Serist De stood in the arena where the they had fought a month ago. After winning the first-year tournament, they spent the rest of their time watching the matches of the upper classmen or training. The arena was filled with weapons, training targets and an odd assortment of metal balls ranging in different sizes and weights.
Senior Instructor Williams, Head Historia Louis and Instructor Perez entered the arena. These three would be their instructors for the entirety of their second year and this arena was their classroom.
“Listen up!” Williams bellowed. Even without the voice projection sphere, he was loud enough to echo through the empty arena. “You all are here for training and since we have been pulled out of our normal duties to train you, we see it as only fitting that we train you to the highest standards.”
The group looked a little pale at that announcement.
“We have gone over your profiles and your performances in the tournament. Don’t think for a moment that just because you won, means that you have any potential as Adventurers. Ferris!” He looked at the tall boy that was just an inch shorter than himself. “A Tank Wind Mage that uses a two-handed sword. Wonderful, you offer absolutely nothing to your team. You have Wind Armor but where are your Wind Shields? You think your enemies will focus on you just because you stand at the front? Wrong! You need to use your magic to funnel your enemies to you and away from your teammates. You will be learning about that from Historian Louis. Go.”
Ferris gritted his teeth but nodded and quickly ran towards the Historian.
“Gretta. You have absolutely no defense. Your job is to support your team. What good is your support if you die? You will be working with Historian Louis to learn how to make a shield with your Ultrasonic Vibrations.
Gretta nodded happily and followed after Ferris.
“Kelsi!” He looked to their team leader. “You have yet to heal under duress. If you’re too busy fighting to heal then you are not doing your job. What good is a Life Mage that doesn’t heal? You will be working with Instructor Perez on combative healing. Go.”
Kelsi nodded sternly. And ran to Instructor Perez.
“Jasmi! You act as support but you dealt the most damage in your fights. Those spirits you have can be used far better than you know. Join Instructor Perez.”
Jasmi nodded and gave Dante a small smirk as she ran off after Kelsi.
“And that leaves you with me.” Williams said looking down at Dante. Dante noticeably winced. The Senior Instructor was eyeing him as if he was trying to figure out how far he could bend Dante before he snapped in half.
“Being able to create weapons out of Essence is an amazing ability, but it is no good if you don’t possess the skill to wield those weapons properly. You handle yourself well, for a kid, but you need more than that. I don’t have the time to beat all those skills into your skull so we will work on your most proficient weapons. Bring out your short swords.”
Dante quickly did as he was told, creating two swords perfectly identical to each other. They were two feet in length and lacked a guard above the hilt effectively making them look sleek. They had the look of dull steel but were sharp and well balanced.
“Now, I want you to attack me.” Williams said as he pulled out a simple looking sword. Dante hesitated. “Attack!”
Dante moved forward cautiously. He and his Instructor had no armor on and he was well aware that the experienced veteran could kill him without trying. Going for a safe approach, Dante probed with a quick forward thrust to the stomach. Before he could finish the thrust, a ring of steel sounded and a sharp pain ran through his arm as the sword fell from his grip and disappeared.
“To dual wield,” Williams said. “you need to be able to do two things at once. You need to split your concentration between defense and offense. You don’t have a shield to hide behind. You need to learn to parry, deflecting strikes, not taking them head on. Dual wielding is about the advantage of choice. You are not locked into position, you are moving, constantly. No dual wielder finishes their enemy in one blow. It’s a war of attrition.” He put his sword away and signaled Dante to do the same. “First, you need a proper grip.” He picked up two metal balls of the same weight and size. “You will grip these and hold them over the sand at your sides. Once they fall, you will run up the steps of the arena and back down. Then you will do it all over again. Begin.”
Dante quickly picked up the metal balls and held them out. They were heavy, the metal was smooth and hard to grip. He lasted ten seconds before the first ball slipped from his fingers, dropping with a thud to the sand.
“Start running!” Williams yelled. Dante jumped up and ran for the stairs.
Over and over again, he found himself running up the steps and back down. He could barely lift the metal balls anymore and his legs were heavy, causing him to stumble. He looked over occasionally to see how his friends were faring.
