It was not a matter of will.

Harry followed along behind the beauty in front of him. He was led into a peculiar area deeper in. It was more closed off than the room before where many gamblers communed and casually interacted with one another. In this place, it was completely separate from everything else.

There was a smaller-scale screen where the races were being displayed alongside an assortment of different kinds of alcohol by the side. The table was completely filled to the brim with all sorts of tempting bottles.

Harry followed along with her guidance and comfortably settled in his seat.

“Now let’s-” Before she could say the next thing on her mind, an unexpected event occurred. A bottle from the table suddenly dropped down on the ground and rolled over directly to where she was about to step forward to. It was safe to say that she fell down on her butt and stained her dress with wine.

“Huh? What happened?” She was completely confused. Her temper was usually wild but for some reason, the series of events that occurred prioritized her confusion than anger.

This isn’t normal.

Harry saw her fall down and went up to help her. He reached his hand out to bring her up. “Are you all right?”

“Thank you.” As she took Harry’s hand, another unexpected event transpired. The room they were in suddenly burst into flames. Harry turned around and snapped his fingers, depriving that fire of oxygen, essentially suffocating it until it extinguished itself.

“Come on, it’s not even that bad.” Harry mumbled by himself. This was even more extreme than he had thought.

The girl sensed the weird atmosphere and felt stifled. She had seen how Elliot managed to earn so much money by following Harry so she hatched a simple plan. Why shouldn’t she take that position from him? She was simply his superior so by the look of things, this was normal. After trying to monopolize Harry’s ability to gamble, the situation had turned out to be quite odd.

She hadn’t even had the opportunity to do make money yet but everything was already going so wrong.

Even still! I’m not going to give up. I can make a lifetime’s worth of money from a single round! Whatever comes up to me, so be it! I’ll face them all head-on. She was determined to make as much money as possible.

The two settled in as Harry started to make some idle talk. “So, what’s this place for?”

“Ah.” She was taken aback by this sudden question. He shouldn’t have needed to ask this since she was supposed to explain it earlier. Unfortunately due to the circumstances, she forgot. “This place is a super private area just for customers like… you.”

Harry’s ears perked up. The tone she used at the end made him blush red. He had desperately tried to keep calm but his nerves were a complete wreck. “In what way?”

Sparks flew out from the screen causing the mana powering it to surge out. This was initially supposed to harm the girl beside Harry but if she thought that this was all that was needed to interrupt Harry was then she was severely mistaken. Although it might not look it, Harry was also a person who was quite blessed.

“Sage.” Harry quietly muttered. The mana that went haywire immediately went back to order. Everything related to mana could not even as much as move under Harry’s presence. He ensured that everything under his watch had nothing that could even have a possibility of going wrong.

From beyond the reach of the void, a woman was watching this spectacle. “Take my blessing and have the audacity to not uphold your promise. Hmph. I’ll show you. Dear husband, you must have forgotten… Just how terrifying I could be.”

Her hands slightly waved in the air, conjuring the golden arms of the intangible. She was manifesting the power of luck in an even denser way than before.

Harry was about to continue their conversation but he sensed it. Under the prying eyes of those above, he could feel the conglomeration of control against probability. He was starting to have a headache. “This is getting out of hand.”

“... Sir Harry, what is getting out of hand?” She tilted her head, trying to understand the situation.

“Nothing really, carry on.” Harry heard the announcer’s voice stating that the next race was about to commence. This was it, this was exactly what she was after.

“Sir Harry, who do you think will win?” She pulled out the best act of her career. Using everything in the book and more, she emphasized her seductive figure to the best of her capabilities.

At this point… It doesn’t matter. Harry internally sighed. If he so desired, he could rig the match right now. It was truly absurd but it was true. This was simply because Sage implied control, complete and utter control. This did not only mean control using mana but also meant touching upon the power of the strongest tool there is, reality.

He could slightly change reality, which was a feat that could even rival fate. It was an absurdly powerful ability but as powerful as it was, there were limitations that he couldn’t do anything against. Although he had unlocked Sage, he still has to unlock the other pieces that complimented his power.

