Grand Assembly Hall
Third-year Magus Games had their own degree of prestige. This statement was proven and reinforced by the tens of thousands of spectators that were present in the assembly hall, despite the current situation with their enemy – the elves.
This number of people also hadn’t accounted for those who chose to not come and instead watch from wherever they were. The game, after all, was broadcasted throughout the part of the universe the human alliance controlled.
Returning back to those on the scene, these people came to see the future prospects of the human alliance’s young talents. To see if their favorite acolytes have really developed as per their expectations after returning to their homeworld for three years.
These expectations especially grew exponential this time, with the privileged class acolytes, who were known to be extremely talented, being involved in the first game. All of them wanted to see how their favorites’ results fared against these illustrious individuals.
As a result, passionate cheers and rapturous applause filled the magnificent assembly hall, roaring to its heart’s content when the game finally started.
While the spectators having their fun watching their favorites, on the second floor where the seats of the magus were specially arranged, one particular magus dressed in white robe was seen walking around.
The expression on his face said he was looking for a particular someone, but couldn’t seem to find them. Eventually, the magus was found by a different group, who then beckoned him to come over.
“Urix!! Come join us!”
The white-robed magus turned his head and saw the one who called him. A huge bulky man with brown skin: Darius, the magus instructor from the Earth Institution. With him were the usual people who had already gathered: the beautiful blue haired Magus Carla from the Water Institute and the always cheerful Magus Minerva.
As Magus Urix, who came from the Light Institute, approached them, he quickly asked, “Where is Xion? Have any of you seen him?”
“Nah… Haven’t seen him for a while.”
Urix then turned his head to the other two people beside the man and saw them shaking their heads softly. Receiving such answers, the blonde haired magus appeared disappointed.
This didn’t escape Magus Minerva’s attention, as she quickly snooped around and said, “Why are you looking for him?”
Urix seemed reluctant to answer that question, but Minerva unexpectedly beamed a wicked smile at him as she added, “Hahaha, I know! You are looking for him to get your payback from the last bet, aren’t you?!”
A surprise look appeared on Urix’s face, as Minerva’s words were so spot on. He did indeed want to get his payback for his two lost bets in the past because of a certain acolyte hailing from a lower realm world. This reaction of his naturally didn’t get away from the trio’s eyes.
A mischievous glint flashed over Minerva’s eyes, as she looked at Urix. Knowing what the latter was thinking, she smiled and said, “You don’t need to wait for Xion. I will be the one who bet with you!”
Hearing this, Urix hesitated. This was because he didn’t feel too good taking advantage of a female, especially one so noisy as Minerva. It would only create troublesome drama later down the line.
“Hey! Do you not believe me at all?!” said Minerva quickly, when she noticed the doubtful look on Urix’s face. “Let’s bet with the same kids! They are still under my care, you know?! Elite class seven!”
Urix still had one acolyte in class seven that his Wellenstain family chose and had been supporting, the one named Lodos, also known as the Maniac. However, the former’s previous confidence towards the Maniac was not at the level he showed last year.
In fact, he learned that Lodos once again was defeated by a certain acolyte in the friendly spar that took place on the first day of the recall. This made him hesitate to accept Minerva’s offer.
Without a real champion at hand and the fact that Xion himself was not here, Urix was considering rejecting the bet presented to him.
Minerva, who realized the other party was about to back down, immediately tried to stop him by saying, “Come on! Just one bet! Or are you too afraid to take it? Let’s bet on how far the Earth Team’s acolyte could reach? Don’t worry I will give you good odds!”
Thinking about a certain young Earth acolyte, who almost entered his family, Urix once again showed a reluctant look on his face. But then, the group’s attention was suddenly distracted by three figures who came approaching them.
“Earth acolytes? Elite class seven?”
It seemed that Minerva had spoken too loudly earlier and was accidentally overheard by these people. The group looked over and realized the ones who came toward them were all magus from a certain famous family.
There was a certain air around them, one that made Darius and the others slightly frowned. It also didn’t help that their words earlier were spoken in a condescending way. This kind of treatment toward the esteemed magus instructors really made one wonder who these people actually were.
