As always, my mind tricked me into thinking that Euridice stood before me in all her evil glory, but it was just for a split second. Cinthara looked identical to the goddess, but she lacked the godly power and indescribable, glowering aura. And not to mention the fact that Cinthara was still a teenager, not much older than me, and had yet to grow to the same towering height as Lady Euridice.
“Are you serious?” I growled, rubbing the back of my neck that I’d somehow slammed against the floor when I’d fallen. “Did you just trip me?”
The rest of the students had moved on from the scene, continuing to their destinations, so it almost felt like only she and I existed, standing before one another with near-matching scowls on our faces.
Cinthara merely shrugged at my accusation, which only made me angrier.
“What the hell’s your problem?” I said, taking a step closer to her.
Our noses nearly touched, and I could clearly see the red in her face as she fumed in her own anger. But what did she have to be so mad at me about? Sure, she hadn’t demolished a Tier 2 (well, Tier 3 by the end) as quickly as she’d probably wanted, but she would have crushed me if someone had given her another 10 seconds. Could she really be that embarrassed? Only I had the right to feel angry! She’d been the one to try to sabotage me with her deceitful healing spell!
“We need to talk,” she said with gritted teeth, not even flinching as I closed in on her.
I crossed my arms over my chest and scoffed. “Oh, yeah?”
She only nodded in response.
“I know who you are, you know. More like what you are.”
The blood drained from Cinthara’s face, but her composure remained otherwise intact.
“Not here,” she whispered.
My arms I had folded tightly across my chest relaxed, but only slightly. “Where then?”
“Like I said, we need to talk.” Her eyes darted about the hall. “Meet me by the city entrance at midnight.”
I narrowed my eyes. “And why should I? Just in case you’ve forgotten, you sabotaged me during our duel, and you just tripped for–well, the only reason I can guess is that you rudely tripped me just to get my attention. You know that a tap on the shoulder works just as well?”
“Midnight,” she said curtly before speeding away. Soon, she’d disappeared into the crowd, and I’d run out of time to chase after her.
Great. Even if I did meet with her, that is yet another thing on my to-do list for tonight.
How was I supposed to find my clues for the group quest, catch up on all the schoolwork I’d have after my first day of classes, and meet with Cinthara all in one night?
But why should I even meet her? What did I owe her? And I also didn’t trust Cinthara one measly bit. But… I had to admit to myself that I was curious about what she had to say that was so urgent.
I glanced up at a clock hanging on the closest wall. My heart skipped a beat, and I cursed under my breath. My class had started three minutes ago! I should have noticed that the student crowd had started dwindling as most had already made it to their next classes. I was one of maybe 10 others still left in the hall.
I broke into a sprint and in the direction I assumed my assigned classroom was. Once there, I hastily turned the brass knob on the simple door and burst in.
Huge mistake.
I really hate having dozens of pairs of eyes on me. Especially when the person who had warned me about avoiding too much attention was the professor standing at the head of the class that I had just barged into.
I avoided looking at any of the 10 or so students in the room and met eyes with Nic–well, I met eyes with his helmet. I didn’t need to see the other me’s facial expression, for the annoyed tapping of his fingers on his hip as his head turned in my direction served as enough clue that he wasn’t pleased with my tardiness. Or my interruption.
“Rayden Grim,” Nic said surprisingly clearly through his dark face covering–his voice carried well across the length of the long room and to my ears–, “I wondered where you were. You’re late.”
I cleared my throat. “Uh, sorry, I–”
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Nic raised a gloved hand. “No excuses. Don’t let it happen again. Now, find an empty seat.”
I bit my lip and offered a sheepish smile at the students I passed as I searched for an empty chair in the semi-circle of small desks.
I finally settled into a seat near the center of the other students. I clasped my fingers over my desk, giving Nic my full attention. Nic had told me he was a teacher at the academy. I should have guessed that he taught The Study of Essence–he and I had unique knowledge on the subject due to who we’d come from and what our Skills were.
“Do you have a tablet to take notes with, Rayden?”
“Uh, no. No one said anything about–”
“Will someone please fetch Rayden a spare tablet from the supply closet?” Nic snapped.
I flinched at his harsh tone but chose to not let the hurt sink in too deep. Though, it was hard, knowing who Nic really was.
A large girl sitting on the far right leaped out of her seat as if she’d been waiting for the opportunity. Her heavy steps scurried over to a narrow closet just 10 or so paces from where she sat. She disappeared behind the closet’s door, then returned with a slim black slate balanced on her palm. Without so much as a glance at me, she deposited the tablet on my wooden desk, then rushed back to her seat, admiringly turning her eyes back on the teacher.
