Lord Tharn Zon

Chapter 6 – The bet - part 1

While Istar turned pale, Tharn looked up and asked the angry-looking girl, “Rihat, is that it? Do you even know how many Levels an Old Elemental gives to a Mage that has the Novice Rank?”

“Of course! Everyone knows they only give five Levels!”

“No, that is an Elemental to an Apprentice Rank. An Old Elemental gives the double Levels an Elemental does, but it also has to do with the Mage’s Rank. You got two Levels from that Elemental you defeated because you are an Adept Rank. An Elemental gives 10 Levels to a Novice like my Master was at the beginning of the test. You need to study more instead of relying on the Teachers to help you gain Levels left and right. If one day you face a Necromancer with that lack of knowledge, you will be dead in two seconds.”

Rihat made a slight frown, wondering if he was right or not, until one of her friends said, “I think he is right, Rihat… Old Elementals are stronger than Elementals, so it’s understandable that they would give more Levels.”

“He is not right! And why are you even questioning me? Don’t you know your place anymore?”

The girl looked down, embarrassed, and Tharn made a slight grin. “Kid, you really have no idea how far apart we are in Magic knowledge… Your ego is too big to do you any good because you think you are amazing and you don’t need to study or put some effort into your Magic. My Master, on the other hand, is a hard worker, and if she focuses, she will probably be an Adept tomorrow.”

“Now I see you are completely dumb! There is no way that Istar the Useless will ever be an Adept!”

“Do you want to bet? I just made her an Apprentice in seconds. What do you think I will be able to do in one afternoon and one night? By this time tomorrow, she will definitely be an Adept and a very powerful one.”

Rihat grinned, took a small purse from one pocket of her trousers, and from there, she took a yellow shining coin that she put over the table and said, “I will take that bet. One gold coin.”

Tharn grabbed a leather purse from one of his several pockets, and from there, he took one ring with a light green precious stone on it and put it over the table, saying, “I am not really sure, but I think my ring costs way more than one gold coin.”

Rihat grabbed the ring and looked at it in the light that was coming from a nearby window.

She then poked it with her fingernail and stuttered, “This… is an emerald? Is this for real? This stone is huge!”

“Yes, I think that is the name of that precious stone, but I am not sure if it’s not too big for a mere ring. It would probably look better in a necklace, but what I am sure of is that it is far more valuable than your gold coin. I guess you don’t have enough money to cover your bet.”

Tharn opened his palm, waiting for Rihat to return the ring, and she held it against her chest and said, “I… I have enough money for this, but not here! I have in my parents’ home!”

“I don’t care if you have a safe stash under your bed in your house. If it’s not here on this table, it doesn’t count. If you don’t have enough money to cover the bet, I want my ring back, if you please.”

Rihat emptied the contents of her purse over the table, and she then looked at her friends and ordered, “Quick, put all your money here! She will never become an Adept until tomorrow, so it’s an easy win! I will give back your money plus an extra after I get this ring!”

As the girls were putting the money over the table, Tharn was making piles with the coins, separating the gold coins from the silver and copper coins.

He then smiled at the dumbfounded Istar and asked, “Do you think this will be enough to cover my ring? I am almost certain that my ring is worth three times this amount, but I am feeling kind today, so I am willing to accept this bet. What do you say?”

“I… don’t know… I have never seen so much money in one place... You said I would be-“

Tharn interrupted her, “Forget I asked. I guess we have a bet, Rihat. Be a dear and put all these coins in your purse. I already counted the coins, so it’s no use trying to fool me tomorrow. Now go eat, and it would probably be better if you sent a message to your parents, because tomorrow you will lose all this money.”

“As if! She could never control her Magic, and you want to make her an Adept? That ring is as good as mine! Let’s go girls! It is better if we stay as far away as we can from these fools, or we might get as dumb as they are!”

When they left, Tharn took his ring and put it inside his purse again as he said, “Eat up. You will need your strength. When do your classes in the afternoon end? We have way too many things to do.”

“It will be three hours of classes… by the middle of the afternoon, it finishes. Are you sure of this? I mean, I have a lot of trouble controlling my Magic.”

“I don’t think you have trouble. I think your problem is that you lack confidence and are afraid of causing some weird accident. If we are all alone in a room, you don’t need to worry about hurting anyone around us, because it will be only me and you.”

“But I can hurt you, or me, if I make a blunder!”

