The children sat just outside the shade of the massive Banyan tree, enjoying the sunlight on the cold winter morning, as they waited for their class to begin.

It did not take long before Guru Pranay came and raised another pedestal for himself. “The year is about to end and soon you’d have to showcase your progress, of which there is not much.”

The gaunt man’s eyes searched the crowd of children and he found not even a handful of children whose hair had begun to fall. “But this is not unexpected. By the time the next year ends, a majority of you will be back in your lofty homes, living your comfortable lives.”

No one spoke even a single word and the silence reigned following the man’s declaration. “If you worry about disappointing me. Then worry not. I had little hope to begin with.”

The bony man’s words were sharp and callus, causing the children to shift with unease.

“But, at the start of this year, I promised to explain Status before you earn your Class.” The man continued on as he ignores the tense state of his pupils. “I will do so now.”

“The first thing that you should know about Status is that only two sets of beings can grant you access to your Status.” The man said flatly. “The first being your guardians, which are your parents, and the other being the Gods.”

“Despite the inclusion of the Gods, granting of Status is not the right of the Gods. It is the right of the parents.” The man droned on. “The Gods only intervene when the parents fail to take care of their children.”

“On the other hand, if the child is an orphan then the right, to grant access to the Status, gets transferred to the child’s guardian and it rests with them as long as they do not mistreat the child.” The man spoke without a pause. He did not intend to give the children time to ask questions as he had previously. “Same is the case with those that are adopted. Their new guardian keeps the right, not their birth parents.”

“There are often cases when children pray for the right to access their Status,” The man closed his eyes as he spoke. “But unless the child has been mistreated, the Gods will bow to the will of the parents. For it is not their right. It is not their place.”

“Only in cases where the child is mistreated, abused or an orphan with no one to care of them, do the Gods intervene and grant the child access to their Status.” The man kept his eyes closed as he droned on. “The Gods do not intervene lightly. So, don’t bother praying for it.”

The children shuffled in unease at their teacher’s pace. The grey-haired man that had always moved the class at a slow pace now seemed to care not for the pace as he rattled off information. The questions and the interactions that had always been present never appeared and the man merely continued to spout off knowledge.

“Once you have been granted the access to your Status, a few peculiar things will stand out to you.” The man continued with his eyes still closed, as if he were talking to a wall. “The first of those things will be your Attributes.”

“What are Attributes, I shall skip over. I don’t believe your incompetency has that reached that level yet.” The man’s tone was even as he rebuked. As if, just now, he hadn’t questioned the intelligence of his students. “There are two methods on which Attributes are usually divided.”

“The first method is based on their rarity and through this method, we get two types of Attribute; rare ones and common ones.” The man had skipped over the rebuke so fast, that it was at this moment that many of the pupils understood his words and shrank in themselves.

“There are eight common Attributes that are possessed by all Mortals no matter their Species. They are [Strength], [Agility], [Endurance], [Intelligence], [Wit], [Reason], [Spirit] and [Surplus]. You can conclude what they do, from their names themselves.”

“While the exact number of rare Attributes has not been found yet, those that have been found amount to a total of eleven Attributes. What they are and what they do, I will not go over.” The man opened his eyes at that moment and gave them a glance. “The probability of any of you needing such knowledge is extremely low.”

The children shrank even further as their shoulders hunched over and their heads bowed down.

“The second classification method is based on their Type and this method we have three categories. Physical, Mental and Bridge.” The man closed his eyes with a dismissive glance.

“Amongst the common Attributes, [Strength], [Agility] and [Endurance] are the Physical Attributes. While [Intelligence], [Wit] and [Reason] are the Mental Attributes.”

“[Spirit] is a Bridge Attribute. What is a Bridge? This you do not need to know. Just keep in mind that this is one of the most important Attributes if you ever wish to reach Tier 2. A high value of this Attribute is almost a quasi-requirement.”

“And then we have [Surplus]. Very little is known about this Attribute despite all the effort the entire Mortal realm has put into it.” The man opened his eyes to reveal a contemplative gaze. “What is known is that this Attribute almost seems to dictate the fortune that a person is born in.”

“Those with high [Surplus] will be born affluent while those with a low value of this Attribute will be born in struggle and strife.” The man seemed to have come to a conclusion and his gaze lost its contemplativeness. “It has been theorised that this Attribute seems to foretell destiny and fate. Those that are born in a life of struggle but possess high [Surplus] almost always achieve greatness. However, those that are born affluent but possess a low value of this Attribute…well, the less said the better.”

The man sighed as he massaged his forehead. “This is also the only known Attribute, both amongst the common one and the uncommon ones, whose value cannot be changed using any method. The value of [Surplus] one is born with, is the value that one dies with.”

‘I hope my attitude today serves as a wakeup call to these children.’ The man sighed as he stood up and began walking off the platform. ’Do they not realize that their future depends on this?’

The children, meanwhile, watched their Guru leave without even uttering a single word more. They watched as the saffron-robed man took no questions and he gave no answers. They watched as the gaunt man just stood up and left.

-X-

Within a desolate desert, inside a dilapidated shop, on a simple chair, a youth seemingly slept.

-X-