Rent?!
Durin was startled at first, then immediately pulled out 4 silver lun coins and 13 copper circle coins from his pocket and handed them all at once to Daniel, saying with a smile, "Sorry, I didn't come home last night, otherwise I would have paid yesterday."
"No worries, no worries, it's just one day, not a big deal," Daniel waved his hand, not caring in the slightest.
Then, he changed the subject and asked curiously, "Mage Durin, you haven't been to my house these past few days, has something delayed you? My daughter has been mentioning your name, saying she has something she wants to share with you, but when we ask her, the child won't say. Do you think today is convenient?"
Durin readily agreed: "No problem. How about this, I'll take a shower at home first."
"That's great! I'll wait for you in the car and read the newspaper for a bit, no rush," Daniel's brown eyes suddenly brightened, and he said with a slightly excited tone.
After paying the rent, Durin's current total assets were: 2 gold couzeri coins, 6 gold cogwheels, 12 silver lun coins, and 12 copper circle coins.
After closing the door, Durin casually tossed the sealed bag onto the table. He had already seen what was inside: an honorary certificate, an Enforcer's police ID, and a handgun-shaped weapon whose grip's energy source had been replaced with a miniature Hextech Gem.
The barrel was slightly enlarged, and three brass coils were wound around it to serve as the muzzle for firing Hextech energy blasts.
Since Seraphine's father, Daniel, personally came to find Durin, he suddenly had an idea: why not take this opportunity to use one of the two Devil Potions in advance to test whether Seraphine's soul-singing could indeed help his method of forging the soul, as he had thought.
Moreover, Durin estimated that taking this potion would make him sweat a lot, and he certainly couldn't go see Seraphine smelling bad; that would be too disrespectful, let alone ask for her help.
After thinking all this through, Durin first filled a large basin with cold water in the washroom. He realized he might need a bathtub in the future, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to immerse his whole body in cold water when taking the Devil Potion.
For now, he could only make do by burying his head in the basin of water.
Then, he took out a hexagonal prism-shaped glass potion bottle from his handbag. It contained a cyan liquid, reflecting his handsome and firm face.
The moment the cork was pulled from the bottle's mouth, the entire cyan liquid instantly erupted with a large number of bubbles, boiling as if ignited.
Durin drank it all down in one gulp, then slowly submerged his head into the cold water basin until it was completely covered.
Pain!
It was very painful!
An indescribable pain!
Durin felt his entire body begin to ache intensely, as if countless crawling creatures wanting to tear at his flesh were covering him.
The toxins in the Devil Potion began to permeate Durin's body; his muscles seemed to dissolve, then were forcibly squeezed back into their original shape by human violence, much like molding clay.
Aside from the intense pain and numbness, his limbs were completely unable to move.
But Durin's brain, at this moment, became exceptionally clear and active. He even instinctively began to operate his mental power, causing the surrounding elements to continuously converge around his body.
What is the soul?
What is its relationship with "thought," "spirit," and "consciousness"?
Before Durin transmigrated, he had heard a saying that even if the physical body is destroyed, the soul remains immortal. But when he truly experienced the tearing and torment of his soul, he was still very nervous.
Durin's mental power, carrying the flowing elements, began to follow the trajectory of blood vessels and meridians within his body, bringing thought, spirit, and will into a unified frequency.
At this moment, Durin unleashed his emotional state. In an instant, negative emotions such as anger, slaughter, destruction, and bloodlust erupted like a volcano, surging into his mind. His entire consciousness felt as if it were submerged by volcanic rock.
He seemed to be within it, yet also transcending it.
Undoubtedly, Durin had entered a true meditative state. He could feel the elements flowing in the air, churning and mixing with his consciousness, like a concrete mixer commonly seen on construction sites, constantly turning the world upside down.
Unconsciously, Durin's will began to change, like the collision between a hammer and a red-hot iron ingot, producing a scene of sparks flying everywhere.
Each blow struck Durin's soul fiercely.
That kind of pain was like undergoing a bone marrow extraction surgery, and without anesthesia at that.
Coupled with holding his breath underwater, which would gradually deprive the brain of oxygen, that feeling of suffocating near death was not something ordinary people could experience.
But after each bout of pain, there would be an indescribable feeling of comfort, as if Durin had gone to a bathhouse and received a thorough scrubbing from a scrubber after a soak.
Although it hurt, it felt good, cleansing all the dirt from his body, making him feel incredibly light. When his head rang with a buzzing sound, Durin realized his soul had reached its limit; this was a warning from the soul.