Ferris and Gretta stood near the training targets, building their new abilities while Head Historian Louis kept yelling instructions while throwing small spheres of ice that formed in the around her.
Jamsi was busy using her spirits to attack Kelsi while Kelsi healed herself and evaded them. By the time he looked, they were both running on fumes. Jasmi could only keep up one spirit while Kelsi was slowing considerably.
Dante reached down to pick up the spheres again when Senior Instructor Williams called a halt to the training.
“No bad but definitely not good. The only thing I can say with a positive note is that you are all stubborn so you will die tired.” Williams said. The students looked down at their feet. “Go get cleaned up and eat. When you come back, we will be going over known Monsters and Beasts.”
Serist De stumbled slowly out of the arena while the Instructors stayed behind.
“That was tough training, Sir.” Perez said as he walked up to Williams.
“Tough is too light a word. You will run those kids into the ground!” Louis said with a glare.
“They need to be pushed.” Williams said, unbothered by the Historians glare. “If we don’t push them hard now then they will never make it.”
“They have three more years! Not even you could handle three years of this at their age!” Louis yelled at him.
“We don’t plan on them being here for three more years.” Williams said clearly.
“Sir.” Perez said with worry. “Advancement testing is preformed at the end of the third year, not second and it’s barely passable then. Why push them so fast?”
The Historian sighed, finally understanding why they were being pushed so hard. “Because it’s the only way to protect them.”
Williams nodded. “We can only offer so much protection here. When they attempted to kidnap Jasmi, they gave us an edge by breaking one of the three laws, letting us specialize their training. The faster they graduate, the faster they can be put into the Adventure’s Guild and no one would dare touch them then.”
If was a fact that every Tower was well aware of. The Adventure’s Guild held the highest duty in the Tower. They cull the dungeons, bring back precious resources and every citizen has been an Adventurer at one point in their lives. Guild members are untouchable by Tower politics. The First Laws had only been broken a handful of times, but each time was met with an upper tier family being eradicated as punishment. It was a strong deterrent.
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The group sat down, weary from their morning training. Even after a shower and a fresh change of clothes, the group looked ragged.
“We’re never going to survive.” Grumbled Ferris.
“I thought we did well.” Gretta said happily. Ferris glared at her. Her magic was coming along faster than his and he felt a small pang of jealousy.
“I feel like we are being put through fourth year training. There is no chance that we can continue this for the whole year.” Jasmi complained.
“You may be closer to the truth than you think.” Kelsi said. “None of us should be going through this type of training yet.”
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“Meaning that they expect something bad to happen.” Dante replied feeling his stomach tighten up.
“Why would they think that?” Ferris asked.
“We already know that Dante will be targeted. When they tried to abduct me as well, they actually broke the second law.” Jasmi said.
“You think breaking any laws would be bad.” Ferris said.
“The First Laws are different Ferris. They are the makeup of our entire existence in the Towers. Even murder isn’t punished as harshly.” Kelsi said.
“But isn’t murder punished by death?” Dante asked.
“Yes.” Jasmi said. “And trust me, it’s worse.”
Dante didn’t know much about Tower politics but anything ‘worse than death’ seemed excessive.
“So, we push on with our training.” Dante said. “We need to learn everything we can.”
“Dante?” Gretta asked. “Why aren’t you eating?”
Dante looked down at his hands. “I can’t pick up my fork.”
Ferris grinned and lifted his fork to Dante. “Say ahhh.”
Dante glared at him. “I will stab you.”
Ferris still grinned, holding his fork out to Dante. “You can’t pick up anything.”
“Fine, I will ask Jasmi to stab you.” Dante replied evenly.
Ferris looked at Jasmi who was smiling at him.
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(Three weeks ago)
Teron cried out as the whip snapped against his back. The skin parted easily creating another line of blood. He had been chained to the post ever since he had returned to his Grandfathers estate. The smell of blood and urine was thick and his right shoulder had already dislocated from weight of his body hanging from the high chains.
“What made you think to kidnap the girl?” Alistern Atahci asked. His voice was even and cold. He didn’t need to shout to show his disapproval.
Teron gasped against the post. “I wanted to finish the job.” He said, though his voice was horse from his previous screaming.
Alistern walked in front of his grandson, stepping around the puddle of fluids at the boy’s feet. His gold eyes bored into the bloody boy.
