I heard a knock at the door and when I opened it, I found an attendant smiling politely. “Mr. Alex?”

“Yes?”

“There is a guest who is looking for you. Please follow me to the Healing Hall.”

“A guest looking for me? Is it a human looking to be treated? My shift has already ended.” I replied unhappily.

“No. It is not a human but an Everyoung. He said that you will recognise him as soon as you see him.” The attendant said.

“An Everyoung?”

Puzzled, I followed the attendant to the Healing Hall and to my surprise, I truly recognised the Everyoung. He was the employee of the House of Fortune; the gambler I last played against who allowed me to obtain a lot more points than I expected.

“Mr. Alex. We meet again.” The Everyoung said as he floated toward me. Now that he was outside the House of Fortune, he could use his psychic abilities to move around.

“Yes?” I replied awkwardly. ‘What do you want? Looking for trouble because you lost?’

“Please don’t be so nervous.” The Everyoung said as he noticed my distant behaviour. “I am not here to harm you. Instead, I would just like to have a chat in private. I am extremely curious about the methods you used at the House of Fortune.”

‘Oh. He is still thinking about that? Is he asking for himself or on behalf of the House of Fortune?’ I asked myself and answered cautiously. “Sorry, but as I said last time, I merely relied on my luck to win. I have nothing to talk about.” Although I had used up the Dice that changes the odds, I had no reason to reveal the existence of this treasure to others.

The Everyoung nodded as if he expected this answer. “Of course, but can we still have a private chat? I have a piece of information I would like to share with you.”

“A piece of information?”

“Yes.” The child-like creature smiled brightly. He was pleased to have caught my attention. “But some things cannot be talked about in public. Are there private rooms where we can chat here?”

“Not in the Healing Hall but there are some at the Spiritual Hall. Since it looks important, let’s move there.”

The Spiritual Hall was another division of the Healing Temple. It specialised in treating psychological ailments and many of the Healers there were also users of the Psychic element. They acted as psychologists and allowed the patients to share their troubles and secrets. As a result, isolated rooms had to be built for the privacy of these patients.

We were escorted to the Spiritual Hall by an attendant where the Everyoung agreed to pay the fee to use the isolated room. Once the door was closed behind us, the Everyoung let out a sigh and sat on the seat opposite mine.

“What piece of information would you like to share?” I went straight to the point. I wanted to limit my interaction with him but at the same time, I was intrigued by his words. I understood the importance of information.

The Everyoung did not waste any time either. He leaned against the table and smirked. “The lottery of that day when you won a thousand points. It was a rigged one.”

“Huh?” I did not expect his piece of information to still be related to my trip to the House of Fortune.

“It is as I said. The runes were arranged to make it land on the number 23 but a random error that we have never seen before occurred and resulted in you winning the lottery. How do you explain that?”

“How would I know?” I said vaguely. “It seems that the information you wanted to share does not interest me after all.”

“I understand. But I needed to give it a try. Maybe it will change your mind if I say that I am willing to pay for this information and not just a small amount. You don’t know the value that a foolproof method of winning games can have. I do not come here on behalf of the House of Fortune but rather for myself. You may not be aware of this, but I have never lost a hand before. But when I faced you, you somehow always folded whenever I had the upper hand. I relived our gambling sessions many times in my mind but have yet to find out which method you used. After so many times, I gradually became obsessed with it. I need to know how you did it.” The Everyoung said as his eyes trembled.

I could feel the sincerity and frustration in the Everyoung. I fell silent and stopped myself from getting up. ‘What should I do? He might be thinking that I am like him. That I have a taboo element. He looks obsessed with it and if I continued to refuse to tell him, he may reveal to me that he has a taboo element. If this happens, then he may just go crazy if he learns that I do not actually have a taboo element. Killing me would turn the Healing Temple against him but it would be better than to have the entire tower chasing after him because of his element.’

I considered my options carefully and eventually decided to reveal the existence of the dice. However, I would also take advantage of the situation as he has already mentioned that he was ready to pay a price for this information.

“Since it has come this far, then I guess I can tell you the method I used but I must warn you that it is not something you can replicate easily,” I said with hesitation and reluctance.

The Everyoung’s expression instantly brightened. “Yes. It is fine as long as it brings me peace of mind.”

