Myth: The Spiritual Dominator

Two gold coins were taken out, and the situation on the table changed immediately.

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Sitting opposite Andrea, the young man's brain was working rapidly.

The crowd was also talking and making a lot of noise. After all, no matter whether the first challenger won or lost, the chips he put on the table were destined to not be able to take away all the rewards, not even one-tenth of them.

So they also want to take this opportunity to think about the solution to the game, hoping to seize this opportunity to get rich quickly, or to use it to show their abilities in front of everyone.

Unfortunately, although everyone is thinking hard, mathematics is not something you can figure out just by thinking about it, especially for people who have basically no basic knowledge. They may be able to do many things when they are extremely nervous or angry, but they will never be able to solve a math problem.

"I...I'll take one from the first row!"

His voice was trembling, it had only just begun and the young man was already sweating.

The onlookers are just watching the fun, but only he himself knows what kind of pressure it will bring to a person to gamble with all his assets at stake.

He wanted to move a gold coin, but his shaking arms were unable to do anything. He had no choice but to speak and express his meaning.

"Yes, I understand."

Nodding, Andrea reached out and took a gold coin from the first row, then calculated it in her mind.

'-4-1+2=-3'

"It's my turn."

Speaking again, it was her turn. Andrea took three gold coins from the third row, and the situation on the table changed again.

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In just two or three steps, the number of gold coins on the table had decreased a lot. However, the increasingly nervous young man still could not see the result. Most of the onlookers around him could not understand it either. Only a few bystanders who were obviously well-dressed did not speak, but sighed secretly.

They don't understand the secrets of this game yet, but as professionals of a relatively high level, they can see, even with the most primitive exhaustive method, that when the situation is 3-2-1, the person who takes first is bound to lose.

Sure enough, when the young man took away two gold coins from the first row again, Andrea immediately took away the remaining two coins from the third row.

At this time, there were only two rows of gold coins with one each. At this time, everyone understood the outcome of this gamble.

"No, it's impossible, you cheated, you tricked me!"

The young man stood up from his chair tremblingly, took a step back, and then rushed forward. He wanted to take back the chips he had placed on the table, and watching his actions, Andrea did not raise her hand to stop him.

But the next moment, a sharp spear was placed on the young man's neck - obviously, if one wanted to carry out such an activity in the city, it would be impossible not to inform the city guards. After all, a large number of outsiders had recently poured into the Acropolis, and they also had to prevent casualties in places where crowds gathered.

Normally, the guards only maintained order and would not care what the people in the city did. However, the young man's attempt to openly violate the agreement made in front of the goddess's holy emblem would obviously not be accepted by the guards who maintained order.

"This is a fair game, and I have already stated the rules in advance."

After successfully completing the first game, Andrea's nervous heart also eased a lot.

A sense of confidence surged in her heart. Watching the young man put down his purse and deed in despair, and staggered back under the gaze of the guards' sharp weapons, Andrea did not feel any pity in her heart.

The goddess testified that she only asked for one-tenth of the wealth, which would not bring too much loss to a person. Since the other party tried to deceive the gods first, it was not surprising that he ended up like this.

Putting the wealth left by the young man aside, Andrea indicated that these things would also be counted into the gambling game. As she won more and more times, I'm afraid the "gambling money" would also increase.

"Who's coming next?"

Andrea looked at the crowd expectantly with a smile on her face. Compared to her initial nervousness, she had gradually found the fun in it.

It's really interesting to surpass others by relying on your own thinking... As she finished her words, two more people walked out of the crowd, and they all wanted to start the next round.

Theoretically, the two of them needed to decide the order, but considering that their stakes were not too high, even if they won, they would not win the entire box of gold coins, so there was always a chance for a second person, so after talking to each other for a while, the two of them politely decided the order.

In this regard, Andrea just thought that they were probably overthinking it. There is no way you can win this game.

……

Round after round, the sun slowly shifted in the sky, and soon, Andrea won several times in a row.

However, in the later games, each time took longer and longer.

This was not because someone was delaying intentionally, nor was it because they couldn't count. It was simply because most of the latecomers chose to pile huge amounts of gold coins on the table. There were even quite a few rows of hundreds of coins at the end.

