Bet

"I don't believe that! I must be able to use your strategy, please teach me, I beg you!" The Chess Grandmaster said, throwing his dignity aside.

However Minos could only shake his head, his words from before not just being an excuse, but a fact.

Despite his intelligence, without the push of his Omnipotent Eyes, even Minos couldn't play in such a way, the amount of brain power required just being far too much.

But with his Omnipotent Eyes, such a process was actually quite simple, seeing thousands of moves ahead being as easy as breathing.

Because of this, Minos wasn't constrained to the normal mode of playing, and instead of playing in the present, he played in the future.

This is why his style seemed so chaotic and imperceptible, because it was to those who didn't see the board in the same way he did.

"What will it take for you to teach me? I'll give you anything, whether it be money, influence, strength, just tell me." The Chess Grandmaster begged, willing to give up anything in pursuit of that which he loved most.

"Do you think I'm deceiving you when I told you those words from before?" Minos asked.

"What else could it be except deceit! While I dare not say I'm the smartest man in the Blue Line Continent, I'm certainly up there, and I'm far from regular." He said with a huff.

"Since you're so confident, how about a bet?"

"Bet?"

"That's right, a bet. If you win, I'll teach you as you want, but if I win, I want one million Nux Stones instead of 100,000."

Hearing his words, the Chess Grandmasters brow raised slightly, a million Nux Stones being a lot even for him.

Beyond him, the others in the crowd also heard, once again breaking out into excitement as they talked about the bet.

At the side, Jena felt her blood-rushing, not expecting Minos to have such a wild side to him, admiring him even more.

"Fine, we have a deal, but what's the bet?" The Chess Grandmaster said after a moment's thought.

Smiling, Minos whispered something to Jena, causing her to quickly run out into the streets before arriving back with a small stone in her hand.

Taking the stone, Minos used his Nux to carve it into a coin-like shape, inscribing a square shape on one side, and a circle shape on the other.

"It's simple, I'll flip this coin and you tell me what side it will land on."

"You do realize with my cultivation such a thing is incredibly simple, right?" The Chess Grandmaster asked, his perception easily allowing him to keep up with the coin's movements.

"Naturally, which is why you can only look for the first second, and after that you have to close your eyes." Minos said.

"Close my eyes? How is that any different from just relying on luck?"

"Who said anything about luck? You have the first second for a reason, whether you use it or not is a reflection of your own ability." Minos replied.

"You mean to say you want me to predict the side the coin lands on based on what I see in the first second?"

"Smart. Well then, shall we get started?"

"... Okay, go ahead." The Chess Grandmaster said after a slight pause, realizing such a challenge was difficult even for him.

"Very well, if you can get three out of five, I'll consider it your victory." Minos said, before handing the coin to Jena and giving her a nod.

Nodding back, Jena took the coin and flipped it hard, everyone's eyes immediately focusing onto the coin as they watched with interest.

Like they had agreed, after the first second the Chess Grandmaster closed his eyes, waiting for another second or so for the coin to finally hit the floor.

"So, what is it?" Minos asked as Jena picked up the coin and showed him the result.

"Squ- No, circle!" He said as he opened his eyes and looked towards Minos.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive!"

"I'm afraid you're wrong." Minos said, causing Jena to open her palm and reveal the square side of the coin.

Scrunching his forehead, the Chess Grandmaster didn't say anything, not thinking Minos would deceive him in front of a crowd of hundreds of people.

Besides, it was only the first toss, and he believed with his intelligence, he would soon get the hang of things.

Feeling reassured, the Chess Grandmaster signaled Jena to begin the next round, which she quickly obliged.

Once again, as the second passed, he shut his eyes, waiting patiently for Minos's words.

"Go ahead."

"Circle!" He said, this time answering in confidence.

"Correct."

Smiling widely, the Chess Grandmaster couldn't help but puff his chest out slightly, but it seemed his excitement was short lived, losing the next round by guessing circle again.

Realizing he was getting arrogant too soon, he calmed himself back down, which seemed to be the right move, allowing him to guess correctly on the next flip.

Like that, it was two to two, the last coin flip of the game being the tie-breaker, causing the crowd to go silent in a rare moment.

Taking a deep breath, the Chess Grandmaster signaled towards Jena, letting her know he was ready.

With the coin in hand, Jena flipped it with all her strength, everyone's eyes glued onto that coin as if it was some sort of magical treasure.

The Chess Grandmaster was especially absorbed in the coin, his eyes so focused it was as if the rest of the world didn't exist.

But not forgetting the deal, he immediately closed his eyes after his allotted second passed, though the coin still seemed to exist within his mind.

Creating a virtual world, the coin retained all its momentum in movement within the darkness of his thoughts, his brain operating at a tremendous speed as he tried to keep up with the coin.

Each flip was more exhausting than the last, and he was never certain whether he was going at the right speed, since either a moment too slow or too fast would create completely different results.

However, without the real coin to verify, he could only grit his teeth and pray to the heavens that he had followed along correctly, waiting patiently for the coin to finally hit the ground.

But while he couldn't look, he used a different strategy, checking to see if the sound of the real coin hitting the ground matched the same moment as the virtual coin within his mind.

Seeing that they did, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, feeling like half of the battle was over.

Of course the other half was the way the coin reacted upon hitting the floor, which was even more difficult and unpredictable.

After another moment, both the real coin and virtual one finally lost all momentum, the Chess Grandmaster opening his eyes, not feeling completely confident.

Not rushing him, Minos just watched with interested eyes as he waited patiently for him to reach his own answer, the crowd also waiting in silence for the same thing.

This time the pause lasted longer than usual, nearly a minute passing before he finally said his answer.

"Square…"

Looking towards him for a moment, Minos opened his hand, revealing a circle, the Chess Grandmaster's pupils immediately dilating as he saw the result.

The crowd also let out a loud gasp, most people having thought that the Chess Grandmaster would have won this bet.

"Th-That's impossible, this game is impossible, it's merely a matter of luck!" The Chess Grandmaster said, slamming his hands against the table.

"Don't embarrass yourself, there's nothing impossible about it, you just don't have the talent." Minos said.

"Then you do it!" The Chess Grandmaster immediately said, his eyes sparkling as if he found the way out.

"Me?"

"Why not, after all you said it wasn't impossible, so prove it!"

"Hmm, fine, but you'll have to raise the bet again to two million Nux Stones." Minos replied, causing the crowd to once again go crazy.

"Mr. Minos, you're a mad man!" Jena said, though her shining eyes made it clear that she didn't mean this in a bad way.

Smiling, Minos didn't reply to Jena, instead staring down the Chess Grandmaster as he waited for his response.

Seemingly realizing that such an amount was too much even for him, Minos decided to add a little bit more to the deal.