《Wish Breaker》


 Skeleton Hands

    It was dark outside. Although it was mid day, only occasional shafts of light ever came through the dense rainforest canopy.


    "Never seems like day here" Kaos thought as he walked up a ramp that led from the floor of the forest to the first level of wooden platforms that webbed the tree-city together. As he walked further across wooden bridges and platforms, he cursed the fact he had waited to buy a new wirecharm.


    "At this point it''s either a new wirecharm or I''m going to be late" he mumbled to himself.


    He looked at the path towards Wondant and quickly decided walking wouldn''t be fast enough.


    After climbing another section of ramps to the second level of platforms, he finally spotted the shop built into a large tree marked "Spiderway Hub".


    "Hope the line isn''t long" he thought as he jogged through the entrance of the store. Luckily the only current customer he saw in the Hub was leaving when he entered. In anticipation, he slipped the silver rings off the 2nd finger and pinky of his right hand along with the thin chain that connected them. "Can I get a swap real quick?" He asked the young man at the counter, holding out his hand with the rings. "I gotcha" the man replied as he grabbed the rings and pulled out an identical pair from a drawer behind the counter.


    "Since it''s a swap it should just be 200 for the charged pair."


    "Got it" Kaos said as he rummaged through his pockets before pulling out a few coins of various values, and handing them to the young man. "Thanks man!" He yelled as he dashed out the door with the new rings. He began looking around for a metal wire that led in Wondant''s direction. As he oriented himself in the direction of Wondant, he slipped on the new rings.


    "There''s one" he said to himself as he spotted a wire leading towards the river. He looked up at the wire running over his head, made a fist with his hand wearing the rings, and touched the chain on the rings to the metal wire. His body immediately felt weightless as the magic coming from the rings pulled his body along the wire. As he whipped past branches, platforms, and leaves, he began to lose the stress he had accumulated.


    The Spiderways were amazing. They had been created over a hundred years ago, but every time he zipped across them it felt like the first time. As he sped closer to the wall that encompassed Wondant College, he looked for the path to the entrance. As the well-trodden path came into sight, he let loose his gripped hand and floated to the forest floor, still weightless from using the wirecharm. A few seconds later, the weight returned to his body, and he was able to make his way to the crowd of students entering the front gateway.


    Wondant College wasn''t cheap by any means, but that was because it was top of the line. He had managed to get a scholarship because he was born with a Wish that could heal people. Although he had gotten his scholarship based on being a solid candidate for the "Deka support class", he wasn''t enrolling to be a support. Last year, all of his friends parted ways and went to different colleges except his best friend Sepra. She was the same age as him and had decided to enroll at Wondant to become a warrior. That was when Kaos decided that he didn''t care where he enrolled, he just wanted to stick with at least one of his friends.


    "Where is she?" He thought as he craned his neck to look around the crowd of people making their way towards the tables outside the entrance hall. Hoping to have better luck outside the crowd, he pushed his way gradually to the edge of the crowd where he surveyed it again. Just then, he felt something hard and cold grasp his right shoulder from behind. He slowly turned his head and saw five skeletal fingers gripping his shoulder.


    "Oh, hey!" He said spinning around quickly to face the hand''s owner. It was a brown haired girl about an inch taller than him who looked entirely normal apart from her left arm being completely skeletal from the elbow to the fingertips. You couldn''t quite see where the flesh became bone due to a red handkerchief tied around the border between bone and flesh.


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    "Imagine if I was a stranger, Sepra" Kaos said, smiling at her "that would have been a bit of a scare".


    "And here I was: trying to scare a stranger and it turned out to be you" she sarcastically replied, smiling. "You figured out which class you''re going to enroll in yet?"


    "Nah," Kaos replied, "I figure all good decisions are made hastily and at the last minute."


    "Well, if you haven''t decided yet, you could always go big and try out for the Dek class with me!" She said in a sing-song voice.


    "I''m not much of a fighter, but I guess it''s worth a shot." Kaos said, now seeing a hardship in his immediate future, he hadn''t fully made up his mind if he was going to try out for the Dek Warrior class yet, but if it meant not being so separated from his last friend, then it was worth a shot. His Wish was classified as a support Wish. This meant he could help in fights, but he was probably no match for anyone in a 1 on 1.


    "I don''t know," came a voice from behind him, it was a young, well-built student who looked to be about a year older than Kaos, "usually the entrance arena matches are pretty rough, so unless you''ve been training for a while, somebody who specializes in magician stuff is probably going to have a hard time, but that''s not to say you couldn''t do it."


    "Well I''ll have you know that Kaos here happens to have quite an impressive healing Wish" Sepra said to the man who had just spoken. "In fact, my right arm looked just like my left before he healed it!"


    "That''s a lie" Kaos said, smirking at Sepra, "Her arms always looked like this, but I can heal people though, and if it''s a good day I can also make them fly."


    "Healing wish, huh?" The man said thoughtfully, "honestly, the entrance exam for the Dek Warrior Class is usually team fights. So a support would probably work really well there, you should go for it if you want! I''m Kyris by the way, I''m a second year here, I actually just got into the Dek class myself, so I promise I''m not ''all talk despite my yapping."


    "Team fights in the arena, you say?" Kaos thought for a moment, "that actually sounds doable. I guess I''ll give it a shot!"


    "You probably better get to the registration tables then," came another voice, this time it was a shorter boy who looked about the same age as Kaos if not younger, "I just finished mine and wanted to get out of the crowd. I think they start the opening ceremony in like 30 minutes so unless you wanna miss that I''d go ahead and get the registration out of the way."


    "I don''t think I''ve seen you before," Kyris said narrowing his eyebrows inquisitively, "you enrolling to try and get in the Dek class?"


    "Nah," said the boy, putting his hands in his pockets, "I enrolled as a Sein for the general magic stuff, I tend to lean towards calmer careers, which is why I picked the general studies. I do enjoy watching a good arena match every now and then though so I''ll cheer y''all on if you decide to do it!"


    "I''m Kaos, and this is Sepra" Kaos said, gesturing towards the girl who was waving her skeletal hand.


    "Cool," he replied smiling and nodding, "I''m Vazai. Wanna all sit together for the entrance ceremony?"


    "Sounds good to me!" Kyris said, "I need to say hi to some people real quick, but once you finish your paperwork, let''s all meet up at the door over by those plants" he pointed a finger to some oddly colored plants a bit to the right of the door.


    "Alright, we''ll see you there!" Sepra called out as she grabbed Kaos by the wrist and began pulling him towards the desks. "You know," he said more to himself than anyone else, "I think this year isn''t going to suck."

 Finch

    Dael¡¯Jun walked through the hallway that led to two great doors. He had rehearsed his speech to give for this year¡¯s first Arena game at least ten times on his walk to the office.


    Although he had made this speech many times before, he knew how important it would be for the students to see strength from their instructors. After all, he had acquired the title of Jun, a powerful lord who had the right to oversee not only Wirewood, but many cities around it.


    Instead of governing land or workers, he put his efforts into governing the students at Wondant. Apart from the few times he was called to battle, he spent almost every moment of his life attempting to help the students as a school overseer.


    He took a moment to make sure his uniform was impeccable, and then knocked on the doors.


    After a few seconds the doors flung themselves open in a nasty jerking motion, causing a few papers to flutter in the air before settling back onto the floor.


    It took a moment before he spotted the man he was looking for in the cluttered office, and at the same time, the man noticed him.


    ¡°Ah, headmaster, there you are,¡± Dael¡¯Jun said, cursing himself for sounding so off guard.


    ¡°Please,¡± replied the man slowly, picking up a few of the scattered papers, ¡°the only title that describes me perfectly is my name.¡±


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    ¡°Then, Finch¡± Dael¡¯Jun said, stressing the name that the headmaster insisted on going by, ¡°to what occasion do I owe the pleasure of being called to your office amidst the scramble to prepare for the first Arena game of this school¡¯s year?¡±


    Dael¡¯Jun knew that he didn¡¯t have the time to be talking about formalities directly before the first arena games of the year, but all the same, he could not refuse a summons from the headmaster.


    Knowing Finch, though, there was no chance he was summoned for some formality.


    ¡°I have made a decision regarding the first game this year¡± Finch replied smoothly, ignoring the slight annoyance in the principal¡¯s tone. ¡°The first game will not be in the team format.¡±


    For just a moment, Dael¡¯jun stared at him as if waiting for him to change his mind.


    They stood in silence for almost five seconds before Dael¡¯Jun realized that Finch was serious about this.


    ¡°Surely not! Everyone has already been told that the arena game will be held in the format of Team Battles, imagine the work that they have put-¡±


    ¡°All the same¡± Finch replied, cutting him off, ¡°I have found it necessary and have made the decision.¡±


    Dael started to argue, but quickly realized there would be no winning an argument with Finch.


    ¡°I will¡­¡± Dael paused his sentence, ¡°Make the announcement in my speech¡±


    ¡°Much appreciated.¡± Finch said monotonously before bending over to clean up the papers scattered about the room.