They seemed to think that Andrea was just competing with them in terms of calculation power, relying on the speed of mental arithmetic in an exhaustive manner to achieve success. In this case, they naturally chose the corresponding response method, and the game time was naturally prolonged - but the result was no different.

Andrea won every game, and even became more excited the more she played. Beside her, the stakes she won were piling up higher and higher.

As a result, this game, which she promoted as "only a truly wise person can crack", spread to more people's ears, attracting more onlookers in the city.

During the game, some people questioned the fairness of the game, but Andrea simply stated that if someone could crack the secret of her victory, it would be considered winning the bet.

So, for a while, those who thought they were smart gathered together and gathered around this small wooden table, watching one person after another come forward to try it, and some people even played games with others secretly, trying to get a glimpse of the secret.

However, just like Gobang in later generations, although this is a game with winning rules, people who don't know the rules can still play it back and forth. For a time, even more people thought that Andrea really won the victory by relying on her own wisdom.

After all, so many people have not found the pattern, so it is very likely that there is a simple difference in strength.

"Ah—it looks like I win again."

With the corners of her mouth raised subconsciously, Andrea took the last gold coin on the table.

Another game ended, but this time she didn't rush to call the next person.

I looked up at the sky and saw the sun setting. Today was about to end.

The first day's mission was successfully completed. All he had to do was defeat a few more celebrities who had heard the news, and then he would have completely achieved his goal... Patting his chest, Andrea calmed down his slightly excited mood and smiled politely at the crowd.

She didn't care about fame alone, but she liked the process of earning fame with her own abilities. Although it was a learned ability...but apart from the ancient gods who were born with knowledge, whose knowledge was not learned?

"Everyone, it's already late today, so I'll stop playing my game here for now. But don't worry, I'll come back tomorrow."

"Now that Acropolis has gathered so many wise men in the world, and nobles from various countries have gathered here, they will compare their wisdom and justice at the conference. Even the gods will cast their eyes on this. I think there should be someone who can crack my secret, right? Otherwise, the competition of 'wisdom' may be declared over in advance."

"Of course not, Miss Leah, your trick will be discovered!"

A cold snort came from in front of him, and the young nobleman who had just suffered a defeat pushed his bet away nonchalantly.

The gold coins fell on the table, hitting the box with a clinking sound, and he just stared at Andrea's smooth face.

"My dear friend Odysseus, the prince of Ithaca, has also come to Athens. He heard about the grand event in Athens while traveling around the continent, so he came here to offer the champion as a gift to the gods... His resourcefulness is well known to the world, and he is also recognized as an eloquent orator. And soon, perhaps he will be able to spare some time to see through your conspiracy."

"Then let him come. I have heard of him, Odysseus... Hmph, but I am leaving now."

In just half a day, Andrea felt that she had become more confident.

She raised her head slightly, nodded with her chin, and then motioned for everyone to move aside under the annoyed gaze of the young man in front of her.

As for the riches, they were left where they were. Now, the Athenian guards would never allow the treasures to be stolen and bring bad reputation to the kingdom.

"Well, you'll see."

Gritting his teeth, the young noble stepped aside, but he did not do anything rude.

He realized that, just like many people who were debating and competing in the city today, the game in front of him was probably a similar one. This beautiful woman named Leah also came for the conference, but her methods were more powerful. If no one could crack her game, others would probably have to admit that she was indeed smarter than themselves in some aspects.

The actual tournament hasn't even started yet, but she already wants to 'win outside the venue'. She's really a powerful person.

But that wasn't going to happen... He trusted his friend more than the confidence that Andrea had built up in a day.

Odysseus's character and wisdom impressed the young nobleman. He believed that as long as the other party was willing to come, the result was predetermined. He would be able to solve the other party's puzzle and take away the woman's treasure. At that time, he could also laugh at her arrogance.

……

"Yeah... I'm so happy~"

Feeling very happy, Andrea walked briskly back to the place they rented.

Although she has left, she still misses the feeling of being watched by people, the gazes filled with admiration, envy, or unconvinced challengers.

Then she could defeat her opponent severely and enjoy the feeling of victory - an experience she had never had before as a princess.

In the past, everyone respected her, but that was all. Their respect came from their fathers or the favor of the gods, but this time, everything came from herself.

I didn't know I was so awesome...

thump—

"ah--!"

Covering her forehead, Andrea looked at Ryan angrily, while Ryan, sitting at the table, just drank a sip of tea as if no one was around.

