Chapter 26: Chapter 26 : Starstones

Swoosh!

‘Hmm, oh there’s the library,’ Ralf noted the large building from his window. If we have time, we should pay it a visit.’

Having this thought, he continued taking in the passing scenery. Ralf and Greg were aboard a carriage, a yellow marked carriage. Many such carriages moved through Ganurg. They acted as taxis, transporting people to and fro around the town. The setup was fairly sophisticated. The roads were wide, painted with markings, and separated into lanes. Ralf noted that there was no confusion at the intersections. Clearly, there were established traffic rules and conventions.

After walking a bit, Greg flagged down a carriage, stating that he wanted to ‘conserve as much energy as possible for the upcoming battle’. Ralf saw through his words but out of consideration, pretended that he didn't.

Greg was a socialite by nature, and so was Ralf. The two’s conversation flowed like water and within minutes the two were interacting like old friends.

“So you’re from Lagner, and you were roaming the place to sell your ideas huh, interesting.”

“Yeah, what do you think? Have I come to the right place?”

“Hmm, that depends.” Greg gave his beard a rub. “Depends on the quality of the ideas presented. Though, even then, I can’t imagine there will be too many buyers. What kind of ideas are you looking to sell?”

“All kinds, my head’s filled with them.”

“Oh, interesting. And these are all your own?”

Ralf shook his head. “Nope, most of them are stolen from another world.”

“Another world…” Greg's face froze for a moment before he burst into laughter. “Hahaha, you’re an interesting lad, Ralf. After my battle, I’ll introduce you to a few of my buddies interested in this sort of thing.”

Ralf beamed at the news.

“Thanks, Greg.”

"No need, I see promise. You strike me as unordinary. Your ideas should be too, right.”

Ralf smiled. “They are.”

Greg nodded with an approving look as he sensed the youth's confidence. He enjoyed seeing such spirit in youths.

“It's fortunate that I found you.”

“To be your lucky charm?”

“That, of course, but Ganurg isn’t the kind of place you can just wander aimlessly in. The southern half is considered safe, but the north, not so much. The Blue Swan and the Wild Dogs split the north. They technically label themselves as Adventurer Guilds, but they operate no different than gangs. They've committed plenty of muggings and robberies. They’re a bothersome lot.”

‘Gangs again.’ Ralf’s eyes narrowed. The word 'gang' was quickly becoming a trigger word for him. He took a calming breath. “Then, I guess I owe you another thanks, Greg. Thanks.”

Greg shook his head. “Looking out for the younger generation needs no applause. Oh, we’re here.”

At his words, the carriage slowed down to a halt. Greg moved to pay, while Ralf peered out the window.

A large multistory building lay before him. He had seen this building when he surveyed the town earlier and was confused about what it was, but being as close as he was now, Ralf was sure of what it was.

‘This is a…gambling hall.’

Focusing on his hearing, he could hear shouts of elation and despair sound simultaneously along with dice colliding and cards slicing through the air. The more he heard, the more excited he became. Rei, silently observing was similarly thrilled.

When it came to gaining or losing money quickly, there was no better method than gambling.

“Don’t dally my lucky charm, I need you by my side.”

“Uh, yes, coming.”

Hopping out, Ralf reached Greg’s side. The two strode to the lone entrance. A board with the words, ‘The Money Pouch’ was engraved stylishly.

‘A full one or an empty one, that’s the question,’ Ralf thought as he read it.

“This is a casino run by my old friend, Moriya, a willy geezer. Ever been to one before?”

“Yeah, I’ve been to a few,” Ralf replied.

“Oh, that’s surprising.”

“So, you’re gambling. Any good at it?”

“Hmm, my luck is pretty good. I'm usually always in the black. I’m sure my frequent visits to the fountain have something to do with it. And we’re here.”

The two passed through the wide arched doorway and stepped on the long red carpet leading to the reception desk.

Entering the building, Ralf’s eyes were beset with bedazzling gold, silver, and bronze-themed decor.

‘Whoa...’ He was taken aback at the grandness on display.

[[We could take some tips from this place,]] he said.

[[Yeah,]] Rei agreed. His mind was already in the works of reconstructing their own casino. [[Focus on that board.]]

Hearing the words, Ralf’s vision shifted to the board above.

[

Rules and Regulations

1- The Money Pouch welcomes all, however, non-psionics and Naturals are barred from participating in the table games.

2- To participate, one has to be aged 18 or older and will have to reveal that they’re one of the applicable psionic classes.

3- No psionic powers are allowed to be used. Any Psi emission, purposeful or accidental will be cause for immediate expulsion.

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4- Cordial behaviour is advised. Outside conflicts should be left outside. Stirring up trouble here will result in harsh punitive measures.

5- Vandalism will be fined.

6- Thievery or designs to swindle the establishment beyond the conditional rules will result in punishment.

]

Noticing his young companion’s gaze, Greg spoke up. “Pretty much every casino has rules similar to these. Naturals’ flawless memory and enhanced analytical ability are too much of an advantage. Should they be allowed to compete, they’ll bankrupt every casino out there.”

Ralf nodded, he agreed wholeheartedly. 'I'm sure a pseudo Natural like us won't do too bad either.' Barely holding back the devious smile invading his face, he turned to Greg.

“So you’re a psionic then, Greg?”

“I am, though nothing impressive.” Saying this, Greg widened his stride and pulled away from Ralf. Three steps later, Psi burst from his body.

