" I'll call " Severus said as he matched the straddle for 20,000 gold coins, a rather insane pre-flop raise by the new player.
He waited to see if the new boy with white hair had any change in his breathing pattern as he called but there was none.
Based on his experience this usually meant that the other player had a good hand and was confident in his odds to win.
Only one other guy on the table called and the game opened with 3 players.
On the flop was [ 3 ] [ 3 ] [ 2 ]
3 of clover
3 of heart
And 2 of diamonds, a true low opening flop, a nightmare for any player holding a good high-hand.
Severus heard the breathing of the new guy with white hair increase a bit, he had panicked a little further confirming Severus's suspicion that he was drawing blank at the flop.
" Raise 40 thousand " The white haired boy said.
" Call " Severus responded instantly as he was holding twin [ 8 ] [ 8 ] in his hand making it a two pair on the flop.
The third player folded as he was unwilling to gamble with such large sums of money.
The turn card opened and it was again a [3] this time of diamond giving Severus a full-house in this game.
Confident in his victory, Severus waited for his opponent's turn while already deciding to make the opponent with a lower stack to all-in on this move.
" All in " the white haired boy said as Severus frowned a little wondering if the opponent also had a pair in his hands giving him a chance at a higher full-house.
The call was 350,000 gold coins, a huge amount that had brought the attention of the entire casino towards this table.
Adding the coins that Severus and his opponent had already played, if Severus chose to call this hand the pot total would come near 900 thousand gold coins, a truly monstrous number.
Severus looked into the eyes of the kid who was grinning at him smugly making it difficult for Severus to understand whether or not he should call.
In the end he mustered the courage and decided to give it a shot as he called his opponent.
The river card was [ 9 ] of hearts, which only left the players to show their hands.
Everyone in the room held their breaths as the boy opened his cards which were [ 4 ] of hearts and [ 7 ] of spade.
*oooooooooo* , everyone winced at his bad sense of gambling to have bet on a blank with not even a high card in hand.
Severus revealed his hand casually and won the money comfortably, enjoying the free applause he got alongside it from the audience.
He expected the kid to be annoyed, but instead he laughed and clapped as he extended his hand for Severus to shake.
" Hello, I'm Eden "
" Severus "
" Exciting game, well played " Eden said with a smile
" Wish I could say the same for you, but you're plain stupid " Severus replied leaving no room for courtesy.
" Haha, oh come on, I got a great kick out of it, completely worth the money lost " Eden said as he pinched his throat and pointed towards the sky.
Severus judged the smiling kid and presumed that he was an adrenaline junkie, the kind that preferred to do stupid stuff just to feel slightly alive.
Rolling his eyes, Severus stepped up from the poker table and walked towards the bar.
Eden followed Severus walking beside him as he said " Don't you want to play another round? I have a few more bucks, I can buy more chips… "
" No " Severus denied as he ordered a beer at the bar.
Eden sat beside him silently and ordered a beer of his own, as he observed Severus who was glancing at the direction of Max playing slots seriously.
" You know him? Lord Ravan? " Eden asked as Severus gave the boy a probing glance before nodding his head.
" Doesn't he have a close bond with master Shakuni's brother? Doesn't Max Rajput work as a commander in his army?" The boy said as Severus almost spat out the beer he was drinking.
' Master Shakuni? ' Severus repeated this phrase in his head thrice, before turning to give the boy a proper look.
" Shakuni the terrifying is your master? " Severus asked in a half threatening tone, expecting the boy to come clean.
" Well not exactly, but I obtained his Legacy in Omega so… I like to believe I'm his inheritor/ student " Eden said as he put his tongue out like a dork flexing rather shamelessly.
Uptil now, except for guildmaster Neatwit who seemed to be biased against him, anyone who heard that he was inheritor of Shakuni's legacy was thoroughly impressed by this achievement, however, Severus was not impressed at all.
" You learnt from Shakuni's clone extracted from the universal queen's understanding of his characteristics and nature during his time as a player in Omega.
You did not learn from Shakuni himself.
If the queen was capable of understanding Shakuni's true potential, he would not become the only individual to break the tier limit in the tutorial and ascend a god.
Don't delude yourself thinking you are his student, he would never spare you a second glance if you met him for real " Severus said coldly as Eden started to fume visibly.
The boy who was all smiles and fun till now suddenly started to emit a thick killing intent which caused the tier1 bartender and some other guests to feel dizzy and faint.
Immediately the alarms inside the casino went off as by the time Eden blinked once he found himself surrounded by security guards as beside Severus stood Ravan Bloodfall himself, looking into his eyes with the stare akin to that of a grim reaper.
" Control your killing intent boy, this is not a place where you can act rowdy " Max said as he admonished the teenager who reluctantly receded his aura.
" Lord Ravan, I'm sorry for this disturbance but this man insulted me and my master which I could not tolerate.
Forgive me for disturbing your gaming experience" Eden said as Max retracted his gaze and patted Severus over the shoulder.
Taking this opportunity to surprise him, Eden jumped at max, hoping to put him into a sleeper hold, however to his horror, he saw Ravan react faster than his tier4 speed could match-up as he sidestepped his jump and caught him inappropriately by the balls.
[ Ball Crushing ]
Pain so severe that it caused his vision to black out gripped Eden's entire body as he laid flat on the floor and roared in pain.
He felt like his nut-sack was on fire and the pain was spreading fast throughout his body.
Writhing on the floor, he glanced at the direction of Ravan who he wanted to impress by sneak-attacking him as he saw his blood red eyes looking down on him.
" Cocky brat " Max murmured as he walked away from Eden rolling on the floor as the casino security restrained him and removed him from the premises.
Severus hoped that this would be the last time he saw this dumb kid, however unfortunately for him, the adrenaline junkie was a little too messed up in the head to let this incident slide for good.
—-----
/// A/N - A break day today with only one chapter, we resume the schedule from tomorrow ///