Down in the basement of a dingy brothel, a newly established casino was raking in cash from unsuspecting clients. Many fell for the obvious pitfalls and marketing tricks, yet none were the wiser until their pockets were empty.
As the bright lights seemed to almost hum with the music played in a corner, the atmosphere certainly didn't look like it was extremely early in the morning. People were laughing and drinking away with smiles on their faces while others seemed to try to twist their face into becoming an avatar of wrath.
One of them was a fairly young average looking demon. He held significant horns, irking the jealousy of many bystanders and less fortunate souls around him. Sadly, the boy felt nothing of the pride he was meant to have.
Born in a wealthy and influential house, he held the golden spoon in his hands for years, an opportunity very few actually got, but he let it slip from between his fingers. His talent as a mage was near non-existent. His determination and willpower were low, the effort he put in his magic career led to nothing.
Despite 90% of his family being powerful mages, he was an outcast. The training he received from multiple teachers and even his own parents resulted in him only feeling like more of a failure than before.
His own father was Rank 4 and his mother Rank 2, they were mages that had lived for centuries, ruling over a large terrain that would put a lot of pressure the Duke. Yet their own son barely reached Rank 1 and even lost his abilities not long after.
As if his core couldn't handle the magical powers, it shut itself off, leaving the boy with a shame he couldn't put into words. The only thing he had left was the wealth his parents shared with him, because despite his inabilities, his parents still loved him.
Arriving at a table, the dealer grinned wide, a golden tooth blinked in the bright lighting. The stench of a strange perfume surrounded the man, "Welcome Akraptor, it's been a while. Have you come to test your luck again?"
The man sat down at the large table with a slight grin, 'I don't have any talent, abilities or powers, but at least, I'm lucky,' Akraptor felt that his life was filled with irony. As a man who had lost all of his powers, he was still incredibly lucky. It didn't matter what game he played, he always came out of it with a win through pure instinct. If only he could gamble on the game of life.
Playing a game of blackjack, Akraptor won a few bets while he also lost a few. He had basically reached a net positive, something many were yearning for.
After some time passed, another demon sat beside him. "Ah, mister Dex, welcome back. We're always happy to see one of our good customers."
The attendant was all smiles as the sound of chips being thrown against each other filled the room. The two men played for a while, each one winning and losing a fair amount, more than what the average spender had available, making the two demons in front of the attendant his cash cows.
Not many others dared to join their table due to their reputation. Even the attendant made sure that nobody bothered them, to keep them invested in the game.
As the dealer was preparing his next set of cards, he showed a few neat tricks to dazzle his viewers, but both seemed to be uninterested. The attendant had seen plenty of people, and after seeing the same reactions play over and over again, he could tell what they were feeling.
One held a look of boredom in his eyes, as if he had seen the same trick hundreds of times. Even when he tried to do a unique trick, nothing flickered in his eyes. The other man seemed to be following the cards, almost memorizing their location. He was used to having people stare at his hands and movements, but the intense stare almost made him a bit uncomfortable.
Trying to spark a conversation, he quickly gave the men their cards. "Have you heard? We had another mage trying to cheat his way to victory by using willpower to check the cards. Frankly, all those mage bastards should just stay out of our way, right? They have enough power to find a job somewhere, why cheat here?"
Akraptor took a swig from his drink before nodding, "Yeah, all they want is power and money. Heck, with the competition in swing, they're all trying to sponsor the victor to get even more. Hit me, Frank."
The dealer did as requested before giving him a random card. He still had some room left before reaching 21, but with a score of 18, he was given a bad hand.
Dex followed suit, "Hit me as well. Personally, I don't care much for those mages. What bothers me is the fact that we outnumber them more than 100.000 to 1, if not more, yet they hold all the power. It just doesn't make any sense."
Frank nodded as he gave a card to Dex, who instantly went over and lost. The attendant tried to appeal to their emotions.
"That's why folks like us have got to stick together, you know? Let them rot away in their ivory towers and whatnot, and let's just focus on having some fun. Akraptor, want another card?"
He looked at his odds and frankly, his chances of winning were low, but getting another card would most likely make him go over. Dex patted his shoulder, "Trust me, take another card."
Akraport grinned slightly, before heaving a sigh, "I'm not feeling it anymore. Think I'll head home after this."