“Your thoughtlessness has caused us to hold back. Breaking one of the three laws is a decision not to be made lightly. You risked our entire family and now the boy might be taken from us and we can do nothing.” He leaned down so he was in inch away from Teron’s face. “If that happens, I will be forced to find a new heir. Do you understand?”
Teron flinched. “Yes, Grandfather.”
Alistern stepped back around Teron. “Good.”
The whip snapped again followed by more screams.
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The First Laws
The First Law: Every citizen will serve the Tower as an Adventurer after they have completed their training. Their time as an Adventurer is dependent on their achievements which will be judged by the Adventurer’s Guild.
The Second Law: Every orphan is denied all possessions, including their family name. They will be clothed, fed and educated by the Tower. They will be independent of their past, free to build a new life and create a new family name.
The Third Law: The Adventurer’s Guild is independent. They are free of political affiliation and banned from the Tower Council. They are exempt from all taxes and are not subject to the Tower Judicial System. Therefore, they will hold their own accounts over there members and punish crimes accordingly.
Dante looked up from the text. He had mentioned his curiosity about The First Laws in front of Head Historian Louis. She had decided that the whole group needed to fix their ignorance and assigned them homework. Ferris was not happy with him about that.
“So, who wrote the laws?” Dante asked. They rest of the group was sitting in the common room, studying as well.
“The first Essence Mage, King Edrick Mason.” Kelsi said without looking up.
“You think a King would make The First Laws about bloodlines or something.” Ferris said.
“King Mason was the last King on Kahlea.” Gretta replied. “The influx of so many different people coming to the towers would make it impossible for one person to rule. The council was established and the rest is history.”
“They are not flexible at all.” Dante said. “They leave no leeway for excuse.”
“Excuses would give way to exceptions and then politics would have a greater hold on the Tower than they already do.” Kelsi replied.
“Harsh but fair.” Dante said in acknowledgement. The group nodded.
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Ferris struggled to form the barriers on both sides. They flowed out through him creating a wide V shape. The problem was getting the wind to push inwards towards him. His specialty gave him control of wind close to him so spreading it out took time and concentration that he wouldn’t have during a fight.
He spared a glance at Gretta who was effectively creating a half dome in front of her. It made the air shimmer but was otherwise transparent. A sphere of ice passed through the dome. The shimmering air became more pronounced and cracked the sphere in half. One of the halves clipped her arm and sent her tumbling to the ground. Ferris intended to help but Gretta jumped back to her feet and started creating the dome again wearing a fierce look of determination. Ferris cracked a grin and buckled down on his magic again.
Jasmi jumped to the side as Kelsi swung her staff at her head. The three spirits were still chasing her but they couldn’t steal her life force unless their claws swiped through her physical body. At first, she attempted to outlast Jasmi, but quickly realized that was a losing situation. Over the past few weeks, she had started attacking Jasmi while evading the spirits and healing herself.
Jasmi on the other hand was learning a lot about her spirits. At first, she had to concentrate to control them. It took a good amount of magic to do so and left her with only her daggers to fight with. After a particularly hard session, she had sarcastically asked her spirits for advice. She was very surprised when they responded and ended up running away from them. Since they were her spirits though, they just followed her around the arena until Instructor Perez finally stopped laughing and told her that it was normal.
“Spirits are not slaves.” He said to her. “They were people once and they answered your call as a Death Mage to continue to support the tower. Treat them with respect.” She looked at the spirits skeptically. They didn’t really have a form. Just a fuzzy purple body, a head with no features, and two arms with claws for hands. They didn’t look like humans at all but she kept it to herself.
Now that she knew her spirits could act on their own, it freed up her concentration. She threw Death’s Grip at Kelsi which tripped her as the skeletal arms burst out of the ground. Kelsi had dodged the trap but still landed on her back, giving the spirits time to catch up. Seeing her predicament, she focused on their private little battlefield and looked for a way out. Jasmi had started running towards her on one side with the spirits closing in on the other. She had only seconds before they reached her. With her options running out, she pulled her magic around her and felt her Life magic solidify. The greenish dome was only a few feet in diameter but when the spirits touched the dome, they fell apart into nothingness. Kelsi smiled but felt a tap on the shoulder as Jasmi reached completely through the barrier, unhindered.
