Chapter 20 – Unexpected Encounters

Titus sat in front of Miss Kane with Petra to his left and Jordan to his right. The fights had all concluded, and the day's events had been rounded off with a celebratory feast. However, before the three could escape and head back to their dorm room for a well-deserved night’s rest, they'd been led away by the Grandmaster into her office for the second time since they’d been Contestants. Titus in particular,

wanted to head off to bed; the day having worn on him.

"Congratulations are in order," Miss Kane said. "A Defender, a Rogue, and… you didn't get a Class?" Miss Kane said to Titus with an eyebrow raised.

"No ma'am," Titus said. Technically it was the truth; he already had his Capacitor Class before the fight had even begun.

"I saw that you had some difficulties when Mr Valeri issued his challenges on behalf of his son Henderson, and I wanted to explain to the three of you what happened so that you don't get the wrong idea of me."

"It's not…" Petra started, but Titus interrupted her.

"I don't get why you didn't put a stop to it. Petra almost got killed out there, and it could've been stopped before there was even any risk."

Petra opened and closed her mouth a couple of times like she was going to object before realising that Titus had been right on the money.

Jordan looked like he simply didn't want to be there.

"You are correct," Miss Kane said. "What happened was reckless and dangerous, and it will never happen again. Now, do you recall why the arena fights are arranged such as they are? Why I said that nobody can intervene to save the lives of the Contestants?"

Titus nodded. "Because there has to be appropriate risk for appropriate reward," he recounted. "You said that if there's no chance of a Contestant dying in the arena fight, then they won't get rewarded."

Miss Kane smiled at her own words repeated back to her.

"Very good, I'm glad you were listening," she said. "But that is not the full extent of The God of Balance's gaze upon our actions."

This time Titus had no response, and after a second of silence, the Grandmaster continued.

"There was a challenge issued, rules stipulated. Albeit not by the Contestants themselves… but still, a gauntlet had been thrown. Yes, I could have intervened, discarded the challenge on behalf of Petra here. We might've watched a training fight with no consequence and gone about our days as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened."

Titus shook his head. "But you didn't."

"I didn't," Miss Kane affirmed. "But let's say that's what I did choose to do in that moment. Then after the fight, Petra here wasn't awarded her Class? Or perhaps The God of Balance saw fit to only award her half the experience points in all of her following fights, as punishment for taking the easy way out? How would that make you feel?" She directed her question to Petra.

"W… what?" Petra stammered. "That can happen?"

"It can and has," Miss Kane said. "And worse. The point is that over the years, decades, and centuries, the Arena has been a part of our civilisation, we've learned to live by the rules of The God of Balance. Where he doesn’t actively speak to us for the most part, we learn through consequences. This is why we do not interfere, reject challenges, or try to take shortcuts. Sometimes The God of Balance is lenient and will dock experience from a single battle. We see this as a warning. But sometimes, The God of Balance could be so terribly slighted that he decides to half the experience gained by every Contestant in the Arena for the next decade. There is no way to know, so as you can appreciate, we prefer to err on the side of caution."

"WHAT?" Titus exclaimed. "If you turn down a fight, then this thing, this being could just make your life harder, forever?"

"Yes," Miss Kane said simply. "And not just your own life. The life of every single Awakened individual in existence. This is the cost we must all bear, and the responsibility we must all appreciate."

"I… I don't understand…" Petra said slowly. "So some Awakened, hundreds of miles away could make a decision not to fight… and it could change my life for the worse? How is that right?"

"Technically that could happen," Miss Kane said. "But usually the remunerations are more localised and dependent on the position and standing of the individual in question. For example, as Grandmaster, if I were to purposely make a fight easier for a Contestant under my care then The God of Balance could see it fit to punish all other Contestants I have an influence on. But conversely, if a White-Ranked Contestant chooses to turn down a fight when offered to them, The God of Balance may just choose to punish that particular individual. These are of course hypotheticals, and there are no hard or fixed rules but you get the idea, and perhaps understand why I prefer to err on the side of caution."

Titus thought about what Miss Kane was saying and eventually nodded.

