Chapter 8: What is a Strong Person?

The unexpected conclusion of the arena match, with Heloha's defeat, left everyone in shock. The gamblers clapped and laughed, "Great, the match is over. Come, come, come, those who won, come to collect your money. Those who lost, don't bother coming. Hahaha, what a great match!"

Suddenly, everyone started arguing and pointing at Heloha, criticizing him left and right. One guy, furious, rushed up to him, grabbed his clothes, and shouted, "You little brat, what kind of Bridget family is this? A mid-level mage can't even beat a low-level warrior, making me lose so much money. I don't care, you owe me, pay up, pay up!"

A few others, who had lost less, gloated, "Oh oh, you really lost big. At first, you acted so high and mighty, but you're just a show-off, all show and no substance."

The crowd's comments made Heloha, a 20-year-old man, almost cry. He pushed through the crowd and ran out.

Everyone cursed, seeing that a large bag of money had gone to the house, with only two people winning 1000 gold coins. Some, feeling particularly aggrieved, said, "Damn, if I had known, I would have bet on the swordsmen. What bad luck. Hey, house, you're not Heloha's shill, are you, just here to scam us?"

The house owner laughed, unable to stop, "How could that be? That guy is who he is. The grandson of the Bridget family, this amount of money is just pocket change to them. Would they risk their family's reputation to scam you?"

Everyone knew this was true, but the frustration of losing money made them insist the house was in cahoots with the Bridget family.

The house owner was about to give Bimoye and Bingzhe 1000 gold coins, but Bimoye refused, "1000 isn't enough, I want 10,000 gold coins."

The house owner and everyone around were stunned, not expecting someone from the five great families to say such things.

Bimoye said coldly, "My money, Ursula should pay."

The house owner and his people laughed, "You figured it out."

Bimoye didn't speak, and the house owner's people quickly went to find their master. Soon, Ursula, with a somewhat playful smile, walked over, "How did you figure it out again? You always see through me."

Bimoye said, "You told Selt you had something to do and left me here alone. Was this just a boring trick?"

"No, no," Ursula waved his hand and laughed, "It was really something. Selt's sister got a幻兽 (fantasy beast) and wanted you to see it. When I came back and saw you watching the arena, I had them set up a match. Hehe, don't be angry, don't be angry, 100 magic crystals right away." He then took out a 100 magic crystal gold note and gave it to Bimoye.

The house owner's subordinates looked at Ursula, as if asking what to do with the winnings.

Ursula waved his hand impatiently, "Do you want me to carry such a big bag back? I said the winnings are yours, take them."

The subordinates were delighted and said several flattering words.

Ursula, scratching his head, thought, "How did he figure it out?" Suddenly, he noticed something and angrily pulled back the subordinates who were about to leave, giving each a punch, "You idiots! I told you to change your clothes, but not your shoes. Do you have any brains?"

It turned out that the shoes of the house owner's subordinates still had the griffin emblem of the Alexia family.

Suddenly, a hand appeared in front of Ursula. Ursula looked at the guy in the magic hat, puzzled, "What?"

Ursula's servants said, "Oh, we forgot, he also bet one gold coin on the swordsman."

"Ah," Ursula looked at the slightly shorter man with a troubled face and took out another 100 magic crystal gold note, "My father will scold me again."

Bingzhe didn't take it.

"What?" Ursula looked at him, confused.

Bingzhe said, "1000 gold coins, I want."

"Huh?"

The two house owners said, "He... he only bet one gold coin, the odds were 1000."

Ursula laughed, pointing at the gold note, "You don't recognize this? Some people never see a gold note in their lives, let alone a child. Let me tell you..."

"I know, you don't need to say so much. I want 1000 gold coins." Bingzhe ignored his explanation.

Ursula was stunned.

Bingzhe's companion, Konelia, pulled his sleeve and whispered, "Hey Bingzhe, that gold note is worth 10,000 gold coins!"

"I know, I won 1000, I only want what I deserve, not charity." Bingzhe said this to Konelia and also to Ursula.

Bimoye's eyebrows raised slightly, looking at him coldly.

Ursula laughed, "Don't look at your small size, you have quite some spirit." He instructed his servants to take out a bag of 1000 gold coins and hand it to him, "Here are your 1000 gold coins, tell me your name?"

"Thanks." Bingzhe smiled at him, took the money, and walked away.