The first-level universal spell, knocking, is used to trigger traps or explore secret rooms, but it is also a very good spell for knocking people.

"Be more restrained. At least don't giggle in the room. Miss Captive, you have to understand that you are just using the knowledge I taught you to beat the primitive people. There is nothing to be proud of."

"And the fact that you can win is essentially because they are still playing the game with you according to the rules. You have read history, so you should know the story of the Queen of Thebes, right?"

"...I know, Mr. Ivan, but I won't laugh at God like she does." Andrea puffed her lips and sat in the chair opposite Ryan.

Although she disliked this kind of violent reminder and didn't think she would be like the former Queen of Thebes, Ryan's reminder did make sense.

Thebes... that was a city-state kingdom founded by Cadmus, the famous city builder who had helped the God-King during the Typhon Calamity. The caravan they met on the road started from there.

This hero from Phoenicia ultimately failed to find his sister Europa - perhaps he knew that it was the work of the God-King, so he chose to remain silent.

In short, he married the daughter of the goddess of beauty and harmony, and continued his bloodline in the world - it is said that Aphrodite was very dissatisfied with this, as she did not want her daughter to marry a mortal, but perhaps in order to show that he was clear about rewards and punishments, this result was not changed in the end.

However, this was just the beginning... Thebes was one of the most disaster-stricken city-states in human history. It was not known whether it was the secret revenge of the goddess of beauty or the instruction of the king of gods.

Just like the queen Ryan just mentioned, in this era where having many children is considered a sign of strength, the woman who gave birth to seven sons and seven daughters was once proud and complacent, and even thought that God was no more capable than her.

Even Leto, the black-robed goddess in the sky, had only one son, Apollo.

She thought so and told her followers so, but her words were overheard by Leto. So the Titan goddess, who was hurt, called her son in anger and asked Apollo, who was driving the golden chariot, to shoot the queen's seven sons one by one with his unparalleled archery skills in the sky, and then shot her seven daughters to death in front of her.

Leaving aside the queen's pain and regret, it can be seen from this that competition is only meaningful within the rules. But without the protection of the rules, the so-called victory or defeat is nothing but a joke.

"Tell me about your experience today. Did you defeat any special people or encounter any troubles?"

Seeing that Andrea had calmed down, Ryan didn't intend to lecture the twelve-year-old girl too much.

He had not watched the entire day's gambling game in one place, so he now planned to confirm whether there was any more valuable information.

"No, this is the first day, the news probably hasn't spread yet, and most of the people who came are unknown..."

After recalling it, Andrea shook her head, but then seemed to remember something.

"But before I left, someone said that he would find Odysseus to be my opponent tomorrow - I have heard of him, he is the prince of Ithaca, and a very capable guy, well... you know him."

"know."

Ryan's mood didn't change when he heard the familiar name.

He certainly knew Odysseus, and a considerable part of the later records about the myth of Chaos centered on him.

But at that time Odysseus had already grown up and inherited the throne of Ithaca.

He once led the Greek coalition forces, was also the originator of the Trojan Horse strategy, and led his army back after the ten-year Trojan War, and then experienced another ten years of drifting on the sea.

After returning to his homeland, he once again faced a group of enemies who thought he was dead and occupied his kingdom. In terms of the length of mythological records alone, he may not be much less than Hercules.

But that was all about his later life. There aren't many clear records about Odysseus when he was young.

"If it's him, he probably won't follow the rules of the game. He's not a rule-abiding person."

Ryan spoke with a smile and looked at the little princess in front of him.

"So how have you mastered the 'Double-Digit Balancing Method' that I taught you? If there are more than three rows of gold coins, can you still calculate it?"

"Of course, I am very good at mental arithmetic!"

She raised her chin slightly, and then quickly shrank back into her seat under Ryan's gaze. Since Andrea was so confident, Ryan would just believe her.

"Since you are so confident, then let's do this."

"If you can defeat Odysseus, you should have won half of the battle."

Winning half of it is basically a complete win, because Andrea is a priestess of Athena. Others can't see through this disguise, but Zeus can probably see through it.

So in the following competitions, as long as she performs well, it will be fine. If the God King really intends to do something... as long as his plan is related to Athens, Andrea will almost certainly be chosen.