I was able to recall these vague rumors because of how unusual they sounded. Everyoungs were known to hate games of chance and prefer games involving strategy and planning. Before coming to the tower, they viewed themselves as the most intelligent species and valued knowledge above all. Now that they encountered other intelligent species, they competed with the Skylords for the title of Scholars of the Tower.
The most plausible rumor talked about one of the taboo elements that appeared a few centuries ago in the tower: the Fate element. It gave its user the ability to peek into the future and alter the predestined outcomes. It showed the user all the possible paths and the results of making every possible decision.
It was just an unfounded rumor that the Everyoung had the Fate element but there is a grain of truth in every rumor. Unfortunately, there was no way to prove this theory. As long as the Everyoung never used his taboo spells in public, he would never be caught, and the law enforcement officers could not arrest him either on baseless rumors. Chaos would ensue if they did as there were rumors around every powerful individual including the city lords and the council of the Union.
‘Testing my luck against someone who can possibly already know the outcomes of the games… I guess this will be the test of the Dice that changes the Odds.’
‘I will assume that he has not used any Fate spells recently or else, he would have known that I would come and would not have allowed me to earn so many points.’
The dealer distributed the cards as some gamblers gathered around to spectate us. I did not like being watched so closely but for the sake of obtaining more points, I would tolerate it.
My cards turned out to be pocket aces. I coldly placed them down and stared at the deep green eyes of the Everyoung. He did not even bother to check his cards. Facing this child-like creature with such a strong aura was rather unnerving.
“I’ll raise 10 points.” I announced since my hand was strong.
To everyone’s surprise, not even a second passed before the Everyoung pushed his cards face-down toward the dealer. “I fold.” He did not even look at his cards and yet had already folded.
The dealer was puzzled but nevertheless collected the cards and stamped our fortune cards. Ten points were added to my total.
I smiled faintly as the dealer dealt another hand. ‘It is as I thought. He should not be able to know the outcome of our games. Even if the rumours are correct, he should only be able to peek at the future without changing it much. If he does not want to be noticed, he can only use low circle spells. A Spark may go unnoticed, but a Lightning Strike would attract the attention of everyone. The same principle should apply to the Fate element if it exists.’
‘The most he can do is probably to watch the outcome of each hand as they are dealt…’ I mentally encouraged myself as I picked up my cards: 9♥ and 10♥.
“Raise by 10 points.”
Without hesitation, the Everyoung once again folded his hand.
My third hand, however, turned out to be the 3♠ and the 10♦. The Everyoung was the first to take action. He raised by ten points, but I chose to fold immediately. I was sticking to the set of rules I determined for myself. I would not blindly rely on luck since in my previous games, I lost a few hands. The Everyoung essentially had the House of Fortune behind him; he had an unlimited amount of points to bet while I was limited to 965 points. If he chose to go all in, it could ruin me if the hand I had just happened to be a losing one.
My rule was simple: as long as the hand was playable, I would start by raising by ten points; if it was not, I would simply fold if the Everyoung chose to raise.
The Everyoung did not react to my decision and simply waited for the next hand to be dealt. We continued to play and after ten hands, I now had 995 points. I won seven hands and lost three; as I was now facing only one gambler, my win rate had returned to 70%.
The last ten hands have been the weirdest and most intriguing hands of poker ever played in the House of Fortune. The flops were never revealed; one of us would always bet before the flop and the other would quickly fold. Everything was decided by the two cards in my hand as the Everyoung did not even bother to check his.
We continued to play for a little while longer as the Everyoung remained unconvinced that he could not win against me. A small set of hands was not enough for him to make a conclusion but after playing a total of twenty hands, his expression gradually changed.
“You seem to be very lucky.” The Everyoung said with a thoughtful expression.
“Am I?” I asked with an innocent expression. “You are the one who keeps folding your hands. I am very curious about why you fold without even looking at them.”
The Everyoung remained silent as another hand was dealt. I ended up winning, bringing my points up to 1045.
“Will you be interested in changing tables and try another game?” The Everyoung asked expectantly.
“Not really. It is already getting pretty late.” I swiftly declined his offer. I had already achieved my goal of earning a thousand points. While I could continue to play around, I was hesitant to do so. After paying the table fees, I would barely have a thousand points left. Since my luck could run out at any time, I did not want to risk it for much longer. I did not let my success get to my head.
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The Everyoung seemed to have realised something and nodded at the dealer. “I forgot that we have played for a while. Would you like a drink or maybe a companion to enjoy yourself? It will be on the House of Fortune.”
“Thank you but I will have to refuse. I would just like to return to the Healing Temple and rest.” I replied politely and internally sneered. ‘Trying to get me to stay here to test my luck again?’
“That is fine.” He raised his hand, stopping the nearby staff members who were about to present me with an assortment of drinks. “However, since you played a sizable amount today, the House of Fortune would like to reward you with these two tickets.”
“Tickets?” I raised an eyebrow as I saw an employee step forward and place two yellow pieces of paper in front of me. The insignia of the House of Fortune was drawn on each; one was labelled ‘145’ and the other ‘146’.
