Muspelheim[7]

The dealer's eyes shone with an imperceptible light, his gaze focused on the young man who walked towards his position. He gazes at Khan for a while before returning to his duties.

Khan frowned, although the man tried his best to hide his emotions away, Khan got a hold of it.

'This young kid really is dumb, he had already thrown away tens of millions of his prior winnings, now he wants to get it again? Hmmph, not on my watch.' The dealer thought as he shook the cup on his hand.

Placing the cup on the table, he shouted.

"Place your bets!"

Khan immediately took the young man's chip and placed it on the high bet.

"Hey, what are you doing?" The young man murmured, his tone unsettled.

"If you wanna win just trust on me."

The dealer's eyes momentarily focused on Khan's bet before scouring the other bets.

'Hmmph, he really doesn't know when to quit, I'll just make him as destitute as possible.' An almost indiscernible light shone on the underside of the dealer's wrist.

Followed by an inconspicuous amount of vibration that shot towards the cup. But before it could strike the dice inside the cup, Khan threw a small amount of soul energy.

It clashed on the undulating waves of vibration and dissipated with a sizzle. Everyone's focus turned towards the cup. Their eyes glued to it as if waiting for a treasure to come out.

And with a swift motion, the dice beneath the cup revealed its brilliance.

6!

It was a high number.

"Woah! You won, at your first shot?! How the hell did you do that? I took about thirty times just to win one!" Khan's eyes turned to the young man.

Looking closely, although earlier he had suspected it. This young man really was naive. If you think about it, everyone who goes into a gambling site always has one thing in common, and that was to earn money.

And the sole mission of every gambling site owners was of course, to siphon more money from these greedy people who think that they could earn all of their lost money at once.

In short, each and everyone that governs a particular gambling site had their own schemes to play with their greedy guests, to make them dance on the palm of their hand.

Khan wore a complicated smile on his face, for he learned all of these lessons the hard way.

'It seems like this guy's scheme is using a vibration type technique to shift the values on the dice depending on where the customers bet.'

'He's also an expert in giving the carrot and stick.' Khan had an amused smile, his gaze picked up the chips that he had won. With that session, he earned double the capital, which was one red chip worth a hundred thousand.

At this point in time, the dealer already had sweat dotted on his forehead. 'Did I make a wrong move? Why was I unable to move the dice? No- something, someone definitely interfered.' His gaze scoured the customers, particularly on their wrist.

However, just as he expected, he was unable to find anyone wearing a Rune Decipherer, but of course. To prevent cheating, everyone's Rune Decipherer would be confiscated upon entrance.

Calming himself down, The dealer once again shook the cup and slammed it on the table.

"Place the bets."

Khan moved a single chip and placed it on the low end. After confirming that everyone had placed their bets, the dealer opened the cup and revealed a number

3!

Khan successfully won the bet and earned another hundred thousand. The dealer didn't even bat an eyelid as he threw a single red chip towards Khan of which the latter collected.

'Damn! I meant it to be high, why did become low? I think I'm just exhausted, after this I'll take a break.'

The young man at Khan's side grew increasingly elated after Khan had won several more rounds, after about twenty rounds, Khan already earned twenty percent of the young man's previous loss.

The dealer sighed in helplessness, however, his eyes shone with a fierce light as he gazed at Khan. For amongst the customers. He was the only one who had won every single round.

'This kid, he must be the one interfering!' Although he wanted to confront Khan, he understood that without sufficient evidence, he will just become a laughingstock, and so he retreated.

"We will now have a change of dealers, a new dealer will come out after a minute." He spoke and bowed towards the dispersing customers.

"Damn awesome, bro! How did you do that? You won every single round!" The young man's tone was particularly loud, prompting the other customers and dealers to turn towards their direction.

"Tccch... Would it kill you to shut your mouth? You're attracting needless trouble." Khan looked around and found that some customers already had the light of avarice shining within their eyes, while the dealers discreetly spoke in the air.

"Also, what's your name? "

"Boss, My name is Kizz! Just call me lil'bro." The young man's eyes shone with a fawning light as he looked at Khan.

