Third Ability

Dressed in his work uniform, Bruce approached the security guards outside the Tretësirat Casino and gave them a short nod.

But before he could take another step further, the security guards stopped him with a curt gesture and spread their palm towards him.

With an audible sigh, Bruce showed them his work ID, seemingly all too familiar with the process.

One of the security guards took it from his hands and suddenly said his name out loud with surprise in his tone.

"Bruce Ryker?"

"Yeah."

After confirming his identity, the security guards looked at him strangely. Bruce found it weird but before he could ask about it, they suddenly pulled him closer to search his entire body, not giving him any chance.

Bruce let them search as they fit. The sooner the whole process ends, the earlier he could get started with his job.

After finding nothing, they stepped away and let him enter through the backdoor.

"Get in."

Not wasting anymore time, Bruce complied and went inside the casino. He fixed his suit which was slightly ruined due to the damn guards rough searching.

His work uniform consisted of a neat, buttoned-up white shirt covered with a golden brown vest, while a black tie hung a little below his jaw.

His entire appearance was enhanced with a sense of professionalism and sophiscastion, accentuating his good looks.

He went to the employees room and realized that everyone was looking at him with confusion, shock, and even disbelief in their faces.

'Hm? This again... Do I look weird today?'

Bruce frowned, thinking of a reason.

"B-bruce! You're alive!" One of his co-workers suddenly shouted in surprise. "But wow, you have guts coming back here..."

Oh, Bruce immediately realized the reason why everyone was looking at him strangely tonight. They did hear that he got caught up in the fury of an insecure Transcendent.

Although it wasn't explicitly said by the manager that he had died, everyone had already assumed the worst when they heard the news.

A normal man who offended a Transcendent was good as dead. And they were right to some extent, Bruce sighed internally.

Thinking of the beating he had received by the Transcendent that night, Bruce felt a tinge of anger flare up in him.

'Really. There's no need to get angry about it... That person is already a dead man.'

Bruce thought and put it on the back of his mind. He looked at the co-worker that spoke and replied calmly.

"I am. I got lucky, I guess."

Seeing his deadpan calmness and cold expression, everyone was immediately convinced that it was Bruce in front of them.

At work, Bruce was pretty much the ol' reliable stoic coworker everyone knew little of but remembered from his trait of being extremely efficient and effective in his job.

Although he was too serious for everyone's taste, no one really minded it especially when Bruce always volunteered to cover for their shifts when there was an emergency on their end.

They even felt suspicious sometimes as the man was all too eager to cover for them, but they just forgot about it and remembered it as a favor.

"That's good," One of his co-workers sighed in relief. "That's why I told you to wear a mask. Your looks are just, uh, what's the word for it?"

Another co-worker suggested. "Irritating?"

"Uh, no," The co-worker awkwardly denied. He glared at the person. "It's too flashy. It attracts too much attention."

'Since when did I have such a good relationship with these people?'

Seeing them converse with each other, Bruce thought in wonder before he shook his head lightly. He was going off tangent—he had a job to do.

Putting down his stuff, Bruce took out a pair of gloves and wore them on his hands. He took one last glance at his coworkers before leaving the room.

Tretësirat Casino was a large gambling house, filled with various types of people indulging in both their greed. It had the characteristics of both a man's heaven and a man's hell.

As one of the most popular gambling houses in all of Solace, its design was nothing short of exceptional. It gave an impression of a boastful, extravagant grandeur that made people think they were in a king's palace.

Bathed in a soft, golden hue of thousands of shimmering light, the casino had a lively atmosphere and attracted countless people to its den of sin.

There were all kinds of people in the casino, some even wearing a special badge indicating their status as a Transcendent.

The casino lured people all over the planet with its promise of wealth and prosperity, even Transcendents were not exempted from such temptation.

Bruce casually walked up to a long, circular table. He glanced towards it and saw that there were already several people surrounding the table.

"The dealer is finally here. I've been waiting since forever!" A rough man clicked his tongue in impatience. "Come on, come on, let's start already."

"Crude, inelegant and primitive," A haughty woman spoke up from the other side. "You're the same as always, Kennedy Brittle."

"Hah?! Who the hell do you think..." Kennedy was infuriated. But upon seeing the person's face, his anger subsided. He smiled mockingly. "If it isn't the old bitch of Olympus, did having those small gods stuck up on your ass think you've become different from us lowly people?"

"Hmph." The woman harrumphed, not taking his words to heart. "Jealous?"

The other players were watching the scene with interest, Kennedy was about to answer back, but Bruce intervened before the uncomfortable mood in the table grew.

Clap!

Bruce lightly clapped his hands, taking everyone's attention. He gave a short nod to both of them.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It would be much appreciated if we focused on our game tonight. Let's take it easy, both of you, please."

The haughty woman smiled. "You're certainly better than this barbaric freak."

Bruce smiled silently, cursing her internally.

Kennedy didn't even bother to respond to her, lazily tilting his head as he crashed his back against the soft chair.

The entire table fell silent.

Without wasting anymore time, Bruce let everyone take a seat and make themselves comfortable.

"We're playing Blackjack, standard rules and a minimum of five thousand chips per round."

Bruce explained patiently. He slid his hand on the card shoe, smoothly taking out a card and distributing it to the players.

However, as soon as his hands touched the card, his eyes widened in shock as he almost lost his composure.

In front of him, a blue, flickering panel appeared above the card table.

[Ability No. 3]

[Master of Cards: With one hand, a card becomes a blade and a wand. Countless possibilities exist in this ability, use it wisely. Works only in cards.]