In fact, all the girls stared at Nic. What was so charming about a man who hid his face? I guessed he was fit…. But did it also have something to do with the mystery behind his looks? Maybe they all imagined their own perfect man behind the mask.
I found myself wishing the girls, especially the pretty ones, knew that I, in fact, looked exactly like their professor.
“Now, let’s get back to the lesson,” Nic said, turning to face a giant screen hanging on the wall behind him.
The screen was about twice Nic’s height and five times his height in length. He tapped the bottom right corner, and the screen flickered on in a brilliant white. As if prompted by this, the hanging orbs of light in the classroom dimmed to almost nothing. I blinked rapidly, adjusting to the brightness of the giant screen looming before our semi-circle of desks.
“Though we cannot see essence with the naked eye, many have speculated what it might look like.”
I suppressed the urge to skeptically raise my eyebrows at Nic’s statement. I knew, without a doubt, that Nic knew exactly what essence looked like. So did I. And so did Solomon and most likely all of his other clones that existed out there. But his evident lie made me wonder…. Should our abilities be kept a secret? How would others react if they knew? The only person I’d ever told about my Tier 1 Skill, the ability to better see essence and consciously draw the streams to me, was Drayek. But, even though he was now dead, he still would have never revealed my Skill to anyone if I hadn’t wanted him to.
The screen lit up with thick rope-like lines of nearly every color in existence. The colorful ropes twisted and writhed as if alive all over the large screen, outlining Nic in an exquisite rainbow aura.
I tilted my head to the side and narrowed my eyes at the colorful, vibrant lines. That wasn’t at all what essence looked like. I’d only ever seen essence present itself as blue, and the lines were more like threads that weave with one another intricately–not a pile of unorganized rope. But Nic didn’t so much as turn his head in my direction, and I wasn’t about to contradict him in his own class.
The rest of the class gasped in awe and began scribbling away on their tablets with their fingers. Feeling an urgency that maybe I should do the same, I finally figured out how to turn my tablet on by tapping my fingers all over its surface until it lit up. Thankfully, Dex’s database in my head led me to hit an icon with a pen hovering on the small screen, which revealed a paper-like sheet for me to write on.
People think essence looks like a mess of rainbow ropes, I wrote.
A boy my age, maybe slightly younger, shot his hand up in the air.
“Yes, Alexander?” Nic said, clasping his hands behind his back.
“What makes people think essence looks like this?” Alexander hollered much louder than necessary.
“Fantastic question. Many ancient writings and myths mention the idea of some people having the capability of seeing the essence that makes up all of existence. It is rumored that these people described essence as gatherings of vibrant, cord-like lines.”
I hesitantly raised my hand and tried to ignore the soft sigh that I was sure came from behind Nic’s helmet.
“Rayden?”
“What are the prerequisites for someone to see essence like those people in ancient history?”
Nic’s fingers clenched into fists but relaxed just as quickly as I’d noticed the tension. “Like I said, these stories come from myth and legend, but if seeing essence were indeed possible, I would assume powerful, godlike people could do so.”
I kept my hand in the air and continued, “So, you’re saying that the average person might be able to someday. That is if Tiers high enough to make us gods exist.”
“I suppose so…” Nic grumbled.
I dropped my hand to my lap. “Interesting.”
Oh, how I wished I could see Nic’s face.
“Any more questions before I move on?” he queried the class.
No one raised their hand.
“Alright then.” Nic tapped the screen again, and the device showed a new image with neatly typed words:
USING ESSENCE TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
For the remaining 30 minutes of class, Nic discussed how one could remain aware of the presence of essence at all times, even without seeing it. That way, one could be harvesting essence nonstop, providing more power when cultivating and helping us advance through the Tiers faster.
I tried to pay attention, scribbling nonsensical notes to make it seem like I was as engrossed as the rest of the class, but it seemed I had an advantage over my peers. I didn’t have to keep the thought of gathering essence in my mind at all times because I could see it. Without even thinking, I’d gotten used to drawing in all of the streams around me–all that my Soul could handle holding at one time, at least.
After his lecture, Nic dismissed the class, and all the students scooped up their tablets and stuck them in leather totes hanging off their shoulders. I made a mental note to find my own bag at some point. If I needed to carry a tablet to my classes, a bag would come in handy.
“Rayden?”
I looked up at Nic. Though he stood about 10 feet away, I could catch my reflection in the shine of his helmet.
“Will you stay after class and speak with me, please?”