It was jammed packed with people on all sides, circling inwards towards a round ring. That area was slightly lowered, and there was crystals circling the outside of it. The crystals arrangements looked like it is a protective array. So, I assumed that the ring is a fighting ring.

Suddenly, I heard a voice of a person. The voice was loud and clear. "The participation for the free-for-all competition is almost close. Anyone who still wants to join, please be quick and come over to the registration counter straight away." It was an announcement, so I believed he used a magical device that amplified his voice to make it so loud that the whole stadium could hear it.

I was curious about the competition, so I walked over to the counter and decided to participate. I filled up a form and registered under the name "Renikno" because I was afraid that revealing my identity might prove a little annoying in the future.

They asked if I would like to bet anything. They explained "A competitor will automatically get a free bet of a hundred credits. The bets will determine the rewards. Top 12s will get a reward twice as much as the value they bet. Top 5 gets five times the value. Third place will get you ten times, runner up will get fifteen times while the winner will get Twenty five times the value they bet as reward. Of course, if you didn't get into any of the top 20, you would lose your bet and get nothing."

They added that betting weapons will allow us to retrieve other items or weapons. The betting value of our weapon will even get a slight boost than the original value.

After hearing about weapon betting, I already grasped a basic understanding of what happened to Darksky. The most likely story was that the trader bet the crystal and Darksky, but ended up losing both of them. So, now he is trying to use me to get his crystal back. Well, this means it wasn't stolen. To be honest, I never really trusted the trader anyways. I only hoped that he would at least keep his promise and give me Stardust if I gave him the crystal.

"Just one last question. Can I still use my weapon in battle if I bet it?" I asked. I was hoping that I might be able to bet my daggers to increase my bet amount. But, of course I have no plans on losing it.

"Yes, but the value of the weapon would not be boosted as much. And also, if a weapon gets too damaged or straight up broke in battle, the bet will be nulled. Normally, a weapon would get up to a 20% boost in value. If someone were to use the weapon in battle, the boost in value they receive is usually only 5% at maximum."

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"Oh, alright then. Can you take a look at my daggers. I would like to know their value. Maybe I'll bet them, but I'll be using them in battle too."

The person behind the counter turned around and asked another person to come over. I believe he is a treasure and weapons expert. He wore a dark suit and has a name tag with "Einzburn" written on it.

Mr Einzburn had a close look at my daggers and said, "A pair of daggers made out of Mupryx, titanium, and another element huh? The design is basic. Balanced for powerful short range throws. I would say.... Maybe just over 2 thousand? The betting price could increase it to 2.15 thousand. The total value of both of these would be 4.3 thousand. Is that okay?"

"Oh..." I acted sad. "Since it's value is so low, I guess I'll just won't bet it" I kept one of the daggers and held another in my right hand. I raised my right hand above my head as I stared at it. "I thought the abilities of the dagger would at least increase its value by a little bit, but I guess maybe not." I did a barrage of magic infusion into the dagger. First, fire magic, then earth, and wind, poison, weakening, ice, and so on...

I knew that I have mesmerised everyone there as all of them were staring at my dagger intensely. I dramatically turned around and took three steps. Mr Einzburn suddenly shouted. "Wait! Please wait! I was wrong! It's worth at least 5 thousand each! I can set the betting value up to 5.5 thousand!"

I stood still for a second or two. Then I turned my head around and gave a shook. After that, I took another step. Then, Mr Einzburn proposed "10 thousand each! I'm serious! Don't go!"

I stood there for an extra few seconds, pretending to be thinking. Then I turned around and bended my head a little while pulling my shoulders up, indicating a "Sorry, that's not enough yet"

Mr Einzburn seemed to be in a predicament. He wanted to get the daggers if I lose the bet, but doesn't wish to set the value too high in case of huge losses if I won. After much hesitating, he finally said "19 thousand each! After a slightly extra value boost, i would be 20.5 thousand. I increased the value boost percentage by a little bit passed the maximum. So, in total it would be 41 thousand, is that okay? Please, I really can't go any higher."

The truth is that I originally planned to bet my daggers for at least 5 thousand each. But, I guessed it wouldn't hurt if I used a little bit of manipulation and increase the value further. By 4 times the original planner value even.

I said "Alright". Mr Einzburn suddenly got felt more relaxed and gave a glad face. I registered the daggers as my bet items. Then, I added a further thousand, just because why not, from the three thousand Char forced me to take. I guessed I did need a little extra money after all.

The person who helped me registered my participation pointed to the preparation room and told me I can wait inside there if I wanted. I thought that I would go and check out the room and observe people I would need to fight against.

Inside the room, I saw many contestants there. About 200 of them in fact. Then it hit me how much the stadium is earning from one of these competitions. Only top 20 will get prizes so at least 180 would be free food and entertainment. I studied the different species there. There were some that are 3 times larger than me while others only half my height. There was a slightly quieter corner, so I decided to go there while I continue gathering information.