    Dael just stared for a moment before realizing Finch was done talking. He made a quick, awkward bow and then strode out of the room feeling just as confused as any time he had talked to the headmaster previously.


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell if this is a scheme or a whim¡± he mumbled to himself, ¡°honestly the line between the two is getting more blurred with Finch by the day.¡±

 The Announcement

    There were a lot of people around, Kaos looked through all the unfamiliar faces, trying to keep track of Vazai and Kyris. Eventually Kyris spotted a group of seats and sat down, motioning for everyone else to follow.


    Vazai quickly slid into the next seat over and Kaos followed, this time pulling Sepra along.


    Kaos was nervous, but the thought of also being on a team in the upcoming test was comforting at least. All of a sudden, the room went silent, silent enough to hear the footsteps on the stage.


    Kaos looked towards the front of the room and saw the reason for the silence. Dael¡¯Jun had just walked onto the stage. He stood unflinching before the crowd, his massive figure further embellished by the noble¡¯s crimson pelt-cape he wore.


    ¡°Long ago,¡± he began, ¡°it is said that there was no such thing as magic. No such thing as the wishes we all hold dear.¡±


    ¡°Humans lived in fear of the beasts and monsters that came from the depths of the badlands. They relied on the protection of fickle gods who regarded them as mere toys, praying for deliverance, only to be torn to shreds by the claws of some feral creature.¡± He ended this sentence with a far-away look, as if he had seen them himself.


    He continued, ¡°Then, as the last of humanity gathered together against the monsters of the badlands, the Hallowed one, God above gods gave us the gift of wishes, a tool to defend against our oppressors and a symbol that we had not been forsaken!¡±


    ¡°The foolish gods crowded around the remnant of humanity, leering at how they would fall to the monsters, only to discover the newfound blessing the humans had been given.


    Out of spite and wounded pride, the gods pushed harder, they lured more monsters, they set traps, and finally, they came themselves. Human blood has never been spilled like the day that the gods descended, but the Hallowed One¡¯s will was not that humanity died that day.


    A man named Ki was given not one, not two, but three wishes. With these wishes he struck down a god. When the god lay motionless, he noticed a sweet smell, and a new feeling, it was a small amount of magic: the remnants of a dead god.


    This small amount of magic was not enough though, he slew god after god, that sweet smell in the air and the tingling in his fingers growing every time, until every god had been slain!


    Finally there was peace, and the evil of the gods had come to an end. The spoils of this war gave us not only our freedom, but the ability to reach out and touch the impossible.


    Because of human souls, Wishes were given, and from the blood of gods, magic was taken.¡± Dael¡¯Jun took a moment to look around before continuing.


    ¡°So I ask you, are you one who seeks understanding of themselves, one who wishes to learn magic, or perhaps some legend-to-be we will all know as a god killer? If so, take your glory! Seek your magic! Show us your radiance!¡±


    While it was obvious this speech had been given quite a few times, it gave Kaos some connection to those ancient fairy-tales people regarded as true history.


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    There was more to the entrance speech, but Kaos had zoned out and was entirely focused on how he was going to get through the team battles.


    The only thing that woke him from his intense thought was a silence on stage.


    Kaos looked up to see what had happened. Dael¡¯Jun¡¯s expression was one of frustration with what he was about to say.


    ¡°Here,¡± Dael¡¯Jun continued, ¡°we strive to make the most of your abilities, and grow you as individuals, as well as teams. In order to make stronger individual warriors of you all, the format  for this year¡¯s opening arena game will be a battle royale.¡±


    Murmurs and whispers erupted from the audience immediately. While Wondant¡¯s arena game format sometimes changed throughout the semester, it never changed the first game, and had become an unspoken rule that the first game was always a team battle.


    Dael¡¯Jun looked over the crowd one last time and in a quieter tone said ¡°show us your worth.¡±


    He then left the stage.


    As soon as he had left the stage, the students and teachers alike burst into conversation. Some were complaining how unfair it was, others making plans to meet in the arena and form a team anyway, and others saying they were excited to see this new format.


    Kaos was in shambles. He knew that he was screwed. He knew that if he came up against Sepra she wouldn¡¯t take it easy on him, let alone want to team up. She had always been the kind to play for the love of the game, and she definitely wasn¡¯t going to sacrifice the ¡®integrity of the game¡¯ so she could babysit him.


    He glanced at Kyris who would also be participating, but decided against trying to team up, he had just met him after all, and he might have a better chance of running and hiding than risk getting backstabbed early on.


    He was stressed, really stressed.


    His brain seemed like it was screaming at him to run or fight, anything to get rid of this powerless feeling.


    Kaos was by all accounts a very passive and gentle person, but in times like these, some small voice in the back of his head would act up, becoming so loud that he couldn¡¯t focus or pay attention.


    ¡°RUN! RUN! FIGHT! KILL! WIN! DIE!¡± The voice wasn¡¯t stopping or even giving a clear message.


    ¡°You good, man?¡± Vasai asked, slightly elbowing him.


    The voice stopped enough for Kaos to collect some thoughts and reply ¡°yeah¡­ that¡¯s just not really what I expected, and I don¡¯t think the battle royale is gonna go so good for me¡±


    ¡°Well this arena heals people once they¡¯re eliminated from the game so at least you don¡¯t have to worry about getting injured¡± Vasai shrugged at the end of his sentence in a nonchalant way that was somehow both comforting and slightly annoying to Kaos.


    ¡°I figure,¡± Vasai continued, ¡°you just play to your strengths, try and get one elimination and then hide for a while and you still got a good shot.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Kaos mumbled. Something about the way Vasai simplified the situation calmed him down enough and gave him some sort of hope for the situation.


    Just maybe, if he got a lucky elimination on someone weaker like him, there was a good chance that he could still get into the Dek class.


    He made up his mind, he was going to do this. He HAD to do this.


    He wouldn¡¯t be left behind again.


    Then the large double doors opened back up.


    It was time to head to the Arena.

 The Arena Begins

    The arena was massive, he didn¡¯t understand the true scale of it until he was standing in the middle of the sandy desert floor.


    Still, he thought that the arena might be too small for a battle royale of this size, there were at least a hundred other students here, probably more. There were way too many for the two-hundred square yards or so that arena was in size.


    His heart was beating fast, he closed his eyes and started going over his options.


    Firstly his wish, ¡°Angel¡¯s Halo¡± was going to be useless. It was a powerful wish that granted the designated person wings to fly with, and a floating halo above their head that quickly healed wounds at an almost unprecedented rate.


    The only problem with this wish, was he couldn¡¯t use it on himself, making it not even usable for this competition unless he wanted to heal his enemies.


    ¡°I¡¯m decently strong though¡± he thought to himself. It was an honest assessment too. If you wanted to make it as support you had to at least be able to dodge attacks and hold your own against the average person, which is why he had already gotten some practice.


    He looked around, because this was an entrance day arena game, there were a lot of fantasizing wannabes who weren¡¯t going to be any stronger than him. All he had to do was know who not to pick a fight with.


    He heard the distinct bell-like sound of the arena, how it knew how to start the competition was beyond him, but he had other problems to worry about.


    He looked to his right and noticed Sepra grinning and walking towards him.


    ¡°Scoping out the competition?¡± she said, raising an eyebrow.


    ¡°I gotta do everything I can here if I actually want to get into the Dek class,¡± he responded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be honest¡± Sepra said, tilting her head to the side, ¡°I didn¡¯t really expect you to give this a go, I figured you would stick with the support class.¡±


    This caught him off guard, he had been avoiding thinking about the reason behind doing this¡­ but why? Was this something that he actually wanted to do? Did he really need this?


    ¡°YOU NEED THIS¡± came his answer from the voice in the back of his head. ¡°YOU WANT THIS¡±


    He guessed he had just been listening to his subconscious or whatever that voice was, it had been around his whole life, and he had always dismissed it as intrusive thoughts.


    Then he remembered why he went along with the voice, he didn¡¯t want to be left behind again.


    His friends had all gone to different arena colleges, and the only place that saw value in him was Wondant, offering him a huge support scholarship. Sepra was his last friend, and he was going to make sure that he wasn¡¯t going to fall behind like last time.


    He needed that much at least.


    Although it seemed like he had been thinking for a while, in reality it had only been a couple of seconds before he responded to Sepra.


    ¡°What? Can¡¯t have dreams of my own?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t the honest answer, but playing it off as a joke was the best option he had.


    ¡°Well don¡¯t lose out there, especially to me!¡± She stuck out her skeletal hand.


    Kaos went to shake it, but then paused right before and looked at her suspiciously.


    Sepra rolled her eyes, and sighed, ¡°Relax, I¡¯m not gonna use the wish to knock you out before the game starts, but during the game is a different story!¡±


    Kaos chuckled to himself and shook the skeletal hand.


    As soon as he did, he heard the second arena bell ring, and the desert floor dropped out from under him.


    He had fallen into some kind of pit, it was dark everywhere and the ground had closed above him. Streams of glowing golden sand shot up from the ground, illuminating the small sandy cube he was inside of. The golden sand rushed from every direction, eventually converging on one wall and forming words.