Khan didn't even bother with the bootlicker and looked at the arriving dealer.

'Hmmm... A new dealer? It seems like they detected that someone other than the dealer was manipulating the dices, and they're thinking that it is me.' Khan's proof about this conjecture was simple, that's because he kept winning every bet that he became suspicious in the eyes of the previous dealer.

'But without proof, they're forced to change dealers... It seems like they're not too dumb, but no matter what schemes they're doing, This will be child's play.'

With the dealer's return. The scattered customers once again gathered. The dealer looked to be a man on his sixties, with bright silver hair and mustache which gave him a wise impression.

His movements fluid and several clangs would resound in each shake. Khan placed a bet on the high end and once again sent a wave of soul energy/force towards the dice.

But upon contact with the cup, the energy he sent dissipated into nothingness.

'Hmm? Strange... Wait- he changed the cup?' Khan's eyes turned towards the cup. Earlier, the cup was a normal paper cup, but now the dealer had a metal cup.

'It seems like the material of the cup can dissipate soul energy. But wait, if he does that, how will he manipulate the dice?' Khan frowned, he looked at the dealer.

The dealer shook the dice with his two arms near the right side of his head. His eyes closed in deep focus.

With a final movement, The dealer slammed the cup on the table and spoke.

"Place your bets!"

Khan placed his bet on the high end, and because he kept winning all the rounds. People became inclined to following what he chose, because of this, almost all of the customers had placed their bets on the high end. But upon opening the cup, the number that the dice revealed differed from their expectations.

1!

Lower end! Khan lost this round.

"Boss? What happened? How did you lose this round? Did you lose your edge? Are you hungry or something? Are you stiff in the shoulders? Do you have some pent up stress?" Kizz circled around Khan and spoke, irritating the already frowning Khan.

"If you're gonna talk nonsense then get the fuck out of here." Khan scolded, of which made the young man stop.

After the dealer swiped the table clean of chips. He once again picked the dice and shook, with the same manner and posture as earlier. Khan frowned.

'How does he predict the dice's value and manipulate it into his likings?' In the face of this peculiar method, Khan stood unfazed, his eyes shone with a keen light.

The customers around turned quiet, and only the sound of the dice hitting the metal cup could be heard.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Each hit of the dice produced an unknown sound, Khan closed his eyes and focused all of his mindpower towards his sense of hearing.

By the time that the dealer raised his hand in preparation for slapping the cup down. Khan's eyes snapped open, shining with an excited light.

'So this old man's secret is sound! If my conjecture is right, each side of the dice produces a sound according to their value! If so, this dice should be at the low end!'

Clang!

With a final clang, the cup slammed on the table followed by the old man shouting. "Place your bets!" His voice extremely loud.

Khan slapped a chip on the higher end, of which everyone followed suit. The old man's gaze flickered.

"Is that your final bet?!" The old man once again shouted, prompting Khan to remove his bet from the high end and place it and the low end, once again. Everyone around him followed.

'What a cunning old man! He even uses his loud voice to mask the movement of the dice!'

The dealer suffused an amused smile and opened the cup.

4!

Khan had won the bet, and so did everyone else.

"You did it, boss! You took what you lost back!" Kizz cheered at the side, his face flushed with excitement.

'Oy, oy, where did the killing intent earlier go?' Khan looked at Kizz with a weird gaze.

After this, Khan had won about twenty more rounds, after the tenth round, Khan started to bet five hundred thousand worth of chips. Earning him five million in ten rounds.

His total earning almost neared Kizz's total loss.

After winning the twentieth round. The dealer sighed, pressing a button under the table. He announced. "I will be taking a break and will be back in a minute, also, you two. Follow me, the boss would like to meet you."

The old man's gaze had a hint of pity within it. Khan frowned, for the gazes of the other customers around also had the same emotion within it. Pity, Schadenfreude, and helplessness.

"This is what happens if you take advantage of the casino. Although they let you earn some money, you should earn it in the minimum, not like that kid." They murmured in mosquito like voices.

