After Trevor left, Ethan remained in his office for hours.
The sheet of paper lay on his desk. Strange symbols surrounded a specific time, but there was no address anywhere on it.
He stared at it for a long while.
The circles and lines reminded him of the symbols he had seen beneath the feet of the mages at the Blackwood Hotel.
"Why isn't there an address?"
Then the thought came to him.
Maybe the address wasn't missing.
Maybe the paper itself was the way there.
It was only a possibility, but something inside him told him that possibility was correct.
And this time, Ethan didn't try to convince himself that it was merely a hunch.
He knew the truth now.
His intuition wasn't just an instinct.
It was his ability.
That evening, he decided to prepare.
He went to one of the most expensive clothing stores in the city and chose an elegant black outfit suitable for an occasion whose nature he still didn't understand.
Before leaving, he used the card Trevor had given him.
The payment went through without a problem.
Ethan stared at the black card afterward.
"Still the one thing I trust the least."
He returned home and waited.
When the appointed time finally arrived, he placed the sheet of paper in front of him.
Nothing happened at first.
Then the symbols began to glow.
Ethan stopped breathing for a moment.
The air around the paper warped, as if the surface of the room itself had begun to bend.
Then everything disappeared.
Ethan opened his eyes.
He was standing somewhere he had never seen before.
A massive hall stretched before him. The ceiling was incredibly high, enormous chandeliers hung above the crowd, and the tables were decorated with gold.
But it wasn't a hotel.
It was a casino.
Ethan moved slowly through the crowd.
Then he began to notice them.
Elves.
Shapeshifters.
Dragon-hybrids.
People with features he couldn't explain.
And creatures he wasn't even sure belonged to any species he knew.
He passed a group of elves without attracting much attention.
Trevor's words came back to him.
The card concealed his human scent and interfered with magical methods of identifying him.
What Ethan didn't know was that it did more than that.
Suddenly, a white-haired elf stepped in front of him.
The elf looked him up and down.
"Black elf."
His tone was openly mocking.
"What a burden I have to carry today."
Ethan didn't understand.
The elf continued.
"Looks like the hotel has started letting its servants wear expensive clothes."
Ethan stopped.
He looked down at his clothes.
Then at the elf.
Then back at himself.
It finally clicked.
The card wasn't merely hiding his identity.
It had given him an appearance that these creatures could interpret.
And apparently, that appearance was...
A black elf.
He quickly understood something else.
From the way people were looking at him and from the elf's tone, black elves seemed to occupy a very low position in this society.
Ethan forced a polite smile.
*Trevor... when I see you again, I'm going to kill you.*
He added several other things in his head that were better left unsaid.
"I'm just a customer," Ethan said.
The elf laughed.
"A customer?"
Ethan didn't wait for the rest.
He walked past him.
Keeping a low profile seemed like the best option.
A few minutes later, however, he noticed something else.
A young human was sitting at one of the gambling tables.
Several girls surrounded him.
Stacks of money were piled in front of him, and he was laughing loudly with a bottle in his hand.
He looked slightly drunk.
Ethan stopped.
*A human?*
No.
That was impossible.
Then his intuition began to react.
Not with a clear answer.
More like an uncomfortable feeling.
*This person isn't here by accident.*
And perhaps...
*He's one of Trevor's people.*
Maybe he had a card similar to Ethan's.
If Ethan approached him, he could attract attention.
And if he was wrong, that could create an even bigger problem.
So Ethan chose the simplest solution.
He walked away.
*One Clark is enough for me.*
Eventually, he found the entrance to the auction hall.
The moment he entered, the room went strangely quiet.
Several people turned toward him.
A black elf at an auction like this?
Apparently, that wasn't something they saw every day.
One of the guards stepped forward.
"You. Leave."
Ethan took out the sheet of paper.
The same one Trevor had given him.
The guard's expression changed.
He took it, examined the symbols, then handed it back without saying another word.
Ethan entered.
And there he was.
The white-haired elf who had mocked him earlier was sitting among the guests.
Their eyes met.
The elf laughed.
Ethan simply walked past him and found a seat far away.
The auction began.
The first item was a white sword.
According to the auctioneer, it was a legendary weapon once wielded by an ancient warrior.
The bidding rose rapidly.
Ethan watched the sword.
Beautiful.
Probably powerful.
But useless to him.
He didn't know how to use a sword, and more importantly, he felt no connection to it.
It sold for an enormous price.
Then came a spear.
Then an axe.
The same thing happened.
None of them felt right.
Then the next item appeared.
A book.
The auctioneer raised it for everyone to see.
"A manuscript concerning alchemical magic."
Whispers spread through the room.
Someone laughed.
"Alchemy?"
Another person scoffed.
"That kind of magic is for humans and those with weak magical abilities."
The bidding started at a low price.
No one seemed interested.
Ethan stared at the book.
Something changed inside him.
It wasn't excitement.
It wasn't admiration.
It was something much clearer.
*This one.*
Ethan raised his hand.
"I'll take it."
Silence.
Then a few people laughed.
Someone made a small bid.
Ethan raised his offer.
No one followed for long.
He won.
For a fraction of what the legendary weapons had cost.
As he received the book, he heard laughter behind him.
The white-haired elf.
"That's what you chose?"
He looked at the book.
"Looks like the black elf can't afford anything better than a human's book."
Several people laughed.
Ethan said nothing.
He simply left the hall with the book under his arm.
Despite getting what he believed was his weapon, he didn't feel victorious.
Something bothered him.
The card was practically limitless.
He had walked into an auction filled with legendary weapons...
And bought almost the cheapest item there.
"At least I could've spent more."
He left the auction hall.
The moment he turned into the corridor, he collided with someone.
A bottle slipped from the other person's hand.
Liquid splashed across Ethan's clothes.
He looked up.
It was the young human he'd seen at the casino.
The strong smell of alcohol reached him.
The young man looked at Ethan's ruined clothes.
Then at his face.
He smiled.
"Oops..."
Ethan said nothing.
His intuition had already begun reacting again.
And this time...
It wasn't reassuring him.
Things were about to get worse.