Lorne was aboard a passenger ship bound for Backlund, enjoying a rare moment of long-missed peace in his spacious, comfortable cabin.
This time, he felt no strange eyes watching him, and that damned premonition of "calamity" had not stirred again. At last, his journey home was truly smooth sailing.
He took out the ancient coin-shaped pendant he had recovered from the corpse of Seniors, the Admiral of Blood, and examined it carefully.
During his time aboard the Golden Dream, he had spent most of his energy studying the murals in those mysterious ruins and the Antigonus Family's notebook with the captain. He had not yet had time to take a close look at this particular piece of loot.
Through a series of divinations, Lorne had already gained a rough understanding of the necklace's effects.
It could grant its wearer "good luck," making good things happen one after another. Conversely, it could also inflict "bad luck" on the wearer's enemies, making them utterly unfortunate.
Its negative effect was exactly as the inscription described: luck was conserved. After enjoying good luck, an equal measure of bad luck would immediately follow. However fortunate one had been before, one would be just as unfortunate afterward.
From the looks of it, Sequence 5 of the Monster pathway could already directly manipulate the nebulous concept of "luck" to some extent.
It could even give this invisible, intangible thing a physical form to a certain degree, Lorne speculated.
What a shame. This isn't a potion...
Lorne had specifically asked about it earlier. Neither the erudite Edwina nor Cattleya, both Pirate Admirals, seemed to have any means of safely reverting a Mystical Item to its Beyonder Characteristic.
Originally, Lorne had intended to sell this Mystical Item for money. After giving it some thought, however, he decided to hold