Tharn answered while looking at the nervous girl, “You won’t be able to hurt me, but if you don’t focus and you fail your Spells, it will be far more difficult, for sure. But if you follow my instructions like you did during the test, you will be alright. For now, while you eat, I want you to focus on your breathing and the taste of the food. You don’t need to think or worry about anything else, except your breathing and the food.”

“What… what will that do? I will gain more Magic to use?”

“No, you will get used to clearing your mind and concentrating on different tasks. First, breathing, then tasting food. During classes, don’t think about anything, except hearing the Teacher and writing some notes. I want to know what classes there are, besides those absurd practical classes, because I really need to find out more about this World.”

Istar gulped and asked, “How do you know I am now an Apprentice? You didn’t let me go with the Teacher to find out.”

“You just need to trust me on this. Even if you went with that weird Teacher, and he didn’t try to eliminate you, he would probably lie about your Rank and your Level. But I don’t know one thing. What would he use to check your Rank? Some kind of device?”

“It is a Sphere. It changes colour according to the Rank, and stars appear inside that show the number of the level for that Rank. Each type of School has a different type of Sphere, and this School has a blue Summoning Sphere.”

“Interesting. What are the colours of the Ranks?”

Istar counted with her fingers as she was saying, “White for Novice, yellow for Apprentice, blue for Adept, green for Expert, and red for Master.”

“If this is a Summoning School, and it has an blue Sphere, what about the other Schools?”

“Yellow for Transmutation, red for Evocation, orange for Abjuration, and purple for Enchanting. There is also the other minor School, Divination, that has a green Sphere. Our textbook also says that Necromancers probably use a grey Sphere to check their Level, but it is just speculation.”

Tharn munched a piece of meat and asked, “Is there a book in the Library with that? Together with the location of those Schools, the average number of students, how many Masters graduate each year, those sorts of things?”

“I think all that is in the statistics of each School. There is a book about that. I know, because I had to study it for a test some weeks ago.”

“That should be enough. After we finish eating, take me to the Library and show me that book, one about the History of this World, one about society, one with the technology and prices of things, and your School’s textbook. I want to check what they teach in this School because the Teachers here don’t seem to be doing a good job.”

Istar leaned forward and spoke in a low voice, “Don’t say that aloud! This School is the best in the country for Summoning Magic! Why do you think my family had to save so much for me to enter? But you want to read all those books for what? To help me reach the Adept Rank? Because I am not that sure I will manage to get it until tomorrow!”

“You gained 15 Levels with me. Why do you doubt you will get a few more? I have a plan, but I also need your help. Not only doing the exercises I told you to do, and you are not doing them, but also helping me level up. I also need to get to Master Rank as fast as I can for my mission. The one you don’t want me to talk about, remember?”

Istar slowly nodded, and she tried to do as he told her. Focus on her breathing and tasting food. Nothing else mattered, not even the memory of a Dark Necromancer that wanted to kill her World and everyone living in it. She stopped thinking about all that and concentrated on the taste of the food in her mouth and how she breathed while munching.

Without her noticing, she stopped trembling from nervousness, and her heart calmed down. Tharn noticed it and made a slight smile as he looked around, checking the other students.

There were still whispers and a few glances towards him and Istar, but no one dared to approach. Not because they didn’t want to, for he noticed a few that attempted to get to him, but their friends convinced them otherwise while pointing at Rihat and her friends that were on another table, looking to see if someone went to talk with Istar or him.

It was visible how much power and control she had over the other students. The Principal said her family had some influence in the country, but judging by the way the other students were acting, it was probably more than influence.

When Istar finished, he followed her to the empty table near the counter where the cafeteria ladies were serving the food to put their empty trays.

When they were about to exit to the main corridor, a boy called his attention. “Aham!… sorry to bother you… May I ask something?”

Tharn turned to face the voice and saw a boy. He looked Human and had another boy near him who was a Cathra, judging by his pointy ears, and a girl, a Catkind, because of her ears and tail.

The boy reached out for a handshake, and he spoke as Tharn was shaking his hand. “I heard what you said to Rihat. It was not my intention, but you two weren’t talking that low. I am Osman Halabi, he is Muranu, and she is Synesia Bardane. We are also first years but from a different classroom. That is why we were not in the practical test where you and Istar were this morning, but we heard about it. Do you have a few moments to talk?”