Noah's life became peaceful for a while.
There weren't other missions that required his presence and he would rather wait for Bruce's ones rather than pick those in the missions' building.
The number of merit points awarded by doing services for his faction surpassed by a large margin those given by the sect in the normal mission, Noah thought that it was better to wait for another unrealistic rumor to reach Bruce's ears rather than threaten soldiers for an entire day.
Yet, the Dantian's opening occupied only two days per week and his mental sphere enlarged autonomously so Noah found himself with far more free time than needed.
He wasn't used to that, he would always try to make the most out of his days but his centers of power were already improving and there was a limit to how much he could improve in imbuing his meaning inside the "Breath", he would need to forge to see if the effects reflected his intended meaning.
However, he had no materials nor did he want to purchase them, he was saving for the fourth Kesier rune and he would rather use his merit points to purchase spells or martial arts rather than use them to accumulate resources that he could hunt by himself.
That's why he started to join the gambling sessions of the disciples of his faction in the training area.
He was a rank 3 mage, his advantage against the other disciples was simply too great so he would often win.
"Even."
Noah spoke for last when the dice under a cup placed upside-down on the ground stopped rolling.
"Damn, I bet odd! Zach, I hate this rule that you have to be the last to speak."
"Shut up, it is impossible to play otherwise, everyone would just pick what he has chosen!"
One of the disciples that had picked even rebuked the other cultivator.
Since Noah's mental sphere was so powerful, he could predict with almost certainty the outcome of the dice by the sounds it made while rolling.
It only took Noah a few games to become used to that practice, he had become almost unbeatable after that.
'These guys, it's not so hard, they could easily learn how to do it too.'
Noah sighed in his mind when he saw that the disciples around him had started another discussion.
He didn't know when, but he had become quite used to that sight.
A few weeks had already passed after his mission with Clive's team and he had spent most of that time in the training area.
After all, the disciples were betting Credits, Noah didn't mind taking them.
The disciples had initially been happy that he had joined their gambling group but they soon discovered that their finances could only diminish when Noah was around, complaints began to accumulate and specific rules for Noah were created because of that.
"I think we need to add another disadvantage to Zach, making him pay more doesn't really affect him."
One of the disciples suggested that and the others immediately agreed with him.
"You know that you can just hear the sound of the dice? You are all rank 2 mages, you can do something this simple."
Noah complained, he didn't mind the additional rules for his presence but he couldn't help but worry about the stupidity of his fellow disciples.
"We know, we know. Yet, if we ever learn to do that, we would find ourselves unable to enjoy gambling anymore, we would have to find another game."
One of the disciples answered and Noah could only shrug his shoulders at those words.
They were spending time in that way only to ease their stress, the few hundred Credits that they lost couldn't compare with the loss of their hobby.
Noah didn't complain anymore, he was happy as long as his Credits increased.
"I think I found it! Zach, turn around and cover your ears, let's see if this works."
The other disciples seemed to agree with that idea so Noah simply turned and put the palm of his hands over his ears.
That made basically no difference in his mind, his mental waves were enough to make him understand everything that was going on behind his back.
'They are either too drunk to realize that this won't make any difference or they simply don't care. Oh well, their loss.'
The sound of a dice hitting the surface of the cup as it rolled could be clearly heard by him, Noah deduced the result of that round already.
'The batch of rank 4 pills and potions was found to be a false rumor too, David's group came back empty-handed.'
Noah thought as he waited for the dice to stop rolling.
David was another rank 3 cultivator that, like Clive, worked directly under Bruce.
Everyone in the faction seemed to know about Bruce's character, they would always compare the rumors that they were sent to investigate with the truth of the matter.
'Right now, David's team has been the most unfortunate, they have only found a bunch of food and low-quality wine, there wasn't a single resource on that ship.'
One rumor led to supplies while another led to a few rank 4 materials, the member of the thieves' faction had, of course, placed a bet on whoever had the best gains.
However, the last team had yet to return so a winner hadn't been decided.
"Odd."
Noah spoke when he heard that everyone behind him had placed their bets.
"Oh, come on!"
"Zach, why did you even learn to do something like that, it ruins all the fun!"
"I think I'm done for today, I've lost too much."
The Credits at stake were divided between the winners and Noah filled a few cups with his stash of Ivor's vine before the disciples could stand up.
"Ohhh! Zach's wine is back! It has been five days since I tasted it."
"I don't have much of it left, enjoy this few cups for now."
Noah answered to the excited praises of the others around him before his attention was attracted by the sudden appearance of a bloodied figure at the entrance of the training area.
The other cultivators turned in the direction of his gaze and were surprised to see the figure covered in blood that was limping toward them.
"That's Sarah!"
One of the disciples exclaimed and Noah identified the woman covered in blood as the captain of the team sent to investigate the Inheritance ground.