As the boys walked back towards their dorm Zane noticed Kaius was staring at the ground lost in thought, "thank you for catching me, you feeling ok" he asked. Kaius was pulled away from his thoughts and looked to Zane, "yea i'm ok but don't be sorry it was my fault."
Zane was shocked, why did Kaius think it was his fault, if he'd have been paying more attention to his surroundings he wouldn't have almost died from such an amateur trick. "Bro I should have been paying more attention, I got too excited and rushed in don't blame yourself." Kaius just quietly shook his head.
Zane could see Kaius was pretty emotional about the whole thing but he couldn't understand why. He continued trying to cheer Him up, "I got caught off guard, I was so flustered that I couldn't even slow or reverse time, ughh what a noob move" he said laughing.
Kaius stopped walking and looked at Zane "No, it's my fault you were supporting me and you did your job flawlessly. I can control all these elements but couldn't make a snap decision on what to do, I didn't know what was the best option. I could have easily helped you from falling but the shock of it threw me off guard and a million choices appeared in my head. I couldn't decide as you fell deeper and deeper, to a point where I was unable to save you-"
"But you did save me, it all worked out, you even used a Master ranked move it was awesome" Zane interrupted.
"You don't understand" Kaius continued, "I don't know how that happened. I lost control and freaked out, the next thing I knew I was turning back time and pulling you up, none of that was intentional."
Zane was shocked, he hadn't realized any of this. The Time Pulse was a difficult move so of course a 16 year old would be exhausted from using it. Zane caught on quickly and he understood why Kaius was upset, they each had a role in the group and Kaius was clearly the leader. Everything fell on the leader's shoulders and like Kaius said Zane played his role flawlessly, while walking on the bridge not a single pendulum came close to them.
Zane was a little annoyed at the realization of him not being the leader but he knew it was the truth, he was their supporter as Skye was their big cuddly defender. Zane laughed out loud and put his hand on Kaius's shoulder "now look i'm not saying you're the leader but if you were, then the best thing to do would be to take this a lesson. If you're not happy with your performance or ability then fix it. Too many choices because you can control all the elements, then narrow them down, the leader doesn't have to be the Master of everything, let others play their role and you fill in the gaps."
Kaius didn't know what to say, seeing Zane almost fall to his death made him feel powerless, but Zane was right he just had to do better and focus more. The group already had a time and earth Elementalist, there were five other elements Kaius could focus on Mastering. Kaius didn't even get to respond before Zane started walking forward again "let's not forget we cleared that Wonder so let's check those rewards" he said.
As Kaius continued walking he checked the notifications on his datapad
[Galactic Points awarded]
Cadet Thomas Kaius has been awarded: 8000 Gp's
Awarded by: Marissa
Reason: Completed the Timeless Clock Wonder
Kaius only received one notification showing that he was awarded 8000Gp's. Zane was ecstatic as he'd gotten the same amount of points, as well as access to the Gp shop and the Wilds training area. Neither one of them were removed from the course and put into a more advanced one but they were ok with that considering the near death and all.
"Here" Zane said as he tapped his data pad to Kaius's and returned the 5000Gp's to him. "Thanks" Kaius said as the two continued towards their dorm.
Finally arriving at their dorms the two headed to their individual rooms for a little nap, "I'm gonna take a rest let me know when Skye's back maybe we can hit the market district or something" Kaius said entering his room and closing the door behind him.
Kaius flopped on the bed and Chaos appeared on his head, "can we go now i'm out of mangos" he said. Kaius looked over at the bag of mangos sitting on his desk, the bag had a picture of a mango with a white circle above it and Kaius could tell that the bag was empty. He shook his head, "why don't you try those Element Crystals I got you, they can supposedly make you stronger." Kaius got up from the bed and opened the box containing the seven Element Crystals and placed them on the bed.
Chaos jumoed off Kaius's head and inspected the Crystals, they looked like shiny pieces of rock. Chaos sniffed each one then set them up in a circle around him. As he laid in the circle he grabbed the Water Element Crystal and started gnawing on it. "Not quite mango but it will do" he said.
Kaius ignored the spoiled fox and began searching the Gp shop, he just gained 13000Gp's so he thought of maybe buying the Thunderstorm manual. Kaius definitely had enough as the the manual cost 20000Gp's and he was now sitting at 23100. He really wanted it but something told him he should hold off. It wasn't crucial to buy it now. He closed the Gp shop then closed his eyes for a nap.
Kaius woke up to loud talking outside his room, looking over he saw Chaos was fast asleep still surrounded by the Element Crystals with the Water Crystal still in his paw. Kaius quietly left the room and found Zane and Skye on the couch eating snacks while debating about something "hi" he said to the two as he took a seat on another couch.
"Awesome Kaius is here now we we can ask him what he thinks" Zane said. Skye shook his head then looked to Kaius. "Ok listen" Zane started, "now that I have access to the Gp shop and the Wilds I was thinking the three of us should take a trip and try to earn some more Gp's"
"The Wilds is a very dangerous place with all kinds of creatures in there, I don't know if we're ready" Skye said. Kaius looked at the two then thought hard about it. After today he really wanted to improve his skills, but he also understood what Skye was saying and knew it would be dangerous. "Hmm I agree with both of you guys so how about we come to a compromise, we go check out the Wilds but we stay pretty close to the entrance where the weaker creatures should be. If we feel comfortable we can slowly advance further, but if we can't handle the beginning area we leave right away."
Zane was jumping for Joy as Skye wore a serious look, turning to Zane he grabbed him and looked him in the eye. "Like Kaius said if we can't handle it we leave RIGHT AWAY and I will drag you out if I need to." "Ok ok I got it let me out of your death grip sheesh" Zane yelled out. Skye released Zane then started walking to his room "we need to properly prepare, the Gp shop has a lot of good items. We can head to the Market to pick up our stuff then head to the wilds after class, i'll see you guys in the morning" he said closing his door.