, he had 48 hours for it to get consumed.
Lorian jumped on the bed and fell asleep, as Azal'gul spent the night trying to practice a rap song!
The next day, Lorian decided to again check on the working of the Veridia Restoration Fund.
It was going well.
So after observing the whole operation for a few hours, he decided to take the next step.
Accompanied by Jax and Kaelen, he went to the shady bar in the Alley.
Its name was 'Whispering Door'!
Grisel, the bartender-come-owner, bowed as soon as he saw the three coming.
"Welcome, my lords. An early visit. How may I be of service to you this morning?" Grisel asked with a voice steeped with reverence.
Lorian replied with a smirk, "Well, a great way actually, more than you could hope for!"
Grisel was a bit taken aback by such a remark.
Jax did not mind him and nonchalantly picked a fine bottle of ale from the counter as if he owned it.
He bent a knee in front of Lorian to ceremonially offer the bottle to Lorian.
Lorian was amused and asked Kaelan, "Did you?"
Kaelen smiled back and nodded positively; there was a sense of pride in his eyes.
Jax took two more bottles and threw one to Kaelen, who swiftly caught it.
The three raised their bottles to each other and started drinking from them.
Grisel was a bit dumbfounded but did not dare to utter anything in fear of disturbing.
Jax spoke to Grisel with a heavy cold voice, "My lord had proposed you something….."