    [ANALYZING PARTICIPANT]


    After a moment the glowing sand shifted into new words.


    [SCORING SYSTEM]


    [1 KILL = 100 POINTS]


    [1 BOUNTY KILL = HALF THE ELIMINATED PLAYER¡¯S POINTS]


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    [A PLAYER WITH THREE OR MORE KILLS RECEIVES A BOUNTY]


    [1ST PLACE = 2000 BONUS POINTS]


    [2ND PLACE = 1000 BONUS POINTS]


    [3RD PLACE = 700 BONUS POINTS]


    [4TH PLACE = 600 BONUS POINTS]


    [5TH-7TH PLACE = 400 BONUS POINTS]


    [8TH-10TH PLACE = 300 BONUS POINTS]


    [11TH-25TH PLACE = 200 BONUS POINTS]


    [26TH-33RD PLACE = 100 BONUS POINTS]


    The scoring seemed pretty simple: stay in the game longer, get more points, get kills, get more points. Kaos paused while reading the bounty system, thinking of how lucky he would be if he got points from that, but then realized that if he came across someone with a bounty then he was as good as eliminated.


    [KILLED PLAYERS WILL BE RETURNED ALIVE AND IN THE STATE THEY ARRIVED IN]


    Kaos had seen enough arena games to know that death in an arena never meant actual death, but now that he was here, he wasn¡¯t so trusting of the life-saving arena. Maybe through some form of skill or luck he wouldn¡¯t be killed at all¡­ but probably not.


    [RANDOMLY SELECTING WEAPON]


    A short-sword slid through the ceiling and stabbed into the floor. Kaos snatched it out of the ground and stepped back, just in case anything else came through.


    [CURRENT PARTICIPANTS: 131]


    [BEGINNING THE GAME]


    All of a sudden Kaos felt the floor rushing upwards, he almost fell over but then shakily regained his balance just as the ceiling opened up and he was flung a few feet into the air before landing on his stomach.


    When he got back to his feet, the once-flat arena was entirely different. He had seen arenas change on magic broadcasts before, but never from this side. The flat sand had become hills, forts of sandstone, watch towers, and rocky ravines.


    A massive rectangular tower of sand exploded from the ground about half a mile away from him. The glowing golden sands swam from every corner of the arena and converged at the top of the tower displaying the words:


    [ONLY ONE MAY REMAIN]


    [CURRENT PARTICIPANTS: 131]


    This last message stayed displayed at the top of the tower. This was bad. He would need 400 points to enroll as a Dek student, which meant it was going to take a lot more than one elimination.


    ¡°High ground¡± Kaos said to himself, snapping out of his deep thought, a tall watchtower on his left seemed like the best place to get ahold of the situation. He started sprinting to the tower, hoping no one would make it there before him.


    Once he reached the opening at the base of the tower, he peeked inside. It seemed to be empty as far as he could tell. After listening for noises for a moment, he began quietly climbing the spiral staircase on the inside of the tower. The stairs ended, leading to a trap door directly above the staircase.


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± Kaos breathed slowly reaching up towards the handle.


    ¡°Almost forgot to take out my sword¡± he mumbled to himself.


    But where was it? He wasn¡¯t holding it, and it wasn¡¯t at his side, he didn¡¯t have a sheath of any kind.


    Kaos groaned at his own stupidity, he had dropped it when he got launched out of the ground and forgot about it in the chaos!


    He turned to go back down the stairs to retrieve his sword, but then heard heavy footsteps fastly ascending the base of the stairs.


    ¡°Nacta!¡± he cursed to himself in a whisper. He had no option but to try and hide at the top of the tower.


    He quickly opened the trap door and climbed through it. The room at the top of the watchtower had openings to walk through on three sides, and nothing to hide between except the fourth wall. It would have to do. He closed the trap door and dashed to the other side of the wall, crouching down and catching his breath. He poked his head up momentarily to see over the sandstone railing, noticing the vast landscape that was now inside the arena, then ducking back down and listening quietly.


    The trap-door clanked open and he heard someone grunt as they climbed through. He heard their boots tapping on the sandstone as they rushed directly to the balcony.


    He didn¡¯t have any weapon, but this might be his best shot at any kills the whole game and he didn¡¯t have the luxury of letting any opportunity go. He crept and poked his head around the wall slightly. It was a tall-skinny boy who was craning his neck looking off of the railing.


    Kaos didn¡¯t know what he was going to do, but this was a perfect opportunity! He began sprinting directly at the boy, who whipped around right before Kaos¡¯s hands reached him. He didn¡¯t have a plan, but one push was all it took. The boy toppled over the railing, falling for what seemed like minutes but in reality was only a couple seconds.


    When he hit the sand, his body immediately turned from flesh to sand, and everything except the spear he was wielding disappeared and was instantly consumed by the ground.


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it works¡± Kaos said to himself, surprised more so by the fact that his attack had worked than the boy vanishing into sand.


    Glowing sand appeared in a circle around his feet, displaying:


    [+100 POINTS! CURRENT POINTS: 100]


    He caught his breath again, and glanced back down towards the ground.


    ¡°Jackpot!¡± he yelled, seeing the spear. He hopped down the trap door, and descended the stairs much less quietly than he had come up them. He snatched the spear off of the ground and gave it a spin in his hand, almost dropping it.


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± He laughed to himself, ¡°This gives me so much more range than that crappy sword!¡±


    Another bell sound came from the arena, and he looked at the main arena tower, noticing that the words displayed were now different.


    [100 PARTICIPANTS REMAINING]


    [THE ARENA IS NOW SHRINKING]


    [ONLY ONE MAY REMAIN]

 The Ring Closes

    [100 PARTICIPANTS REMAINING]


    [THE ARENA IS NOW SHRINKING]


    [ONLY ONE MAY REMAIN]


    Kaos turned himself in circles trying to find the nearest edge of the arena, until he finally spotted it in the opposite direction of the main tower, and it seemed to be slowly getting closer.


    ¡°So the big tower must be the center of the arena. The closer I get to that, the less chance I have of getting caught by the edge of the arena.¡±


    He began walking towards the central tower, making sure to stay close to any rocks or structures that could hide his presence. The arena slowly shrinking made him want to sprint towards the central tower, but he knew if he didn¡¯t preserve his energy and take it slow, then he was dead the next person he saw.


    ¡°Three hundred more points¡± he said under his breath, ¡°that¡¯s all I need¡±.


    He had maintained a healthy distance from the edge of the edge of the arena, but he was still too out in the open. He had been creeping in between large sandstone boulders, but in order to get any closer to the central tower, he was going to have to cross about a hundred yards of desert without any cover.


    Kaos looked back at the arena wall, and decided to wait for a little bit to make sure no other contestants were passing through. He looked up at the central tower


    [88 PARTICIPANTS REMAINING]


    There was still a long way to go if he was going to get any bonus points for placement. Fifty-five more people would have to be eliminated before he even saw a hundred bonus points. He began to get worried again, he needed to get more eliminations, at least two, then he could focus on hiding until he was thirty-third place.


    Then he saw someone crossing the desert about fifty yards to his left, they definitely didn¡¯t see him. They weren¡¯t holding a weapon, but they had an air of confidence that made him hesitant to attack.


    He had been hearing occasional noises of battle all around the arena for quite a while, but if someone was making a loud enough noise during a fight for him to hear it from a distance, he was better off avoiding them.


    Then there came two people, one obviously was stalking the other, waiting for a chance to strike. This was his opportunity, if everything went well, he could snag an elimination right after they fought each other, if he got lucky, he could maybe even get both of them.


    The first contestant was obviously not used to fighting and was oblivious to the second contestant''s presence, as they both skirted the desert area, ducking between large boulders.


    By this time, Kaos had made his way not far behind the second contestant, and was at a distance where he could join in the fight whenever it began.


    Then the second contestant made a mistake, and stepped on a loose rock, creating a quiet, but still audible noise.


    The first contestant paused for a moment, then whipped around, flinging his right arm in the air, and emitting a bright flash of light from it.


    Luckily, Kaos had ducked behind a boulder before this had happened, but the second student was watching quite intently and began to stumble about, momentarily blinded. The first student rushed the second one, brandishing a short sword similar to the one Kaos started with.


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    The second student hadn¡¯t fully gotten his bearings again, but he was able to parry the attacker¡¯s haphazard swing, using a scimitar that he looked confident using.


    Despite the initial blinding, the second student was holding his own against the onslaught of swings from his attacker.


    Kaos clenched his spear, ready to jump into the fray, but then paused, only one of the two had used their wish yet, and it would be a little unwise to jump in without having seen them both.


    The first student jumped back and attempted to use the blinding flash again, but the second student looked away just before the flash, and began pressing the attack.


    There had been enough waiting, Kaos knew that the second student had something up his sleeve, and was about to win the fight, so he charged at him from behind.


    Kaos was a couple yards away when it happened, the second student deflected an attack, and at the exact same time, A scorpion¨Clike tail burst from his back and extended in a flash, finding its mark on the first student¡¯s upper chest, turning him to sand.


