Dante was ripped from his sleep as a loud ringing noise tore through his room. Half asleep, he stumbled out of bed, looking for the source of the racket. His new pocket watch sat on his desk, pulsing blue light. As he picked up the watch, the watch went dormant, cutting off the noise and pulsing light. Confused, tired and all together irritated, he checked the time.

“Six in the morning.” Dante grumbled.

The previous afternoon and well into the night, Dante was asked question after question about his Essence affinity. Even some of the kids from the other floors had stopped by. Dante tried, several times, to explain that he was just as confused as they were, but they didn't relent until well past midnight. After the students had finally given up, Dante was able to get a few hours of sleep.

“If you don’t try to at least explain some of what happened, then they will just spread wild rumors themselves.” Kelsi had said.

Dante grudgingly agreed but that didn’t mean he understood it any more than they did.

He staggered to his closet and started putting on his uniform when he remembered that he had field training for his first class. Annoyed, he threw off his uniform and changed into the correct clothes this time.

He headed towards the mess hall with his teammates, including Jasmi and Gretta. The building was filled with students. He watched as hundreds of students, first years and upper classmen alike, crowded into the building. Staring at his feet to avoid notice, Dante followed his friends through the crowd.

After making their way through the long line, the group found a table that barely had enough room for them. After the first few bites, Dante felt a slight pressure around him. Curious, he looked around but no one seemed to notice. The pressure slowly started fading so he turned back to his breakfast. Then he was suddenly attacked. He looked around in panic as his senses were overwhelmed. Feelings of excitement, nervousness, fear, curiosity and happiness hit Dante like a hammer, smashing their way through him. He reeled trying to control the sudden urge to throw up. He felt eyes being drawn to him. Looks of worry, amusement and embarrassment flooded his mind, the pressure built, centered in his head and felt the world spin about. Hands grabbed his arms and suddenly he was being pulled up and helped out of the mess hall. As the distance between himself and the mess hall grew, he slowly gained control of his senses and looked to see Ferris and Kelsi holding him up.

His relief at being taken away from all the different emotions was eclipsed by the shame he felt for himself. Once he regained full control of his own faculties, he gently pulled away from his friends and walked to the training field.

He stared at the field in silence, watching a few of the upper classmen run through the obstacle courses surrounding the large field. His teammates stood beside him, not saying a word. He felt his fear clearly. It swept through his body as a wave of heat and left his skin cold and clammy. He didn’t understand what had happened. He kept asking himself who had attacked him but it felt off to him. There were too many unknowns and that scared him. He was equally worried about his friends. Were they embarrassed? Upset at him? Dante breathed in deep and turned to look at his friends.

“I’m sorry. I-I don’t know what happened.” Dante said. His own embarrassment evident as his cheeks were flushed red.

Ferris placed a hand on his shoulder, and then quickly shoved him causing him to trip on his own feet, stumbling to the ground. He looked up; his embarrassment turned into anger but he was quickly confronted with a feeling of acceptance rushing through him. He looked up at Ferris who gave his customary grin.

“Like I said, we’ve got your back.” Ferris said. Suddenly Ferris fell beside him as Kelsi pushed him from behind.

“And I will knock some sense into him when he acts like an idiot.” Kelsi said.

Dante couldn’t help it. He started to laugh. He laughed until tears fell from his eyes. He was confused and scared but somehow the sight of his friends acting like their usual selves flooded him with relief.

“Are we going to sit around all day?” Jasmi said. “We are already here. Might as well warm up. Maybe try an obstacle course or two.”

“As long as you don’t push me off, I’m in.” Dante grinned as he wiped the tears from his eyes. Her cheeks turned red and she looked away.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that.” Jasmi said quietly. “I didn’t actually mean to push you back then.”

Dante was happy to see that the competitive girl could be as embarrassed as he could. There was so little he actually knew about her. She had become a Death Mage so she had to have gone through something really traumatic. She had mentioned being from the upper tiers but what did that mean? Jasmi was a mystery to him and he found himself wanting to know more. Dante realized he was staring when Gretta politely coughed. Jumping to his feet he followed Kelsi who had already dragged Ferris to his feet and was jogging around the field.

The group was stretching when a large, bald man with a very prestigious mustache walked up to them.

