The Bet

Although the environment of Wondant was a lot better than most schools, there was still a distinct hierarchy, and he was currently at the bottom of it, in the Sen class of general magic. Just above them was the Kin class of magic engineering, and slightly above that was the Den class of support magic, which was the one that he had been encouraged to join.

But above all the other classes, was the Dek class, who was treated like nobility compared to the rest of the students, many of the Dek students also had a nasty habit of flaunting their social status and abusing it to pick on the lower classes.

Kaos stood next to Vasai, both examining a list of classes that they could take this semester that had been posted in large writing on a bulletin board.

"Basic Combat sounds good," Kaos said, squinting at the board with a crowd of students around it.

"Not really my thing," Vasai shrugged, "but I wouldn't mind doing it if you're gonna do it. I don't really want to do the other options anyway."

"Anything look good to you?" Kaos asked, realizing it would be a bit more polite to let Vasai choose a few classes too.

"Intro to Magic Engineering sounds good to me." Vasai replied. "It'll also work with our current schedule of "Basic Combat, General Magic 1, and Magic in industries… whatever that one is supposed to be".

A person looking to be a professor had been scanning the crowd for a while, then locked onto Kaos and began approaching.

"Good afternoon!" The Professor greeted them, his large green coat, reaching almost to the floor, "I am professor Dren of the Dek class, would you happen to be the new Sen student Kaos?"

"That would be me," Kaos responded quizzically, "is something the matter?"

"I don't believe so." Dren replied, "Only, Dael'Jun wanted to speak with you."

"Oh… Alright?" Kaos replied a little blankly, "Do you know the reason why?"

"He didn't say, but he didn't seem overly upset… not that I can really tell most of the time. This way please."

Vasai gave a "nice knowing you" salute and then the professor led Kaos through a series of hallways. The classrooms seemed to get larger and larger as they went on. These must have been the Dek classrooms. After the classrooms, they walked by various teacher's offices, some cramped and cluttered, others more spacious and clean. There were a few that looked dusty and unoccupied for a long time, but he thought that it was odd that they didn't move some of the professors into the larger offices even if they would take some cleaning.

"Here we are," Dren said, breaking Kaos out of his silent state of observation. The professor pushed on the two large double doors in front of him, moving them quite easily.

The interior of the office was spacious, the walls were dark wood Kaos recognized as coming from a deeper part of the rainforest. Crimson banners and many ornamental trinkets lined the shelves and walls, enforcing a sense of regality on the room. At the center of the room on the opposite side was a large desk that faced the entrance, and it was only then that Kaos noticed Dael'Jun sitting behind it. As he stood from the desk, Kaos noticed his large stature which he hadn't noticed during the speech. What was he? Seven? Eight feet tall?

"Thank you Professor Dren'Dek," The lord said, nodding towards the green-coated professor.

"My pleasure," the Professor responded, bowing slightly, then exiting the room, closing the doors behind him. The momentary silence made Kaos a little uncomfortable, but it wasn't long before Dael'Jun picked up a nearby chair, and placed it on the other side of the desk.

"Please, sit down." the lord said, taking his original seat.

Kaos quickly sat in the seat and wasn't sure what to say. He couldn't think of anything he had done wrong to get in enough trouble to warrant Dael'Jun calling him here, but then again, he hadn't done anything exceptional enough to get noticed during the arena either.

The lord chuckled and began to speak, "No need to be nervous, I just called you here to discuss your application to the Sen class."

"Umm, yeah, I… I think I got my classes all figured out just a few minutes ago." Kaos said, quite nervous despite Dael'Jun's assurance that nothing was the matter.

"I am rather good friends with Professor Yan'Sen at your previous school. He was the one that recommended you for a Den scholarship. Yan's assessments have always been extremely accurate when it came to his students, and never once has a recommendation of his turned out to be anything less than what he said they would." Dael'Jun leaned over the desk a little closer and resumed speaking.

"He told me you were an excellent support magician who had a firm grasp on utilizing your wish to not only heal, but to provide mobility… I will get straight to the point, why did you not register for the Den class?"

Kaos realized that he hadn't thought about the fact that his scholarship was because of his support magic and he might lose it if he didn't get to the support class.

"I wanted to fight in the arenas." Kaos said, doing his best to not seem nervous.

"I see…" Dael'Jun replied thoughtfully, "then why are you not in the Dek class?"

"I think you have probably already guessed the answer to that sir," Kaos responded, feeling a little defeated. "I was a hundred points short of making it in the first semester."

"My point exactly." Dael'Jun retorted in a more serious voice, "Granted, most students make it into the Dek class their second semester, but the bar is not impossibly high to make it into the class on the first day. You obviously have decent battle instincts, and a knack for who not to fight, but that really won't be enough in the Dek class."