    Then Kaos¡¯s spear found its mark in the student¡¯s back. It wasn¡¯t a killing blow though, it did some damage, but the student had twisted at the last moment, only causing the spear to pierce a small portion of his lower back.


    ¡°That was a cheap shot!¡± The student yelled, spinning in a full circle, using both the scimitar and the tail to attack at once.


    Kaos easily dodged the flailing scimitar, and used the center of the spear to deflect the whipping tail.


    ¡°Oh please!¡± Kaos grunted back, deflecting another attack of the scimitar, ¡°you were trying to do the same thing to that other kid!¡±


    The student didn¡¯t object, but instead swung slower, but with a lot more power. He was getting desperate. The wound was definitely having an effect. Kaos just needed to not get hit and the student would get even sloppier.


    The scorpion tail made a flashing strike in an attempt to pierce his shoulder, but Kaos turned just enough to dodge it, and grabbed it with his left hand, yanking the student off balance.


    As his opponent stumbled, Kaos stabbed forwards with his spear, driving a much more damaging wound into the student. This student was definitely someone who could do well in the Dek class, but lucky for Kaos, he was a first year student who obviously hadn¡¯t ever gotten any instruction in combat.


    Another half-hearted strike came from the scorpion tail, but it didn¡¯t even make it all the way to Kaos before the tail, along with the rest of the student, turned into sand. The golden sand circled around his feet again, reading:


    [+200 POINTS! CURRENT POINTS: 300]


    Kaos laughed to himself and dropped to a sitting position. ¡°A bounty of two hundred? If that¡¯s half his points, then he had gotten three other kills before that guy. So I guess he got his four hundred points to make it into the Dek class then!¡± Kaos gave an exhausted smile and looked at the scimitar laying on the sand.


    ¡°Good thing too¡­ I would have felt awful about eliminating someone with that kind of potential¡±


    Kaos leaned out from behind the boulder, and glanced at the central tower again.


    [67 PARTICIPANTS REMAINING]


    ¡°Just have to stay alive till thirty three and I¡¯ll have my four hundred¡± Kaos whispered to himself. This had been working out all too well, apart from being completely exhausted after the fight. ¡°Just a little more¡± he said to himself, looking out at the edge of the arena, which had grown too close for comfort.


    He listened, and heard the loud sounds of battle, coming from every area of the arena.


    Kaos waited around for a little while longer, but as the edge of the arena got closer, he realized he had used this hiding spot to its limit, once again looking back to the central tower.


    [64 PARTICIPANTS REMAINING]


    ¡°Ugh¡­ why is everyone staying alive for so long all of a sudden?¡± he groaned.


    ¡°I just need to hold out a little longer¡±

 Resolve

    Kaos had found his way to a building that was mostly just an open courtyard with a sandstone floor. It wasn¡¯t much cover, but he felt it was his best option.


    He took a moment to look out an entrance to the central tower.


    [59 PARTICIPANTS REMAINING]


    ¡°Just a little longer¡± he thought to himself. Then he heard footsteps coming in behind him, he turned around and saw a student, a little on the shorter side, walking through the center of the courtyard.


    Both of them froze and locked eyes for a moment, then the student rushed at him. His opponent was fast, but didn¡¯t seem to be quite as fast as Kaos was in terms of sheer running speed. The student grasped at the air, and a sword with a very thin blade appeared in his clenched hand.


    Kaos jumped backwards as the student made a wild slash at his stomach.


    ¡°That¡¯s definitely not a normal sword¡± Kaos thought to himself. ¡°This guy isn¡¯t as fast as me, but definitely knows weapon combat better than I do.¡±


    The quick sword attacks from the student were taking all of his brain power to deal with, and made it even harder to formulate a plan on what to do next.


    ¡°Screw it!¡± he grunted as he blocked an attack. He had to try something crazy in order to turn the tables, otherwise all his previous eliminations wouldn''t mean anything, and those three hundred points would be meaningless.


    As the student swung his sword again, Kaos, used the top of his spear to redirect the attack, and spun the butt of his spear around, striking his opponent in the rib-cage.


    It wasn¡¯t a hard hit, but it got him enough off balance for Kaos to strike again. He kicked at the student''s leg, sending him sprawling sideways onto the ground.


    He stabbed downwards with his spear at his opponent''s exposed torso.


    That was the last hundred points he needed.


    But instead of the spear piercing his opponent, it made a loud clanging sound and stopped short, being deflected off of a metal breastplate that definitely hadn¡¯t been there before.


    The student grabbed the end of the spear near the tip, and shoved it backwards.


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    As Kaos stumbled back, half from the shove, and half from surprise, the student chuckled and the breastplate disappeared.


    ¡°My wish is that I am able to create weaponry that grows stronger the more willpower I have.¡± The student reached out towards Kaos as if to grab a new weapon pointed in front of him, and continued, ¡°Fair is fair, what¡¯s the trick up your sleeve?¡±


    Kaos stared blankly back, surely this idiot didn¡¯t just tell him the details of his wish and expect him to do the same.


    ¡°Uhhh¡­ I¡¯m not going to tell you¡­¡± Kaos said almost robotically. They both stared at each other, as if completely taken aback by the other¡¯s stupidity.


    ¡°It¡¯s like an unspoken rule though!¡± the student yelled indignantly, ¡°I tell you mine, you have to tell me your wish!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s stupid though!¡± Kaos yelled back instantly, ¡°I have to be able to take advantage of the fact that you don¡¯t know if I have something up my sleeve or not! You can''t bluff anyone if you tell them everything you can do!¡±


    A crossbow flashed into the student¡¯s already extended hand and he smirked.


    ¡°So in other words you got nothin.¡±


    Kaos realized that he had let too much information slip in his confusion. He had to attack before his opponent could.


    Before he could move, he felt something hit him. He looked down at his chest, a large crossbow bolt protruded from it.


    Still in shock, he looked up at the student who seemed almost as surprised that Kaos was still standing.


    Then the pain hit him, not nearly as much as he expected would have outside the arena, but it was still enough that made it feel impossible to move.


    The student stood there with the crossbow still outstretched as if he wasn¡¯t sure what to do if Kaos didn¡¯t just keel over and turn to sand.


    It was make or break time, Kaos couldn¡¯t last long enough to make it to thirty third place with the crossbow bolt in him, but if he could just take down the participant in front of him, he would still have his four hundred points.


    He sprinted at the student, his vision growing more blurry by the second, he was just within spear range and the student dropped his crossbow which vanished soon after leaving his hand.


    He jumped at his opponent with the last of his strength, thrusting the spear at his chest.


    The spear clanged off of a newly created metal breastplate.


    ¡°See¡±, the student said as Kaos hit the ground stomach first, driving the crossbow bolt almost all the way through him, ¡°I told you what my wish was and you attacked in the same way again! You can''t make it in the Dek class like that. I know you''ve got a wish, but it obviously doesn''t work for combat so find something else to do.¡±


    The student paused for a second, seeming to feel bad for Kaos, "Look," he continued, "The Dek class is mainly training you on how to use your combat wish, and that''s not going to work for you... you did really well for somebody without one, but this first arena game is basically easy mode, and I know it sucks to hear, but this isn''t your thing."


    Infuriated, Kaos grabbed the student¡¯s leg, but his grip strength wasn¡¯t there. In fact¡­ neither was his hand, the pain had gone away, and his body had somehow become¡­ sand?


    He had been eliminated.

 Game Over

    Kaos felt his body reforming. He didn¡¯t know how long it had been, but there was only one thought on his mind:


    By some miracle, were there enough people eliminated during his fight for him to get thirty third place.


    His face reformed, and he saw that he was standing above ground in the arena as it originally was before the game had started, only the large central tower was still standing, displaying a new message.


    [GAME OVER]


    [DISTRIBUTING BONUS POINTS!]


    After looking around, he saw a lot of other students laughing or looking dejected. Then he paused his anxious mind for a moment and thought to himself.


    ¡°Regardless of whether I get the 400 points or not¡­ that was REALLY fun.¡±


    It was true, Kaos loved everything about the game, the tactics, the combat, and fighting against a myriad of unknown wishes. He had occasionally been able to participate in combat training sessions at previous schools, but this was different.


    The arena bell sounded, snapping him out of his mulling over his enjoyment of the match, and bringing him back to that anxious hope for an impossible one hundred bonus points.


    He heard a loud rush of sand, and saw the golden glowing sand begin circling around each individual student all at once. Looking around he saw a lot of students around him had messages displaying:


    [+0 BONUS POINTS! TOTAL POINTS: 0]


    That gave him the confidence boost he needed to look down at the message circling his own feet.


    [+0 BONUS POINTS! TOTAL POINTS: 300]


    His heart sank, and his mind flooded with thoughts of ¡°if only I had gone to a different building¡±, ¡°if only I hadn¡¯t said anything to give myself away¡±, and the voice in the back of his head was not happy.


    ¡°WIN! FIGHT! KILL!¡± the voice yelled at him, unable to fix the situation.


    He had lost, and wouldn¡¯t be joining the Dek class.


    He looked around, trying to find something to think about other than the fact that he had failed, then he saw Sepra walking towards him. He didn¡¯t want to talk to her right now, not without four hundred points, at least.


