Chapter 31: Grand Casino Opening!
Alice, having told what she wanted, "That's all for now, Mr. Isaiah. I wish you a prosperous opening day," with that she turned around and left. Isaiah was still in his thoughts about the methods the guards utilized to analyze his footprints when she left, "Hmm, she is surprisingly agile for a Rank 1. Must be her innate wind element." He was impressed by her movement techniques; she used a mix of leaps and glides, akin to a dance in the air like a ballerina.
His gaze fell on the construction site, "I have to create the Mana Detection Formation soon," he thought to himself, turning around and walking towards his café that wasn't operating at the moment despite it still being relatively early during the day.
He unlocked its lock and got inside. Lily wasn't present as he had put her to deal with the finances of the construction; she would prove more useful there. There was a box full of mana gems laying in the storage of the café. He had managed to get his hands on this many mana gems thanks to his uncle's connections. However, that did not change the fact that he had to pay a fortune for a single box of mana gems. "This much should be enough to sustain me for a while even after the opening. I should meet with the company when I have time," while his uncle's connection helped, he couldn't let him be a middleman forever. Isaiah was actually supposed to do the purchase himself, but the gang stuff happened, taking up his time.
He took a mana gem out of the box, laid it on the ground, and his mana spread to cover it and the ground beneath it, creating a circle around the mana gem. A formation with the mana gem at its center appeared, and the mana flow of the formation spread like tendrils towards the gem, sucking mana from it, enforcing the mana flow until, POOF! The flow overflooded, causing the formation to collapse. "Nice, first try," while it might seem like a failure, it was actually a success. He had successfully drawn in the mana; the only reason for its collapse was that he didn't repurpose the excess mana, causing the formation to overflood.
Isaiah once again placed a mana gem on the ground and created a formation surrounding it. The mana started to flow into the formation; however, this time, a light appeared right in the middle of the formation, painting the entire café blinding white. POOF! The formation, despite having a purpose for the mana, collapsed once more. "Light formation can only take in so much mana, so it's still overflooded," he thought for a while about this problem. "Then, how about this?" He once again created a formation with a mana gem. Light appeared, this time intentionally less bright; however, despite it being less bright, hence using less mana, it didn't collapse. Isaiah had altered the mana flow of the formation to make the excess mana flow a different pathway before entering the formation if it was needed. It wasn't a perfect solution, as it would still overflood if left on its own for extended periods, but it was more than sufficient for his needs.
"Now, on to the main event, Mana Detection Formation," he had a few ideas on how to detect mana via a formation but would first have to give it a try. Once again, a mana gem-powered formation appeared; it took in the mana and transferred it to the outer layer of the formation, which spread the mana very thin in a large range. Isaiah used a sliver of his mana, and the thin spread mana layer broke, which caused the inner layer of the formation to activate and power a bell which he had prepared. RING, RING! Notifying that mana was used.
"Good enough, now I need to increase its efficiency in the upcoming days," the obvious answer might seem like only drawing enough mana to power the formation. However, the formation needed to set that system would take in many times more mana than the entirety of his current version of the formation. "That type of system is probably better left for complicated formations." He instead planned to increase efficiency through simplifying the mana pathways of the formation.
...Time passed fast when you were occupied with work, and in the blink of an eye, four days had passed. Isaiah stood in front of the completed casino. The statue of him on top of the Greek temple had his hand high up, facing towards the sky. He strategically placed a formation on top of the hand. POP! POP! Large fireworks launched from the statue's hand, reaching into the sky and filling it in a spectacle, in the mood for a celebration. "Dominus Casino is open for service!" he shouted to the crowd in front of the building, waiting to get inside.
The moment the door opened, the crowd rushed inside. There were many tables filled with various casino games and a talented staff to oversee the customers. Isaiah had managed to hire them thanks to Farida's connections. Looking around the casino, seeing people gambling all around, put a bright smile on Isaiah's face. Not only was its exterior grand, but its interior as well. There were many types of lights of various colors that he powered through a formation network. While it did cost him a hefty sum to maintain, he knew they would pay for themselves with time. "I should come up with a formation for a slot machine when I get my finances right." Currently, he had nearly no money to his name, only his emergency funds, and nothing else.
