Chapter 26 - Blackout

When everyone saw a board come out of nowhere with several shots in it and the number of coins written in columns, something seemed to awaken within them as they surrounded the table I was sitting on.

The column with 3, 4, and 5 shots was filled to the brim names and amount they had betted. There was a huge box with a crap ton of coins within it also filled to the brim with a silvery metal that anyone could guess are coins. there seemed to be a mountain of them which to my eyes had awoken my inner greed

"Your mother is going to kill me if she finds out," Granny said when she got close enough to me to talk without having her voice overridden by the loud cheers.

Throid and Alan were behind me protecting me from the swarm of people who wanted to either talk to me or place their bet. Either way, it seems like everyone here is a gambling addict which shouldn't be surprising at a first look, not to mention getting to know them. Their carefree attitude about everything oozed out of them with such ferocity that if it had a scent I would have become asthmatic in their presence.

"quick question" I called out to the waiter who was in charge of the bets. This made everyone quite down to know what I was about to ask.

"If I can get past 27 shots, can I keep the 85% that you don't take? Since everyone would have lost if I can go through 26 shots"

"..."

"..."

"sure, as long as you get past the 26th shot without falling, okay?"

everyone started to laugh uncontrollably at those words while the three closest to me looked at me with worry

However, before they could say anything their thoughts and voices were derailed by the voice of the waitress which shut everyone up.

"The challenge is simple. You must stand on one leg on a stool one meter from the ground. You take one drink every 30 seconds to allow the alcohol more time to spread and take effect, Okay?"

I nodded while getting on the stool on both legs before switching to one. My form was the closest thing to perfect. Due to my small body that I wasn't used to yet, I couldn't make myself as balanced as I wanted to be, but it was good enough.

"These shots are from the alcohol, 'the red dragon'. it isn't the strongest we have but it is the one we have a lot of while being able to make the drinks in the house."

I nodded again while stretching my hand towards the first glass shot and drank it. Everything I could hear was the words "DRINK!" being repeated multiple times

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Laura's POV (James' mother"

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I was in my usual beautiful carriage when I reached outside a bar where I heard the chants "DRINK!". It seemed to have piqued my son's interest and so did my own. We both decided to go and check on what's happening.

We both left their carriage before reaching near the door that was overflowing with people. We could see Elaina and her eldest daughter next to her who was the same age as Aroura. They both seemed to have eyes sparkling with curiosity. They were both wearing the same set of red dresses and red hats that covered them from light on all sides of their head. The hat had a small White feather on top which was in almost complete contrast with the rest of the set of clothes.

"Elaina? What are you doing here?" I asked

"The same reason you're here," Elaina said with a chuckle

We were about to speak a little more when the chanting got louder. A woman could be seen wiping names off a board which already seemed to be half empty. The moment the names would get smaller, the chants would get louder. This time, however, instead of saying "DRINK!" like they usually would have, they were saying someone's name

-"PAN-DOH-RAH!"-

-"PAN-DOH-RAH!"-

-"PAN-DOH-RAH!"-

-"PAN-DOH-RAH!"-

Me, Elaina, her daughter Argenta and James all looked at each other with a non-verbal "no way, right?"

When we looked at who was standing on the stall just slightly taller than everyone else even with the stall under them.

There was a girl, barely 4ft 1, more than the average at her age by a margin. She had golden hair that reached her shoulder blades, so vibrant that it looked like it was reflecting the lights of the bar with an amplification. Her golden eyes were so deep that they looked like they could swallow you whole if you took more than a glance. Her small stature radiated elegance even when she was standing on one leg, on a stall, in the middle of a large crowd.

She was wearing two black gloves with crystals embedded within them that went under her red overcoat sleeves. With it, she wore an 8-inch long knife on her belt hip area. She wore black trousers that were covered by the red overcoat that reached slightly under her knees. She wore a black shirt under the open overcoat.

In one hand she held a small shot glass that she would drink from and give to the blonde pale-colored hair with a huge stature, just to be given another glass to drink from approximately 30 seconds after the last one. Her left hand was thrust upwards at every syllable the crowd chanted no matter what they were saying. With her hand, her head nodded ruffling her hair back and forth and making the blue and green crystal in the middle of her chest bouncing up and down. She would only stop bopping whenever she would swallow a whole shot in a single gulp before thrusting her hands up again when she was done to make the crowd cheer and clap louder.

The four of us quickly looked at each other. Elaina and James were so shocked they had turned pale while Argenta simply faces palmed while looking down.