“May I also join the bet?” said one of three people, a man in a white and gold robe.
The group was silent for a moment, before it was Darius who stepped forward and replied. “We are just playing around here. Please don’t mind us.”
Normal people would obviously leave when they were met with such a response. Unexpectedly, the man waved his hand and said, “No, no… We are, in fact, interested in these Earth acolytes. So please let me join in.”
Looking at these people and hearing those words, Minerva suddenly recalled this magus indeed had certain issues with the Earth acolytes. To be precise, their family member, who was in the privileged class had gotten beaten and eliminated on the finals by the Earth acolytes in the last year’s Magus Game.
The name of the acolyte was Armand, the acolyte hailing from Nephilim Faction.
Minerva was smart enough not to make any trouble with these Nephilim by bringing up that topic. She was about to reject the other party when the Nephilim magus who named Castor spoke in a mocking tone.
“Well, I am sorry. It’s my mistake to suggest this idea. I guess the instructors don’t get paid much to waste money in a bet.”
A vein popped at Minerva’s forehead when she heard that. She was so angry at being insulted like that.
Unexpectedly, Urix who stood in front of her suddenly stepped forward and said, “I’ll bet with you!”
Castor glanced at Urix’s direction and showed a surprised expression, as if he just realized there was a person there. “Aaa… Wellenstein… right? Alright… Let’s bet!”
Urix, who came to bet against the Earth acolytes, by some machinations of fate, was instead betting for the success of them. The bet between Castor and Urix was to see which team between the two teams in division seven did better: Armand’s team of privileged acolytes against the Earth acolytes.
“Privileges against elites, this doesn’t seem fair right? So let’s do 2 to 1.” Urix said, when they discussed the payout odds.
Out of the blue, Magus Castor laughed and then looked at Urix as if he had just heard the funniest joke of the year. “Hahahaha Urix, are you serious? Here, let me give you a better one! 5 to 1, if those lower realm scum manage to get a better result than Armand’s team! hahaha”
Eventually, two hundred thousand spirit stones were put as a bet. If Urix won, he would receive a grand total of one million spirit stones. This was an amount that was quite extravagant even for a family as prominent as the Nephilims. But on the other hand, this showed how confident Castor was in Armand’s performance.
As Urix shook the other party’s hand, he suddenly screamed inwardly for once again falling to a hole he dug himself. This time it was because of trying to show off in front of a female magus. He felt even more pain when he realized he did such a thing for someone like Minerva, he regretted his decision in that instant.
‘Well, I did lose the bet against them last time… Let’s hope I choose the right side this time, or Goddess of Fortune I will curse you!!’ Urix thought.
As a consequence of the bet, Urix watched the match with great tension. His back was completely straight, his eyes were bloodshot, his fists clenched tightly. But gradually, the tension on his body disappeared as the game went on.
A smile even began to adore his face when he saw Emery’s group managed to pass through level 3 without any of them being eliminated. In the end, a massive grin could be seen on his face when Emery and the others passed the difficult level 4.
On the other hand, Magus Castor of the Nephilim was annoyed when he saw all this. He couldn’t believe that the Earth Team, which consisted of 4 rank 8 acolytes and only one rank 9 acolyte, managed to get that far in the game.
But the frown on his face disappeared and was quickly replaced by a smile when he saw what happened next. As the level 5 began and the bridge stopped its descent, the Earth acolytes ran in five different directions.
A laugh escaped his mouth when he saw that. “Hahaha they are so stupid! They will meet their doom soon enough if they split up!!”
Just as he predicted, just a little over five minutes, all five figures of youth were annihilated by the seemingly endless horde of monsters.
“Hahahaha, Urix, you lose!!” Castor said excitedly as he turned to Urix.
However, the Nephilim magus was stunned when he saw the other party still had that smile on his face. He quickly returned his eyes to the screen and looked closely once again. A gasp got out of his mouth when he realized the five figures that just died were all just shadow clones.
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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by NovelFull,