“Good!” He said to them with a smile. “I like to see students that want to train. I am Instructor Perez.”

They stood and introduced themselves to their new field instructor.

“I take it you five are already a team?” Instructor Perez asked.

“We are hoping, Instructor.” Kelsi answered. “Though depending on our specialties, we might have to change.”

Instructor Perez gave Kelsi a knowing smile. “Change is inevitable. It is good that you realize that. I take it you’re the leader?”

Kelsi stood a little straighter. “Yes sir, I was the lead of our three-man group. We were lucky to have Jasmi and Gretta join us.”

The Instructor nodded. “Well since you kids are here, I plan to use you as an example.” He looked over to see the rest of the class heading towards the field. “Let me give you a little advice. Chasing a goal can give a team great motivation but when you are being chased yourself, you will truly find how fast you can improve. Form up facing the field.”

Ferris almost groaned but Kelsi quickly stepped on his foot. Ferris jumped into line with a scowl on his face causing a chuckle from the rest of the group.

“First years, get moving! I want you in a line facing this group here!” Instructor Perez bellowed. His voice rang across the field and the rest of the first-year class started running to the field.

There were forty students in total. Dante watched them line up and could start to feel the stares landing on him. He desperately hoped he wouldn’t have another episode like earlier.

“Listen up! I am Instructor Perez. This team in front of you was already warming up before I got here. They are ready to work which means you are already holding them back.”

Ferris let out a quiet curse and Dante helplessly watch the annoyed faces of his classmates. The Instructor continued.

“Since you are holding them back, I have decided to give you all a little test. You will put yourselves into teams of five. Don’t worry, this isn’t permanent. You will all have a chance to form your own teams later on. First, we run laps around the field. Once we are all nice and warmed up, we will run the obstacle courses, one team at a time. If any of you can beat this teams time, they will run extra laps afterwards, but if they aren’t beaten, then all of you will be running extra laps. You have five minutes to get into teams. Begin!”

Looking at the rest of his classmates’ forming into teams, Dante noticed a few looks of irritation. Thankfully, he wasn’t feeling the overwhelming surge that he had felt before. He noticed a group of students off to the side that were already in a team. They were whispering to each other and then stealing looks at… Jasmi. Dante looked at her as well and noticed she was standing quietly with her head down and her jaw clenched. He looked back towards the other team to see a boy with gold colored eyes smirking at her.

Dante leaned over towards Jasmi. “Friends of yours?” Dante whispered. She didn’t look up, but Dante noticed her tense up. She just shook her head.

She was obviously upset but Dante had no idea why. Maybe they were old friends? More likely old enemies. He didn’t know much about Jasmi but one thing was certain. She was the most competitive person he knew.

“Well, can they run faster than you?” Dante asked her.

Jasmi looked at him and quickly cracked a smile. “Not on their best day.”

Their team finished the obstacle courses well ahead of the other teams. Jasmi was quick to help the rest through the trickier parts of the course. By the end of the class, Jasmi was smiling brightly and joking with the group while the rest of their classmates finished up their extra laps. Dante was listening to Ferris complain about being singled out when a feeling of pure hatred trickled through him. He immediately turned around but the feeling was gone. Shaking his head, he followed his friends back to the dorms to get ready for the rest of their classes.

The rest of the morning went smoothly. Dante avoided large groups and decided to skip lunch as well. It wasn’t a very good solution; he would have to eat sooner or later but he thought it best to stay away from crowds until he knew who or what was causing these attacks.

That afternoon, Dante stood outside a large building on the outskirts of the Academy. There was little difference between this building and the others except for the lack of people in the area. That suited him fine however and he walked through the front door.

He saw an empty foyer with a single chair and a single door. He checked the door but it was locked. He was about to sit down and wait but felt something from the other side of the door. As he stepped forward, the feeling slowly built into a steady hum of irritation. It wasn’t overwhelming so Dante knocked on the door again.

Strangely, the feeling of irritation became more intense but Dante was now sure there was someone on the other side of the door.

“Head Historian Louis?” Dante yelled through the door. “My name is Dante and I am scheduled to train with you.”

Dante didn’t notice the door open even though he was standing in front of it. Now he was looking at an older looking Mage. She had long grey hair and a few wrinkles but her eyes held his attention. The sapphire eyes glowed with annoyance and the woman had a grim look on her face. Seconds ticked by with neither one moving. Suddenly the older Mage threw her hands in to the air.