    ¡°Well, well, well. How¡¯d it go?¡± she grinned and looked down at Kaos¡¯s score, ¡°How in the world did you get 300 points?¡± she asked, quite surprised. ¡°I figured you would at least get a hundred, two hundred maybe, but three hundred is pretty dang good¡±


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    ¡°Still not what I was going for.¡± Kaos replied, a little less dejected than earlier.


    He looked at the words beneath her feet


    [+100 BONUS POINTS! TOTAL POINTS: 1000]


    ¡°You took out nine people?¡± Kaos said, looking at her, only half surprised.


    ¡°Nah, two of them had bounties of a hundred and fifty, and one had a bounty of two hundred, so I think I only took down like seven total. I got a hundred bonus points so I guess there were still somewhere between twenty-six and thirty-three people left when I got knocked out.¡± She looked at the sky thoughtfully, and then looked back at him as if she had given up on trying to recall whatever she was thinking of.


    ¡°So you got into the Dek class on the first day then!¡± Kaos said, trying to be excited for her, ¡°It¡¯s somewhere around one in fifty people that are able to do that on entry day, and nobody gets a thousand points in their first game!¡±


    Sepra was truly impressive, she had always had a powerful combat wish, but more than that, she seemed to have some kind of innate battle instinct, and incredible reflexes. It was no wonder that she was able to recklessly headhunt seven players, but for her to only get around thirtieth place, what kind of other first and second years were there that were monsters enough to take her down?


    ¡°So what now?¡± She asked Kaos, bringing him back to the line of thought that he was most trying to avoid.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s general magic for me then.¡± He replied, ¡°I guess I didn¡¯t come up with a backup plan in case I couldn¡¯t do this.¡±


    ¡°Why are you even acting like it''s over and you¡¯re never going to have the option to join the Dek class?¡± She responded with mild sarcasm, ¡°you said yourself that almost nobody gets in on the first try. You have to have 400 points to get into the Dek class in your first semester, but you only need six hundred points to get into the class your second semester. You got half the points you are going to need on the first day! You really think you aren¡¯t going to be able to get another three hundred during the entire semester?¡±


    Kaos didn¡¯t feel better about not getting into the Dek class with Sepra, but what she said was definitely true, and it gave him some hope. But then he thought back to his final encounter in the arena and his opponent¡¯s words rang in his mind.


    ¡°Yeah I may be able to scrape together enough points to get into the class,¡± he flicked his wrist, and a luminous golden halo, and shimmering wings appeared on Sepra as he continued to speak, ¡°but this wish is the only one I¡¯ve got and I might just be as good as I can get combat-wise.¡±


    Sepra looked at him and started to pick up on what he was talking about. She started to try and lighten the mood with some sarcasm but decided against it.


    She reached her hand out and touched the warm, feathered wings which stretched out from her back and said a bit more softly, ¡°Just do what you want, but don¡¯t ever constrain yourself to what you think you can do.¡±


    The voice in Kaos¡¯s head mentally snapped back, ¡°EASY FOR YOU TO SAY, MAYBE YOUR WISH MAKES THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE, BUT MINE DOESN¡¯T. WE CAN ONLY DO ONE THING SO GO. TRY! RUN! HIDE! FIGHT! ASDFNAPSEUFB¡­¡± The voice got nonsensical and garbled and just began yelling discontentedly at him.


    Kaos had become good at keeping his so-called ¡°intrusive thoughts¡± on the inside, so what seemed like a long time of anger and harsh words for him, only meant a few seconds of awkward silence for Sepra.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± he responded a bit quietly, ¡°I guess I just need to figure out what I want to do.¡±


    ¡°And then find a way to do it.¡± Sepra said quickly following his sentence.


    Aside from his mental freak-out, he felt a lot better. He still had options, and he could still get into the Dek class next semester, he just had to take some time to figure out what he really wanted to do.


    No, he didn¡¯t need time to figure it out. After just one taste of the action, he knew what he wanted to do.


    He wanted to fight in the arenas.


    He was GOING to fight in the arenas.

 The Meeting

    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 Dale¡¯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.


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    ¡°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 Dale¡¯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.¡± Dale¡¯Jun said, making Kaos¡¯s 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.

 Bang!

    Magic Engineering, that was the first class that Vasai and Kaos were taking. While it was a requirement for students of the Kin Class of Magic Engineering, all of the Sen students were able to take it as an optional course to count towards graduation.


    Magic Engineering sounded whimsical and fantastic to someone who hadn¡¯t experienced it, but the reality was it was incredibly tedious, and not a trade for those who were only half-invested in learning it.


    The reason why such an unforgiving class was offered to both Sen and Kin students right at the beginning, was twofold: First, to spark the love of magic engineering in students of the Sen class, and secondly, to weed out those who fantasized about money and grandiose creations of their own design, while never expecting to do much work or experience any danger.


    As Kaos and Vasai walked into the large classroom, the first thing they noticed was that the room resembled a workshop more so than a typical classroom. The second thing they noticed was that the class was full of students who were almost all in their first semester.


    Looking around the classroom, Kaos and Vasai found two empty seats at one of the work-bench-like tables, and sat down. Vasai immediately started chatting with the other student sitting at the table, and Kaos realized that Vasai had some sort of charm to him. After all, they picked all their classes together, and Kaos hadn¡¯t even known him for more than two days! He chuckled to himself thinking that Vasai¡¯s wish might be that he is a tolerable extrovert.


    The other boy at the table was even shorter than Vasai, and seemed to be far more timid than him too. The student turned a little farther to face Vasai, and Kaos noticed a single, small horn protruding from the left side of his head. Suddenly the student¡¯s height made a lot  more sense, he must have been an Imp.


    Kaos looked around the classroom, and noticed quite a few other students who were Imps. Kaos had seen Imps before, but most of the Imps that were still alive lived in underground cities of mechanical wonder. His fantasies about stone cities, covered in brass pipes, was interrupted by the teacher¡¯s arrival.


    The professor was a female Imp who wore a black leather apron, covered in metallic scales that looked like bronze.


    ¡°Aprons, goggles, and gloves everyone!¡± she said, sliding on a pair of black metallic gloves, ¡°It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t put it all on, but I forgot once, and I wouldn¡¯t advise it!¡± She held up her left hand, which was missing a pinky finger, and grinned widely before putting her four fingered glove back on.


    After everyone had their safety gear on, she continued.


    ¡°I¡¯m Min¡¯Kin, your professor of Intro to Magic Engineering. While I was not the one who re-discovered how the Spiderways function, I am responsible for much of their recent construction and expansion through Wirewood.¡±


    Kaos suddenly realized that he had a general idea of what magic engineering could do, but as far as practical applications went, he had no idea how it was even remotely done. He felt almost as ¡®in over his head¡¯ as he did in the arena.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to be doing things in groups of whoever is at your table¡± Min¡¯Kin continued, ¡°Today we¡¯re going to learn how to make mistakes that blow stuff up, so you will have a good idea of what not to do when we get to the more complicated stuff!¡±


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    The more the professor talked, the more Kaos realized that it was definitely true that imps were a rather chaotic people group. He really didn¡¯t mind the chaotic attitude though, as long as a professor cared enough about the subject, it wouldn¡¯t be a boring class.


    ¡°Rune carving is the foundation of magic engineering¡± Min¡¯Kin said, whipping a wand-like metal stick from her side and using it to scribble on a large stone behind her. ¡°This is a water repelling rune¡± she said, pointing to the lopsided circle, filled with loopy lines and circles which looked to be made without rhyme or reason.


    ¡°As many of you already know, this rune is really bad.¡± she said, picking up a metal bottle of water.


    Kaos watched in amazement as she dumped the water onto the large, wheel-like stone. In certain places, the water seemed to float as if an invisible field kept it at bay. In other places though, the water fell through the invisible field, and landed directly on the stone.


    ¡°As long as your rune works for what you are doing, it is fine, for example maybe I was fine with that amount of water getting through, it doesn¡¯t matter, there will always be small errors and minor improvements you can make. But what separates a good magic engineer from a great magic engineer is knowing when it¡¯s good enough.¡±


    She set the bottle of water down, and took out the magic rune-writing device again, scribbling another rune onto the stone.


    ¡°You can combine as many runes as you want if you have enough skill to do it.¡± She said, drawing a circle with many points on the outside, and connecting it in several places to the previous circle.


    She picked up another bottle of water and flung it from a distance this time. Flames jetted up from the stone and consumed the water that hit the field, still leaving some water to drip onto the stone through the invisible field.


    ¡°I said I could combine as many runes as I wanted if I had the skill, but these runes don¡¯t look very skillfully done, do they?¡± she asked, looking around the classroom. Kaos saw a few of the imp students shake their heads as if they had already seen their fair share of runes.


    ¡°If you know, don¡¯t spoil it for the other students, let''s see what happens if I put another one on. Actually, I¡¯ll use something smaller so I don¡¯t have to replace the stone again.¡±


    Some of the students who had shaken their heads at the previous question scooted their chairs back a little bit and began whispering to their neighbors.


