Back in his guest room, Richard locked the door and drew the curtains.
He took the copper coin and the incense burner out of his bag and set them side by side on the velvet bedside table.
The Gargoyle crouched in the corner of the desk, its mouth open toward the room. Its fierce expression had an oddly artistic quality.
The stone carving had been in his possession for nearly two days.
The night he brought it back from his grandfather's study, he'd hugged the Gargoyle in his sleep.
The half-turn of the seal his grandfather had loosened was like a pried-open faucet, with Aether continuously trickling out through the cracks.
He'd absorbed about 0.4 on the first night. The next day, he'd hugged it a few more times on and off, bringing the figure to around 0.7.
Before going out today, he'd held it for a while again, bringing the total to around 0.82.
[Available Points: 1.32]
The rate of seepage had slowed noticeably. There wasn't much Aether left to leak out.
He didn't rush to touch it. Instead, he turned his attention to the two items he'd acquired today.
He picked up the copper coin first. The moment his fingertip touched it, the panel appeared.
He closed his hand around the coin and settled into a comfortable position against the headboard to wait.
His points crept up slowly, at a rate of about 0.01 per minute.
The copper coin's seal was relatively simple, probably a standard commercial seal Donald had added to keep the Curio from leaking Aether while on the shelf.
Commercial seals were nowhere near as strong as a Priest Inscription Seal or the silver-backed engravings Mr. Hutton used.
Once it was removed from the enhanced environment of the shop, it was like taking a block