“Fine! Follow me and do not touch a thing!” She yelled.

Dante hurried to keep up with the Mage. As he stepped through the doorway, the door slammed shut causing him to jump. The woman either didn’t notice or didn’t care. There were no windows but light was coming from several essence lamps around the room. Scanning the room, Dante saw more books than he had ever seen. The room was lined with tall shelves stacked with books. Tables were spread though the room covered in books, scrolls and table lamps. He leaned over a few, careful not to disturb anything but noticed that most of those books were written in languages he didn’t know.

The Mage sat at a large desk in the center of the room. She picked up an open scroll and started reading through it, occasionally jotting down a note or two but completely ignoring Dante.

“Excuse me?” Dante asked as he approached the desk. “Are you Head Historian Louis?”

She answered without looking up. “Yes.”

Dante frowned. She obviously didn’t want him here.

“Head Historian Louis, I don’t-” She cut him off quickly.

“Boy, there is a universal truth to all places of study. Do you know what that is?” Dante shook his head.

“Oh, well then. It’s called SHHHHHHHH!!!!” She went back to her work and Dante felt his annoyance at the old Mage build.

He waited quietly, hoping the Historian would finish soon and start his lesson but after an hour, he had a sneaking suspicion the Mage had forgotten about him again. For some reason, that drove Dante’s anger to bubble up.

“Head Historian Louis, I-” She cut him off again as she pushed a piece of parchment into his face. He took it and resisted the urge to crumple it up.

When he read the paper, he noticed that it was a list of abilities. He quickly went through the list but couldn’t tell the connection between them. One said Telekinesis and another said Making animals from Essence. Dante was confused until he read one that seemed relatable. Empath: The ability to sense others moods or intentions.

“Head Historian, I think I might be an Empath.” Dante said hurriedly before she could cut him off again.

She sighed and looked up at him. “Oh, and what am I feeling right now?” She asked somewhat smarmily.

Dante didn’t have to think about that one. “Irritated.”

She slumped back into her chair crossing her arms. “Lucky guess.” She grumbled.

Dante quickly told her about what happened that morning. He made sure to keep it short and to the point since the Historian could cut him off at any moment. When he finished, she actually looked a little interested but tried to cover up her curiosity with a sneer.

“Listen up boy. If you are an Empath than you are in a tower of trouble. Young Empaths are known to lose control of their powers constantly. One moment the world will seem normal and fine and then the next you would be hit with so many different emotions you would likely crumple to the floor, drooling on yourself.

Dante felt his panic rising. “What can we do about it?”

She looked at him as if he sprouted wings. “How am I supposed to know?! I’m not a Gods-be-damned Essence Mage!”

Dante glared at her. “You are the Head Historian of the Academy! How do you not know about the history of Essence Mages?!”

She threw a book at him which he clumsily caught. “History? Boy, there is no history on Essence Mages. Every single halfwit that wrote about Essence Mages thought that poetry was spilling out of their backsides. There are no facts, no consistent details. Every trumped-up windbag Historian from before ruined any chance to gain knowledge. I’m stuck to reading timelines and events of when an Essence Mage did exist. That list I gave you is the only thing we know about their “possible” abilities. Did an Essence Mage build the first Tower? Yes. How did he do it? Not a damn clue.”

Dante stared at the Historian. She was his best chance at learning how to become a proper Essence Mage and now he realized that he would likely never learn.

“So, what do we do?” Dante asked quietly, a hint of desperation in his voice.

“What can we do?” The Historian replied looking tired. “You’re an Empath. Great. But besides Essence Mages, the only known living Empath is an Enchanter that lives in the Tower of Belest and that’s half a world away. The only thing that could help is learning to control it before you fall apart at the seams AND you will be learning by trial and error.”

Dante stood up straight. “I’m not afraid of hard work.” He said defiantly.

A ghost of a smile touched the Historians lips. “Oh?” She thought for a moment but then shook her head. “No, I won’t do it boy. I can’t help you.”

She waved him away and went back to her work. Dante felt his despair pull around him. He turned and ran out of the room, not even knowing where to go. He was alone, again. He ran to his dorm room and fell on his bed. His energy depleted. He wanted to lie there and whither away. He was asleep a moment later.