    Kaos looked to his left, and noticed the student next to Vasai was grinning in anticipation, which seemed contrary to his initial timid interactions with Vasai.


    The professor eventually found a small piece of wood about the size of a book, and began scribbling on it at what seemed like an impossible speed to even move your hand. In a few seconds, she had drawn at least five of the haphazardly drawn circles.


    A high pitched whining sound began emitting from the piece of wood, but the professor kept going. For just another second or two, the professor drew circles, and then in one quick motion flung the piece of wood across the classroom and out a window on the side.


    An echoing ¡°BOOM!¡± shook the windows of the classroom, accompanied by a brief flash of green light.


    Almost all the students including Kaos and Vasai jumped out of their seats in surprise from both the sheer volume of the noise, and the suddenness of the entire demonstration.


    ¡°That¡¯s always a fun way to start the semester!¡± Min¡¯Kin laughed, motioning for the students to sit back down. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that too much, my magic is a lot stronger than yours, and there¡¯s no way that you would be able to carve that many failed runes that quickly, so the worst that you can probably do the first semester is getting a scar or two.¡±


    ¡°If I could weaponize this, maybe I could use it to get into the Dek class!¡± Kaos thought to himself. Although, he realized that if it were that easy, then other people would have done it by now. Either way, it gave him a ray of hope he hadn¡¯t expected to see this early in the semester.

 Your Weapon

    After the explosion at the beginning of class, they had learned about a few basic rune shapes, and had all been tasked to draw one of the runes for themselves.


    ¡°That was rough.¡± Kaos sighed, ¡°what was it? Two hours and I never got anything to work?¡±


    ¡°I got somethin working once,¡± Vasai shrugged, ¡°I don¡¯t know what I did to make it change colors, but at least it did something!¡±


    Vasai took a look at the students walking out of the classroom in different directions, ¡°I think the class is supposed to weed out the lazy kids from the Kin class so they don¡¯t waste anybody¡¯s time in the later classes, so it¡¯s bound to be a rough start.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± Kaos replied, ¡°The fact that a couple of the students actually got it half-working was the most demoralizing part though. If everybody got sucked it would be fine, but that kid next to us made a rock float for a few seconds.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah!¡± Vasai said his face lighting up as if he was meeting someone new, ¡°Mallyjax is from way down under, and he¡¯s evidently on a pretty sweet scholarship here for the Kin class, so I wouldn¡¯t compare yourself with him.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Kaos said thinking to himself, ¡°I forgot that Imps don¡¯t do the whole ¡®short name, then title¡¯ thing like we do, but then why did Yan¡¯Sen have such a normal name?¡±


    ¡°I mean, I guess she¡¯s from up here?¡± Vasai replied, with another shrug. ¡°Reminds me though, he gave me this paper that had all the dates for arena games you could participate in. There¡¯s gonna be two main ones you can get points from. The first one is halfway through the semester, and it¡¯s only for non-Dek students which makes it easier to get points, but the second one is at the very end and it is all the first years including the Dek class, which is going to make it harder to get points.¡±


    ¡°Can I see that for a second?¡± Kaos asked, taking the paper from Vasai. ¡°I¡¯m definitely going to want to hit both of those big ones, but it looks like there are quite a few practice games that I might need to go to.¡±


    ¡°Wonder why they don¡¯t have them in the arenas though?¡± Vasai questioned, not really expecting a response.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the school had no control over the arenas at all.¡± Kaos replied, ¡°I mean nobody really knows how they work after all, we just started finding them thousands of years ago, and I find it hard to believe that even Professors at Wondant could do magic like the arena did.¡±


    After walking down a few more hallways, they arrived at the combat class. It was a rather large empty room, with large hexagonal tiles making up the floor, and racks of various weapons lining the walls.


    Kaos recognized the professor as Dren¡¯Dek from his previous meeting with Dael¡¯Jun. Dren¡¯Dek wore the same large green coat, the main difference between his appearance now, and then, was his shirt underneath had been unbuttoned a bit, showing the edges of a few large scars.


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    At the time they spoke last, Dren¡¯Dek hadn¡¯t seemed like the battle-hardened type to Kaos, but now that he was in combat class, things seemed different somehow, like there was a different side of him now that he was teaching combat class.


    ¡°I am Dren¡¯Dek.¡± He said loudly, hushing the excited students, ¡°I know almost all of you are here to get into the Dek class. I also know that most of you won¡¯t.¡±


    After he said this, the hush fell to a complete silence. He took a large wooden battleax from the rack of weapons behind him and continued speaking, ¡°I don¡¯t care if you are a Dek student wannabe, or if you are actually in the Dek class. The only thing that matters for this class is if you can or can¡¯t learn to fight. Now get your weapons off the racks.¡±


    A few students walked over to the racks and picked up weapons, but most remained idle due to confusion over the phrasing. A more muscular student raised his hand, and the professor pointed at him.


    ¡°You have a question?¡±


    ¡°Yes Sir,¡± the student answered, ¡°What did you mean by ¡®getting our weapons¡¯, are they pre-assigned?¡±


    ¡°They are pre-assigned, but not by me or anyone else. Today is going to be about finding your weapon.¡± He gestured to the few students that had chosen their weapons already.


    ¡°As you can see from the few that have already picked theirs out, once you know a type of weapon is yours, you have gotten to the basics of combat. If you still don¡¯t understand what I am saying after trying each type of weapon in this room, then come see me and I¡¯ll pick one for you.¡±


    There were a few students that, eager to impress the instructor, immediately selected weapons they obviously knew nothing about, but most of the students picked up a random weapon and began swinging it at the test dummies.


    Vasai almost instantly put down every weapon he picked up until he found a very thin wooden sword that looked to be a sturdier version of a rapier. Kaos, on the other hand, spent a lot more time messing around with each weapon, but was never overly satisfied with a specific weapon to commit to it.


    ¡°I¡¯m sticking with this one.¡± Vasai said to Kaos, assuming an overly dramatic fencing stance and smirking, ¡°have you still not decided yet?¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t feel super confident about any of them, they all just feel fine I guess though.¡± he replied, going back to the rack where he started.


    Vasai looked towards the professor who was currently talking to a student in the same predicament as Kaos, ¡°I think you should just go talk to Dren¡¯Dek about it, just to make sure you don¡¯t get stuck with something sucky.¡±


    ¡°Probably better than going back over all the weapons again.¡± Kaos sighed, and then walked over to the professor who had just sent the previous student towards a rack of mid-sized swords.


    ¡°No luck?¡± Dren¡¯Dek asked, raising an eyebrow.


    ¡°Everything either felt a little cumbersome, or just way too small to do much damage.¡± Kaos replied.


    ¡°The small weapons will do enough damage if you wield them right.¡± Dren¡¯Dek responded, looking at all the racks. ¡°Is there a weapon that isn¡¯t here that you would have an interest in using?¡±


    Kaos thought for a moment, there were all the weapons he had seen, plus some he had no idea existed before today. He thought back to the arena, the spear was nice, but caused him to lose out on a lot of dexterity, and the short sword¡­ he never really would have gotten far with that anyway. The scimitar was a bit difficult to face, but he had tried a wooden version a moment ago, and it just felt wrong to hold.


    Then he remembered his final moments in the arena and spoke.


    ¡°What about a crossbow?¡±


    Dren¡¯Dek smiled a little bit and nodded, ¡°Crossbows are certainly an option, ranged weapons just require a lot more tactics than battle skills so we don¡¯t put them out here because a lot of students choose them, thinking they could win every fight without taking a hit. Pick a short sword to go with it for now, and I¡¯ll get you one later.¡±


    Kaos walked back to one of the racks and grabbed a small short sword before hearing Dren¡¯Dek¡¯s voice loudly call from the other side of the room.


    ¡°Everybody get in groups of four, we are going to have a few scrimmages.¡±

 The Duels

    The students began to separate into groups of four. Kaos and Vasai wound up with two larger students, the female being tall and muscular, while the male was of considerable weight, despite being of average height.


    While Kaos was sizing them up and trying to find weaknesses, Vasai began chatting away, and quickly broke through the gruff scowl on the muscular student¡¯s face.


    Looking at the heavier student, he realized that, while he looked rather unathletic, he was holding a large warhammer like it was a toy. Even though the hammer was made of wood, Kaos didn¡¯t want to think about what kind of pain it would inflict if he got hit by that straight on.


    ¡°Listen up!¡± Dren¡¯Dek yelled over the students who had begun talking quite loudly, ¡°In your groups, take turns dueling each other one at a time. You all know how duels work, so I won''t waste your time explaining it.


    Dren¡¯Dek counted the groups in the room, and began turning a wheel on the wall of the room. Some of the hexagons making up the floor began to slowly rise up, making small, fence-height circles which were going to obviously be used as small dueling rings.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care the order or who fights,¡± Dren¡¯Dek said loudly, fighting for the attention of the students, ¡°as long as everybody gets a few good duels in, I¡¯ll have a good idea of where you are physically and skill-wise. Now get to it!¡±


    Kaos and Vasai looked at each other.


