Chapter 573 Sleight Of Hand
Boris faltered when he heard Jared’s warning. Next to him, Galen’s heart skipped a beat.
If Jared can really prove that the Disc of Eight Trigrams is useless and impotent, then the elites of Jadeborough would never let us leave unscathed!
The crowd was stunned to see Boris hesitate. Their gazes were riveted on the skilled geomancer.
“Enough with the big talk and just show us the evidence! I was the one who authenticated the talisman. Of course, I know what it is!” Boris bit the bullet when he saw the onlookers’ skeptical looks. He could not afford to lose their trust.
“Did you hear him, kid? Show us what you’ve got! If you can’t prove us wrong by today, none of us will let you off easy!” Sean chuckled humorlessly.
Jared paid Sean no heed and pulled out a coin from his pocket. He gently placed the coin on the table and announced, “Everyone, here I have an amazing talisman to show you!”
Enraged shouts erupted from all around the room when they saw the coin, which was obviously not enchanted. “What the f*ck is this? Isn’t that just a coin?”
“You call that a talisman? If that’s a talisman, then I have hundreds of talismans at home!”
“Do you think that we’re idiots? How can a penny be a talisman?”
The crowd lashed out at Jared.
Unperturbed, Jared looked at Boris and asked, “Mr. Yonce, do you think that this is a talisman?”
Boris did not know what was up Jared’s sleeve, but one thing was for sure—that was a normal coin and not a talisman!
“That’s just a coin. There’s no way that’s a talisman!” Boris answered with certainty.
“Well, well. It seems like you’re not blind after all,” Jared quipped. “All of you could tell that it’s just a normal coin!”
“Say another motherf*cking word, and I’ll make sure you regret coming today!”
“How dare you mess with us! I swear you won’t leave Jadeborough alive!”
“If word gets out that we were fooled by a kid, we’ll lose all respect in Jadeborough!”
Everyone in the room was glaring daggers at Jared. A few of them moved to strike him, but Samuel quickly stopped them.
“Although you may think that it’s just a normal coin, I assure you that if I say that it’s a talisman, then a talisman it is,” Jared said calmly.
Jared picked up the unremarkable coin, and with a flick of his finger, he formed a fire array in the coin. The coin burst into flames instantly.
Though it was ablaze, the coin remained uncharred.
“What’s this? Sleight of hand?” Sean mocked when he saw Jared’s move.
“Even a skilled magician could do better than that. Setting a coin on fire? Anyone with basic chemistry knowledge can pull that off. Are you planning to fool all these mages with that pathetic move?”
“That’s just a party trick! And here I was, thinking that he could actually redeem himself!”
“What a joke! If this is a talisman, then so is my lighter! I can make a flame appear too!”
The crowd roared with laughter as they ridiculed Jared—even the authenticators were unimpressed by him.
The only exception was Boris. His expression shifted drastically, and astonishment flitted across his eyes when he realized what had happened.
He could tell that the coin in Jared’s hand was nothing special. However, the reason it burned was not because of a magic trick nor a chemistry reaction, but rather the minuscule fire array that Jared had embedded into it.
Though the fire array was not a complex spell formation, planting it into an object in such a short amount of time was virtually impossible. Even if one wanted to forge a talisman, it would take days, perhaps weeks, to embed the array within the chosen object, not to mention that the entire process would be arduous and taxing.