He walked upstairs, where his office was located. In the corridor leading to his office, Lily's desk was located. She was too busy with her work to notice him. He tapped his fingers on her table, "How is my favorite employee doing?" Lily got startled since she was so focused on her work. "It's a busy day," Isaiah smiled at her words; she was looking tired. "You seem close to reaching the peak of Rank 0. After the commination stabilizes, I will have a gift for your hard work," with that, he entered his office, leaving behind an excited Lily.
Isaiah got seated in his office. Behind his table, there was a window right behind him that had a spectacular view of the city. The insides of the room were covered in dark wood, giving it a classical aesthetic that created a stark contrast with the rest of the casino's design.
A few hours passed. In front of Isaiah was a stack of papers; he was trying to increase the efficiency of his various formations, especially his Light Cannon Formation's lengthy casting time. Just as he was buried in his studies, his door knocked. "Come in," a flustered Lily came inside; one could tell something was wrong from her expression. "Sir, someone used mana to cheat." Isaiah remained unmoved; he simply told her, "Well, then remove them from the building, then ban them like you did before." It was not the first time somebody had cheated that day; all those who cheated were escorted out by the casino guards, then banned for life.
"Sir, this time the cheater is a Rank 1," hearing her words put a slight grin on his face, which confused Lily. "I was waiting for that," he got up and exited his office. "Follow me," he told her without even looking back. Lily had no choice but to follow him like a tail.
They descended the stairs. Isaiah could immediately notice the cheater; he was sitting at the table like he owned the place. Just from his clothing, one could see he had some authority. Isaiah arrived in front of the man, looking down on him, his gaze piercing his very soul. "Good sir, you wouldn't happen to be the cheater my staff informed me about, right?" The man was unfazed; he laughed as he spread his Rank 1 aura. "Cheat? So wha-" THUD, Isaiah's fist met with his head, sending the man to the ground. Isaiah quickly followed up with a kick to his gut. GOUHH! The man could barely react, an armor made of water surrounding his body as he tried to get up.
Isaiah didn't let him up, however. His glowing red palm held the man's head down, and a Heat Formation in his palm slowly got through the man's water armor. The man held onto Isaiah's arm, trying to remove it, but Isaiah kept holding his head, pressing his entire body to the ground.
SIZZLE! The water armor slowly evaporated, the heat reaching his skin. AGHH! The man screamed in pain, trying his hardest to remove Isaiah's palm to no avail. The heat soon melted his skin, reaching his flesh, then onto his skull. He was feeling his very own brain juice boil. He couldn't control his mana anymore, and his water armor gave out.
Seeing the spent man on the ground, Isaiah spoke, "Let this be a lesson to all those who want to oppose me in my own house." The scary part was, he still had a smile on his face. He lifted the man's head, THUD, THUD, CRACK! He relentlessly slammed the man's head to the ground, causing cracks to appear on his new floors. "Tch, you caused me to ruin my floors," he lifted his leg, and what was beneath could only be described as horrifying: cracked bones, burned skin, flesh, all mixed and spread onto the flooring.
Isaiah then spread his aura to cover the entire area. "I wish you all a happy time gambling," with that, he left to go back to his office. After he left, there was only silence present. Many people left the casino in a hurry; they, however, were not terrified customers but gang members who were there to inspect the opening. This was the main reason behind Isaiah's ruthless method of handling the cheater. He obviously didn't plan to kill every single cheater in the future, but he had to set an example for the gang members present during the opening.
After Isaiah went back up to his office, staff came and cleaned the man's corpse and wiped the blood off the flooring. The actual customers of the casino went back to their gambling, rather unfazed, while not an everyday occurrence; this wasn't too out of the ordinary for Second Emperor District.
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