Trina sat in the reception room, looking around in boredom. Her gaze occasionally swept warily over the only passage leading there.
The servants nearby paid her little attention, though a few less worldly ones were surprised by the elven features she inadvertently revealed.
Some also vaguely sensed scales around the elf's neck, suggesting she might be a mixed-blood Draconic Sorcerer or something similar.
"So that's why the magpies were chattering this morning-a distinguished guest was coming! Sister Cuihua, I finally get to meet you in person."
Before long, Roland appeared in Trina's field of vision, his voice arriving ahead of him.
"Little brother Roland, I've missed you terribly too."
Trina smiled brightly and stood up.
With mutual appreciation and irrepressible enthusiasm, the two approached and looked each other over. Even the servants nearby seemed to feel their warmth, blazing like a bonfire in the night.
"You may leave us," Roland told the servants attending them.
Trina said eagerly, "Little brother, I've come to pay the deposit as agreed. Could you let me see the ring first? If it's convenient, please demonstrate what it does too."
"No problem. It's had enough time to recover its energy since yesterday," Roland said readily.
He raised his left hand and extended his middle finger toward Trina, openly displaying the ring.
Trina's eyes lit up at the sight.
"That's the ring!"
As she spoke, she tried to reach out and touch it, but Roland quickly withdrew his middle finger.
"Watch closely. I'm about to transform!"
After giving her that warning, Roland murmured the incantation to activate the ring in a low voice.
Casting through an item like this essentially used a specific command as a key to trigger its energy, relying on command incantations drawn from the study of ciphers.
That was why they were