What the hell? How did they let this kind of thing happen? How can parents be so incompetent?

My mind went blank after a few thoughts as I kept staring until I recognized Granny Xela and her face was palmed just like Argenta.

"We should probably go to their house, don't you think? I want to hang out with Aroura too so why not?" Argenta said with a shrug.

"Yeah, I think that would be a great idea," said Elaina, yet her voice oozed sarcasm. She still came but not very willingly.

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Pandora's/ Atlas' POV

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Damn this feels good. It feels like when I used to play with Aroura as a baby but with an extra adrenaline rush. Is this why people back on earth went to parties? Maybe I should have gotten some friends when I was back on earth. NA! Who am I kidding, myself? Humans are just opportunistic assholes, it's just that these people are honest about it while the others will just hide it.

Hmm? Is this the final one? Everyone is cheering louder so it must be.

I looked at the board and saw there was only one column left.

Well, it seems like this one is the final one, got to make it a blast hahaha. It is quite sad that I can't get drunk due to my super digestion speed but I guess I had some fun and a good experience that I probably won't have even when I reach drinking age.

There isn't a law against drinking before a certain age, but according to my teacher, it's supposed to be etiquette to not drink before hitting the age of 15. I think etiquette is stupid anyway so she can take that rule and shove it up either her pride and ego or ass, they are the same size anyway.

I shrugged at my thoughts before gulping down the last shot in one fell swoop and doing a backflip with one leg and landing it with the grace of a ballerina before giving the bow that you would normally see actors at the end of a theater do just with on leg instead of two since I couldn't let my leg touch the ground before the thirty-second timer.

It seemed for the last 7 seconds it had gotten awfully quiet and the tension increased within the room before

3

2

1

Tick!

"RAHAHAAAAAAAAAH"

"WOOOOOOOOOOOO"

Everyone shouted in celebration even though they were the ones who lost money yet I didn't question it for more than a second. I had felt a sense of accomplishment near to that of when I had been able to do magical spells for the first time. The joy I felt didn't make sense but again, I didn't question it for more than a second.

Even granny, Throid and Alan seemed to be just as hyped as the crowd. No one was being sour and no one was questioning how I won.

"JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!"

hmm? Do they want me to jump into the crowd? That seems dangerous... Pfft hahaha.

I looked towards granny for reassurance when she nodded with a vibrant smile

"Oh well," I said with a shrug before jumping extremely high, almost hitting the ceiling and dropping back first. At that moment I had put all my trust into strangers and the moment I spread my arms I had felt as if my worries disappeared for a second. The moment I reached close enough, I felt dozens of hands stop my fall slowly before throwing me up again.

"HAAAAAAAAA '' is what I heard when being thrown up until after a few throws they put me down and let me walk towards my granny. She was looking at me with one of the vibrant smiles I would expect from Aroura, not her.

"Did you have fun?" she asked me while patting me down from any dust that may have accumulated. She quickly used water, earth, and air magic in quick succession to clean me from dirt, dust, and stains.

"Yeah, it was really fun. Maybe we can do it aga-"

"NO!" said two voiced, on being the waitresses and the other being my Grandma's

"First, I'm not going to ask how the hell you are still sober but I checked those shots myself to see if they have been altered. An adult couldn't take more than you did today, you sure you're good?" Asked the waitress while putting her right arm on her right hip

"I'm fine miss, thank you for your concern. Though I would like to have my money now." I replied

"Oh yeah, about that. We can send it to your home direct-"

"NO!" me and grandma said in unison this time

"Uhum, I meant to say that I have a dimensional storage so transporting won't be much of a problem," Granny said while clearing her throat.

"Do you want us to accompany you?" asked Throid

"yeah sure, why not?" I said with a chuckle and a shrug at the same time

Granny took the money that had accumulated to 1 gold and 47 silvers. She told me to call her whenever I wanted to buy anything or whenever I got my dimensional storage. We all departed not long after saying taking the money and saying bye to everyone within the bar

"By the way, how are you still sober? I couldn't even take that many shots without wobbling. Do you have a secret to doing so well?" Asked Throid with an aloof face

"A trickster never reveals their trick because once they do, the trick lacks the luster It had before," I said with a lecturing tone.

"oh yeah granny" I carried on

"yeah?"

"wanna go on a hunt?"

"in the woods?" she replied with a childish joy in her voice

"yeah. I've already drank enough alcohol to make an elephant drop, I might as well do some more things my parents wouldn't agree to" I said before walking towards the wood and having them follow me with a shrug