Place Your Bets

Alexander pointed up at the glass in front of the generals, which rippled like water. The image distorted and restored itself in seconds, except instead of the three generals, the glass displayed a bracket with names of the combatants. "They're using magic?" Thomas gasped. "I thought this was a knights' academy. Why are they using magic?"

"Of course they use magic," Jackal shrugged. "although it's not them that's using the magic." He pointed to the robed figure standing in the shadows next to the room. "Just because we are knights doesn't mean we can't borrow mages or their equipment to assist us." He squinted at the names. "I don't recognize anyone. Oh well, I don't really care much." He passed around a piece of paper over to Eugene. "Anyone down to bet with some powerstones?" Eugene pushed up his glasses, took the paper, and wrote several things down on it. "Eugene, don't rob the place blind now." Jackal laughed as Eugene wrote out several numbers next to each name before finally deciding on an amount to bet.

Looking over, Thomas saw nearly the entire sheet was filled up. Every name had a bet next to it. "Eugene," He leaned forward to get a better view at the skinny noble. "Isn't this a bit excessive? Why do you bet so much when you don't know the results?"

Eugene pushed up his glasses again like in the past ten seconds, they had somehow fallen to the tip of his nose. "It's simple math. I just did a little research on the variables, those peasants, and evaluated their strengths. It is a talent that this gives me." He took off the glasses. His eyes went from magnified giant circles to dots. On the inside of the glasses were lines of numbers. "By using this artifact, I can view anyone's strength numerically. Although it only tells me their physical strength, strength usually wins in these kinds of matches. If it was a match between nobles, however, strength doesn't tell me anything."

Thomas cocked his head to the side. "But the match between commoners and nobles are the same. Just hit each other with swords. Shouldn't the same rules apply to them?"

Eugene pushed his glasses up so hard that they nearly broke. "Thomas, what do you think life essence is used for?"

"Strength, speed, and defense," Thomas recited the lesson from Jameson. "It enhances the body." Seeing Eugene shake his head, he added, "You can do incredible things. The higher stage you get to, the better you can enhance yourself."

Eugene put hand to his forehead: "I thought so," he muttered. "Life essence does enhance your body, but your view is too narrow. You need to be creative. You'll learn this in the academy. I'm surprised you don't know of it already."

"What do you mean?" Thomas looked at the rest of the nobles, finding they had similar expressions to Eugene's.

"This can't go on," Eugene raised a finger in the air. "Allow me to demonstrate." A thin thread of blue life essence went around his finger, condensing around his nail. It stretched several feet away, nearly hitting the ceiling. It was no longer clear, but a thick white shell. "Life essence enhances your body such as the speed of growing your nail. You can also…" He held the nail against the chair. While his movement was slow, a section of the back of the chair was cut off. There was no splintering. It was a clean cut. Thomas's jaw dropped. Eugene cut his extended nail off and threw it out of the room. "Did you live under a rock or something? This kind of thing is nothing. There is-"

"Eugene," Dag groaned. "Will you just shut up? I don't want to hear you talking over the entire tournament. We have time to talk later."

Eugene pushed up his glasses as he glared at Dag. "It's not that I talk a lot. You barely talk, you oaf. I bet that I will win more money from this than you do."

"You're on." Dag snatched the sheet out of Thomas's hands and looked at the list. After deciding on someone to bet on, a commoner by the name of Chad, he smiled. "There, we'll see who comes out on top after this. Then you can shut your mouth, lest I cut out your tongue." His grip around the dagger tightened.

"We'll see about that," Eugene huffed. "Thomas, are you going to bet?"

"Sure," Thomas took the paper and bet everything on Doevm and Frey, trying to remain calm and not take any sides. "I guess I'll bet on these two."

Eugene tilted his head. "I don't remember them entering the peasant's quarters. They must have arrived late like you. I think you should reconsider your bet. They are up against strong opponents."

"Don't worry," Thomas smiled. "They'll be fine."

He passed the paper to Molly, who simply looked away: "I am not an animal like you guys. I have everything I want. Why would I spend them on something like this?" Her look of disgust changed, however, when Jackal grabbed the paper from her and put large bets on Doevm and Frey.

"What are you doing?" both Eugene and Molly asked.

"I believe in Thomas's judgement," Jackal smiled before Molly kicked him in the shin. "Why?" He gasped as he fell out of his chair and rolled around the floor in pain.

"I wanted to vote on Doevm and Frey too, idiot." Molly said as she put down several figures down, which Thomas had to resist not to cry out at.

Jackal looked up at her and stuttered. "I thought you…nevermind. I don't know what's going on inside that head of yours." He limped back into his chair. The new bruise on his shin shrunk and disappeared in seconds under a layer of blue life essence.

Thomas wasn't looking at Jackal, but at the number of zeros on the paper. 'I guess princesses are loaded.' He made a mental note not to make her angry and changed his attention to the stage, where the first set of contestants were taking stances. The woman arrived, got the sheet from them, and disappeared. 'And I guess this is how the Colosseum makes its money.'

Alexander stood between the two opponents and made them shake hands. After, the opponents were made to stand on the marks twenty yards away from each other. The crowd changed from a bunch of miscellaneous conversations to a patient silence. "Begin!" Alexander raised his hand and the two rushed at each other.

Eugene pushed up his glasses: "The one with the sword has a strength level of twenty while the opponent with the whip has a strength level of forty. This match is a clear win for me." It was as Eugene said. The match ended with the whip guy nearly choking the sword guy out, but Alexander separated them before a death occurred. The crowd cheered, Dag yawned, Eugene grinned, Thomas grimaced.

'People cheer for this kind of thing?' He thought back to the first time he killed, the faces that they made. 'What kind of reaction would they make if one was killed.' He wanted to deny it, but deep in his heart, he knew that they would cheer, and he would have to cheer with them or else he would stand out. Reginald's words once again echoed in his head. 'I have to fit in,' he told himself as he looked at his new group of friends. 'I have to prove that I can make friends on my own.' The next round started, and he got ready to cheer on for violence's sake.