As consciousness returned, the faint glow around Durin's body gradually dimmed.
...
Because he had held his breath underwater for a relatively long time, Durin gasped for air after lifting his head from the cold water basin. Although the entire process was very short, only a few minutes, to him, it felt as long as a century.
If there were others present, they would have noticed a dazzling gleam in Durin's pupils, a characteristic of overflowing mental power. However, the gleam quickly faded, replaced by an endless exhaustion and a wave of sleepiness.
Now he needed to take a shower, then change into clean clothes and go with Daniel to see Seraphine.
And his purpose, naturally, was to see if her soul-reaching singing could have a healing effect.
After spending five or six minutes showering, Durin put on a black short-sleeved shirt and casual pants, carrying his instrument bag. As for the scimitar and shield, Durin thought about it and decided to carry them with him.
Keeping his life safe was more important, and to be on the safe side, Durin even specifically took out all the books from his Storage Ring, leaving only a Hextech pistol inside.
As for the Enforcer's police ID, he chose to keep it in his pocket. After confirming everything was in order, Durin set off and arrived at an open-top steam car by the roadside.
Sitting in the car, Daniel gripped the steering wheel, his fingers tapping rhythmically.
Upon seeing Durin open the passenger door, Daniel asked curiously, "Mr. Durin, why did it take you so long?"
"I was just practicing a mental exercise at home, meditating a bit, to ensure I'm in the best state to see Seraphine," Durin casually explained.
"Oh, I see," Daniel nodded thoughtfully, then stepped on the accelerator, starting the steam car and heading towards Gryllweir Street.
This area belonged to the middle-class residential part of Piltover.
Soon, they stopped in front of a small villa with a garden.
Before going in, Daniel specifically cautioned before getting out of the car, "Mr. Durin, actually, my daughter's emotions have been a bit off these past two days. She seems very nervous. Her mother woke up in the middle of the night last night and saw Seraphine sleepwalking. This is something she's never done before, so I wondered if she heard some strange sound again and her psychological pressure increased."
"Sleepwalking?"
Durin was instantly stunned; he hadn't expected Seraphine's condition to suddenly become so severe.
After interacting with her for a while, he could clearly feel that her condition was improving, so how could she suddenly start sleepwalking…? Durin remembered that the biggest reason for sleepwalking was poor emotional state; irritability, anxiety, and excessive suppression sometimes manifested as physical muscle reactions.
Did she hear some strange sound again?
Durin suddenly recalled that after a previous therapy session with Seraphine, she had inadvertently mentioned hearing a very evil, terrifying female voice, and that voice had also stated it would definitely find Seraphine.
Now it seemed that the evil female voice at that time was, in fact, that of a Demon.
Could it be…
—The injured Demon found Seraphine again to heal her wounds?
After all, a mage's soul born with surging magical talent, especially one that is innocent and pure like a young girl's, is the most delicious to Demons.
If that were truly the case, Durin would have to be on high alert, meaning the Demon was hiding nearby. He also needed to find a way to inform Shauna Vayne, the true Demon Hunter Master.
With this thought in mind, Durin had just gotten out of the car and looked up when he saw a young girl with long, wavy pink hair curiously staring at him from the study's balcony.
"…"
Durin quickened his pace, entered the house, and walked directly to the stairs leading to the second floor, arriving at the door of a study with a small balcony.
[Knock before entering].
A note with graceful handwriting was pasted on the door.
Durin's finger rested on the door for a moment, then he took a deep breath and gently knocked a few times: "Miss Seraphine, I'm Durin, may I come in?"
There was no response from the room.
His heart sank slightly. Durin waited for a short while, quickly composed himself, and knocked again.
This time, the door in front of him suddenly opened.
Seraphine was wearing a very loose short-sleeved shirt and jeans, her wavy pink hair flowing down. Her attire looked casual. But even dressed like this, she still looked very girlish.
If Durin were to give a comment, it would be that she was so tender you could almost squeeze water out of her.
The 'young' here wasn't Durin looking down on her due to age, but rather that she indeed exuded a gentle and lovely aura like a girl next door. Her pink wavy hair reached her waist, and on her delicate face, her skin was fair and clean, looking like a flawless piece of mutton-fat jade.
A pair of deep blue eyes, as profound as the night sky, perfectly reflected her personality.
One glance was enough to confirm: pure.
"Good morning, Mr. Durin."
Durin also showed a slight smile and said, "Good morning, Miss Seraphine."
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