Helena was a True God, an entity that needed no introduction as to how much power they held. Nue was a cosmic horror, capable of consuming countless worlds. And as for Harry, he needed to have something to give him the ability to be on the same stage as these entities.

As such, changing reality was the basis of Harry’s core power. It had come to the point that one of the entities that completely governed over a fragment of reality had to shackle him down. This being was none other than the lord over probability and chance, Fortune.

With the ability to change reality to his will, Harry was shackled by Fortune. This wasn’t as terrible of a curse as Harry had thought. Although things would still work out in his favor, that added thrill of the unknown gave him something he had never thought possible, curiosity.

That was all good but there was one extremely problematic change here. Fortunate was… a very obsessive entity.

Moris was continuing on to finish his paperwork when an unexpected event occurred once again. A person suddenly came by the door and shouted and screamed.

“You scammer! This wasn’t the deal I agreed to!” His voice was full of shame and indignation. It was completely insane for him to be shackled to such an unfair contract.

Moris snickered. “Is that so?”

The man felt his entire body burn up. Strength slowly left him unable to even stand on his own two feet. This sensation was as if his blood was leaving his body, it was agonizing. Screams filled Moris’ room as he thought up of how delicious Harry’s screams would be.

“Send him away.” Guards came from outside his room and dragged that poor person away.

Feeling quite excited, he immediately tried to check the contract that he created with Harry. He couldn’t help but admire his ability to make so much with so little. Taking out the contract once again, he read each clause one by one until there was something that made him confused.

“This… this can’t be… What is going on? Why do I have to pay such an absurd interest to him?!” Moris’ rage consumed his room as mana started to revolve around him in a frantic manner. As a very competent Peak Rank 9, there was supposed to be nothing that could go wrong but now something was.

He ran out and started to seek out Harry. A person who managed to pull a fast one over him should understand the consequences of his actions. “Rank 5? Ha! Don’t make me laugh. I’ll show you just how badly you’d want to get the old contract back.”

From within Harry’s personal room, he could immediately sense everything going wrong. He started to form a headache. “I guess that’s enough fun for today. That’s really unfortunate.”

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Huh?” She saw Harry push her away and started to walk away. “But what about the races?”

“What about them?” Harry walked off. There was something more problematic than not earning money right now. “Your boss is going to make so much trouble for me. Man, I just wanted to have some fun for a bit but now I need to start working.”

Harry sensed his surroundings and saw Elliot cleaning up a table. “Teleport.”

To know the spatial coordinates of a specific place was the exact reason why teleportation was such a difficult feat. There were numerous factors that could affect the flow of space causing terrible consequences if not accounted for. Well, none of that mattered if space itself was something you could manipulate.

Helena was unable to use Teleport requiring to be a Rank 10 at the bare minimum to use such a dangerous spell. Harry, on the other hand, was a mere Rank 5 but he could use Teleport as he wished. Everything became so much easier if you could just will it into existence.

“It’s so boring when it’s like this. Maybe Fortune will be a little less angry this time around.”

Harry directly appeared right behind Elliot.

“Eek! Harry? How did you get behind me?” Elliot felt a hand on his shoulder. Someone that could sneak up on him was someone that he had to be extremely wary of.

“Don’t be mad but an old friend got really angry. I don’t know if she’ll go after you so I’ll need you to stand by my side.” Harry wore an awkward expression on his face. This wasn’t what he had in mind when he went to the casino.

“Old friend? Why would she want to go after me?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she got fooled?” Harry immediately tried to change the topic. “Anyway, it’s going to be extremely problematic. Not even being a Rank 10 will help you out.”

The once lively and cheerful atmosphere suddenly shifted its tune once Moris appeared. Emmanating killing intent that was oozing out of his body, Moris’ senses locked down on Harry.

Mana shifted all over the place as the power of a Peak Rank 9 made many cower before him. Never before had Moris taken the short end of the stick. Now that someone finally made a fool out of him, a person that was so weak he could crushed into a pulp with his presence alone, his rage soared to the skies.

