The next one in line is the elf. After he pretended to guess and look for a while, he picked the manticore egg and happily stepped aside with it in his arms.
When Kairos looked at the egg, he had a strange look on his face.
The following person is the young man. In his arrogance, he did not put up much of a show and quickly selected an egg. It is quite obvious that he is cheating, but no one have any evidence.
The egg the young man chose was the previous number one choice for Kairos, and now ranked two on his list.
“It seems that they already know what the prizes are.”
Aisa believes the storekeeper is helping them. Shall Aisa help you?
“How are you planning to help?”
Aisa can…
“Wait, let me rephrase. How are you planning to help without destroying everything?”
How about Aisa only destroy half of everything?
“No.”
Sometimes Kairos mistaken who the devil is possessing.
He can feel the dragon pouting from being denied destruction and fun.
After the young man’s turn is the human girl. She looked around carefully, and after a few of her friends giving her suggestions, she picked an orange egg which Kairos ranked fourth place.
The last person on their team that is participating, the female gnome, had a harder time.
The rowdy discussion stirred up shows that they no longer know which better picks is leftover.
It was only at this time that they displayed actual skills in gambling magical eggs.
Kairos and his group are openly listening in as the elf advised his teammate, “Pick only from the orange and purple piles. According to the trade routes linking to this Blacken Soot City and the store owner’s connections, the eggs are mainly procured from the Wilder Beast Dungeons near the human border, the nearby Storm Mountains, and the nests of snow creatures found from deep north.
From the trade routes, the creatures that lay Blue, Green, Orange, and Purple eggs are the most valuable, but the probability to score a prize from blue and green coloured crystals are much too low.”
The human male nodded, “That’s right. There are only two powerful creatures that lay blue eggs, four that lay green eggs, eighteen that lay orange eggs and twenty two kinds that lay purple eggs.”
The gnome listened carefully and then said, “I’ll keep that in mind. Does the size and shape of the eggs matter? I’m good with plants, not so much with creatures.”
The young man paused for a moment and then added, “The size of each eggs wildly depends on the amount of mana in the air and the mana of the parents. However, some creatures might be a powerful brute, but has very little magic talent, like the Manticore. Its egg will be no bigger than a hen’s. Whereas the Hydra that has exceptional talent in magic would have an egg as large as a full grown man, so it is hard to tell by size alone.
The place those creatures live in is another factor of their egg’s size. The different environments have different concentration of mana in the air. If you combine these two factors together, you can make a rough guess of the identity of some eggs. Unfortunately, in this game, many eggs have similar colour and size, and most of them are worth less than the cost to play.
The human girl added, “The shape of the egg depends on the four basic elements, air, water, fire, and earth. This is also a combination of the creature’s lineage and the environment they live in.
However, the shop owner breeds some magical creatures in specially selected biomes to alter the egg’s shape, therefore it is tricky to say for sure.”
After some intense discussion, the gnome finally picked a knee height orange crystal egg with a large bottom and a pointed-end – the shape of a fire element egg. She had taken a long time to pick between this one and a palm-sized egg.
Kairos secretly shook his head. Both of her choices does not fall into his top ten list, and the one she picked is at most fifteenth place.
After she is done, it is Relestia’s turn. The princess did not even take a look at the selection and immediately asked Kairos what to pick.
Although Kairos wanted to find a cute creature for her, he couldn’t tell what is actually in the egg, so he picked the number three choice on his list for her. Linda received the number five and Leo the sixth.
With all of them done with their turn, they began weighing the eggs. The scale is magical so that it is the value of the egg that is measured instead of how heavy it is.
To make things more exciting, they decided to put one egg from each team.
Leo and the gnome went first, putting their eggs on a gigantic scale that can easily put an elephant on each plate.
Normally, only one side will be used, while the other plate is for gold or precious gems to tell the price of the crystal egg.
