It had always been a joke amongst Raymond's friends back in the old days, that he was no different from a mage. He'd had always an abnormal eye for details, so much so that it seemed divine. Every coin traded, every bottle drank, every breath those around him took. He perceived it all at once, constantly updating and accounting for the changes around him. He acted careless, but that act simply served as a veil for him to observe every movement around him. When he walked into the Jumping Snake Bar, he made sure to pay attention to every order that was made, every movement those around him made, and every time a glass was raised to someone's lips.

It was not something he had been born with, but a habit he had accumulated due to years and years of observation and experience. His skepticism had been sharpened over decades by the whetstone known as trauma, and left in its wake a man who questioned every thing he saw. Scars still ached on his body to this day, and their presence could be fe