Elite Mages’ Academy (Web Novel)

Chapter 298: Casino Boss

Xiao Lin easily saw the person’s name on the forums: An Fumin.

Seeing as the other party was online, Xiao Lin immediately called him. A pudgy man appeared on the screen; there was a large smile on his face. His tone was rough but well-mannered. “Are you Mr. Xiao Lin?”

“Yes, and you are?”

“Nice to meet you. I’m An Fumin, the boss of Dawn City Century Casino.”

Song Junlang had told him before that Century Casino was the largest casino in Dawn Academy’s colonized territories, and was also where he placed their bet. He nodded and said nothing, waiting for the other party to continue.

An Fumin looked like he had rushed back, wiping sweat off his forehead as he laughed and said, “You placed a bet in our casino a few days before, and I’ve already verified the results with the student union. You’re the final winner, right?”

Xiao Lin did not deny it, but it did not seem like the man was calling to give him his money. He furrowed his eyebrows, asking, “Why? Are you not planning to pay?”

“No no no,” the man said as he waved frantically, his smile still plastered on his face. “Century Casino is an establishment with a long history, and our reputation is everything. Even though we lost a bit from this, it’s not a big amount. It’s yours, so we’ll make sure it gets to you.”

“Then what are you looking for me for?”

“Ah, let me make some simple introductions. Our casino covers quite a lot; we even have branches in the other academies. Something like you who enters the Black Iron-rank first among the new students is just child’s play, so the winnings are obviously limited. However, the Inter-academy Tournament will be starting soon. Are you willing to cooperate with us?”

Xiao Lin was starting to sweat. He had heard about it from Song Junlang before, but he did not know the specifics.

An Fumin saw the awkward look on his face and immediately continued, “The Inter-academy Tournament is a tournament jointly organized by all the academies. Ever since we started colonizing Planet Norma, there have been countless countries establishing their own academies and entering our forces.”

“Looking at the bigger picture, all the academies are basically ants standing on the same string, pursuing the same benefits, but in truth, with the expansion of the colonized territories, there were alliances forged, but battles naturally had to be fought as well. Of course, it would never progress to full-out war. Everyone knows that’s the line, so the academies needed a way to determine their relative standings.

“That was where the Inter-academy Tournaments were born. In the beginning, every academy randomly chose students to participate, but following the increase in everyone’s skills, especially considering how powerful the best colonists were, they decided on only sending final year students to compete. In recent years, the Americans and the British also pushed to add the first-year students.

“First-year students represented the future of the academies, while the final year students represented the academy’s current strength. They would then determine their relative power based on that.

“The Inter-academy Tournament was held in the middle of every year. That time period was exactly when the fourth-years usually graduated and the freshmen would have almost a full year under their belt, so they would already have enough time to master various basic skills. This next tournament will probably be held in half a year. The list of participants will definitely be chosen from the best students, so the student union would usually already have a name list ready to allow the participants more time to prepare.”

Song Junlang had said before that the New World’s casinos were open for a lot of different bets, even including the victors of war. The Inter-academy Tournament would naturally be included.

After listening to An Fumin’s explanation, Xiao Lin said playfully, “I don’t even know if I’ll be chosen as a representative.”

An Fumin laughed once again. “You’re joking. Your results for the Black Iron-rank evaluation might not be the first in history, but Dawn Academy definitely has never seen results like that in this time period. With that result, the president would probably have gone made if he didn’t pick you.”

Xiao Lin actually had something he could not say. He was not sure if the dean would stop him from participating to keep his secret, especially since he was almost held hostage in New Washington.

Of course, he could not say that, so Xiao Lin asked, “Even if I do participate, are you planning on asking me to fix my matches?”

An Fumin’s laughter died down a little, saying seriously, “How could I do that? I’m still someone from Dawn Academy. I have at least some pride in that. You might not know this, but it’s been ten years since we even entered the top four. Ever since the genius Song Junlang fell ten years ago, our students have been really dropping in quality.”

Dawn Academy was one of the first academies established, and they had always been among the top in foundations and powers in history. However, ever since the war with the orcs, along with the rise of the Judge Academy, Dawn Academy has been rather average lately, especially when it came to the quality of their students with talents, causing the academy to be in an awkward spot.

Xiao Lin sighed when he heard that, but An Fumin quickly had a sly expression on his face. “Since the Academy has been doing badly these years, the odds during the tournament has been steadily increasing, and I’m also planning on shaking things up a bit this year, raising the odds a bit higher…”

Xiao Lin finally understood what he meant. He really was a sly merchant; the man wanted to cause everyone to keep looking down on Dawn Academy to increase the odds. Then, if the time came and Dawn Academy actually managed to win, An Fumin would make a killing as the broker.

“What do you need me to do? Even if I really become a representative, I don’t have any guarantee of winning.” He was not being humble; it was hard to guarantee that the other academies would not have some student with an insane talent. Xiao Lin really did not have much confidence.

“Ah, don’t underestimate me. I’ll do everything I can to help the academy when the time comes. I might not be able to guarantee first place, but we can at least place in the top four. As for the details, I can’t reveal anything for now. I’m mainly just trying to get to know you today.”

Xiao Lin thought for a bit, and felt like there was nothing wrong with his proposal, but he was not willing to easily agree to anything, so he said, “Let me think about it for a bit. You’ve already said that the tournament will only take place in half a year anyway.”