“But as you said, I will not be giving you this method for free. I will ask for two thousand points in exchange. What do you think?” Two thousand points was not a small sum but considering that he was a famous gambler who always won, I determined that he emptied the pockets of many customers of the House of Fortune. I could ask for more, but I might face repercussions if he was not satisfied with my answer.

The Everyoung showed no hesitation and quickly transferred the amount directly to me.

“Very well. It is just like I said. I relied on my luck to win. When I was on the zeroth floor, I stumbled on a treasure that could temporarily improve my luck.”

“A treasure that can improve one’s luck? I have never heard of them before.” The Everyoung displayed a thoughtful expression. “May I have a look at this treasure?”

“Sadly, the treasure broke after I used it. It only had a limited number of uses and I depleted them all.”

“Is that so? That’s a pity.” The Everyoung fell silent and an awkward atmosphere settled in the room.

I observed him quietly and watched his expression shift from disappointment to relief. I could tell that he was not interested in the treasure. His goal in coming here was probably to test whether I had a taboo element or not. Now that he had confirmed that the method I used did not involve any elements, he had no more reasons to interact with me.

We left the isolated room soon after and the Everyoung once again thanked me for sharing my secret with him. It was a brief encounter that brought me an additional two thousand points.

Looking at my schedule, I had nothing important for the rest of the day. I would usually spend these hours at Eliss’s laboratory to practice potion-making. However, I had a different plan for the day.

I headed to the laboratory where I was greeted by the dark elf.

“You are a bit late.” She greeted me grumpily. “I started preparing the materials for an anti-freezing potion. You can help me with the preparations.”

Eliss was as cold as usual. She quickly returned to the workstation after acknowledging my presence but this time, I stayed near the door awkwardly. “Sorry, teacher but I am not here to practice today. I came to tell you that I won’t be able to help.”

The dark elf froze mid-step, her frosty face displayed an expression of surprise. “You are not going to help?”

“Not for today, no. I would instead like to spend the rest of the day at the Forbidden Hall to use a meditation platform.” I replied under the accusatory glare of my teacher.

“So you want to go there.” Eliss clicked her tongue lightly. “Is this what has been weighing on your mind over the past few days? I heard that you went out and used some of the points you won at the House of Fortune to purchase mana stones.”

“Yes. I think it is time for me to expand my mana pool a little bit. My progress has been quite slow since I arrived here.” I replied while masking my true thoughts. I needed to get stronger to improve my status in the Healing Temple. I was too insignificant as a first circle healer. I was fine with it at first but now, I no longer wanted to be used as a disposable pawn. Furthermore, I also needed a better status if I wanted to truly help my parents or the people, I became acquainted with in the past. One could say that the encounter with my cousin opened my eyes. My original plan would have worked just fine if I remained alone, but I could not continue to lie low if I wanted to be able to help the people who were important to me.

“Fine. You can go there. But if you miss too many lessons, you will end up taking longer to become a potioneer.” Eliss eventually gave her approval but threw a few books at me to read in the evening.

“I will manage my time properly. Becoming stronger is not a bad decision. Even you, as the youngest potioneer of the Healing Temple, are already at the third circle.”

“Don’t flatter me. Just go. The meditation platforms are usually available at this time of the day but if you take too long, you may not have enough time to enjoy its benefits fully.”

The meditation platforms were structures designed to help creatures in absorbing the mana from mana stones and mana crystals. Whenever a mana stone was absorbed, only a small portion of the mana inside would be effectively used to expand one’s mana pool. The rest would be lost in the atmosphere. The purpose of the meditation platform was to absorb the mana escaping in the atmosphere and to redirect it back to its user. It trapped the mana around the user, creating a highly concentrated area where the user could gradually absorb the mana in the air. When used effectively, it increased the effect of each mana stone by about 15%. The only downside was that the mana absorption process was not instantaneous, and the user would generally have to wait for a long time on the platform to absorb the extra 15%. However, considering the scarcity of mana stones, especially as one advanced to higher circles, the use of a meditation platform was greatly beneficial.

I had already prepared for this session and went out to purchase a handful of Intermediate quality mana stones. The two thousand points given by the Everyoung would come in handy to purchase the mana stones I needed. I paid a few points to use the meditation platform and sat down at the designated area.

My mana pool was only large enough to allow me to cast Heal twenty-six times. It was time to change this.