People wasted no time running away from this scene. Being a Peak Rank 9 was equivalent to being able to do basically anything you wanted. As Dominion’s guild leader, Sval, was still training on his own, no one else within the guild could take down Moris without causing heavy casualties to the surroundings.

“You…” Moris stared Harry down.

Elliot switched from Harry then to Moris. “But… Moris isn’t a girl. Am I missing something?”

“That’s not what I meant. Moris isn’t the one I need to be afraid of.”

“Misty Envelopment. Mist Body.” A dark grey fog spread out from Moris’ body. The density of it made it difficult for people to see through. Not even using mana to sense through the fog was possible.

“Stand back, Harry. I got this.” Elliot reached into his waist and unveiled a small dagger. It wasn’t his best weapon but it would have to do. As a Peak Rank 9, Moris had the strength to back up his claims.

Undergeared and unprepared, Elliot was still a person of great skill. Low Rank 10, this was the strength that would be classified as world-class. If not for being dragged into debt then he would’ve already been able to do much more. Even if he didn’t join a guild, he would still be able to make a name for himself.

“Hiding Snakes.”

It came as a whisper towards their ears. This was an illusionary type skill that caused people to see enemies where there were none. From this one skill alone, it was clear that it would be extremely difficult for people to try and kill him.

How would they be able to deal with something they cannot even find?

As Moris was hiding within the mist, he was completely confident that he could deal with both of them. Although he clearly understood that Elliot was a Low Rank 10, he was still extremely confident. As a mage, he had his own equipment that severely increased his strength meanwhile Elliot barely had anything. This was more than enough to bridge the gap between cultivation levels.

“I can still see you.” Elliot’s eyes narrowed down on Moris’ exact location. It wasn’t at all difficult for Elliot to see Moris but seeing him made him realize how difficult this was going to be. “I knew that random fog while I was down in the Dungeons weren’t normal. You were behind this after all.”

“It doesn’t matter. I can quite easily deal with the both of you as I wish. Searing Wind.”

The mist all around them started to change it form from soft and cloudy to scorching and sharp. As there was already a lot of material for the wind to gather up, it was clear that Moris’ fighting style was a hellish experience. Not only had to figure out where Moris was, they had to enter deeper in this scorching environment and possibly strike false. All the meanwhile, Moris was free to attack as he wished.

Within his domain, he was essentially immortality.

Elliot started infusing mana into his dagger. It wasn’t optimal but it was the best he could do. “Crystalized Edge.” Mana congregated into his dagger and formed a razor-sharp crystalline attachment to the edge of his blade. Now, his blade could cut through the immaterial.

As the mist was formed by mana, Elliot’s swings actually caused the fog to weaken and clear up. Seeing this, Moris was quite impressed. Elliot’s mana capacity was quite an interesting sight as this was essentially using a hundred units of Elliot’s mana to clear up one unit of Moris’ mana.

This was inefficient but it was slightly giving Elliot the advantage as time went on. Elliot’s body was starting to heat up as sweat started dripping down his face. It was getting more and more difficult to breathe.

“Interesting but nothing more. Exotic Tundra.”

The mist that Elliot had cut apart immediately solidified. As contradictorily the sensation was, Elliot felt the scorching heat of fire while at the same time, sensing the frigidness of ice. He was both freezing and burning at the exact same time. The longer this went on, the greater the burden it was on his body.

“Dammit! I don’t have a skill for this!” Elliot could only continue to bottle up and slash away at the mist. Fortunately, he was the focus of this battle, letting Harry escape. “Good thing he already left.”

“Who left?” Harry asked from right behind him.

“Harry? I thought you already left!” Seeing his friend stick by him, it both gave him a relieving yet anger-inducing thought. It was heartwarming that Harry would stick by him but at the same time it was utterly stupid for him to do so.

“Moris isn’t a threat.” Harry said so calmly that it was almost scarily. Elliot wanted to retort but he inserted a large amount of mana into this one strike and created a large enough area for him to see Harry’s expression.

