Chapter 96. Placing Bets

As soon as Jack's foot hit the blue floor, the combat puppets came to life. Their wooden bodies appeared rigid, but their joints were highly flexible, giving them the fluidity of movement of living organisms. And they were not slow. In just a few moments, the closest one had already approached Jack. There were a total of seven puppets in the blue floor area, and all of them were rushing towards him. Their eyes glowed a mystical green.

Jack brandished his sword and parried the blow from the closest combat puppet. A loud clang sounded out. The crowd at the back cheered as the action started.

"You set the difficulty to the maximum, right?" Gruff asked the female warrior.

"Yes. That was the agreed standard for outworlders," the woman replied. "But don't you think that's a bit too harsh? Usually, only a Fighter who had reached level 20 would be able to conquer the maximum difficulty test. A level 15 has practically no chance to pass."

"The Gods and Goddesses believe the Outworlders to be special; that's why they're getting this treatment. We just need to follow their orders," Gruff replied.

"Yeah, I would say this serves them right," one of the men standing behind joined in the conversation. "It will teach them some manners. Have you seen their lot trotting around the capital like they own it? Some are even making trouble when the guards are not around."

"That's true," some others agreed.

Gruff waved to calm them down, "The Gods and Goddesses believe they are important and will play a key role in the coming conflict. So it is not our right to judge; we just need to play our parts."

"Hey, it's boring just to watch. How about we make a wager?" One of the rough-looking men said.

"What do you propose?" Another replied.

"Let's bet how far he can go! I bet one silver coin that he will fall on the green floor!"

"Are you sure? He looks to be in trouble already on the blue floor. I bet three silver, those who don't dare to bet this amount just piss off!"

"I bet three silver as well, and blue floor too."

"Green floor."

"Blue."

Gruff looked at them sternly, which caused all of them to pipe down.

"You bunch of degenerates," he said, then added, "if you are making bets with only that tiny amount, then just go home to your mamas and drink milk! Eight silver coins! Those that don't dare to bet this amount get the hell away from my sight! And I say red floor."

The crowd turned rowdy with cheers and curses at the same time under Gruff's provocations.

On the other hand, Jack was hearing all this talk about betting while he was weaving through the puppets' assaults. He was still conserving his strength and acting passively to study the puppets' movements and abilities. When he heard their talk, he got annoyed. They were using him as a subject for a bet, and they were betting on him failing! Not one of them had bet that he would succeed. He started to pretend to be weaker, sometimes intentionally parrying blows that he should have been able to dodge cleanly and pretending to get pushed back by the attacks due to disparity in strength.

"Red floor? That's quite a high expectation you're giving him," the female warrior said.

"Well, I have the feeling that he still hasn't used all his strength," Gruff replied, then asked, "are you in?"

"In! Green floor," the woman said.

"Boss is giving us free allowance! I'm in! And I still say blue floor," one of the rowdy men said.

"Me too!" Another joined.

Soon almost all the others were also busy placing their bets until a shout shut them up.

"I bet 18 silver coins! And I say I will reach that bloody statue and pass this test!" Jack shouted out in the middle of his fight with the puppets.

The others looked at him in bafflement. Is this guy serious? He was already having trouble on the blue floor. Pass the test? He would need to quit and come back after he reached level 20; even then, he wasn't guaranteed to pass.

"Heh, getting angry just because of a bit of mocking?" One of the rough men said, "I will take your money then. I'm in! I still say blue floor!"

"He is not worthy to become a Warrior if he gets reckless just from a few taunts. Let's teach him a lesson! I'm in also."

"Me too!"

"Count me in!"

Unexpectedly, the number of people joining the bet was even more than when the bet was eight silver coins. All twelve of the rowdy men ended up betting, leaving only Gruff and the female warrior.

"You in?" One of the men said to the two of them.

"In. Green floor," the female warrior said.

On the other hand, Gruff was twirling his mustache while gazing at Jack's fight in deep thought. He wondered if he was being rash. Although the guy seems to be having difficulty, he's still managed to avoid a direct hit all this time. And his movements seemed precise and not panicky. However, Gruff thought it was still a bit far-fetched for Jack to pass the test at his current level. He finally said, "All right. I'm in as well. Still red floor."

Jack glanced back quickly and asked, "is that everyone then?"

The rowdy men laughed, and then one of them said, "What the hell are you asking for? Everyone had placed their bet. Just surrender now and come back here and give us your money. It will save you from losing a level."

Well, time to be serious then, Jack thought with a grin. It was quite a hassle to pretend to be weak. He dashed forward with an explosion of speed, immediately passing three puppets that were gunning for him. Jack's audience, who were still having a merry laugh a second ago, had their laughter cut off when Jack exhibited his actual speed.

"You sure he is a Fighter and not a Ranger?" One of them asked the female warrior, who didn't answer as she observed Jack with a frown.

One puppet managed to block Jack's advance while another one came from his left. He executed Power Strike to the one in front while he sent a kick to the one at his left. The puppet in front was blasted aside by the Power Strike. The kick to the other puppet didn't cause damage, but it halted its movement. Its hands, however, were still free, and it stabbed at Jack's side. Jack ignored the damage and kicked against the puppet to rebound forward.

The test didn't require him to destroy the puppets, only to pass through them. So once he freed himself from those last two puppets, he ran forward. The other five were too far away to catch up to Jack, and he made it into the green floor area.

The warriors who had bet that he'd fail in the blue floor area were howling in distress and disbelief. They stomped their feet as they thought about the coins they had lost.

Jack, on the other hand, was grinning. Serve them right, he thought. Jack had gotten the idea of taking away their coins after hearing them betting on him. It was a pity that he only had 18 silver coins in his bag; otherwise, he would have baited them into betting more.

The puppets on the green floor started moving towards him, but he noticed that the seven puppets in the blue floor area stayed still once he exited their area. Jack realized that the puppets were tied to the area color and wouldn't interfere with the other regions. Jack thought this should make the test easier as he shifted his attention to the puppets in the green floor area.

The green area was smaller than the blue area, so his room to maneuver was more restricted. However, there were only five puppets in this area, which Jack thought should balance out the difficulty. Until he noticed the closest puppet was already upon him.

'It's faster?'