It was incredibly rare to use any more than a few dozen follis on such a simple game. The dealer behind the desk first passed a few pieces of paper to the owner of the den, only after another piece of paper, written in bold words returned, did the dealer use the black bowl to cover the three dices.
Sliding the black bowl over the marble surface of the table, the sound of dice colliding inside the bowl, along with the noise of grinding, was particularly intoxicating. Finally, the muffled sound of the ceramic bowl against the leather guards of the table, and the slightly trembling hands of the hostess…
“Please make your bet.”
Ovid was obviously hesitating with his gaze lowered onto the dice. But the silver pearl within his body has already begun trembling like the hands of the girl standing opposite to him. This caused the mana surrounding him to fluctuate in the briefest of manner, similar to the faintest quivers of a needle, it was very faint, but at the same time, extremely precise.
The mana than proceeded to flow toward Ovid, entering his pores, it roughly followed the directions of his bloodstream, arriving at his brain with a picture somewhat like the image given by a telescope that had yet to focus. While you can still see objects you cannot observe with a naked eye, the picture was not clear in the slightest.
Perhaps it would be wrong to compare the image to one produced by a telescope, as Ovid could only felt the edges and carvings made into the dice, he could not recognise the slight dent at one of its corners made over the years or the tactile surface the dice possessed.
Even then, it was a bit like looking at a black hole, although the numbers itself could not be seen, it was still possible to hypothesis it’s numbers that silently laid facing towards the ceiling of the black bowl.
The dealer gentled a bit nervous, biting her lips, she wondered if Ovid intended to bid at all. It was only after she received a tip of fifty follis from Cai Hua, did her mood calm down. Now looking at Ovid with an anticipating look, she smiled in a gentle and encouraging manner.
Perhaps as Ovid spend the better half of his life looking into telescopes, his sense of perception, although not as powerful as the two waiting patiently behind him, was still better than the average human.
When the dealer took one of her hands off the bowl to wipe the sweat accumulating on her forehead, Ovid closed his eyes and said the number eight.
The dealer quickly used her other hand to unveil the dices, seeing the numbers, she said, “Two, two, four. Eight.”
Squatting down, the dealer pulled out a tray and emptied much of the hyperpyron coins that laid atop of it. Since winning this sort of bets was quite rare, the coins are usually the pervious coins others at the table had lost, rather than directly coming from the gambling den’s treasury. Fortunately, it was not 3 or 18, or there would not be enough coins to actually pay the amount earned.
As the woman slid the coins across the table with a stone instrument, she said, “I seldom see anyone coming here before taking off their bulla. Moreover, you don’t seem joyful at winning… it is quite a rare sight to see someone so calm.”
*Author’s note: Taking off the bulla was a coming of age ceremony made in ancient Rome.
Ovid pushed back all the coins handed to him with the stone device back to the dealer’s side of the table, preparing for another bet. He thought to himself, “I find joy in learning. Earning something like money doesn’t do me any good.”
In his former world, people who take the profession in the fields of science never earned much, but there had always been more than a constant flow of individuals who want to study the world anyway, without any desire for money. Ovid similarly thought himself of some like like that, where if not for Cai Hua’s persuasion, he would have never stepped foot into a casino.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Regardless, the female dealer began to slide the black bowl back and forth over the table once more, each time it stopped, lead to the pile of hyperpyrons next to Ovid increasing. Eventually, the already significant sum of money became a small mountain of gold.
Ovid, by now had been on the fifteenth streak, betting more than enough money to buy a sizeable house in some of the wealthy districts of the capital city. Such luck caused the dealer’s eyebrows to be raised many times, yet it was always suppressed by Cai Hua handing her another batch of follis, though this did not stop the set of dice and bowl changing many times.
Many of the patrons behind the wooden wall had suspended their game to see the casino loss such a mouth water sum of money. Perhaps because they had lost far too many of their own coins, they were very enthusiastic and joyful that the gambler’s den was on the losing side.
The dealer herself was eventually called to the owner’s office. Claiming she was too shocked to go immediately, she first hid the sizeable sum of follis Cai Hua had given to her, before entering the room. Even under the beratement of the owner, which was quite clear through the wooden walls, she maintained a carefree smile, since she had gotten more tips from Cai Hua than two months worth of wage.
