Ten minutes later.

Sam is standing in the Paradise Inn's Lobby Area.

It is a very luxurious and it is bustling with people. The rest of the Gambler academy students and even the students of the other academies are all waiting for their seniors to finish the procedures at the reception.

This is awful lot like the procedure of a hotel on Modern Earth.

Soon Dove came and said.

"We need to share the rooms. One room for two people.

"

The students were of course disappointed. Dove smiled and said.

"You don't need to worry, the rooms are pretty good at Paradise and even though they are called rooms they are houses by themselves. You will have plenty room inside, including a training area and a recovery area.

You wouldn't feel like you are sharing a cramped space. I even heard there are massive improvements over the room quality and the service they provide. Including new Menus, I am sure your experience here would be great.

" Dove went onto explain the inns features to the students as if she is a representative of the establishment.

Sam shook his head and looked around.

At this moment, one of the Inn Staff also spotted Sam and ran over hurriedly.

"Welcome Sir, Sam. How are you doing? How long have you been here? You should have asked for me as soon as you came. I even gave you my contact token details.

" He had a wide smile on his face and his tone is flattering.

Sam just smiled and said.

"I am good. Just get me my room key.

"

"Of course, by any chance did you come here for the tournament?

"

"Yeah, I represent the Gambler's academy.

"

The waiter showed an expression as if a big mystery has been solved. Dove and the rest of the students were stumped. Even though a lot of them have great backgrounds and have a very deep understanding of the Academic Realm, their knowledge and influence is mostly limited to particular regions.

Every noble kid in the Olympian region has a certain influence there, but they are unknown figures in many other regions.

And Sam is supposed to be a person of unknown origin. To think that he influences Norse is surprising. They knew of Paradise and they knew it was not a place where some small fry ran. The connections run deep into the Alumni of some top Norse Academies.

Sam went to his room after he got the key.

He relaxed on the giant bed for a short while, before someone knocked on the door.

He opened the door only to see Dove standing there. She didn't even ask Sam's permission before stepping in.

"Wow, you have some serious preferential treatment here. And because of you, even the rest of us got an upgrade. Of course, it is not as good as yours.

"

Sam looked at her without speaking.

She looked at him in silence for a couple of minutes and said.

"Come to the restaurant in five minutes, our team is gathering there. The teams from other regions will also come there. It is time for some socializing.

"

"I don't think it is a good idea for you guys to be with me. I prefer to be alone.

"

"Not happening. As I said, we are part of one academy and you have to do some activities together. Luckily we are one of the first ones from the other regions, we get to see these people and gauge them a bit.

They are the opponents that you are going to face after all.

"

"It doesn't matter. All the socializing and stuff wouldn't make a difference.

I am telling this for your own good and the good of the team that you seem to care about so much. It is not going to end well if you guys kept sticking with me. You need to leave me alone. Or those students are going to face some heat.

"

Dove frowned and said.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say you are threatening to beat your peers up.

"

Sam rolled his eyes in exasperation. That is clearly not what he meant.

Dove finally left.

Sam sighed and said.

"Fine, whatever. Just Don't regret it later on. Now get out of here, I will be there in the Restaurant.

"

Dove finally left.

Sam sighed and said.

"Well, it was supposed to happen sooner or later and since you are wishing it, then so be it.

"

He went downstairs after making sure everything in his room is how its supposed to be.

In the restaurant, the Gambler's Academy students took the most conspicuous table there it. A large circular table at the absolute center of the restaurant. It is big, and grand, and compared to the rest, it looked like a King standing in the middle of peasants.

The attendant who greeted Sam in the lobby hurriedly came over and greeted while guiding Sam to the seat that was right in front of him. It is way over the top.

"Is this why you didn't want us to go with you? Are you stingy to the point you don't want to share your luxuries with us?

"

Dove joked.

"Of course, I am unwilling to share my luxuries with you. They are reserved for the people who share my perils.

"

Sam sat down at the table and even without ordering anything a line of dishes were being served one by one. But he didn't care for them. Instead, he looked at the door.

"What are you looking for?

" Dove asked.

Sam wondered why she was so nosy. The first impression she gave her based on the information he gathered on her is she is a smart, cold, and calculating person.

But now all she felt like was a whiny parrot or rather a Dove.

Whatever bird she might be, her crowing is making Sam irritated. He exhaled in resignation and said.

"Just wait and watch. You will know.

"

As soon as he spoke those words, the doors of the restaurant were burst open. Two different groups of people swarmed in. One group wore blue uniforms and the other wore black uniforms. They all ran towards Sam's table and surrounded it.

The Gambler's Academy team was dumbfounded.

Dove looked at these people and even she was stunned. She recognized these uniforms. The ones who are wearing the blue uniform are freshmen of the Thor Academy and the ones who are wearing black uniforms are students of Hel Academy.

Those two are some top-notch academies in the Norse Region.

A young man is leading the Thor Academy Team. He had glistening blond hair, muscled body, and golden eyes.

He slammed his palm on the table and looked at Sam, killing intent apparent in his eyes.

Sam picked up his fork and stabbed it into a piece of seared meat. He took a bite and spoke to Dove.

"This is the reason why I didn't want you guys with me. I told you, it is dangerous.

"

When he was about to go for a second bite, all of a sudden the blonde young man held his hand. Sam raised an eyebrow.

"You got a lot of gall coming back here. And you are even a student of Gambler's Academy? I guess you and your time are going to pay for what you did last time.

"

Sam didn't respond. He just gazed at all the two groups and said.

"All familiar faces. We have met before, under similar circumstances. So, can someone smarter than this golden boy here, remind me what happened when my meal was interrupted?

"

The blonde young man trembled a little bit and instinctively his grip loosened. Sam could have taken his arm back easily, but instead, he just locked his gaze on the blonde man. He is waiting for that guy to back down.

The Blonde man pursed his lips and reluctantly let go of Sam's hand.

"You were named after the God your Worship, but you don't have half the balls that he has. Fuck off and don't show your face to me unless it is related to the competition.

"

The young blonde's name is Thor.

He gritted his teeth and looked at the Gambler's Academy students.

"You better brace yourself and always watch your backs. Since you came with him, you might have to die with him. The whole of Norse Region holds a grudge against him after all.

"

The students gulped in nervousness.

The groups left and Sam said.

"You guys better leave now. If you think this is bad, you need to rethink. Because this is just the start and you will see more like this.

"

The students hesitated a bit, but one of them took the initiative to leave the table and soon everyone else followed.

Except for Dove.

"You are not leaving?

"

"I cannot leave a student alone. I need to be here with you. The other Senior is enough to guard those kids.

Now, how about you answer some questions?

"

"I am not in the mood right now. If you really want to know, just wait for a while and ask around. I am pretty sure there would be plenty of people who are willing to give you answers.

"