Masters

Chapter 8

"So, you gave up two thousand HC's to someone who tried to inflict bodily harm to you just to tick off the guys who helped you win?" "Yep." "Why?" "I wouldn't have been able to keep them without seeing them as a burden because I would have won them at the cost of my principals, which is too high a price to pay." That... sounds exactly like something uncle Mohan would say.

They were eating lunch in their room. Yohan was eating one of his favorite dishes, spiced chestnut and pumpkin soup which was better than any he had before because his uncle had cheapskate habits. Nick was eating redbrair-style roast pheasant, a meal he said he always wanted to try.

"So far I can only make seven handfuls of pellets. I can make them roll on the ground in directions of my choosing, and if I try hard, I can make about five of them levitate up to three times my height above the ground, but after an hour they all disappear. Anybody holding them besides me seems to have a lot better luck though, which I can't understand." "Just keep trying to move them as one mass and eventually you'll be able to make bigger and more complicated shapes or even discover some supernatural properties that will make you think 'Huh, why didn't I notice this before, It's so obvious!'"

Yohan called his Power Leprechaun's Cornucopia. He could make his Aura take on the appearance of gold, but it was as light as tin and he could only form it into beads the size of an average marble. Because of his heritage as a faeman, he was able to unlock this power five days after starting his PK training with Nick but had yet to find a practical use for it because of his lack of actual experience. As for Nick himself, he had holed up in the room in a state of near-constant meditation to regenerate all the Aura he lost in the Master Game five weeks prior. Yohan kept bringing him meals and chamber pots from an unusual vending machine with a typewriter that made slips of paper that the machine accepted in place of money and gave out anything on the paper as long as it wasn't alive or supernatural.

"My Dad said that if I keep fighting with PK, I'll learn to accelerate my Aura output mid-battle instead of having to meditate to restore it." While Nick was in their room, Yohan had taken several classes and had effectively increased his HCs from the first class they took tenfold.

After tearing a piece of his pheasant with his teeth, Nick said with a full mouth "How are you doing with finding a contract that both of us can do together? I know you're terrified of monster hunting and find conflict with mortals nauseating but what other kinds of jobs are available for students at the Master's Academy?" "First off, can you watch it with the blunt honesty? Second, I managed to stumble upon this when I was wandering around the three commons areas I found." From a pocket in his coat, Yohan drew out a paper and handed it to Nick.

Come to Aoe'iei'ouy! Recently our entertainment dimension has been lacking in profits, so if you would stay here for three months and encourage our patrons to spend money on tickets by participating in our many game shows, we will pay you half your weight in gold every time you come in first place! Also, we've been having trouble keeping our population of fairy beasts under control, so for every one you cull, we will pay you your entire weight in gold! You will stay at our finest hotel with every modern convenience at your disposal and have unlimited free access to all our food stands. All of this for the measly price of two hundred HCs per group member, and since you will receive double your HCs back no matter what, you'll have nothing but gains!

"Seems good, but not completely legit." "What do you mean?" "My dad told me, 'If someone is telling you that a deal has nothing but benefits, then it has a cost that they're not telling you about.' Plus, if they don't care about the skill level of the students, then why charge so much per person as the insurance fee?" "Huh... now that you mention it, they do sound a little desperate just for some extra profits. So, should we do something else?" "Nah... it's too sweet of a deal to pass up. Plus, I've never had the opportunity to hunt fairy beasts before, so I'll be able to expand my own capabilities in addition to getting paid a lot of money!"