"It would be a miracle if they're able to keep their earnings." The crowd shook their heads, although they came here to earn money, they were not desperate to earn that much, for they will be thrown by the casino, and their earnings, stolen.

With the background of the casino's owner, wanting to report this unfairness was tantamount to courting death.

Although they tried their best to lower their voices, it couldn't escape Khan's perception. Khan's eyes flashed with a fierce light, but within a blink of an eye, it dissipated and replaced by cold indifference.

Kizz who had a playful attitude earlier, wore a solemn visage, their footsteps firm as they followed the old man. But to the spectators, their firm footsteps looked to be heavy, as if they were walking to their own execution site.

After walking for a while, they arrived near a door. The old man knocked on the door with a particular rhythm, and with a creaking sound, the door opened, revealing a middle-aged man who sat on a couch attended by beauties side by side.

"Boss, I have bought them." The middle-aged man's eyes turned towards the two, his gaze prompting Khan and Kizz to drive their instincts to life.

Khan slightly bent his knees while Kizz formed a finger sword with his right hand.

Dismissing the beauties by his side, the middle-aged man who wore a simple attire of tank top and shorts stood up. He stretched his neck of which creaking sounds came out.

"So you're the two who kept on winning in my casino right?" The middle-aged man's eyes shone with a bloodthirsty light, sending the temperature around the room into the lower end.

Khan remained unfazed while Kizz gritted his teeth and withstood the pressure

"Yes, that is us," Khan spoke in an indifferent tone.

"Hoh... Interesting..." The middle-aged man spoke and continued.

"You must be new here, right? Judging from the way you speak, you know nothing about the workings of the underground, right?"

"Underground? Is that some kind of an organization?" Khan spoke in a nonchalant way, causing sweat to drip down the dealer's back and the middle-aged man's eyebrows to frown.

"Hahahahahahaha..." The middle-aged man threw his head backward and laughed.

"Kid, you're really interesting... How about I show you how the underground works?!"

Bang!

A fierce explosion echoed, as the middle-aged man spoke the latter half of his sentence, without a warning, he sent a punch towards Khan.

Kizz and the dealer flew backward thanks to the shockwaves, but their eyes never left the place where Khan stood.

As the smoke cleared up, The two's eyes widened when they noticed that Khan had the middle-aged man's fist clutched on the palm of his stretched hand.

"A sneak attack, and what's more to a young man like me, shameless." Khan scolded, but his tone remained indifferent.

"Hahaha, shameless? In the underground, the world shameless doesn't exist, only knowledge and power is the king!" The middle-aged man used his right hand as a wedge and spun his body around, his left leg sliced through the air, aiming at the side of Khan's head.

"Futile!" Khan coldly spoke as a burst of smoke once again erupted.

The middle-aged man had thought that his attack would succeed, but the feedback he felt said otherwise. Khan once again blocked his attacks.

Tapping on his wrist, his figure turned illusory as he reappeared several meters away from Khan. The room where they stood spanned about thirty meters in width and was wide enough to have a good fight.

The dealer at the side also readied a stance.

"Don't interfere! I'll be the one to take this kid down!" The Rune Decipherer on his wrist shone with lights as the flow of runes enveloped his body.

"Overpower!" The middle-aged man growled, the runes circling around his body entered him and dissipated. However, his figure now shone with the light of runes.

"Hmm... Physical enhancement? Interesting... Let's see how much your power has increased!" Khan's figure flashed, in an instant, he arrived behind the middle-aged man and kicked at the back of his head.

The middle-aged man didn't even bother to dodge, he turned around and punched at Khan's leg.

"A kick? I'll just crush your leg!"

"Khan!" Kizz at the side shouted, although he wanted to help, without his Rune Decipherer he was basically useless.

But just as the middle-aged man's fist neared Khan's leg. Khan suddenly hurled his upper body forward, changing his kick to a punch. And because Khan retracted his leg, the middle-aged man's punch struck nothing while Khan's fist struck the back of the head.

Bang!

A clear sound echoed as the middle-aged man flew backward and struck the walls of the room.

"Strong!"

"!"

