-" Quite an ingenious way to get rid of the monsters, I must say." Hugh laughed joyfully as he saw the two girls bait the monster toward the unfortunate group.
-" They don't seem very strong, but, their quick wit and sagacity are enough to give them an edge in this test." One of the nobles complemented Hugh's words.
-" Don't speak too soon. They look to be at the beginning of the third circle, commendable for their age, but, far from enough to face the more advanced cultivators in the tournament." Marcius didn't think much of the two girls.
-" It's not wise for you to single them out so easily..." Abel smiled as he saw Henry's sister already shining in the tournament. "Many people are talented, but few possess the tenacity of the young woman with the black hair."
-" Oh?" Lilia looked at the mirror screen with interest. " Is she the one that you came to support? I didn't expect you to recruit such a young person." The girl's talent didn't look too bad, but, she was too young and no one could be sure that she would reach very far.
-" Yes, I don't support her because of her talent." Abel closed his eyes as he thought about the day he meet the young girl. " We have a debt to repay with her."
-" A debt?" Henry looked at Abel with interest, he knew that the chances of the Whitelocks being the one who dumped his body in the forest that day was slim, but, there was still a chance.
Abel sighed, he instantly regretted mentioning this. " Her brother may have died because of his deal with us." Even with all things leading to the man named Marcos, Abel couldn't understand why he was so suspicious of Marcius, and the manager of his store.
-" Oh? A feud between families?" Henry didn't expect that this was the reason that Abel had decided to come to watch the tournament, he even felt bad about suspecting him and his family.
-" Something like this.." Abel shook his head and returned his attention to the mirror screen. " We shouldn't be dwelling on those things today, we came here to watch the tournament." Abel was curious about why Venerable H had shown so much interest in this matter.
-" Abel is right, today we should focus on the tournament." Hugh had his eyes glued to the screens. " Look! Some of the participants are already approaching twenty points!"
Henry looked at the screen that Hugh had pointed to and was surprised to find the group familiar, and he quickly remembered the group of students of the North Sea Academy he saved from the Hobgoblin.
-" It looks like they are quite skillful in monster hunting." One of the nobles was impressed by the group's cooperation. " If they keep like this is quite likely that we will have our five winners".
-" This won't happen, they will have to hunt too many monsters for all of them to pass." Another noble commented as he observed the screen. "It's likely that a good part of the group only came to support the blond kid."
-" Quite the good strategy, many of the academies are using this same method." Abel sighed as he looked at Makayla's screen, her biggest disadvantage was her small group.
-" North Sea Academy, Golden Lion School, and the Verdant Mountain Academy are the likely winners of this tournament." Lilia sneered as she watched the group of the North Sea Academy, she had prepared extensively for the tournament and had information about almost all of the academies. " Why don't we bet on who is going to qualify for the Royal Tournament?"
-" We barely know the participants, how can we possibly bet on someone?"
-" You can wait for the end of the day, surely this is enough time to observe the participants right?" Lillia grinned, she was excited to make some gains in this tournament.
-" The end of the day...." The nobles all fell in deep thought, the tournament would take thee days, and they would likely grow bored in the later parts of the tournament, so a little bit to spice things up wasn't that bad of an idea.
-" Okay, but, I will only make my bet when the day ends."
-" One day is enough for us to decide ourselves."
Henry looked at Makayla's screen and grinned, even if her chances were small, he would still bet on her. He quickly opened the system inventory and began to look for a suitable item to bet.
The inventory was filled with everything from weapons to potions, but, he eventually settled on one of the mana stones that he had found in the cavern.
-" Can I make my bet now?" Henry smiled as he took out one mana stone and showed it to Hugh's disciple.
-" Is this a mana stone?" Lilia's jaw dropped as she saw the blue crystal. " Are you really betting with this?" She couldn't believe that the man was trying to bet a whole mana stone.
-" Oh! It looks like I will have to go all out if Venerable H is betting an entire mana stone, and a pretty big one no less." Hugh quickly took a chain armor from his spatial bag and showed it off to Lilia. " I will bet my Jade Infused Silvermail."
All the nobles looked at the items with jealousy, the mana stone that Venerable H had taken out was enough to power a 2-star formation for the household of a big clan, and Hugh's armor was an excellent piece of defensive equipment.
-" So? Who you are betting on?" Hugh was pumped, he was already pretty excited about the tournament, and the bet only added to it.
-" That girl." Henry smiled as he pointed to the mirror screen that focused on Makayla, Henry's choice had puzzled the nobles, especially Abel.
-" Are you sure about this?" Lilia shook her head, she thought that it was hard to understand the thought process of the masked man.
-" Beating such a previous Mana stone on this girl..." One of the nobles paused and observed Makayla, the noble thought that the man had seen something in her. " Maybe we were too foolish to rule her out."
Abel had a big smile on his face, he couldn't understand why, but, it looked like the mysterious man had grown a liking to Henry's sister. " I originally came here to support Makayla, and If Venerable H is placing his hopes on her, I can't sit still and don't do the same." Abel wanted to bet something of similar value in Makayla, but, his choices were limited. " I will bet this Cloak of Fleeting Worlds." Abel felt a little hesitant about putting this item on the line, as this was one of his most precious treasures.
-" Oh my! Abel must be really sure that this young girl will win." One of the noble ladies couldn't help but let out a surprised gasp. " To put his Cloak of Fleeting Worlds on such a bet...." The woman's eyes burned with greed as she saw how many good items were being wagered.
-" It looks like this bet will be quite the big one." Marcius grinned, he wasn't sure about partaking in it, but, winning Abel's cloak would be quite the way of infuriating him.
Most of the nobles had their greediness awakened, yet, they were all hesitant on participating in the wager, as they needed to put something of value to enter the bet.
-" Lilia! What about your item? Show it to us!" Hugh felt an adrenaline rush running through his veins.
-" My item..." Lilia fidget around and lowered her face, she hadn't brought anything valuable like them, and could only bet a few treasures. " Master... I can't bet with you... I don't have anything worth so much."
-" Bahh! You are Amberheart! Of course, you have." Hugh grinned as he had an idea. "Your family got so many alchemists, you must be swimming in potions, why don't you use a few of them?"
-" But, I don't have any of them here..." Lilia tried her best to escape from the bet, she originally only wanted to bet some simple artifacts, not rare and powerful items.
-" Just ask someone to bring them!" Hugh felt that this was a good chance to take some money from the rich family of his disciple. " Bring something good and don't disappoint me and Venerable H, you are a great noble after all."
Lilia couldn't help but mentally curse her Master, however, she still took out a stone from her spatial ring and activated it. " Father? Can you do something to me?" Lilia tried her best to make her voice as sweet and adorable as she could, she knew how stingy her father was, so taking anything from the family inventory would be pretty hard.