As the two placed their eggs, as expected, the scale dipped towards Leo’s side which was ranked six compared to the gnome’s rank fifteen egg.
Above the scale, an arrow pointed at a measurement which the storekeeper read off, “Kairos’ team ahead by two points.”
Each point is a tenth more.
The elf’s team was a little disappointed at the results but their faces remained arrogant. The young man, looked pointedly over at them with a snide smile, as if saying, “Enjoy it while you could.”
Following that, it was Linda and the human girl’s turn. The two went over to the scale and before little Linda could place her crystal egg, the girl scoffed and put hers on first.
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The egg immediately caused the scale to dip heavily towards her side, making the measurement plate too high for Linda.
A lot of people looking over shook their heads at the scene. A grown girl like this is bullying a child. Of course, the girl did not care about what others think as a vicious glint flashed across her eyes.
Linda did not even scrunch up her face when she felt the hostility from the older girl. Instead she turned and reached out her arms to Leo who picked her up and helped her put her prize down.
Confident with her egg, the human girl gave Linda a sneer and waited.
But as the egg was placed on the plate, the scale unexpectedly moved back to its previous position.
Kairos secretly felt relieved. It appears that his estimation is still accurate. The other party’s rank fifteen and rank four eggs are a little less valuable than Leo’s rank six and Linda’s rank five eggs.
The store keeper took a look at the scale and announced, “In favour of Kairos’ team by 1 point!”
The expressions of each group are exciting to see.
The other side is no longer as calm as before.
“Looks like they have some skills as well.”
“I thought they were amateurs.”
“Maybe our decision to allow discussion among the team was wrong.”
“It’s too late to talk about that now. Only two more turns to go.”
They quickly sent the young man out. Their egg was ranked second by Kairos, whereas Relestia held a ranked three egg.
As the two walked towards the scales, the other team and everyone else who are watching the game finally noticed Relestia. The magical scarf she is wearing discouraged attention from anyone not looking for her. It helped her from getting unwanted attention from strangers without affecting the usual interactions with her friends.
Fortunately, even if the others finally noticed her, half of her face is still covered. Unfortunately, they can still tell she is a beauty from her soft brown doe eyes to the shape of her nose and lips.
Moreover, after the devil had broken the seal, Relestia is shrouded with a sense of danger.
The sharp glint that appears in her eyes every now and then caused her to be seeped with mysterious attraction.
Ignoring the stares of everyone, Relestia placed her egg on the plate.
As the scale shifted in her favour, the young man quickly placed his as well, but his eyes never left her.
The scale readjusted and soon reached a balance.
The result once again proved that Kairos’ estimations were accurate.
The store keeper took one look and shouted, “One point in favour of the elf’s team!”
His voice finally broke everyone out of their trance.
The elf’s team started to get nervous when hearing the tiny advantage they have. For some reason, Kairos’ side are making really good picks.
However, at this time, the elf hushed everyone, “Don’t forget what I picked.”
Instantly everyone perked up, but they didn’t say anything that would give away that they already have the grand prize in their hands. To be caught cheating now is a failure that none of them can endure. In front of what their race could gain, regardless of how powerful their backgrounds are, it wouldn’t be able to save them.
“Haha. Kairos, let me tell you something,” the young man suddenly said.
On the side, the human girl pulled his arm warning him not to speak too much but he refused to listen and continued, “Even if you win, so what? You really think that you’ll be able to learn anything?”
When the others heard it, their expressions all turned strange and looked at the young man.
He didn’t wait for anyone to ask and continued, “You only asked for books to learn the secrets of the three races, so we will give you those books. More books than you can finish in a century. Let’s see how you read that in ten days.”
The human girl nodded in agreement and continued for him, “And if we win, you think that it will be merely ten years of work? You will be our slaves. That time, you cannot say no to anything we ask, even if it is to marry one of our girls.”
