Chapter 353: The Origin Factions (2/2)
”Did someone say a bet?”
”Who are we betting on?”
”Where's the bet happening?”
In an instant, a decently large crowd of people gathered around Cardis, Tristan, and Argentum as they heard the word 'bet' resound throughout the plaza. Naturally, all of these people were gamblers by nature, seeking the pleasure and thrill that came with sacrificing their hard-earned resources for a chance to earn more.
Seeing the crowd that had gathered around them, Tristan could not help but look at Cardis with killing intent as he knew that this guy was trying to lead him towards a dead end. With a look of anger on his face, he could not help but mutter, ”To think that the person I considered as my friend back then would betray me like this.”
”Who are you to talk about betrayal if you were the one who betrayed me in the first place?” Cardis rebutted with his own statement, prompting the crowd to scream and shout with fervor and excitement at the current situation. Of course, with no way out, Tristan decided to go all in and hope for the best as he said, ”You wanted a bet, right? Then, I'll give you a bet you won't regret.”
”I'll place in 100 Rank 9 Mana Stones on the possibility that this Pseudo-Animate right here would not be able to understand the Origin far beyond the Cycle,” Tristan said without hesitation, though in reality, his heart was arching as 100 Rank 9 Mana Stones was already three quarters of his whole assets.
In response, Cardis still had a confident smile on his face as he went ahead and formed a rift, allowing a pile of mana stones that looked like pure crystals to drop on the ground without fear. Not long after, the rift was closed, allowing Cardis to place his bet as he said, ”Alright, then. Since you're betting 100 Rank 9 Mana Stones, I'll bet 200 Rank 9 Mana Stones on the possibility that this friend of mine right here would be able to understand the Origin far beyond the Cycle.”
Soon after that, Cardis then went ahead and said to everyone, ”Everyone, listen up! If you bet that this friend of mine can't understand the Origin beyond the Cycle, then you'll win twice of what you placed in. But if you bet that this friend of mine can understand the Origin beyond the Cycle, then you'll win…”
”…ten times of what you placed in,” Cardis continued, leaving everyone in the crowd at a loss for words before they went ahead and frantically bet on the chances of Argentum achieving this or Argentum achieving that.
Of course, Argentum, who was confused as to how he was added into this bet thing out of nowhere, could not help but ask Cardis, ”How did we end up here?”
”No idea either,” Cardis said in response as he laughed it off. He then told Argentum, ”In any case, just do your best. Don't be pressured by all of this.”
'I'm not really pressured by any of this…I'm just confused…' Argentum could not help but think to himself as he listened to Cardis' statement, though he still nodded outward.
”I'll bet 10 Rank 7 Mana Stones on the Pseudo-Animate going beyond the Cycle!”
”I'll bet 30 Rank 8 Mana Stones on the Pseudo-Animate not going beyond the Cycle!”
”I'll bet 5 Rank 4 Mana Stones on the Pseudo-Animate going beyond the Cycle!”
”I'll bet 1000 Transcendent Mana Stones on the Pseudo-Animate going beyond the Cycle.” Just as the people were frantically placing their bets on Argentum's chances, a person went ahead and placed in a large bet out of nowhere, shocking everyone. But after they looked at the man who placed the bet, their expressions of shock turned into that of awe and reverence, with Cardis and Tristan even looking at the man with awe as all of them said with glee.
”Torvas!”
”Hello there. Don't mind me,” Torvas greeted everyone with a light smile on his face, with Cardis even smiling from the greeting. Though, it did not take long for Cardis to realize that if Argentum did achieve a level of understanding beyond the Cycle, he would have to pay Torvas 10 times the original amount he had placed, which he could not even do in the first place.
With this in mind, Cardis scratched his head as he sent a strand of energy to Torvas and said, ”Er…would it be possible for you to bet in le—”
Before Cardis could finish his words, Torvas looked at him and responded with a light chuckle, ”Don't worry. Think of my bet as the capital you'll use for everyone's prize. The remaining stones after that will naturally go back to me, though.”
”But of course, Torvas!” Cardis said in response, his expression that of gratitude and joy while Torvas looked at him with a light smile. Not long after, Torvas looked at Argentum with a slightly examining gaze before nodding in satisfaction.
”He definitely has the ability to do it,” Torvas muttered before leaving the area, prompting the crowd to become silent for a bit before changing their minds to bet on Argentum achieving an understanding beyond the Cycle.
Of course, while this all happened, Argentum looked at everything with an aura of confusion as he asked himself.
”How did I get myself involved in all of this?”