A blaring bell hammered through the hall, shaking Cole off the thin mattress of his bed, sending him sprawling to the floor. He gazed at the magical clock hovering above his desk. 6:30 AM. Panic surged through him.
He scrambled upright, grabbing his belongings and throwing them into his satchel. He was nearly late for the morning briefing, and in a place like Arcanexus, being late was the kind of mistake that lingered.
No one knew how he had arrived at the academy. Not his peers. Not the instructors. Not even Cole himself. Dark-haired, pale-skinned, and barely more than a wisp of a boy, he had just turned thirteen. Yet here he was, thrust into a place where hatred roiled through the air like smoke.
His memories were fragmented, shards too jagged to piece together. Something about this place felt wrong. He was always identified as a wizard, yet the Arcanexus was filled with a strange tension, a convergence of factions he had no right to walk among.
Questions clawed at him like restless shadows, but there was no time. The dorm hall stretched ahead. Sprinting on level six, everything was a blur. Cole pushed forward, every step pounding on the carpet floors, desperate to reach the briefing before it commenced. He continued through the hall, down the floating staircases, leaping with each step, feeling slight movement in the staircase with each step until he reached level four. The Great Hall.
He arrived just in time, walking into the enormous structure. The place was humming with chatter, laughter and arguing. Technologists and wizards glared at one another across the room, hissing but not daring to start a fight on their first day.
Just then, an ear-piercing sound instantly cut through the noisy buzz of students, silencing the hall. “Everyone be seated”, came a booming voice from the front of the hall. Obediently, students began to sit quietly and prepare for the briefing.
Cole, still standing at the side entrance of the hall, frozen, snapped back to his senses when someone behind him snarled, “Get out of the way”, shoving Cole against the wall with overwhelming force. Cole looked back to see a technologist already disappearing into the crowd of people.
Cole immediately recovered and searched for an empty seat, avoiding interactions with technologists. Eventually, he found an empty seat next to a quiet-looking girl, dark hood pulled over her head, looking downwards. “Hey, is this seat taken?” Cole asked. He noticed the girl glance at him and swiftly look away without replying.
Met with an empty response, Cole assumed it was okay to sit, so he sat and waited.
Shortly after sitting down, the voice started again. “Welcome to Tower Arcanexus, I am Mentor Theo”. This tower isn’t a normal academy, you will come to realise this quickly, be prepared or you won’t survive”.
“You have three days to choose your mentor who you will study under, a booklet on the specialities of each mentor will be in front of the library where you can pick them up, and you will fill out this form to select your mentor, you only choose once, so think about it”.
Without a moment's notice, a paper form magically appeared in front of each student, floating in the air. Cole grabbed it and read through it.
Select Your Mentor (Tick next to the name):
- Mentor Braxon
- Mentor Stella
- Mentor Mason
- Mentor Spade
- Mentor Pez
- Mentor Theo
The voice continued… “Moving on, some basic rules and study resources will be delivered to your room. One thing you should know is that essence drives everything here. Essence is our currency at the tower. If you want to ask questions, get resources, shelter and food, you need essence.”
“However, don’t worry, if you work under me, I will give you free essence to get you started, we are all one happy family with Mentor Theo!”
With that, the man silently walked away.
Cole could already see some impatient students start to tick his name. He leaned back on his chair and stared at the form, zoning out and thinking about what Mentor Theo said. “Essence drives everything”. Knowing that, Cole knew he had to be careful with spending and earning it.
Cole stood up, ready to return to his dorm, when he looked down. The girl sat there frozen, staring at the paper. Cole decided this was a good time to make allies and sat down again.
He gently tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned around, hood still shadowing most of her face. Cole introduced himself and asked if she would like to walk with him to pick up their mentor's speciality booklets at the library.
She returned a small nod. Cole smiled and rose from his chair, “We'd better get there early then”.
They walked down the maze-like level four corridor to the floating staircases towards the library.
They reached level 8, Cole panting after walking up many steps. He turned to look at the girl who stood there, not looking worn out at all. Embarrassed, Cole regained his composure and walked to the entrance of the library.
There were two tables at the entrance, one with a technologist and another with a wizard. Both were handing out booklets.
Cole joined the line to the wizard table, and before he could gather his thoughts, he heard commotion coming from his left.
He turned to see a technologist in a heated argument with a wizard. Cole couldn’t quite hear what they were saying, but before he could react, the technologist revealed his arm with a sort of glowing chip on top of it.
At that moment, Cole heard gasps and a large bang. He looked over the small crowd of people to see the wizard, previously arguing, on the floor, clutching his stomach.
The wizard stood up, shooting the grinning technologist a vengeful expression before leaving with his friends towards the clinic.
Cole turned around from the commotion. “Wow, wizards and technologists really do hate each other”. He looked back to see the girl facing forward as if nothing had happened, he didn't even know if she had looked over in the first place. “What a peculiar person”, Cole thought.
After the crowd cleared, Cole continued moving with the line until he received his booklet of “Mentor Specialities”.
After the girl received her booklet, Cole walked with her down to the 6th floor, and he approached his dorm.
Before going in, he turned to the girl whom he had made ‘friends’ with and asked, “Hey, by the way, what’s your name?”.
Not expecting the answer, the girl softly replied, “Cinder”, “Cinder, that's a nice name”, Cole said. She replied with a subtle nod and left.
After the first short conversation he had with Cinder, he headed inside.
His dorm was small but livable. A small desk sat on the left of the room, and his bed on the right. There wasn’t much space for anything else.
Cole sprang onto his bed, opened his new booklet and started to read towards the ceiling.
“This is a list of each mentor, their specialities and information about them. Remember to choose wisely, you only have one chance. Wizards may also choose technologist mentors and vice versa”.
The Iron Warden (Technologist): Mason – Battle-focused war-hardened general, teaches student combat skills
The Glass Witch (Wizard): Stella – A mind-controlling witch who teaches students illusions and manipulation.
The Ash Knight (Wizard): Jax – A focused commander, teaches students strategy, implants, and control.
The Silent Engineer (Technologist): Spade – Experimental construct scientist, teaches student design and creation.
The Void Scholar (Neutral): Pez – An eccentric scholar who teaches students about the mind and the Void.
The Survivalist (Neutral): Theo - Calm, reliable survivalist, teaches survival skills and environmental uses
Cole lay on his bed gathering his thoughts. He rolled over and glanced at the clock: 8:06 AM.
He had an empty day, so he reluctantly decided to head to the cafeteria for breakfast and possibly make some new friends. In just three days, classes would start, and the academy system would swing into action, meaning he had to find allies and a way to gather essence as quickly as possible.
Today was going to be a tiresome day.
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