"I get it… so you had to let Petra fight as it was offered because if you made the challenge easier or less life-threatening, then it could've damaged all our futures."

The Grandmaster smiled and nodded. "Exactly - plus you know Mr Valeri is on the City Council so best not to ruffle his feathers too much. And as it happened, it all worked out for the best. Everyone got their Classes save for you, Titus, as well as Arthur. But I doubt that's because of any wrongdoing. Now, have I satisfied any questions you may have about today?"

The three all nodded, each of them now having a far better understanding of how things worked and why things were done.

"Great! You may leave and head on back to your dorm," Miss Kane announced, slapping her thighs.

Titus, Petra, and Jordan all stood and made for the door when Miss Kane suddenly spoke again.

"There is one more thing," she said. "You will be given one more week of generalised combat training. After this week has been completed, those who have gained their Class will be given their Blue armband and be expected to fight in the arena. Those who have not been Classed will not be given their Blue armband, and their training will lag behind the rest. Following your generalised training will be specialised training that is dictated by your Class."

She waited for a moment so the three Contestants could let what she said sink in.

"Do you understand me?" She asked. "I am giving you one week, Titus, to tell me that you have gained your Class. I do not expect to be disappointed."

She stared at Titus pointedly before dismissing them again.

The words she'd chosen seemed very specific to him, though; she'd said he had a week to 'tell her he'd gained his Class' and not a week to 'gain his Class'. He could only assume she knew a lot more about him than she was letting on. And he had a week to come clean. Maybe the Grandmaster Profession came along with some skills that nobody knew about, and he’d just witnessed one.

"She knows," Petra said the minute they were away from the Grandmaster's closed door.

"What?" Jordan asked. "Really?"

"Seriously Jordan? You're as dense as that door," Petra said. "Miss Kane knows you've got your Class. Titus, but she wants you to come clean about it for yourself. I don't know why, but we've got a decision to make: do we tell her, or do you sit at White rank forever?"

"It's not really a choice is it?" Titus asked. "I've got to tell her, but the question is: do I tell her what the Class is, and when I got it? What if it's something I'm not supposed to have, and it puts everyone at risk? You heard what she said about The God of Balance, what if she has to… I don't know… what if she has to put me up against the strongest monsters or make me fight alone? I don't know if I'll ever be ready for that."

"I'll never let you fight alone," Jordan said.

"It might not be up to us, and that's the point," Titus said. "An unknown thing's never good, is it?"

Neither Petra nor Jordan replied, both unable to come up with a good argument to the contrary.

"All we do know," Petra said after a moment, "is that it looks like what Miss Kane doesn't know, she doesn't have to get involved in. And we've got a week to figure out what to do about all this."

The three friends then made their way along the torchlit hallways and eventually found themselves back at their dorm, where they each turned to their beds after another long and exhausting day. Knowing they had another week of combat training made all of them feel tired, but Titus was still worried about how he was going to deal with his unexpected Class. Things had got even worse when everyone else seemed to have been given a more standard Class, not least of all Petra and Jordan.

"I mean, Warriors and Rogues are easy," Jordan announced after they'd all finally got into their beds like he was continuing an ongoing conversation. "Warriors become better fighters over time and get skilled with certain types of weapons. Rogues specialise in speed and short blades - some go on to specialise in poisons or stealth… but a Capacitor? I don't even know where to start. What does your Skill do again?"

Titus reeled off the description of his Sacrifice Skill, after which followed a moment of silence.

Then he remembered the wooden ring that was in his trouser pocket.

"I forgot!" He announced, leaping from his bed to retrieve the ring. He fumbled around in his discarded clothes for a minute before producing the small article.

He tossed it to Petra, who stared at it in confusion before realising what it was.

"This… this is incredible, isn't it?" She breathed.

"Woah!" Jordan exclaimed. "You've got a piece of enhanced equipment? Where'd you get it?"

"I don't know," Titus said honestly. "When I came out of the hospital earlier, it was in my pocket. You think someone left it there by accident?"