The attendant instantly felt called to make him stay no matter what, "My apologies, I didn't mean to offend you, I got too invested in my colleagues affairs," bowing slightly, he hoped to improve the mood by giving him a free drink, but he didn't look all that interested.
Dex put on a confused face, "How would you offend us? Talking shit about mages has no influence on us, does it?"
Frank almost felt like there was no way for recovery now. He shouldn't have let Dex open his damned mouth. The wry look on his face made him unsure whether or not to divulge the details, both customers were some of the bigger betters, there were no good choices.
Luckily, fate had blessed him as Akraptor waved it away, "I was a mage in the past."
"You were?! Oh, my bad man, I didn't mean to...", Dex held his hands up, almost distancing himself from his previous words.
"No, don't, I agree with your thinking, it's just..." Akraptor looked at his cards with a forlorn look.
"You want to use magic again," Dex said it with a strange certainty.
"Heh, why would you think that?", Akraptor flashed a smile, one so fake, anyone could see through it. Dex pointed towards his eyes, "I can see the longing in them. I've seen that look on a few people, they all have a strong desire for something, an insatiable lust that can't be suppressed. I get it, I have the same, and I don't think you should give up. Not all the mages are bastards, you would be one of the few good ones."
Patting his back, Dex laughed it up as the attendant quickly joined to improve the overall mood. Sadly, Akraptor lost his fake smile. "I'm sorry, I got to go," leaving behind his cards, he left the table without knowing he would win or not.
"Poor man. To lose such a chance, it must feel horrible."
"Do you know how he lost his powers? I didn't even know that was possible," Dex wondered.
"Yes, well, I'm not all that well versed on it, but something happened to his core, I believe. Frankly, the details are lost on me. I think he told me once that his core is broken or something."
Nodding to himself, Dex left after playing a few more uninteresting games. Akraptor and Dex had met quite a few times now, to the point that they saw each other as buddies.
'A broken core. The same story again. That's really how he lost his powers?'
'Can't believe that shit, the man looked like a dunce. No way is he speaking the truth.'
There wasn't much to go off of. Rank 2 mages and up could lose their powers if their aura was tied to something fickle, like an emotion that could die out at any point in time or if they lost all desire for magic, letting their core run dry, and never refilling it. But a low level Rank 1 mage didn't have to worry about his aura.
Yet, if his core was cracked, it would explain why his mana wasn't being kept inside his body. Unlike some mages, who improved their bodies with mana, making it a part of their skin and flesh, a Rank 1 mage didn't have such a capability without the help of a higher ranked mage.
'We've heard it over and over, even Akraptor said something similar when we were Torsa. If we want to get his powers back, we will have to fix his core.'
'Shit.'
Lately, Lucas had learned a lot of things. For one, it was a lot harder to keep his mana inside his body, preventing it from leaking outwards, pressuring the innocent. Hiding his powers so that not even Rank 1 mages would be able to notice it was a lot tougher than he initially expected.
He failed a lot, more than he cared to admit. Not that it mattered, as long as Akraptor would never be able to figure out who he was, it was fine. Keeping his disguise on, Dex moved to a a smaller house in a middle class income area.
Entering the home, he took his coat off and placed the items in his pocket on the table. Moving to a smaller bedroom, it was completely remodeled to appear as if a madman lived there. Papers were hanging on the walls, little notes were pinned on top of each other. Random items were strewn about on a small desk. At the very center of the table, Dex couldn't help but stare at it.
Closing his eyes for a moment, he turned around to take one of his notes and read it over again. 'Next is Osaragi.'
'You know I hate putting on a stupid ass act.'
'And I've told you more than once why I want to do it this way.'
'Yeah, yeah, whatever, I ain't doing shit afterwards though.'
'Won't you at least work on one of our spells?'
'Choose, spell or act.'
'Fine, then at least act your heart out for me.'
After some time passed, a different demon stepped out of the house. A tall broad demon appeared with a small horn on the left side of his almost square-like face. His muscles were on clear display, as was his carnivorous grin.
Strutting down the street with a mission, he didn't waste a second lingering or enjoying the views. No, he was going to a special place, one where he didn't have to pretend to be someone, while also putting on an act. Truly, he felt troubled by the situation, not that it stopped him in his tracks.