He was surrounded by darkness. The air was heavy with blood and a child’s screams were tearing through him. A face came into view above him. He was cold, shivering, but the smile on the woman’s face was strangely comforting. Her skin was speckled with blood and her black hair was mussed and disheveled but her sad red eyes faintly glowed with a desire to protect.

“Please, protect him.” She begged. Her voice was music to his ears but it was also weak. She was dying. “Protect him.” And then she faded away.

Loud knocking woke Dante and he rolled out of bed. He opened the door to find Ferris waiting for him.

“Hey Dante.” Ferris said. “Are you coming to dinner? Wait, were you sleeping?”

Dante rubbed his eyes and pushed past his friend. “I will tell you at dinner.”

The group sat down in the relatively empty mess hall. It was late and most of the students had already eaten. He told the group that he was an Empath and they visibly were excited about the new ability. That excitement didn’t last however when he told them about the rest of his meeting with his Magic Instructor.

“That seems like a problem.” Kelsi said afterwards. Dante changed the subject, asking how their training had gone.

Apparently, they all had a rather productive afternoon. Ferris was being taught with a large group of first years. They had focused on feeling the wind around them and then pushing it into a ball in the palm of their hands. No one had achieved anything impressive but Ferris was still happy that he was able to see any change at all while attempting the exercise.

Kelsi had spent time shadowing her Instructor at the hospital. She was in a small group and each of them got to practice trying to feel for the problems that the patients seemed to be suffering from. Then they went through a lecture on human anatomy, describing bones, muscles and organs.

Gretta was as happy as could be. Her group only consisted of three people and their Instructor had taken them to a room filled with instruments. She was especially fond of something called a violin and would be taking lessons from her Instructor.

Jasmi was near giddy. She and her Instructor had spent the whole afternoon just talking. Apparently, Death magic has a lot to do about knowing yourself. She admitted that at first, she was hesitant to discuss certain parts of her past but her Instructor seemed to know which subjects to avoid. They discussed hobbies, interests, favorite books and so much more. It really helped that she had no one else in her group so she was soon free with her answers without worry of judgement.

Dante was happy his friends were already moving forward but he still didn’t know what to do about his reluctant Instructor. Gretta suggested that he should just work on his empath abilities for now and that maybe Head Historian Louis would come around.

Kelsi didn’t seem too sure about the last part of that plan but promised to keep looking for a solution. They all agreed that they would think on it. By the time they were at the dorm, Dante was still tired and headed to bed while the others practiced their magic.

The next few days were exhausting. In order to avoid the crowds, Dante had to arrive at the mess hall when it opened, which was four in the morning. Ferris was especially upset about that but still woke up early with the rest of the group.

Field training consisted of running and strength training. They hadn’t yet picked up a weapon and they hadn’t run through any of the obstacle courses again. Use of magic was also not permitted on the field. Instructor Perez promised harsh punishment for any first years that broke this rule. The rest of the class was also starting to sour at their team. Instructor Perez was using them to motivate the others but it seemed to only make everyone else give their team dirty looks.

Dante continued to try and meet up with the Head Historian but she would just ignore him for an hour and then tell him to leave. By fifth day, the end of the work week, Dante had left the Head Historian office angry and decided to try to learn himself.

Dante walked onto the empty field they used for field training and sat, closing his eyes. He tried to feel for Essence around him as Ferris had done with his wind magic. He settled his thoughts and relaxed his shoulders as he attempted to stretch out his awareness. He didn’t know what he was looking for so he visualized himself on the field and thought of pulses spreading out from his body, like ripples through water. After a good amount of time, he felt something behind him and it was getting closer.

He opened his eyes and turned around, noticing a single first year from his field training class. He was tall with light tan skin and black hair cut short and combed to the side. His uniform seemed a little nicer than the one Dante wore, like it was specially tailored for him. The boy smirked and his Gold eyes flickered in amusement when he saw Dante turn towards him.

“So, you really are an Essence Mage.” The boy said in amusement. “My name is Teron Atahchi, what’s yours?”

Dante climbed to his feet. “Dante. Nice to meet you.”

Teron nodded as if he knew all along.

“Your team is quite interesting.” Teron said.

“What do you mean?” Dante asked, a little confused.

