LOM: Lord of Mysticism

In the Divination Club, situated at the second floor of 13 Howes Street, North Borough of Tingen City.

Klein saw the beautiful lady that attended to visitors once again.

"Hello, Mr. Glacis isn't here today. Would you like to change fortune-tellers today?" she said.

"Do you still remember me?" Klein asked.

"You are the first customer that sought Mr. Glacis's services, so I have an impression of you."

Was this the image of me being penny-wise, pound-foolish? Klein lampooned himself as he deliberated a question. "When was the last time Mr. Glacis came to the club?"

The lady answered seemingly in recollection, "To be honest, we are unable to grasp when our members will come and go. They have their free will and personal matters to tend to. Mr. Glacis hasn't come to the club since he told your fortune."

"I'm not here for divination services this time. I plan to join the club." Klein said.

"Really? That's our pleasure. For the first year as a member, the membership fee is five pounds. It will be one pound a year thereafter." she said.

Klein took out a five-pound note and paid the woman.

"Please feel your information. Let me prepare the receipt for you."

Klein picked up a fountain pen from the desk and filled in his details but deliberately left his date of birth empty. To a Seer, that provided profound mysteries about his body through his Life Path Number.

After finishing his registration as a member, the lady extended her hand. "Congratulations on joining Tingen City's Divination Club. I'm Angelica Barrehart, your hardworking server. This is your member cufflinks. There have special inscriptions on them that will identify you as a member."

Klein shook her hand and took the dark gold cufflinks that had a special inscription written with the root word for 'fortune-teller' in Hermes.

Angelica then asked. "Might I ask what divination arts you are most familiar with? Or would you prefer to learn some divination methods from the club? We will consider inviting famous fortune-tellers of the corresponding domain to give classes. We will also introduce you to members with similar expertise."

"I know a bit of every divination art. There's no need to give me any special considerations." Klein said, then inquired, "Can I begin telling the fortunes of others? I'm not a total rookie."

He was here to act as a Seer and not learn the divination methods ordinary people could learn.

Angelica said politely, "You can tell the fortunes of people anytime in the club. However, before we confirm your skills, we will not promote you. How much do you plan on charging for your fortune-telling?"

"Two pence." Klein kept the price low while he was still unknown.

"We will go by the standard of taking an eighth, so we will be taking a quarterpence for fees..." Angelica repeated the various rules first before writing Klein's information into the fortune-teller album, which customers could choose from, and pointed at the meeting room at the far end of the corridor.

"Mr. Hanass Vincent is currently explaining astrolabe divination. You can find a quiet spot to listen in. You can also raise your questions if there are any queries."

"Alright." Klein walked toward the meeting room and to the half-closed door when he heard someone explaining.

"Astrolabe divination is a relatively more complex one among the divination arts..."

But that's only for ordinary people… Klein saw about five tables placed in a circle inside the meeting room that surrounded a middle-aged man in a black classic robe, Hanass Vincent.

The gentleman had obvious dark circles with brown hair. Upon seeing Klein enter, Hanass Vincent nodded without stopping.

Klein found a seat to the sides and sat down. He scanned the circle of six members, four men and two women.

Some of them were attentively taking notes, whispering, or returning Klein a rueful smile. Klein tapped his glabella twice in the process and cast his gaze at Hanass, seeing the different colors, brightness, and thickness of his aura.

"Dark red. He's a little worried... Actually, every other part of his body is healthy except that part. I wonder what's wrong..." Klein listened to the class while muttering to himself.

Although he could only make a general judgment and not the details, his ability was enough to provide him useful information.

He tapped his glabella twice again as though he were pondering over something.

Astrolabe divination was one of the astromancy divination methods. Ordinary people could also attempt to interpret things. For instance, the most basic birth horoscope was to determine the inquirer's fate by determining the positions of celestial objects in the sky that correspond to their birth, matching the representative symbols to the astrolabe, and the situations of the different constellations.

This required the fortuneteller to be able to calculate the states of the planets and constellations, which was rather complicated. Of course, there were publications that aided people to look up the values. Some even simplified it by making a vague read with just the constellations.

After some time, Hanass said, "Perhaps you will need to attempt at creating your own astrolabe. Ask me if you have any questions. I will be in Moonstone."

After he left, a young man walked to Klein's side. "Nice to meet you. I'm Edward Steve."

"I'm Klein Moretti." Klein waved at him.

"Astrolabes are too complicated. Every time I listen, I can't help but doze off," Edward said self-deprecatingly.

Klein grinned and said, "That's because Mr. Vincent can't help but pass the knowledge he grasps to us. It's like giving us an Intis feast. It's just indigestible."

"I'd be able to finish the Intis feast. They usually use a huge plate to serve tiny bits of food." Edward chuckled and asked out of curiosity, "Are you new? I've not seen you in the two years I was here."

"I just joined the club today," Klein answered.

"What are you good at? I'm best at tarot and poker divination," Edward asked.

"I know a little of everything, but just a little." Klein said.

Just as the other members were thinking of talking about horoscope divination, Angelica walked into the meeting room. "Mr. Steve, someone wants you to tell them their fortunes."

"Alright." Edward stood up.

"You must be an excellent fortuneteller," Klein said.

"No, it's because my price is most suitable. When ordinary people come to have their fortunes told, they will not choose the most expensive ones. It's easiest to gain opportunities if you are in the middle." Edward explained.

Klein stood up and found Angelica again. "I wish to change the prices of my divination. Uh, set it to eight pence."

Angelica took a deep look at him. "We will satisfy your request, but we will also tell customers that you only recently joined the club."

"No problem." Klein nodded.

At times, mystery was also an important element for a Seer to attract customers.

After changing his details, Klein returned to the meeting room and saw Hanass Vincent walk out of Moonstone holding a silver-coated mirror.

The well-known fortune-teller said to the five members in the meeting room, "I recently learned a new divination art. Magic mirror divination. Does anyone want to learn?"

Magic mirror divination? That's not safe... Klein frowned.