    ¡°You first.¡± Vasai said, pointing at Kaos, who was both excited and a little worried.


    The muscular student nodded at the heavier one, and hopped in the ring. She was wielding a wooden halberd, and looked to be the strongest out of their group in both physique and confidence.


    ¡°And no using wishes if you can help it!¡± came Dren¡¯Dek¡¯s voice from across the room.


    Kaos gripped his short sword tightly in his right hand, and vaulted the small wall using his left. The ring had to be less than twenty feet in diameter, making it seem impossible to get out of range of the muscular student¡¯s halberd.


    The student stuck out her hand and smiled a bit, ¡°Nolly, from the Sen class.¡±


    Kaos gripped her hand and shook it, ¡°Kaos, also from the Sen class.¡±


    Nolly smiled a bit, realizing that all the students in their group were Sen students and all shared a common goal and skill level.


    This thought also took a bit of pressure off of Kaos, and he visibly relaxed a little.


    ¡°I want a clean fight,¡± Vasai shouted, leaning over the ring, imitating a boxing referee, ¡°the rules are as follows, hit hard and play dirty!¡±


    They both chuckled, and stanced up on opposite sides of the ring.


    ¡°3. 2. 1. Go!¡± Vasai shouted, waving his arm and jumping back away from the ring.


    Nolly made the first move, hopping forwards, and swinging the halberd in a massive arc. Kaos ducked in time, but the whoosh of the wooden halberd reminded him that this might hurt more than the arena did, and he would have to play things on the safer side.


    Kaos closed the distance, taking a few quick swings at Nolly, who blocked them using the middle of the halberd. After both had made a few more feints and quick jabs, Kaos made another rush to close the distance, this time only giving a few inches between them.


    He used one hand to latch onto Nolly¡¯s halberd while swinging heavily with his short sword in the other hand. He almost made contact with it, but Nolly loosed one hand from the halberd and caught his other arm, locking them face to face.


    Kaos realized he had made a bad decision as Nolly¡¯s knee met his stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and causing him to drop his short sword.


    ¡°I¡¯m calling this one¡± Vasai shouted, swinging his arm downward towards Nolly, ¡°Nolly gets the victory!¡±


    She extended her hand and helped Kaos up, ¡°weapon advantage¡± she said, smiling a bit.


    ¡°Weapon nothing¡± Kaos responded, still catching his breath, ¡°I¡¯m just thankful you went for the stomach and not the balls with that knee¡±


    Both chuckled a bit, and hopped out of the ring. Despite not having any hard feelings towards Nolly over the fight, he still didn¡¯t feel great about losing his first fair scrimmage. He clearly had a long way to go.


    Vasai hopped over the wall dexterously, and took his side of the arena, brandishing his rapier-like miniature lance.


    ¡°I have no idea what that thing is.¡± Nolly whispered, leaning over towards Kaos, ¡°has he ever fought before?¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know?¡± Kaos replied, realizing that he hadn¡¯t actually known Vasai for long at all. ¡°I also haven¡¯t seen the weapon before.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because it¡¯s a custom job by one of the faculty members.¡± came Dren¡¯Dek¡¯s voice from behind them. The group ceased their activity and turned their attention towards Dren¡¯Dek as he continued speaking, ¡°It¡¯s called a Needle and was meant to be used as a quick, short-ranged piercing weapon, but the faculty member never really used it. Did you know what it was when you got it?¡± the instructor asked, raising an eyebrow towards Vasai.


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    ¡°It looks kind of familiar,¡± he replied thoughtfully, ¡°but I mostly chose it because I just liked the weight and shape¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone has used it before in this class so I¡¯m not sure where the real version is, but if you prove proficient with it, I¡¯ll go through storage and see if I can find it for the future scrimmages.¡±


    Vasai nodded, and the heavy student resumed his attempt to get over the short wall. Looking back to Kaos and Nolly, Dren¡¯Dek began to speak again, ¡°So, Kaos, when you are up against a longer ranged weapon, you are usually going to be at a disadvantage and should try to use the crossbow. Given the lack of a crossbow, you did almost everything you could correctly. Your main mistake was getting too close to your opponent, you judged her by her weapon, and forgot about the fact that she has a physical advantage. Your arms and legs are weapons too after all.¡±


    Kaos nodded, and realized that his mistake was pretty foolish to discount the physique of his opponent and treat the battle as if he were solely fighting a halberd.


    Turning to Nolly, the instructor continued, ¡°You are going to want to either be making space or taking space between you and your opponent. You fought well, but be sure to think more about tactics in the future.¡±


    Nolly nodded again, and the professor turned to face the ring where Vasai and the other student stood ready.


    ¡°Begin!¡± he said, swinging his hand down, and walking away to a different ring that had just finished.


    There were a few moments after the round started that both parties stayed still, waiting for the other to make a move first. Perhaps being a little put-off by how casually Vasai was acting in the ring, the heavy student swung a powerfully wild swing at his opponent, accompanied by a loud grunt.


    This student was serious, and if Vasai got hit by one of those swings, there was a chance it could be really dangerous. Kaos looked at Nolly, who seemed even more worried than he did, and quietly asked, ¡°Should we get Dren¡¯Dek?¡±


    ¡°Maybe a good idea.¡± she responded, dashing over a few rings to the instructor, and pointing back towards the heated swings of the heavy student.


    By the time Dren¡¯Dek had walked over, the heavy student had somehow turned up the intensity and speed of his swings, although Vasai had managed to dodge all of them with catlike reflexes.


    ¡°Are you going to stop them?¡± Kaos asked, looking at Dren¡¯Dek, a little worried.


    ¡°You can heal him if something goes wrong, right?¡± Dren¡¯Dek replied, looking back at Kaos.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess, but this just seems¡­ a bit much.¡± Kaos said, a little less worried than earlier.


    After one particularly large swing from the hammer, Vasai made his move, closing the gap between them, and leaping over another hammer swing that was aimed for his legs. He came down feet first on the torso of his opponent, toppling him over, and landing, standing on top of him, with the needle pressed up against his upper chest.


    Neither Nolly or Kaos expected to see a move like that from Vasai, even after his display of incredible reflexes. Vasai hopped off of his opponent¡¯s stomach, and plopped down to a sitting position on the wall, breathing heavily.


    ¡°Dang, Bon! You really gave me a run for my money!¡± Vasai said between heavy breaths, ¡°If I had any heavier of a weapon, I would¡¯ve been screwed!¡±


    Kaos knew that this was obviously an attempt to make Bon feel better about his loss, in fact, this was probably one of the worst weapon matchups Vasai could have had, but he had won it anyway.


    Bon, however, did not appreciate this attempt, swinging his hammer wildly as he got up, catching Vasai off guard, and knocking him backwards outside of the ring, and sprawling onto the ground.


    ¡°It¡¯s not over until the ref calls the match as over!¡± Bon shouted, his face red. He whipped around and his red face quickly turned white as he saw Dren¡¯Dek standing beside Kaos and Nolly.


    ¡°The element of surprise is part of battle right?¡± Bon said, trying to salvage the situation.


    ¡°So is losing.¡± Dren¡¯Dek replied coldly, ¡°and you evidently haven¡¯t even learned that¡­ but you had better learn it quickly.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir¡± Bon said quietly, beads of sweat rolling down his downturned face.


    Dren¡¯Dek turned towards Vasai who had gotten back up, but was still trying to steady himself.


    ¡°Kaos.¡± Dren¡¯Dek said, gesturing for Kaos to use his wish on Vasai.


    ¡°Hold up!¡± came Vasai¡¯s voice, ¡°I¡¯m good! I got it!¡±


    ¡°You sure?¡± Kaos asked skeptically.


    ¡°Yeah man!¡± Vasai replied, turning his head upwards and breathing a long deep breath, ¡°He didn¡¯t really hit me as hard as he could¡¯ve, it was the fall that knocked the wind out of me¡±


    Despite the impact and the fall, Vasai didn¡¯t seem to be dangerously hurt at first glance.


    Dren¡¯Dek narrowed his eyes a bit at Vasai and then Bon.


    ¡°Very well.¡± Dren¡¯Dek said, nodding to Vasai, and then walking back to the ring he had previously been observing.


    ¡°Good game!¡± Vasai said, trying to ease the tension between everyone, extending his hand over the ring towards Bon, who gripped his hand tightly.


    ¡°Sure¡­¡± Bon responded a little resentfully under his breath.


    Vasai walked back over to Kaos and slapped him on the shoulder, seemingly unphased by what had just happened.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna sit this next one out," he laughed, and motioned for Kaos to hop back in the ring.


    The rest of the class went by fairly normally, with Kaos getting occasional wins against Bon and Nolly. Bon seemed angrier and a little embarrassed the next few fights, but he didn¡¯t swing as if he was trying to kill somebody anymore.


    Vasai had clearly been hit harder than he was letting on and sat out the remaining matches.


    Why Vasai had covered for this idiot was something Kaos couldn¡¯t figure out. Maybe he was some kind of saint, or maybe he just hated to see conflict. Either way, Kaos took note of Vasai¡¯s odd lack of vengefulness, and decided to ask him why he let Bon off the hook when they weren¡¯t around him anymore.