Teron smirked. “Oh, nothing in particular. Tell me, are you friends with... the Death Mage?”

Dante started to feel something coming from Teron. It was restrictive and cloying. He didn’t know what it was but he knew he didn’t like it.

“They are all my friends.” Dante said evenly.

“I see.” Teron said with a frown. He started to leave but turned back. “If you’re ever interested in joining my team, let me know. And tell the Death Mage that I said hello.”

He left the field and Dante felt the odd sensation dissipate. He breathed a sigh of relief and headed towards the dorm. He was busy thinking of what Teron’s problem with Jasmi was when he almost ran into Miss Telis.

“I’m sorry Miss Telis.” Dante said quickly.

“Dante, what is this about Historian Louis not teaching you?” Miss Telis asked.

After a few moments of shock to the sudden question, Dante told Miss Telis what had happened. Apparently, Kelsi took it upon herself to inform Miss Telis of Dante’s situation.

“Why didn’t you come to me?” Miss Telis asked.

“I don’t know.” Dante replied. More than a little embarrassed. “I just wanted to try…”

“To handle it yourself, like a grown up? And how is that working out?” Miss Telis asked with a grin.

Dante smiled and scratched the back of his head. “Not very well.”

“Dante, let me tell you a little secret that even grownups tend to forget. Asking for help is rarely a bad thing. In fact, too many adults become prideful and will refuse help when they need it most. Their lives, work and even teammates suffer for it.” Miss Telis said. “Now let’s go have a chat with your Instructor.”

Dante looked a little nervous but followed along. He had no idea how she was going to get his Instructor to start teaching him but he had to admit, he was curious.

Miss Telis walked through the foyer and up to the locked door. Miss Telis knocked twice and then called through the door.

“Head Historian Louis. My name is Stephanie Telis and I am in dire need of educational material.”

Dante gave a confused look at Miss Telis but she put her finger to her lips and smiled.

The door opened and Historian Louis gave a quick look to Miss Telis and then to Dante.

“Are you here to convince me to teach this kid magic as well? I will not take part in children killing each other!” Historian Louis exclaimed.

“And I wouldn’t ask that of you.” Miss Telis replied. Her answer gave the Historian pause.

“While I completely agree that sending children into harm’s way is a barbaric practice, sadly, young Dante here will at least need to learn how to protect himself.” Miss Telis continued kindly.

The Historian started to sneer again. “Then it’s simple! Don’t send them into the dungeons!”

Miss Telis nodded to the Historian which confused her and completely baffled Dante.

“Again Historian, I more than agree with you.” Miss Telis sounded quite sincere. “But the dungeons are the least of this young man’s worries. If he goes on defenseless, then one of the upper tier houses will take him and Gods know what they will do to him.”

The Historian looked as if she had swallowed something that didn’t agree with her.

“And what did you have in mind?” The Historian asked suspiciously.

Miss Telis thought for a moment and then nodded. “I will need a few books. Plan of Defense by Willis Curthrite, All for Glory, by Jonas Wenta and Histories of Dungeons by Esteban Branta.”

The Historian started sputtering. “Are you trying to kill the boy?!”

Miss Telis gave the Historian a confused look. “Those books are all appraised to be the best guidelines of human and non-human defense.”

The Historian threw her hands up in the air. “Of course, they are! Those hacks spent a lot of money to make sure that trash was worth the paper it was written on! Cuthrite didn’t know which end of a sword to hold, Wenta was a known torturer for the Andina family, and Branta plagiarized a man by the name of Weeks, who didn’t know a dungeon from a piss pot!”

Miss Telis looked at the Historian innocently. “Well, then what would you suggest Historian?”

Seemingly irritated, the Historian crossed her arms and grimaced. “Fine! I will train the boy but don’t ever let me hear you suggest trash like that for training material ever again, do you hear me?”

Miss Telis’ smile sparkled as she thanked the Historian. As she turned to leave, she gave Dante a quick wink and headed out the front door. Dante struggled but was able to keep the smile from showing on his face.

“Well it looks like I will have to train you after all. But I hope you like hard work boy because you have a lot to learn and little time to learn it in. The last student I trained might have ended up in the mental hospital. Heard he is quite happy there.”

Dante’s eyes widened and he gulped. Head Historian Louis just cackled as she ushered him into the room.