Chapter 186 Betting Match Procedure

"He demands a match?"

"It's about time a betting match started."

The crowd began to buzz at the mention of a match. The platinum blonde student grinned as he continued to watch Carter.

'Betting Match.' Lee Seng recalled. 'I think I read about this when I was reading the rules, procedures and regulations book…'

"You want a match? Why would you put everything on the line for a rumor?" Carter chuckled. He folded his arms and turned his body to look at Lee Seng and then back at the platinum blonde hair kid. "Lee Seng, come here."

Lee Seng moved past Jae and stood next to Carter who motioned for the platinum blonde hair kid forward. The kid's grin widened as he moved closer. Lee Seng could feel a strange aura about him. Something kept firing in his head to stay away from this kid, but he didn't know what it was.

"This is the first time you've heard about the match, right?" Carter looked at Lee Seng.

"Yeah, but I have an idea of what it is." Lee Seng answered.

"Good, then we don't have to waste time. Let's lay it down now and get to it." The platinum blonde kid stepped forward. Carter threw his arm up and stopped the kid.

"For anyone who doesn't know what a match is, I'll explain it to them, alright? Don't get ahead of yourself." Carter cleared his throat. The platinum blonde student took a step back,angrily frowning. "There are multiple systems in place in case students fall into one of these 'disagreements' or 'problems.' For the sake of brevity, students like to call this Betting Matches. Simply put, a student initiates a match by saying so. In this case you, blonde…"

"Tristan."

"Tristan here is adamant that Lee Seng is the reason behind the Invasion that took place three weeks ago, correct?" Carter summarized.

"Correct." Tristan answered.

"And Lee Seng says he isn't the cause of the invasion, right?"

"Correct." Lee Seng answered. Tristan and him stared daggers at each other as Carter shifted and moved to be slightly off to the side of them.

"Betting Matches can solve most student problems. In the case of something like this, it's better to clear it up with actual facts but since a lot of you aren't keen on taking facts, let's settle it with this." Carter clapped.

"Really?" Lee Seng looked at Carter.

"What? You're scared or something, Chang? Daddy can't help you so now you're actually buckling in your boots?" Tristan poked at him.

"So, you two need to bet on something. Because it's centered around the rumor, you'll both have to agree on something." Carter motioned.

"If I win, he gets kicked out of the school and city." Tristan motioned. The crowd went wild at the mention of this. Tristan raised his arms and pumped the crowd and Lee Seng sighed.

"Since it's on a huge scale, you should've shot higher." Lee Seng pulled the attention back to him. "Let's just do this…" Lee Seng stepped forward. "If I win, you and anyone who believes in the rumors and wants me out of the Academy, get expelled." The crowd began to boo.

"It should stay between you two." Carter told Lee Seng.

"Okay." Lee Seng nodded. He moved closer, moving straight up to Tristan. "If I win, nobody can challenge me on the rumor ever again." The crowd gasped. Most boo'd and shouted that Lee Seng was just creating a 'cop out' for himself, but Lee Seng simply smiled at Tristan.

"Alright, break it up." Carter moved the two backwards. "That's not between you two, but I'll allow it." The crowd booed and Carter immediately looked around, staring daggers at everyone. "Do you agree with this, Tristan?" Tristan didn't say anything for a while. He seemed like he was milling about this in his brain and he finally shook his head no.

"That seems so safe of you. You should add something else. Like if I lose, nobody can challenge you on this and I will be expelled." Tristan tweaked the bet. Lee seng shrugged.

"You're that cocky that you'll win?" Lee Seng chuckled. "I like the bet just the way it is. Take it or leave it."

"I'm giving you more and you don't want it? You're crazy, Chang."

"Well," Lee Seng shrugged. "I don't like it when someone just leaves your sight forever. I like what comes after that." Lee Seng could see Tristan's brain finally registering what would happen and nodded.

"Fine, then I'll change mine too. If I win, you have to publicly address that the Invasion happened because of you and stick around the Academy afterwards."

"Sounds good to me." Lee Seng stuck his hand out. Tristan shook it and the crowd of students went wild.

"Alright, the betting match is set! Since this is our first betting match of the year, you can choose what day you want to fight." Carter motioned.

"How about after school today?" Tristan glanced at Lee Seng with a cocky smile. Lee seng shrugged.

"Today's the check-up exam. I don't wanna have you exhausted after that. We should fight with full strength." Lee Seng answered. Tristan rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry about my strength. You should worry about yourself." The crowd began to chant 'today' and Lee Seng turned around and watched as Jae avoided his gaze. Jason coldly stared at Lee Seng, waiting for him to make his next move.

'They deliberately played this outcome, huh?' Lee Seng turned back and around and nodded.

"Fine after school." The two shook on it and the crowd went wild.

"Alright, it sounds like we've reached an agreement! Tristan and Lee Seng will fight after school today." Carter clapped. "Until then, don't disrupt anyone and go about your days! If I hear anyone start a fight with either of these boys, including you two, I will cancel it and you will all be punished severely."

"Be prepared to lose." Tristan turned away, dispersing with the rest of the crowd. Lee Seng turned around and found Jae and Jason casually eating their food. He moved over to sit and looked at Jason before turning to face Jae.

"Was that your plan?" Lee Seng asked. "If it was, that wasn't the best plan."

"So?" Jason replied. "You found a solution and it's all up to you now."

"I could easily lose and be humiliated for something I didn't do."

"All the more reason to show everyone what you got." Jae added. "The strong climb to the top. That's the whole motto of this place. You wanna simmer the rumors? You gotta prove yourself."

"And making a bet with some random dude who doesn't like me is going to solve that?"

"Or you could've just denied it and continued with the constant stares and whispering." Jason spoke up.

"I would get that either way, so it's not like it matters a whole lot." Lee Seng shrugged. "You two should know what I'm capable of."

"Tristan isn't all that anyways." Jason shrugged. "You should be fine against him."

"You have class with him or something?"

"Yup. He talks a lot and doesn't do much in Specialization training."

"What's his power?"

"Aura manipulation." Jae answered. "He can basically manipulate his aura and depending on the output, he can disrupt your aura from being able to do anything."

"So, he can basically stun you?"

"Mmm, he goofs around a lot in training and Miss. Cather doesn't like him at all. She punishes him a lot."

"He does seem to do the punishments every time without fail but his cocky and free spirited personality is what holds him back." Jason grabbed his water and took a large gulp before wiping his mouth.,

"That's why we forced you into that situation. It's the best situation we could come up with and it would be a great demonstration to show others what you're capable of." Jae shrugged. Lee seng sighed and nodded. He took a large bite of his burger and began to rummage through his thoughts.

'Is this the best scenario?' Lee Seng thought. 'It doesn't matter what's best or not. I need to make sure I can beat him. Jae and Jason talk about him like he's a slacker, but that doesn't really help me… I wonder if I can dig up information on him.'

"You know his last name?" Lee Seng asked.

"Why? You're gonna dig up some information on him?" Jae asked.

"Why do you ask if you know what I'm going to do? Are you gonna give it to me or not?"

"Tristan Pierce." Jason answered. Lee Seng pulled his phone out and typed Tristan's name into his social media app.

"While you do that, did you really get injured fleeing through the sewers?" Jae asked.

"Why? You're gonna make fun of me or something?" Lee Seng retorted.

"I'm just curious. Rumors are based off of something so I just wanna know a semblance of the truth. I could even weed out the rumors."