Chapter 312: True Bluff

Chapter 312: True Bluff



After ten minutes or so, Ms. Knight finally calmed back down as she remained still, being scolded by Ms. Queen for her so-called "audacious and rude behavior."

Through it all, Emir sat quietly, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts.

The ten eyes that watched him, their clans, even with his already high expectations, somehow managed to exceed them many times over.

Besides the new things he learned, including the weird-sounding names, he also confirmed multiple theories.

Celestials could transform into all manner of entities in ancient folk tales, not just vampires, dwarfs, elves, and succubi, but also werewolves, so-called "lovers of the moon," and whatever else that had once existed in the human mind.

Presumably, this transformation, caused by unlocking an ability in their path, would increase the effectiveness of all their abilities as their bodies, the conduits for Aether, would be more specialized to their path.

But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows; if a Celestial began walking this path, their soul wouldn't join the natural flow, reaching the Nether's River, but would flee and escape into the Void Beyond, tethered to the unknown chaos where only darkness resides.

Emir didn't know what that entailed, but he could guess, as would anyone, that it wasn't anything good.

Another thing to highlight was that he now knew which clan Arthur came from.

Sar Phalaki, the Last Wish, had those blessed by the Fortune's Wheel in their midst.

He couldn't see how they were connected, but perhaps it wasn't that Ebonfyre were descendants of this clan but rather Arthur's mother, the woman Isidore had a bastard child with.

She, a succubus, lured Isidore into her embrace, siring him a child and then manipulating his mind into taking them in; perhaps even the pills came from her, and she used Isidore as the delivery man, using him to raise her child.

'No... Maybe. Maybe not. Too contrived.'

Emir stopped thinking about that there, as his imagination was going wild, and he didn't wish to dig too deep into something he wasn't sure of.

His mind went back, continuing his previous trail of thoughts.

The last thing to highlight, besides Cember-i On's hypocrisy and the deadly competition between Class-Two's, a fight for Scripts and 'resources,' the other competitors themselves, was that Paragon's, Primordials, literal Gods for that matter, could rank down instead of outright dying.

It made sense considering their immortality, but wow, it certainly brought things into perspective.

"...Even 'Gods' are bound to slip."

His almost silent whisper was drowned out by Ms. Queen's scolding, yet Mr. Board still heard him, as he was the only one out of the lot who had his eyes on him the entire time, observing his reactions.

"...True, but also untrue, for their slip might not be one after all. The Tapestry of Fate is a mysterious thing."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"You mean to call it a bitch."

"Perhaps."

The two shared a chuckle as the rest ended their shenanigans and joined the table, prompting Mr. Rook to awaken from his short slumber.

"She quiet now?...Can we continue this accursed game?"

Mr. Board nodded to his moaning and dealt the cards, needing no further prompting.

"Let's, but to make it interesting, I'll have you show your cards when you fold."

They all nodded, turning quiet, leaving the third question for later as they focused on the game, knowing that showing their thought process here would prove disadvantageous for them in the games coming next.

Flutter~

Mr. King, as the one who'd always start the round, had 'Folded,' throwing his cards, revealing them to all:

[44] [2]

It wasn't met by surprise, as they all learned that he was a safe player, and this

A nodding Emir watched as Mr. Board dealt the 'River,' while Mr. Rook touched the small

tower-like pin, disappearing a moment later.

[K♥] [7♦] [5•] [7] [5]

Now only Ms. Queen and Emir remained.

Judging by her plays so far, it seemed that she was going along for the ride and only nudged the board to get rid of Mr. Rook, wanting a showdown between her and the pawn beside her. She looked at him, her purple eyes locked with his shades, teasing his blacks.

Her hand reached out to the table, and her fingers began nearing the chips, her nails scraping the green next to them as she wished to get a reaction out of him.

But seeing that her actions were going nowhere, she knocked on the table.

"I'll check."

Her move was correct, betting there would've been a bad move. What would she accomplish

by doing that? Bluffing, now? And killing her stack? No, that wouldn't change anything. So

she went for the check.

But Emir, unlike her, didn't wish for a showdown, he was aiming to make her 'Fold.'

So, without further adieu, he pushed the remaining chips on his table up, going all in, his bet

increasing to a hundred and seventy.

"No, you won't..."

Ms. Queen raised her brows as she paused any movement, her thoughts churning, wondering what 'Hand' would make him so confident.

'A straight isn't possible, a double ace is unlikely; perhaps a double ten; or does he have a

double king? But then, why didn't he raise after the turn? Does he have a flush? No, four hearts, not five. Or does he have a three-of-a-kind? Maybe three sevens or even three fives... But then what about a Full house?'

'Is he bluffing? Does that make sense? A come up going all in with his hard-earned Valora that

he must've spent much blood, sweat, and tears to amass away in just a game of poker? Is he

insane? That much Valora would make him a billionaire a hundred times over on backwater

planets.'

'No, no, he went ahead with this because Mr. King pulled out early; he wanted to set the flow, and that wasn't possible if he had a stack darkening his sight with its shadow.'

'But maybe that was what he wanted me to think... I can't be sure; I don't have a hold on his

personality yet. Maybe he's-'

Emir knocked twice on the table, getting her out of her thoughts. "Wakey, wakey, Ms. Queen, must I remind you that we have a round to end?"

She didn't reply and silently stared at him, her eyes scanning him from top to bottom, and

then, it finally clicked.

She noticed something.

An action that was missing.

The pawn wasn't tapping his chin like last time.

His 'tell' was discovered.