“You’re not… sweating or shivering?”

Harry tilted his head and lightly laughed. “As I said, Moris isn’t a threat.”

“You absolute morons! You think that’s all I had? Hahaha! I’ll show you why even Dominion doesn’t dare mess with me! Cataclysmic Tornado!” The heat and cold from the mist created a slow current. Taking advantage of this, Moris had created the most optimal method of utilizing his most powerful spell in the most efficient situation. This was common knowledge for any mage, to use everything to your advantage.

Now, Cataclysmic Tornado which was only supposed to be on the cusp of reaching Low Rank 10, completely broke through its strength and actually reached Medium Rank 10. This was the strongest attack that a Medium Rank 10 could muster yet a Peak Rank 9 was the one utilizing this power. By the standards of the current world, Moris was a terrifying threat.

The entire lounge shattered and cracked. Glass and wood was stripped away from this room and contributed to the Cataclysmic Tornado’s strength. Even now, it was only increasing in power. Elliot’s eyes were filled with terror. There wasn’t anything he could do… to save Harry.

He could still keep himself safe but Harry wouldn’t be able to survive.

Elliot desperately looked back with a tear going down his face. “... Huh?”

Harry was standing there… unfazed. The hems of his clothes weren’t even flapping. He was unaffected by the vicious tornado consuming everything. “I told you, he wasn’t even a threat.” Harry raised his hand with his palm facing the skies. He made a clawing motion and twisted.

“You see you fools?!” Moris was madly laughing. “This is the consequence of messing with me! Now, die! Hahaha… ha… ha? Huh?” Moris felt like his eyes had stopped working. His most powerful spell, used in the most optimal conditions… disappeared.

“What is… going on?” Elliot took a step back, questioning his understanding of the world. This was not normal. There was no way a Rank 5 could do this.

Harry reached out for a handshake. “I think I need to properly introduce myself. I’m Harry, a Sage. Or rather… the Sage. Nice to meet you, Elliot.”

Elliot mindlessly accepted Harry’s greeting.

“Now, don’t be too afraid but my wife’s about to appear. I wanted to push it as much as possible but I guess I just couldn’t hold myself back. She locked on my mana.”

Moris was still not understanding what happened. This was beyond common sense. Though, not that common sense mattered anymore. He felt an ominous sensation from above. This wasn’t a sense of fear but… somewhat similar to freedom.

A streak of black lightning surged down.

Empty.

It had become empty. Moris had disappeared from the face of the world, eradicated by an entity that erased as she wished. In his place was a woman wearing all black. Streaks of black lightning arched all around her, making her look like a reaper. Yet, no reaper could look as beautiful as her.

“Fortune, fancy seeing you here.” Harry tried to act as if this wasn’t a terrible situation at all.

“Dear husband, I’m angry right now. Do you know why?”

“No?” Harry acted like a fool.

Although she wore a black veil, it was evident that her features were beyond heavenly. Even Elliot was immediately allured by her.

“Think. Very carefully.”

“Oh, I know. Miss Fortune, I think we need to address the current state of-” A streak of black lighting wispped past Harry’s head. The land right behind him disappeared. No ash or dust remained, just emptiness. “... our marriage. Crap, let’s run.”

Harry grabbed Elliot by the stomach and carried him as they both ran away. “Teleport.”

“You can’t escape that easily.” Fortune took a single step forward and caught up right behind them. Black lightning started crackling in her hands as it arched everywhere, erasing anything it met contact with.

Harry sensed those erratic forces of nature and soothed their chaotic nature. “It’s like what they say, don’t use the same skill against a Sage twice.”

Fortune’s tone became deeper. It was apparent that she had become angrier than she already was. “Alright, let’s do that again.” Black lightning raged on from everywhere, it would be easier to fight a god than to dodge all of them. Still, Harry contained the destructive properties of this power and sealed it away, once again dispersing an insane amount of chaotic energy.

“I need to get Nue. She’ll be able to drive her away. Now, where’s that rascal?”