“Yes. We hold a small lottery every day and the draw will take place in about thirty minutes. Tickets are usually given to anyone who has bet at least a thousand points. The prize today just happens to be a thousand additional points.”
‘Another thousand points?’ My eyes lit up as I picked up the tickets. I had no reason to refuse them since I was not risking anything. If the dice’s effects were still active, I would get another thousand points. If not, I could just leave after the lottery.
‘That sly kid. Using points to tempt me. But that does not mean that I will gamble any longer with you.’
“Then, I will gladly accept them. But I would still like to take a break.”
“Of course. How about I show you around the House of Fortune a little bit? It is your first time here and maybe you will be interested in trying out our other games on your next visit.” The Everyoung politely suggested.
Not wanting to be impolite after having accepted the tickets in front of the crowd of gamblers, I accepted his invitation. The dealer deducted the table fees, leaving me with 1010 points and handed me the fortune card.
The Everyoung escorted me to a louder section of the floor. Most tables here were about dice games. I recognised most of them, in particular a dice game known as Dice-up. The concept was simple; the dealer had a wooden cup and twelve dices. His goal was to stack up the dices vertically using only the centripetal force generated by spinning the wooden cup. The gamblers had to guess the number of dices stacked up.
It was a skill-based game that encouraged the dealer to throw off the gamblers by using unusual moves and at the same time, the gamblers needed a keen attention to detail to estimate the height of the stack.
“Would you like to give this a try?” The Everyoung asked calmly.
I watched the dealer spinning the cup and shook my head. “I am just at the first circle. There is no way I can follow the movements of this orc. He is at least at the third circle.”
“True. But nothing stops you from making a blind guess without betting. How high do you think the stack would be if you were to make a bet?”
“Say… Four dices?” I gave a random number, not thinking much about it
We watched the orc’s performance, taking his time to throw off the gambler’s attention before slamming the cup on the table. “Place your bets.”
The few gamblers at the table swiftly announced their guesses and bets. The orc grinned before lifting up the cup. To my surprise, the stack was four dices high.
“…”
We watched a few more games as the Everyoung continued to ask for my opinion. Then, we moved to another section dedicated to roulettes and spinning wheels.
“If you were to play and have to guess a number, which one would you choose?” The Everyoung asked once again.
I glanced at the ball spinning around the roulette. “I’ll say eight.” I would always respond to his questions randomly. I would occasionally be wrong but most of the time, my guesses were correct.
The ball continued rolling over the red and black stripes before eventually falling into a small slot next to a number. And that number just happened to be an eight.
My heart ached but I forced myself to resist the temptation. ‘Ignore that impulse to bet.’ Humans hated only one thing more than losing; to miss out on an opportunity. My brain was urging me to make a bet since I was right so many times, but I forced myself to ignore it.
Eventually, the torturous thirty minutes came to an end and I could finally escape from the Everyoung’s constant questioning.
The gamblers fell silent as a loud bell rung across the floor. A Blood Wing wearing the uniform of the House of Fortune stepped onto a small stage and faced the crowd. “Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. It is time for the House’s great lottery!”
“Today, we have distributed 165 tickets to our loyal customers and one of them will come out with an additional thousand points when checking out at the entrance.”
I watched silently as the Blood Wing wasted another five minutes before a faint screen appeared behind him. The screen was projected using a combination of runes; on it, the number one was displayed.
The Blood Wing activated the runes and the number on the screen started increasing. It quickly increased to 165 before returning to 1. The numbers cycled rapidly on the screen before eventually slowing down.
I held my breath like many other gamblers. I had to admit that I was rather nervous, but I did not need to.
143…144…145…
146.
The number on the screen came to a halt and the Blood Wing enthusiastically exclaimed. “And our winner is the number 146! The holder of the ticket with this number can present the ticket at the entrance with his fortune card to redeem his prize.”
I was stunned. My mind went blank as I starred at the screen displaying the same number that was written on my ticket. Like anyone winning a lottery, I became ecstatic and it did not take long for the eyes of the nearby gamblers to land on me. It took me a moment to react and hide the blossoming smile on my face.
I felt the inquisitive stare of the Everyoung burning through me and awkwardly shifted my gaze. ‘It is time to leave this place.’
I wasted no time and headed downstairs accompanied by the healers who silently regrouped behind me. The lady at the exchange desk smiled sweetly as I presented my fortune card and the yellow ticket. Before long, I exited the House of Fortune with 2010 points; a thousand more points that I planned.
“You were very lucky. Had I known this would happen, I would have given you some points to play for me too.” One of the healers said enviously.
“Yes. And to top it off, the gamblers you played against did not react excessively even when they lost. It is not unusual for these drunkards to flare up when losing. They just happened to be in a good mood today.”
I smiled at the healers’ comments. Being in a good mood, I replied vaguely. “I guess I was just lucky.”
“Since you won so much. How about inviting your friends to take a drink before returning to the temple?”
“Sure. I owe you at least that much for looking after me.”