"That's not the kind of thing someone would misplace," Jordan said. "Equipment like that is something I've only ever heard mentioned in passing, but people are usually quiet about what they actually do - just saying they make them stronger or faster. I had no idea it would actually have a number attached to it."

"You think I should hand it in?" Titus asked. "I mean, I'm already keeping enough secrets as it is, right?"

Petra bit her lip.

"I don't know, Titus…" she said. "If somebody put it there for a reason, then maybe you should hold on to it… maybe the only way it could get to you was by 'accident'," she air-quoted the word. "Maybe you should keep hold of it, keep it close just in case you ever need it."

Titus frowned. He didn't like the idea of having to keep another secret on top of his Skill and his Class, but short of handing the ring to Miss Kane, he had no idea what he could do.

"Wait," Titus said as something Jordan had said sank in. "This is a thing? We can augment our stats with equipment? How do we get it?"

"Yes, obviously we can do that!" Jordan said. "But I guess if we can get hold of it, it's going to be expensive. I bet Henderson's dad buys him everything he'll ever need to make his life easier."

"Nah," Petra said. "You saw what his father did back there when he had to fight me - he wants Henderson to have to fight harder if anything. And from what Miss Kane said, if he just bought his way to winning fights, he's not going to get very far."

"Well, at least that's something," Titus said. "It's kind of nice to think someone out there's willing to level the playing field, even if we don't really know how or why. Do you think that..."

"Stop," Petra said, interrupting Titus and holding up a hand. "Did you hear that?"

The room fell silent, and for a moment, there wasn't a single sound to be heard.

And then there was.

It was quiet, but there was a definite shuffling sound from outside the door, and then a single footstep, as though someone was trying to stop walking as quietly as possible but hadn't quite managed it.

Petra was the first to slip out of her bed and move towards the door. She silently picked up a chair as she passed it by, and both Titus and Jordan followed suit. They stood on the inside of the door with their chairs raised and ready, staring at each other as if to silently convey their intentions.

Jordan put his hand on the wooden handle, nodded, and pulled the door wide open in a flurry of noise and motion.

Titus almost dropped his chair when he found he was standing face to face with Darius, the large Purple-ranked Contestant at first surprised, then grinning ear to ear when he saw the three smaller individuals all holding chairs up.

"I don't think they're going to be much good against me," Darius said. "But I'm willing to let you have the first hit if you'd like to give it a try."

Petra raised her chair an inch like she was going to take him up on the offer, but Jordan spoke before she could swing.

"Of course not... sir!" he said. "We didn't know it was you... and we heard a noise... and... well, here we are." He still spoke to Darius like an infatuated schoolgirl, but the large Warrior didn't seem to mind. Or perhaps he was used to it.

"It's nothing to worry about," Darius said. "Miss Kane has asked me to walk the halls a few times just in case anything odd's happening. You know, after last night?"

The three all placed their chairs quickly on the ground while Darius spoke.

"I didn't want to alarm anyone or wake anyone else up, but it seems remaining quiet isn't really my strong suit." He looked down at his hulking frame and shrugged. "Perhaps she should've asked a Rogue."

"Have you seen anything?" Titus asked. "Anything odd, I mean."

"Only thee White-Rankers threatening a large Warrior with wooden chairs, but I don't think it's a cause for concern," Darius shrugged. "So if you'll excuse my intrusion, I'll be on my way."

"It was good to see you," Jordan called after Darius who'd already turned and started walking away.

Petra tsked. "If you start telling us that he spoke to you or looked at you like you're some kind of love-struck schoolgirl... I'm going to kill you."

"Get in line," Titus said. "And I don't want to hear how dreamy he is either."

"Shut up!" Jordan objected, embarrassed. "It's not like that... he's just a really skilled Contestant... that's all."

"Whatever," Petra said, rolling her eyes. "But I must admit, I feel a little safer knowing he's wandering around out there."

At least that was something they could all agree on. Titus did indeed feel much safer with Darius patrolling the hallways. Perhaps then no more monsters would attack them during the night.

But nothing was ever guaranteed, was it?