As she said this, the girlie who had been watching blushed. On the Axis, polygamy is common. Kings and Queens often have multiple partner to ensure the royal line carries on or to grant certain traits to their descendants. Many people that have exceptional magic talents, highly intelligent, or are gifted physically, are absorbed into the royal family.
It is obvious that this is their intention for Kairos.
When Kairos heard it, his expression did not change, but Relestia was furious.
It was a powerful feeling that even the princess herself did not expect. A black menacing aura appeared on her shoulders. Those nearby couldn’t help but take a few steps backing away from her.
At this time Kairos placed a hand on her back, and at once there was a soothing purifying light that appeared from his palm.
Under his breath, he uttered, “Sanctification.”
The light did not cease, instead it brightened rapidly. If one looks at it closely, they will discover that it wasn’t a single spell but the flash of three.
This entire month when Kairos had been studying Edgar’s scroll, he had not forgotten his daily training.
He will spend an hour practicing the culinary arts as his master requested. As he cooked for himself he did not forget to hone his control over his alchemic fire – the Unknown Flame Sovereign. In the past, it often burnt his food and melt his pots, but now the beast flame is tamed like a domesticated lion.
At the same time, as he was doing other things, Kairos would be working on the chantless spell technique in his mind and working on his Aura techniques.
For others, to do two things at the same time may be a challenge, but it is as easy as breathing for him. In fact, Kairos had not found a limit on the things he could work on at the same time.
Of course, after studying the scroll when it is time to rest for the night, Kairos will go soak in his healing solution. If he had not been wounded, he will be sleeping in the elemental furnace that could improve his body’s resistance against the elements.
Because of that, he had seen improvements this entire month.
However, Kairos had not taken the usual path. Although his Chantless mastery remained at the first stage where he can only use a-third of a spell’s strength and still need to say the spell’s name to cast it, he could cast it three times in a row.
If the other mages knew Kairos had taken their Chantless technique and turned it into such a thing, they would’ve went mad with disbelief. Even grand mages will fear the day when Kairos perfectly masters the Chantless.
It is fortunate that he managed to upgrade the technique, because Kairos could feel the danger emitting from the devil had risen.
This time was a warning. A very real threat of death that had been quickly disposed, or else God knows how many will die before the day ends. This isn’t an exaggeration when a devil rampages.
Of course, with the True Holy Dragon Aisa around, evil must measure itself before taking action.
Before others could tell what had happened, Kairos stepped forward towards the weighing scale after patting Relestia’s head. The princess stood there in a daze for a moment before realising she had blackened out for a moment.
However, her attention was quickly drawn by the match, which is arguably the most crucial moment.
Sensing his opponent going forward, the elf did not hesitate and placed his egg on the scale when Kairos had yet to put his own.
The elf had a look of triumph and his teammates all had jeering looks on their faces.
Then, there was silence.
The magical scale that weighs the value of things remained unmoved when the egg touched the plate.
There was not even a slight movement, the stillness could stop even one’s heart.
“NO! WHY AREN’T YOU MOVING?!” the elf roars.
Behind him his teammates are screaming that the weigh is broken.
Kairos looked at the scale without being surprised, and then he placed his own egg on the plate.
The moment his hands let go, the scale tilted violently towards his side.
The speed was so fast that the plate struck the ground with a loud clang.
“We won,” Kairos softly declared.
Without caring for the result, the shop keeper was dragged over by the young man and the elf as they screamed in his face asking how this could happen.
The bewildered crowd and shouted for an explanation. Only at this time did the storekeeper took out a measurement device and quickly took the elf’s selected egg into his hands.
When the shop owner looked at the egg, he was certain without a doubt that this should be the grand prize, the manticore’s egg.
He scanned it with the strange looking device and his face paled from seeing the result.
With trembling lips the storekeeper said, “This is the grand prize… the manticore’s egg…”
Quite a few of those in the crowd roared in surprise, but they quickly hushed as he continued, “But, it had expired.”