The two, especially the dealer stood there dumbfounded. 'The boss got defeated in an exchange of fists?!' He stood there like he couldn't believe his eyes or the world itself.

Rocks crumbled and the smoke settled down, revealing the tattered figure of the middle-aged man. However, despite the damage to the wall. He still stood there, unscathed, and as if nothing had happened.

"Kid, you're interesting, your movements are too sly and unpredictable. But that is what I want, now, let's fight more!" The middle-aged man's eyes shone with an excited light as his figure flickered before Khan.

But before he could arrive, he was met with a kick and stumbled down once again.

"Damn kid, you can even detect where I would appear? How do you do that?" He once again utilized the same movement technique and the same outcome occurred, he was met with either a kick or a fist and thrown backward.

After about thirty exchanges, the middle-aged man finally couldn't take it anymore and prepared a stance. With a low hum, a fiery red aura enveloped his body, the aura clearly different from the light of the runes.

The crystal clear light of the runes and the fiery red aura perfectly mixed together, doubling the sturdiness of his body.

"A cultivation technique!" Khan inadvertently uttered.

"Hmm? You know about cultivation techniques? It seems like you not knowing about the rules of the underground is not true, is that right? You were teasing me earlier?"

"What did your mother told you about teasing adults?"

"Didn't your mother told you about proper manners?"

"Didn't your parents told you that lying his bad?"

The middle-aged man endlessly spoke.

'Damn why the hell is this guy similar to that Kizz? He's a goddamned chatterbox' Dispelling his irritation, Khan took a deep breath and took a stance.

"Heh, although you know about cultivation techniques, the fact that you don't use one means that you're not a cultivator."

"And what happens if a mortal fights a cultivator?"

"Simple, what happens to them is that."

"They die!"

The middle-aged man mysteriously reappeared behind Khan, a clear sound echoed followed by Khan's figure flying face first towards the wall.

'Damn, he became even faster!' Khan coughed, although his body was tempered by the Divine Emperor Qi and innumerable tribulation lightning, without the support of Qi, he could only muster a power comparable to a middle Spirit Tempering Realm cultivator.'

And this middle-aged man opponent of his was the strongest that he fought ever since he revived. Although he was not as strong as the Sect Master who stood at the realm of the Divine Ascendance, Khan still felt the excitement that he wanted to feel

"Hehehe, finally a strong one showed up. Fighting with weaklings really made me rusty..." Khan stood up, his clothes tattered, clenching his fists, he bent his knees and disappeared towards the middle-aged man.

"Stupid!" The middle-aged man spat as both his arms sent a whistling punch towards Khan's figure. Khan's right hand moved in a weird angle, his body moved sideways as he urged the force behind the middle-aged man's fist to curve backward, and as a result, the force that the middle-aged man sent reflected back to him.

"Guah!" The middle-aged man's solar plexus caved in followed by him exhaling a huge amount of breath. However, Khan also flew backward since he was unable to control all the rampant force that the man's punch contained.

Khan cultivated in the way of manipulating force itself. At his peak, he was able to utilize the laws of the world itself and was able to reflect, refract, absorb, and even dissipate all kinds of forces with the exception of soul energies.

But now, Khan could only reflect and parry the forces, he was unable to absorb or dissipate any of it.

Licking the blood on the edge of his lips, Khan turned towards the middle-aged man.

"Kid, what kind of technique was that?" The middle-aged man repeatedly coughed and had all kinds of openings, but Khan didn't take advantage of it and let the middle-aged man regain his composure.

For what he wanted was not to kill. But to experiment, experiment how strong he was if compared to the people living in the modern world.

Khan once again took a stance, as his eyes shone with a particular thirst for battle. The middle-aged man also took a stance, and in an instant, the two locked into a fierce fight.

The two observing the fight couldn't even catch a glimpse of their shadows for they were moving too fast.

With each exchange, Khan and the middle-aged man's wore an expression that revealed their utmost excitement. Not even minding the injuries that they received, the two kept fighting and this fight, lasted a shocking two hours.

For two hours, the two kept exchanging punches and at the end, they went down together, their condition, unknown.