 All Friends

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Kaos sighed, ¡°Lets just say that combat was my favorite out of all those classes today.¡±


    ¡°Hah!¡± Vasai laughed back, ¡°You didn¡¯t get hit by a hammer as hard as I did, then! I actually enjoyed the other classes a fair amount. General Magic was pretty cool, and Magic in Industries was a bit businessy for me, but still some good information!¡±


    ¡°You forgot about the first one though.¡± Kaos said, smirking back.


    ¡°So what if Magic Engineering is a bit rough now?¡± Vasai replied, smiling, ¡°Mallyjax even said that he¡¯s got a whole workshop of stuff in his room, and he can help us study after dinner whenever we want!¡±


    Vasai seemed a bit too optimistic about Magic Engineering, but after what Kaos saw from him in combat class, he was fairly sure that Vasai would be able to figure it out pretty quickly if he tried.


    ¡°It¡¯s like we really are in different worlds here.¡± Kaos mumbled to himself.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Vasai questioned, turning his head back to looking at Kaos.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Kaos responded, ¡°I guess I just expected to see Sepra at some point during the day.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s hopefully what we¡¯re about to do if we can find her at dinner.¡± Vasai replied, picking up the pace just barely.


    Vasai and Kaos didn¡¯t have much trouble finding the ¡®feasting hall¡¯ as they called it, which was really just a massive food court full of various types of food from all over the world.


    ¡°And there¡¯s our friendly skeleton!¡± Vasai exclaimed, pointing towards a table close to the opposite entrance.


    ¡°Wow!¡± Kaos shot back, ¡°Good eye there, I would¡¯ve had to wander all over the place to find her!¡±


    As they got closer to the table, Sepra spotted them and began to wave. They said hi, and then grabbed some food before returning to the table. As they were sitting down, they noticed Kyris walking over.


    ¡°Hey guys! So how was the first day of classes?¡± He asked, landing in the seat next to Sepra.


    ¡°Combat was fun, Engineering was rough, and the other two were alright.¡± Kaos replied, sitting down on the opposite side of the large, rectangular table.


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    ¡°I still think engineering is going to get easier¡­¡± Vasai retorted, pausing, standing back up and waving towards the entrance closest to them. ¡°Hey Mallyjax! Over here!¡±


    The metal-horned imp walked over to the table and waved a little meekly to the unfamiliar faces at the table.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t have plans to eat with anybody else, you should hang with us!¡± Vasai said with his typical enthusiasm.


    ¡°Uhh, yeah! I¡¯ll do that!¡± Mallyjax replied, his mildly panic-stricken face turning into a small smile.


    ¡°How was the Dek class?¡± Kaos asked, looking at Sepra a little excitedly.


    ¡°It was pretty awesome!¡± She replied grinning, seeming to realize that she was currently living a dream come true.


    ¡°First class was Combat, it¡¯s pretty much the same one you¡¯re doing, the only difference is my section of the class meets during your engineering class.¡± She looked at Kyris with an eyebrow raised, ¡°He ended up being pretty strong, and I only beat him in a couple of the duels.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m a semester ahead,¡± Kyris replied, smirking back, ¡°and I¡¯m easily one of the best first years. The fact that you were able to beat me even twice out of twelve was honestly surprising.¡±


    Mallyjax returned with various types of unfamiliar looking food, prompting Kyris to speak up.


    ¡°Can¡¯t say I recognize that food, is that something from down under?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Mallyjax said a little quietly, looking down at his tray quizzically. ¡°I actually have no idea what this food is either, it just looked weird, so I wanted to see what it tasted like¡­¡±


    ¡°A braver man than the rest of us!¡± Kyris laughed, doing a mock salute towards the now sitting Mallyjax.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna sit here too if that¡¯s alright?¡± Nolly said from behind Kaos, carrying a tray of mostly meat and bread.


    ¡°So who all knew each other before coming here?¡± Kyris asked the group, waving his pointing hands between all the friends.


    ¡°I only knew Kaos before today, and I still don¡¯t think I know most of you.¡±


    Vasai took this as his cue to go around the table, introducing each member to the group. Once he got back around to Sepra, he squinted a little bit, and asked, ¡°so how did you and Kaos meet, and what made yall wanna come here?¡±


    ¡°If I remember correctly,¡± Sepra said, grinning and tossing her head back towards the ceiling, ¡°Kaos was the only one who was able to beat the crap out of me back in introductory school.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­¡± Kyris interjected, ¡°There¡¯s no shot that¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°Well she is leaving out quite a few things.¡± Kaos responded.


    ¡°Good try getting out of this, Kaos!¡± Vasai said, lightly elbowing him, ¡°I¡¯m interested now!¡±


    Sepra grinned and leaned forwards on the table.


    ¡°Story time it is then!¡± She said, with a mischievous grin.

 Back in the day Part 1

    It was seven years ago that Kaos came to Sepra¡¯s introductory school. This particular introductory school, similar to all the others, had a massive amount of fights that helped determine the hierarchy of students.


    Kaos was ten at the time, and was beginning the switch from Quarter-School, for younger children, to Introductory School, which was an umbrella term for all the years from ten to sixteen. He would have enrolled at the same time as Sepra, but his paperwork got lost for a while and he ended up coming in a quarter of the year late.


    Young Kaos was no stranger to occasional children¡¯s fights, but the difference between Quarter-School and Introductory School was that in Introductory School, it was an unspoken rule that teachers let students settle disagreements.


    This may sound irresponsible or cruel, and it may be, but that was how the world worked outside of school, so why not inside of it. The strongest make the rules, and the weak obey, that was the way of life.


    It had been the first day of classes for him, and Kaos walked outside to see a group of ten or fifteen other kids watching two of their peers fight.


    Fight was a strong word though, and the duel was mainly just one student pounding the other one.


    Sometimes these fights would break out over disagreements, and sometimes they were just to re-evaluate the food chain of students. There were forty-four kids in Kaos¡¯s class including him. This class was mostly made up of ten and eleven year olds, although there were older kids at the school, the classes were segmented by buildings, so they rarely saw them.


    Kaos reached out his hand towards the student who had just received what looked like the final blow of the fight. In an instant, the majestic wings and halo of Kaos¡¯s wish flashed onto him, quickly healing his wounds, and causing the fight and onlookers to all pause in confusion.


    The onlookers quickly connected the dots, seeing the same golden light of the halo also emanating from Kaos¡¯s eyes. The weak student looked at Kaos, and he nodded assuringly.


    The student nodded back and rushed directly at his opponent, instinctively using the wings to leave the ground and tackle his opponent to the ground. His opponent¡¯s arm turned metallic, and knocked the winged student off of him with a wild punch.


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    The student was only disoriented from the pain for a moment, before the halo did its work and he was once again advancing against his opponent, pushing him back, and knocking him to the ground with a flying haymaker to the jaw.


    Kaos stayed out of trouble himself, but always lent a helping hand to the weaker students when he came across one of the fights.


    This benevolence wasn¡¯t a kind hearted gesture though. Kaos was weak without others, but all he needed to be strong was others who were weak without him.


    Then it happened.


    Kaos was leaving the classroom, and an eleven year old boy yelled from behind him, ¡°Hey cheater! Let¡¯s go for a round with just the two of  us!¡±


    The point of interfering with these fights, no matter how lopsided, had all been to prepare for a moment like this, and as long as there were people that supported him in the vicinity, he would win.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Kaos replied blankly, as if he was completely unphased by the challenge.


    ¡°Outside, now!¡± his aggressor replied.


    The boy was in no way small, and Kaos had seen him fight before, so he knew he wouldn¡¯t win on his own. He just needed one person. ¡°Plese!¡± he thought, ¡°Let there be just one person I can use!¡±


    A small crowd of five people had formed, Kaos glanced over them to see if he had anyone present who owed him.


    ¡°No, no, no, no, no!¡± he said under his breath, counting out the unfamiliar faces.


    ¡°Are you ready or what?¡± the kid yelled at Kaos who was clearly focused on other things.


    ¡°Small crowd is all¡± Kaos said, sarcastically, hiding his fear.


    ¡°Are you actually going to win this?¡± came a voice from behind him.


    Recognizing the voice as Karn, a student who he had helped just the other day, he relaxed a little bit before turning around to face his ally.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Kaos replied with a smirk and a flick of his wrist, ¡°You are. Better together I say!¡±


    The student smiled back and nodded before using Kaos¡¯s newly bestowed wings to launch himself at the enemy head on. Karn got hit by a few punches and kicks initially, but it didn¡¯t matter in the long run of the fight.


    With Kaos¡¯s halo on him, there was no way that Karn could lose.


    After the other student had admitted defeat, a few of the onlooking students came over to congratulate Kaos. This was the beginning of how he would protect himself. The weak would become the strong, and in return they would gladly be his shields.


    Kaos¡¯s strategy to become king of the class without raising a finger was flawed though, there was already an emperor of the class, and she wasn¡¯t going to be as easy to deal with.