"Hey, you..." Ursula watched the boy walk away and sighed, "What a strange guy. Do you know him?" He asked Bimoye.

Bimoye didn't answer and walked out of the crowd.

"Hey, you two are really a pair," Ursula followed, "Wait for me, hey, what do you need so much money for..."

Konelia's heart was pounding, watching Bimoye until he disappeared from sight, then went to find Bingzhe.

Bingzhe had already bought two ice creams and was leaning against a stone platform for repairing equipment, giving one to Konelia.

"Thanks." Konelia stood awkwardly, glancing at Bingzhe from time to time, thinking, "What a strange guy."

"What's wrong with those two?" After a long time, Irena and Vain still hadn't returned. The weather was hot, and Konelia was sweating, looking anxious, while Bingzhe leaned against the stone platform, seemingly unconcerned.

Konelia, bored, spoke to Bingzhe, "Bingzhe, you got a lot of money just now?"

"Huh?" Bingzhe lifted his head, rubbed his sleepy eyes, yawned, and asked, "What?"

Konelia thought, "He actually fell asleep in such a noisy place, really!" But she smiled apologetically, "Sorry, I disturbed your rest."

"Oh, it's fine." Bingzhe pulled down his hat, seemingly ready to sleep again.

Konelia quickly stopped him, not wanting to wait alone like a fool, "I have a question I can't figure out, I want to ask you."

"What?" Bingzhe said.

"About... the match just now, why did you bet on the swordsman? Was it just because losing would only cost one gold coin, but winning would earn a lot?"

Bingzhe yawned again, "Oh, that, yeah, something like that."

"Oh, I thought there was another reason," Konelia lowered her head, looking a bit disappointed.

Bingzhe took off his hat and glanced at the sun, the glaring light immediately clearing his sleepiness. He put his hat back on and said, "You really don't know?"

"Huh, what?" Konelia realized, "Is there really a reason?"

Bingzhe nodded, "Yeah, it's about practical combat. Judging a person's strength isn't just about their power; combat experience is also very important. The swordsman clearly often fights with his comrades on the battlefield, and rich combat experience often allows him to make the right judgment in dangerous situations. The mage, on the other hand, is just a pretty flower grown in a greenhouse."

Konelia recalled the match and nodded repeatedly, "That's true! You're really good, to think of such a factor."

"It's not that I'm good, it's that you're still young."

Konelia was taken aback by his words, laughing, "What, you look even younger than me, and you're acting like an adult saying I'm young!"

Bingzhe clearly didn't want to continue this boring topic, turning to look at the teleportation array at the street corner, "They're here."

Konelia turned and saw Irena and Vain running over, looking very happy.

Bingzhe quickly extended his hand to Konelia.

Konelia really couldn't understand what he was thinking. He refused 10,000 gold coins but waited over an hour for 15 gold coins. She had no choice but to give him the money.

Bingzhe, like he did with Ursula, took the money and walked away, saying only, "Thanks."

Vain and the others ran over excitedly, not seeing the guy in the hat, and asked, "Where's that kid?"

"There..." Konelia pointed, but couldn't see Bingzhe, "I just gave him the money, and he left."

"Ah, what a pity!" Vain slapped his hand in regret.

"What's wrong?" Konelia didn't understand.

Irena said, "Vain wanted to be friends with that guy."

Konelia was surprised, "What! Is the sun coming up from the south today? Vain, who usually doesn't care about others, actually wants to be friends with someone!"

Irena covered her mouth and laughed.

"What, what's so funny?" Vain said, displeased, "When you meet someone worth being friends with, of course you want to be friends."

Konelia asked curiously, "Irena, what's going on?"

Irena first showed her mercenary card to Konelia and then said, "It's like this, the guild people evaluated the armor, and the repair rate was as high as 99%!"

"99%!" Konelia was also surprised.

"Yep," Irena continued, "The appraiser said that while the armor needs to be 90% intact to be considered repaired, being able to repair it to 94% already makes you an expert. Few people in the world can do this, unless they have a deep understanding of the equipment and use the correct method. He even called us geniuses."

Vain nodded excitedly, "We told him the armor was corroded by the Demes worm's acid, and he actually agreed, raising the task's difficulty level and giving Irena 240 points. And because the repair was so good, he gave Irena an additional 100 points."

Konelia didn't expect such a good outcome, happy for Irena and even more curious about the young mage named Bingzhe.

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(End of Chapter 8)