Kaos wasn't making eye contact anymore and was looking slightly over Dael'Jun's shoulder, partially out of intimidation, and partially out of embarrassment for rejecting an opportunity to have an easy life as a support mage.

"Look at me." Dael'Jun said, making Kaos' eyes snap back to his, "I've seen this happen before. While Sen is generally thought of as the lowest class because of its lack of specialization, everyone sees it as the gateway to the Dek class because you get more combat and training room access than the Sen or Kin classes."

Dael'Jun sighed as if he had already had this conversation before, "The truth is that making it into the Dek class is the easy part. Staying in the Dek class is the hard part. you might only need six hundred points to get into the class, but do you know how many you need to graduate from the Dek class?"

Dael'Jun paused for a while awaiting, a response from Kaos, realizing that Dael'Jun wasn't speaking rhetorically, he answered quietly,

"Six thousand and five hundred points." How could he have forgotten? It was such an astronomical amount! Even if he managed to get in the class, you had to have more and more points to stay in the class each semester, his mind flashed back to when he had read the points required to be in the Dek class at the registration table.

Year 0.0 = 400 Points

Year 0.5 = 600 Points

Year 1.0 = 1000 Points

Year 1.5 = 1500 Points

Year 2.0 = 2200 Points

Year 2.5 = 3000 Points

Year 3.0 = 3900 Points

Year 3.5 = 5000 Points

Final Graduation = 6500 Points

Dael'Jun began to speak again, ending his disheartening recollection, "I can't stop you from enrolling as a Sen, but I can not, in good conscience, give you a full-ride scholarship if you plan to stray from the class that the scholarship was given because of."

These words made sense, what he wanted wasn't possible, he couldn't swap out his wish for another one, and he had been an idiot to throw away a free scholarship to the support class.

The lord knew what Kaos was thinking, and continued, "You made a respectable achievement in the arena given that your wish does not aide you in combat, and I believe in exploring your options, but as you have reached an impassable wall, I am not fiend-enough to not offer you a way back."

Dale'Jun extended his hand across the table towards Kaos.

"Join the Den class and become a support mage"

Kaos knew he had to shake the lord's hand, he didn't have any other options, and he was having trouble keeping his intrusive thoughts at bay, "IDIOT! WEAKLING! THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE NO AMBITION! GIVE UP! NEVER GIVE UP!" The voice was almost paralyzing, but he took Dael'Jun's hand and spoke.

"How about a bet?" He had let one of his intrusive thoughts slip out. It was a stupid idea he had, but somehow he had let it slip out of his mouth.

Still grasping Kaos's hand, the lord raised an eyebrow, "Oh?" he said with a smirk, "I can guess that you want to keep your scholarship and go to the Dek class, but what is it you have to wager that is worth so much?"

Kaos thought he was an idiot for suggesting a bet, but he would be dumber to back down now that the lord didn't immediately reject it. Kaos let go of the lord's hand, and tried to think of something to salvage the situation.

"You want me in the Den class," he said slowly, attempting to collect more thoughts, "meet me halfway, and let me take combat classes and use the combat training rooms that the Sen class gets to. If I don't make it into the Dek class next semester then I'll move to the Den class."

"I think you will be wasting more time on combat that way, why would I allow that when you haven't proposed an equal side of the wager on your end?"

Kaos didn't have any bargaining chips in the first place, and there really wasn't any good reasoning why the lord should let him do this either. Then he remembered what Sepra told him after the arena match.

"I'm just sick of constraining myself to what I can and can't do. If it doesn't help me accomplish my dreams, then it shouldn't be called a 'Wish'" His voice had grown more confident and slightly heated, "I don't have that much ambition in life, but I love fighting, I wish I could love something that I'm good at, but I don't! Just one semester in the Sen class" he continued, "then after that I have full confidence I'll be where I belong, either in the Dek class or the Den class."

"That's better." Dael'Jun smiled at him, "I didn't believe you could do it before, and I still personally don't believe you can now, but this is the first time that Professor Yan'Sen has ever been wrong. He said you had no ambition, and I hoped to instill some in you, but I see now that you merely had no ambition to eat the food set before you."

"So?" Kaos asked a little hopefully, still with that fire in his eyes that he had never had before.

"So do it." Dael'Jun responded, "I cannot in good conscience extinguish your desires myself, but if they are smothered by reality then so be it."

He extended his hand again, this time standing, "A foolish bet to take, but I accept. You have until next semester to gain six hundred points and join the Dek class. We will discuss another wager on staying in the Dek class should you succeed."

Kaos shook his hand, for once, he felt truly alive.