Chương 9: Book 2 Chapter Six: Bet

SIX"As much as you're a pain in the ass, this was nice," Darren admitted as they all stared at the temporal chambers and the lines already forming outside of them. Dozens of people had heard about the offer of teaching and had shown up to get discounted instruction. Moira was nearly dancing as she hauled her equipment forward with a handful of her closest confidantes.

"Well, it helps me out as well. Especially when you pay for my time in the chamber," Roan said.

"I'm paying for you time in the chamber?" Darren asked, arching an eyebrow as he stared at Roan.

"Yeah. I did pay for them to come here. And paid the bribe to get into the village. Now, you said you wouldn't pay me back because I owed money to the association anyways, but I still risked myself here. And a bunch of us are going in and I did loan you my manuals on top of it," Roan said.

"We have two and a half hours until it starts getting dark. The Association already paid all of them their fees to stay here the remaining hours until dark. Which is twelve hours in the dilation chamber and you're going in with eleven other people to learn enchanting. You can pay your part of it," Darren said. The man had his arms crossed and looked sour about the giving up Roan's earnings, but seemed resolute about not moving off of Roan paying his thousand credits."

Thousand credits for twelve hours of learning from a master and manual. It's a great deal. Don't show any weakness in front of Darren though," Roan thought it over before he tried a different angle.

"I also brought you information on Nash and Grace. I think that's worth a measly thousand credits," Roan said.

"I think Moira kept her hands in your guts and brought your back from the brink of death and didn't ask for payment. You can pay your share," Darren said." Fuck. I hate it when he has a point. Why can't I let this go?" The thought of spending money was anathema normally, but yielding money he didn't need to rankled him in a way that was hard to pinpoint.

"Fine. Taoya, you coming in?" Roan asked. He had reclaimed his looted ring and was determined to have it broken open and see Lester's prizes.

"No, I want to see the metal smith. If I could get a pair of gauntlets and leg guards," Taoya said, a violent edge tinging his voice.

"And I will stay on guard with the others who volunteered. We have parties out collecting bounties and trying to find any other surivvors. Everyone is joining the Association now. Well… mostly everyone. Those we find who agree to come this way," Darren said." I should find Deacon, Vanessa, and Billie. Technically the body tempering manuscript is also theirs," Roan thought. He hadn't seen a hint of the second group and hoped they hadn't gone up in smoke last night.

With Village 2 likely being the victim of tonight's dragon razing, he'd have tomorrow to search the remaining villages and reunite with them.

"So the bank accounts are swelling?" Roan surmised.

"Yeah. Even with the expenses. The group discount in the time chambers is a big incentive. They'll do bounties for the discount itself now that we're controlling the slots in," Darren said.

"We're controlling who gets to go in?" Roan asked slowly.

"Of course. It's a vital resource and needs to be utilized to its fullest extent. Rotating shifts of one hour real time before the next shift. Lots of people came over here after they found out we had the chambers. And Taoya," Darren said, nodding his head at the big man.

"You're going to make me blush," Taoya deadpanned. The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"So, we're breaking the rules by doing the two hour cycle?" Roan asked.

"No, we just crammed all the time slots together. Instead of six per cycle we're doing twelve. Everyone wants a chance with the instructors," Darren explained.

"Alright, enough of this. It's time. When we come out there'll be thirty minutes to go before dark. Darren and the others will get first crack at the chambers in the morning for not going tonight," Taoya said, already heading toward the blacksmiths temporary set up.

"Keep an eye out for Grace. I don't know what her bloodline is, but she had one and it's strong," Roan warned as he walked to his specified house.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll keep an eye out for her," Darren said, waving away his concerns and walking away without saying anything else." Pompous prick is going to get himself killed." The thought didn't warm him like it would have just a day or two ago. Instead Roan was forced to think out the repercussions. He didn't like Darren, but the man was undisputedly in charge of the Association and one of the leaders of the Pact.

Without him all of the rapidly building infrastructure Roan was starting to enjoy would wither and die." Just have to make sure you're not the one caught in the blowback," he thought as he entered the time chambers for the second time. Instead of being by himself there were eleven other eagerly awaiting students who crowded around Jerry. The rabbit-kin looked up at him and scowled as he pointed at the house.

"I did not know these chambers were available when we made our deal. I am not thrilled by this," Jerry said, arms crossed and foot thumping the ground. The eleven other people backed up pressed against the wall.

"I asked you questions that should have been very indicative of what waited for you here. And you get to see Mayor Hana. I don't know why you're mad," Roan said as nonchalantly as he could, pulling his ring off his finger and bounced it in his palm.

"Now, we have some things to learn and not a ton of time to get it done. Twelve hours to learn the basics of enchanting and breaking this lock," Roan said.

"Twelve hours isn't enough time for you to learn that much. It'll be an excellent primer though and then in conjunction with the manual, or buying the skill, will set you on the path of learning enchanting," Jerry said, his anger dissipating.

"Really? Would you like to make a bet about that?" Roan asked, staring at the rabbit-kin. While the beast man might have been more powerful than he was, by far, there was a gullibility to him that just invited Roan's less savory instincts to the front of his mind.

"What is the bet?

"Jerry asked, leaning forward.

"You teach us how you normally would and I'll break the lock on this," Roan said.

"And you don't currently have the skill?"

"Nope. Haven't bought the manual either, but my master did use some enchantments, so I'm not completely foreign to them." Old Bao did use enchantments, mostly to keep the desert heat at bay, but the old man had focused mostly on physical abilities and training Roan in as many weapon forms as he could find.

"A non-incorporated human? Alright, what are we betting?"" Don't be too greedy." The thought warred with what Roan wanted to do. He wanted to strip this arrogant rabbit of everything he had and then some. But some of that was leftover resentment about not being able to push Darren into paying for his hour.

"If I win you will teach the rest of us for free. No credits at all," Roan said.

"Can't. It's against the rules. But I can lower my cost to something symbolic, say one credit," Jerry said.

"Perfect. One credit per real hour."

"And when you lose?" Jerry asked.

"What do you want?" Roan asked. He didn't have anything of worth but the malice he saw in Jerry's eyes was warning enough.

"I want your tongue. You'll rip out your own tongue if you lose," Jerry said. Winces went around the room, replacing the greed of everyone in there. Even with the discounted rate of paying Jerry due to the time dilation, every credit counted.

"I think I can swing that, sounds like a bet," Roan said, sticking his hand out to the rabbit-kin who just stared at him stupidly.

"It's to signify that we have made the bet and agreed upon terms. Just shake my hand gently," Roan explained. The rabbit's hand was surprisingly soft as he shook twice, both of them smiling at the other.

"Then let us begin," Jerry said, waving them all toward him. Roan kept the closest, eyes locked on the rabbit as he began to absorb every word.