When the yells from the owner’s room finally stopped, an old woman who seemed to be on her last few breaths was delegated to deal with Ovid inside. With age came experience, although she wasn’t like the cultivators and clerics who had lived far longer than other humans, she was much more experienced than the delicate girl before her. Moreover, it was evident that the individual must have lived an extremely comfortable life after her retirement as a gambler, so this old woman should have been the best dealer in the gambling den’s history.
Cai Hua was very familiar with the world of gambling, which was why he had chosen the most prestigious establishment in the city. While they could forcibly throw out Ovid, it would deal significant damage to their reputation, resulting in them biting the bullet and allow Ovid to empty out a vast amount of their wife.
Typically, calling out an old master would be these sort of casino’s last resort.
When the old woman arrived on the table, she first leaned comfortably against the leather guards of the table. When the tension of the other guests of the gambling den was at its peak, she reached for the black bowl and began to move it along the edges of the table in a sophisticated and calculative manner. After the sound of the black bowl grinding along the marble stopped, she slowly moved her wrinkle and thin fingers off the bowl. Staring at Ovid as if piercing his soul, she said, “Please, young friend.”
Squinting his eyes at the black bowl that seemed to resemble the nights’ sky, Ovid said, “Eighteen.”
“Eighteen, does she have too much money on her hands?”
“She already bid all the money she earned on his match, is this sabotaging the casino’s reputation?”
Hearing the mention of the casino’s reputation, the face of the old woman remained peaceful, but the wrinkles on her forehead were clearly deepening. Returning her hands onto the black bowl, the old woman asked, “Are you sure about that?”
A nod was the answer.
The old woman’s crease by now has turned as deep as the ravine where Alexander and Julia met, slapping her hands on the table, the gentle fluctuation of mana Ovid has made was quickly replaced with a violent and wild explosion! The leather guards the old woman was leaning on caught fire, causing the cool sensation of the marble table to become replaced with a boiling heat.
Yet before anything could happen, the smell of floral incense was overcame with a refreshing breeze.
Thud. The head of the old woman dropped on the floor. Spilling blood onto the white marble pool. Her eyes still showed a sense of peacefulness, but it was clearly not due to her acceptance of death, rather.
The blood spilling out from her severed head arrived infront of the pile of hyperpyrons that were placed at one side of the table, flowing between the cracks of the golden coin, a rather gruesome sight was created.
Then, the body of the old lady collapsed onto the ground, but it was not known if it was due to the carpet on her side, or the lightweight of the woman, the sound of a body crashing onto the floor was strangely silent.
The room was also strangely silent. A moment ago, they had been enthusiastic for the opportunity to see the biggest loss the Boat’s Side Casino will experience in it’s two thousand years of history.
One of the patron’s collapsed onto the ground, then another, then a third. Eventually, out of the gamblers gathered around the table, five had lost consciousness, while the others had all fled, their screeches echoing throughout the marble building.
Ovid remained standing, his gaze still or the black bowl, or perhaps it had shifted to the head of the old dealer, who had ultimately ended up next to the bowl.
Cai Hua then took off the black bowl, showing the arrangement of the dice to be. Six, six, six. A total of eighteen.
In the end, Ovid was correct in his guess, demonstrating that his ability to manipulate mana was far superior comparable even to many deacons.
He felt his chest somewhat uncomfortable looking at the scene, taking in the now iron scented air for five seconds, he held it in for another five, before slowly releasing it over the span of five-second. Afterwards, he turned around and walked out of the Casino.
Stopping by a bush, Ovid began to vomit violently. When his nausea had finally passed, he stood up again.
While Ovid had been at the market place where Julia’s fire engulfed many of her people, their body had already been turned completely to ash. Seeing a fresh corpse, with their warm blood still flowing, is a far different experience.
Cai Hua stood nearby with a look of pity, watching Irene awkwardly patting Ovid’s back to comfort the person who had witnessed the first proper murder. As he watched Ovid vomit, Cai Hua realised that Ovid was still extremely young, despite the mature behaviour, Ovid had yet to even turn twenty.
“It’s fine. You already demonstrated that you are talented in mana manipulation. We can discuss it after we have rested.”