“What kind of cheat?”
Dam Son felt kind of uncomfortable breathing in the intoxicating breath oozing out of the drunken elder’s odorous mouth. He shifted his head to the side then replied. “That’s what I came here to find out, mister. This first happened to me earlier when I picked one of these coin thingies from my head and read what was written on it.”
Dam Son picked off another black coin from his forehead to demonstrate. “I tossed it up in the air like this then suddenly a dark haze appeared and…”
“Hm?” The elder reached out to grab the coin before Dam Son could flip it. His action was so swift and precise as if he felt threatened by something. The moment the coin entered his crusty grasp, it turned to black dust which reappeared on Dam Son’s head in the shape of a coin. “Could this be what I think it is?”
“Huh?” Dam Son noticed the obtrusive expression on the elder’s face. “Mister, do you know about these weird coins? You’re kinda scaring me with your glare.”
“Boy, where did you acquire an original Kismet Coin?” As the elder asked this question, he seemed to have suddenly sobered up.
“An original what?” Dam Son had no clue what the elder was referring to.
“Wait, something is... These Black Kismet Coins seem like copies of the original. What did you do with the Abyss Script? Huh?” Papyrus darkened state caught the attention of the elder’s gaze. “Did you already feed it to your Guide, is this why it became that way?”
“If you are referring to that black coin I picked up; Papyrus might have interacted with it by mistake.”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve brought upon yourself brat?”
“What?” Dam Son had never seen the elder this serious before. He grabbed Dam Son’s hand, additionally, began dragging him towards his temple. “Come with me quick.”
“I don’t understand what this is all about. Can you let me be aware, please?”
The elder ignored Dam Son’s curiosity. After entering the decrepit abode, he started rummaging through an old chest he had stored in a corner. “I’ve finally found you.” He withdrew a piece of old cloth from the chest that had foreign characters written on it. “Give me your head brat.”
“Ah, ok.” The elder reached for Dam Son’s head roughly then began covering the Black Kismet Coin with the aged cloth. After he finished wrapping it, he whispered a few incantations which fastened the cloth onto Dam Son’s horn.
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“This will keep its potent quality from being leaked.”
“Do you mind informing us what it is you are so worried about, geezer?” Papyrus enquired. “You’ve been acting strange ever since you laid eyes on the dark coins on Dam Son’s forehead. Hurry up and tell us what you know already.”
“Hm?” The elder stared at Papyrus awkwardly. “Quite a mouthy Guide you have there, brat. You should think about disabling its Speech Script.”
“I won’t do that to my only friend.”
“Friend? This piece of paper is merely a tool. You shouldn’t treat it like a person…”
“Stop veering off-topic.” Dam Son interrupted the elder’s speech. “If you know something please tell us. Why did you wrap this band around my head?”
“I can’t tell you about this right now. Hurry up and leave.” The elder seemed fearful as he forced Dam Son out of his rundown temple. “Go attend your studies and make sure not to remove that seal that I’ve placed on your forehead. Hurry up and go! Go!”
“What about my…”
“I’ll fill you in later. For now, just go.” The elder used force to kicked Dam Son from atop his secluded mountain peak. Though he was very curious about the existence of Kismet Coins, Dam Son had no other choice but to obey the elder’s command. He went ahead to Caromine Institute to catch up on his missed lessons.
Shortly after Dam Son vacated the mountain peak, a blue portal abruptly appeared in the sky. The elder noticed it and looked above. A small group of sinister-looking Word Masters came out, observing their surroundings.
“Hm, this mountain peak seems familiar.” The person heading the gang was fiddling with a Blue Kismet Coin. Glancing below, he recognized the presence of the elder. “Huh, isn’t that Jin Hennessy?” The gang of 4 alighted onto the mountain top just a few feet away from the elder.
“What brings the infamous Vage Gang to my mountain unannounced? I can’t imagine your boss being interested in this old man's valuables.”
“Ha-ha-ha! Jin Hennessy, do you still think that your foolish jokes merit any laughter?” The sinister leader gestured to his underlings. “Go search inside.”
“Yes.”
“Since when did I become such a pushover for you youngsters to overlook?” The elder showed off his skills by unleashing a deadly kick tainted with potent Natural Verb Force at the 3 stooges. They were forced to seek shelter behind the man fiddling with the Blue Kismet Coin.
“That’s enough! Fall back.” The leader gave the order for his underlings to retreat then glared at the upset elder. “Jin Hennessy, why did you get so perturbed when I told my men to search inside? Perhaps, are you hiding something that you shouldn’t be interfering with?”
“Why don’t you come and find out?” Jin Hennessy flicked his hand invitingly at the intrusive guest. They gave each other a serious stare-down.
“Fhm, I don’t need your invitation.” Saying this, the leader directed his gaze to the Blue Kismet Coin in his grasp. He whispered an inaudible incantation and flipped it into the air. The Blue Kismet Coin turned into an inquisitive growing body of mist that scoured the mountain peak for something specific. All this took only a matter of seconds before Jin Hennessy could even react.
“Nothing is here. It appears that I’ve wrongly intruded on your premises. Another time, old man.” The sinister gang vanished their presence from the mountain peak by going through a sapphire portal.
“Phew!” Jin Hennessy exuded a big sigh of relief after witnessing the infamous Vage Gang’s disappearance. “That damn brat just has to come and interrupt the peace in my life. I should have never bumped into him at that marketplace. Damn trouble maker, why did he have to get involved with those uncouth characters?”