“So not great for physical threats.” Kesli said with a sigh.
“But good for spirits and who knows what else.” Jasmi said, examining the barrier.
“Ah good!” Instructor Perez said as he walked up to them. “A Life Mage can construct barriers that block the undead. That includes spirits, skeletons and zombies. In the dungeons, you will find plenty of them. And it only took you three weeks. That is impressive.”
“I still feel like we are lagging behind, Instructor Perez.” Kelsi said. Jasmi nodded in agreement. Perez shook his head.
“You are all advancing at a higher rate than normal.” He said. “You need to pace yourselves or you will burn out.”
“But what about him?” Jamsi said pointing to Dante.
Dante now carried two large metal balls in his hands and was walking up and down the stairs.
“He hasn’t touched his swords since the first day.” Jasmi said.
Perez frowned. “Senior Instructor Williams knows what he is doing. You need to build your foundation first. Dual wielding is largely unused due to the nature of most magic. It requires a free hand at times to cast. Dante doesn’t need a free hand yet and he seems naturally gifted with the dual wielding style. If he masters it, I doubt much will be a problem for him in a physical battle.”
Dante climbed the stairs one step at a time. His grip had improved but it was exhausting work. His legs and lungs burned and he was drenched from head to toe in sweat. He reached the top of the stairs and slowly turned making his was back down. Once he reached the bottom, he saw Senior Instructor Williams waiting for him with two larger metal balls. Dante groaned inwardly.
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Alena Castellas walked into her home. The estate was not the largest or most lavish of the merchant families but it was one of the oldest. The grey marble floors had rare dark red strata running through it. It was mined from the northern mountains where their ancestors lived before the towers were built. The red wood walls were warm and the essence chandeliers were tasteful and not overly gaudy. She had just stepped out of the foyer when a large crash and shouting came from upstairs. She rushed up the stairs, passing family portraits that lined the wall, as her hands glowed faintly red from the spell she prepared. Her glowing red eyes swept the hallway at the top of the stairs to see her husband Francis Castellas trying to move down the hallway while their butler Esteban and their head guard Phillip, tried to stop him.
“What in the name of Essence is going on?!” She shouted. The three men stopped their struggling and stood up straight looking slightly embarrassed. Her husband walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, his gold eyes looking into hers.
“My love. Jasmi is alive. I have just received word that she is at the Academy.” Francis said. His voice was shaky and his eyes held unshed tears but his look was unmistakable. He intended to retrieve his granddaughter.
Alena held his look as she breathed in. The magic inside her boiled at the thought of their only granddaughter but she tempered herself. “Francis. I know you want to get her but you can’t. The law is clear. She is her own person now. We cannot interfere.”
His face contorted, controlling his own emotions. He had lost his only son and a wonderful daughter-in-law. He had thought his granddaughter was lost as well but the gods had let her survive. And he could do nothing.
He sighed, sitting on a fanciful bench. He breathed out slowly as he continued to hold his wife’s hand.
“They tried to kidnap her.” He said to his wife who sat next to him. “Our little Jasmi. Someone tried to kidnap her and a boy they are claiming is an Essence Mage.”
Her fire flared again. “Who?”
He shook his head. “There was no evidence but it could only be the Atahchi family.”
Tears fell from her eyes. “Why did we get involved with them? Why did we ever-”
Francis pulled his wife’s attention to him. “If there is any blame, then I will shoulder it. I made the decision and I was… wrong. I can only try to make it right again.” His look showed his resolve. He would do anything needed to balance the scales once again. His wife feared for that moment that she would lose him to.
“What can we do? We can’t offer help and we wouldn’t survive a war with the Atahchi family.” She asked. The desperation made her voice quiver.
Esteban stepped forward. The family butler had been in service to the Castellas after they had stopped Adventuring together. He was a competent man and a loyal friend but his severe wounds made finding a job all but impossible. His right hand, crippled, unable to hold a sword, his steel colored eyes though, held their own resolve. “If I may, I still know a few people who may offer assistance.”
The Castellas looked up to their friend, a small spark of hope in their chests.
“How?” They asked.