The crowd thickened around the seller, bodies swaying forward like moths toward a lantern. His voice, clear and theatrical, rang over the buzz of the street with a practiced confidence that belonged to someone who had done this far too many times.
"Welcome! Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, mana users, mercenaries, apprentices of great potential and unfortunate poverty!" the seller began, sweeping his arms in an arc as though unveiling the heavens themselves.
"You have arrived at just the right moment! For today—yes, today only!—you are invited to partake in the grand game of fate, the trial of wisdom and daring, the one and only Mystic Artifact Fortune Game!"
Nolan arched an eyebrow from the edge of the crowd. "Mystic… Artifact… Fortune Game?" he muttered under his breath. "That name alone makes me want to punch someone."
The seller was undeterred by doubt or the skeptical glances being traded. If anything, he was feeding off them.