‘Oh, another Rank 3 Telekineti- ah!?’

As he was processing Greg’s Psi emission, Ralf’s own Psi suddenly and involuntarily erupted from his body.

Stunned for a moment, Ralf’s sharp mind worked out both the cause behind and the solution to his predicament. He took a simple back step, and lo and behold, the frenzy his Psi was whipped into vanished. Psi retracted, he stared at the ground.

“Pretty nifty right?" Greg said, watching the young man in amusement. He enjoyed watching people's reactions when they first passed through this place.

Ralf nodded.

“To enter, one has to pass over this section. You can circle around it or fly over it, but then you won’t be allowed to play any games,” Greg explained.

Hearing his explanation, Ralf’s eyes left the floor and shifted to the reception desk.

‘A good set up. In addition to serving as a security alert, the receptionists can record the people’s Psi Rank and class. That information is valuable. Entry appears free but is not…much like using a website.’

"Let’s not dally.” Greg turned and headed to the desk.

Ralf was about to follow when Rei’s voice passed through his head.

[[Ralf, what was that about?]]

While the light of understanding had hit Ralf, Rei was still in the dark. To him, Ralf had just randomly released his aura. He couldn’t understand why his other self would release his Psi, knowing the importance of keeping his status hidden.

Ralf read this confusion and promptly explained. [[Oh, that just now wasn’t my own doing. It was the valen stone mechanism hidden beneath the carpet.]]

Seeing Greg conversing with the receptionist, Ralf decided to give his other self a run down. [[Valen is one of six very special materials we call starstones. The term ‘stone’ is kind of erroneous. Some are like gems and others are like metals, but either way, that’s what we call them. They’ve only been found in meteorites, as such they're very rare commodities, though some more than others. Valen is one of the more common ones. As you just saw, if you’re close enough, the material will cause one’s Psi to release involuntarily. Well, not just Psi, all forms of Zenki.]] Ralf took a step forward and once again had his aura forcefully released.

[[Can you resist it?]]

[[Nope. From what I read, no one can. Only internal power users like Naturals and certain Uniques are immune to it.]] Ralf strode forward until he left the material's area of effect.

[[Valen saw most of its use during the Demon Hunt event. The Radiant Church in their crusade to banish demons, had humans line up to step on these valen mechanisms. If you reacted, you were a demon. And if you were a demon, you would be killed indiscriminately.]]

[[Brutal.]]

[[It was. The Great Scramble was a crazy time. Anyway, back on topic, starstones. There are six of them: valen, ogin, draconian, vantaquake, netherian…and greyline. Since we started with valen, I'll go in reverse. Greyline is meh. Honestly, it barely qualifies. It's just an ultra-dense metallic substance. It's great for high-end ammunition though. Netherian can swallow up and store electricity. Not indiscriminately though, if the energy is weak, the effect won’t be triggered. It has a lot of uses, I read that the biggest power plants use them in some way. Though, I don’t know how exactly.]]

[[What else?]]

Rei’s voice was tinged with excitement as he spoke. Ralf smiled at his other self’s giddiness and continued.

[[Next is vantaquake. You can consider this material as this world’s vibranium equivalent, but instead of it just vibrating when absorbing force, it also lights up in white light. The level of force applied directly correlates with the brightness displayed. This light is momentary. Vantaquake displaces its absorbed force through electrical discharges until the stone is once again vantablack in colour. This is the rarest and also the most valuable of the starstones. It can supposedly tank full-power hits from elite powerhouses. This also has a minimum force required to trigger the effect.]]

[[Hmm, sounds excellent.]] Rei’s interest was fully piqued. Desire filled his heart.

Ralf seemed to sense it as he shook his head. [[Getting our hands on one of these things will be impossibl- oh wait, maybe we can get some from Micheal, yeah, he should definitely have some lying around.]]

Rei's eyes lit up. [[That's an idea. Anyway, onto the next one.]]

[[Okay, next is draconian, this is the second rarest starstone. These stones constantly emit an oppressive aura within a fixed spherical domain. So, they’re essentially an Onic’s suppressive aura, but from a stone instead of a human.]]

[[This sounds good as well. How do they compare in strength?]]

[[Stronger and weaker. Draconian stones only affect psionics below Rank 7. For those Rank 7 and above, they have no effect. Though, for Rank 6s and below, the oppressive effect is stronger than anything an Onic’s Psi can achieve. So stronger and weaker. Lastly, there’s ogin. This starstone reacts to Zenki by lighting up.]]

[[That’s it?]]

[[It sounds lame but this starstone has plenty of uses. Pairing it with a light sensor and a trigger does wonders. It’s mostly used in high-tech alarm systems, though I heard, there’s also bombs and other weapons made using this tech.]]

[[Hm, I see.]]

[[And that concludes today’s rundown on the starstones.]]

[[Thank you, professor Fawkes.]]

[[That has a nice ring to it,]] Ralf mused for a moment before continuing. [[Anyways, this is a good sign.]] His eyes moved to the carpet. [[If an establishment can procure one of these rare items, they’re definitively not hurting for money. This is a good opportunity to win big.]]

[[Indeed. Oh, seems like they’re wrapping up.]]

True to his words, Greg turned back and said, “Ralf, my opponent stands ready for battle, let's go meet him.”

Ralf nodded then faked a serious expression before marching forward.

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