The Cheat Seed

"The winner is MARCUSSSS!!!"

Booming voices of people and the commentator crammed his thoughts when the referee on his left proclaimed his name while raising his hand.

The system's voice had been hauled back to the corners and he jerked his head back to reality, shutting his domain in an instant.

Right now he was standing in the arena accompanied by the arbitrator and a lofty, voluminous swarm of city folks. It had been like that for 5 minutes.

If his eyes were accurate, then the king was quivering when his tread hindered near him. The Monarch had stridden out of his VIP lounge and had made his route down to the combat arena where he collected Marcus's scrutiny with shivering knees.

The winner was deemed to be rewarded and valued by the king after a battle. Now all Raymond was speculating beside Marcus was how to perform his part there as promptly as feasible.

Due to being appalled, the monarch had already decreed the faculties to carry the trophy as fast as their torsi could.

And they had already arrived in less than a minute.

The polished trophy shined with a glint of richness and gold. In its core was his name etched flawlessly in twinkling gold symbols.

His name appeared to glisten more than the trophy when the background sun glimpsed at it with its sweet and simmer beams.

Marcus was smirking at Raymond when he collected the mark of victory from him. It felt ironic because it was the king himself who was presenting him the trophy for defeati... obliterating his son in front of the entire metropolis and his twitching eyes.

His Dad's complexion was wide with contentment when he stood beside his son, meeting the king face to face, eye to eye.

His Dad's smug look did make Marcus happy and his heart was filled with satisfaction. The result he had guaranteed his dad had successfully unfolded right in front of Albert's eyes.

His mother was beside him too, her hands clamped concurrently while she implored God for her son's prosperity and insurance.

Marcus leaned his head on his mother's and soothed her with an unhurried hug.

"Your son has won mom. You don't have to worry about me anymore, you saw my strength didn't you?"

Marcus's voice was tranquil and caressing to her ears as Reiren bobbed her head making her son's bounce along with her's.

Her worry finally lifted when she saw the massive trophy on her son's hand, the crowd's corroborative glees transmitted a proud chill down her spine, inducing goosebumps all over her body as if a kid took a nibble of ice cream.

The King settled himself far away from Marcus and his family but still stood on the elevated victor's platform, his head was sagged low, eyes gawking the ground with remorse.

What was he supposed to do?. Now that he had underestimated Marcus and has inferred his terrifying powers, he had to get rid of him immediately. Marcus was now a potential threat to his throne and Raymond didn't like it.

His hands trembled and his eyes quivered. Raymond's mind ballooned as it shrieked at him.

"You'll regret this Marcus G Orno, both you and your family"

Raymond had made up his mind.

It was time to repeat what his precursors had committed.

It was time to call The Demon God.

The same Demon God who stymied Ravens for his progenitors.

..

..

..

It was time to call Briskus.

....................................

The counter was buzzing with disgruntled folks who had lost their bet that day.

Marcus sighed to himself and mumbled mute words as his lips parted open while he looked at the furious band of old and young men, those who believed they could whack a fortune today.

"Am Sorry.!."

The familiar face of the wagon driver who brought them to the arena was one among them, but he was smirking with money bags crammed into his arms.

Marcus caught sight of him at the same time when Sean's cloaked face veered around towards him and his family. Sean's smile intensified as the fear inside his eyes grew.

He might have dropped the money bags if it weren't for Marcus wrecking the furious crowd's futile wails with a clap. His steps rattled the lofted steel floor while the league of people sidestepped for the champ making his way to the terrified cab driver.

Marcus stopped a meter away from Sean and paused. His look twirled around him and met the gazes of awestricken people. His smile was a haughty one when he grabbed two out of the 5 money bags from Sean's hold and gestured towards his parents.

"Let's Go?"

"But sir Marcus, I did as you said and sold my only house to bet on you ... am sorry but I have a family to look after too ... Hah..hah.. please return them"

Sean shivered when his mouth let out words that landed deep from his heart. He had a family to feed. His mother who's chronically ill was undergoing treatment in one of the most renowned Magic Hospitals and the expense for treatment had skyrocketed the past few weeks because of his mother's condition.

Sean also had an unmarried sister under his wings. She worked as a fruit vendor in the streets of the capital city. The annual income they had was below the poverty line.

That was when he had found work at Raka's bungalow, as his cab driver. Raka, for him, was equal to God. But Sean found it embarrassing and shameful to talk about his condition to his master.

That was why he took a leap of faith by selling everything he had and bet on the young man in front of him. And what was the man doing now? He was snatching his deserved money away from his hands, the money which could change the lives of his family.

But Sean was forgetting something. He was ignoring an indispensable fact about the man...that the man in front of him could read minds.

"What do you mean?. This is mine!!"

Marcus scowled at Sean and flipped his body back. Marcus's body blurred for an instant but lagged stationary where he stood.

A scribbling noise echoed inside Sean's ears when a silent waft of wind picked and played with his hair. It was as if someone had run past him at light speed.

Sean's mind was back to reality when his eyes greeted Marcus's spiked finger pointing towards the counter as he trudged back to his parents.

"I don't know if you are coming or not, but this is mine and that's yours"

Sean's eyebrow perched on its corner by their own as he pursued the young man's point towards the counter, where the buzzing people went mute.

*GASP*

He caught his breath in a startled gasp of shock and alarm as his eyes stabilized on a dozen money bags piled up on the counter like cement sacks.

His eyes brimmed with tears as his lachrymal reacted to the sight on the counter. His anger evaporated when he surveyed the words doodled on top of a scratched-off name.

{Gifted to Sean Guster}

A̶l̶b̶e̶r̶t̶ ̶G̶ ̶O̶r̶n̶o̶

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