Fathers going to be pissed.. perhaps I should have faked my death after all? Damascus mused as he rode the train to the academy.
That last trip into the tower certainly would have aforded him a good backstory.. his most recent battle was so cataclysmic he SHOULD have died.
It really was too bad about Gillean though. After the fall there wasnt much of him left to save, and the rest of the climbing party was long gone by that point. several floors up, wounded and harried, entrenched in battle with that dragon and the minotaur. It was a true blessing from the goddess that he only broke his leg upon crashing. regardless, stumbling back home immediately after exiting was a childish mistake. 'I should have just feined judgement under a false name and gone straight to the academy' Damascus thought. goddess knows i have enough attunements. I was finally getting to look into enchanting too when the goddess in her infinite wisdom had to go and 'bless' me with the honor of fathering a new attunement. What the resh even is 'the power of light'?! Fortunately, fathers incessant mana therapy allowed a quick adaptation. Before I even met with the goddess my heart mana was at a spectacular 331. Unfortunately, father had no patience for anything other than battle attunements.
Nevermind the goddess herself appointed me as the harbringer of her newest gift to mankind. Why must everything be about battle? Damascus sighed. It was fathers reaction that made up my mind for me. How could you turn a blind eye to such an incredible responsibility? The princes expression grew darker as he pondered, watching the country side sail by beyond his window. Valia's scenery near the palace was impeccable, though the smattering's of buildings here and there, and there again indicated they were entering the industrial side of the general city. It wasn't a terribly long train ride from the train station near the palace to the academy but it felt like hours to Damascus. This move was wrought with consequence. Being the prince of Valia, he was exempt from military service, however the kings expectations of him far outstripped the military.
Leaving would only be construed as a betrayal. Father might disown me outright if he ever gets his hands on me again. As he considered, Damascus remembered the last time he dissapointed his father this thoroughly.. He had embarked on his judgement under less than desirable circumstances. He was 11 when he entered the tower for the first time, due entirely to the kings impatience. " I need an heir sooner rather than later boy. You've trained with the best your entire life and you are a quick study. There is no excuse and there will be no room for failure." Loving last words Damascus thought. He remembered next to nothing from the trip, but the bruises, cuts and glimmering enchanter attunement on his left hand served as evidence of his triumph. A triumph short lived it seemed, since the king was red-faced broiling when he returned. " No son of MINE will be an ENCHANTER! NO. A peasants attunement that!" He huffed and blustered. After the ensuing tyrade, the training advanced ten-fold. The prince would become a shaper come hell or high water.
And thus began Damascus's quest to attain a 'Battle attunement'. For the next 3 years, the prince dueled, and trained, conditioned and trained,
studied and trained, rinse, lather, repeat (all the while, being forced to completely neglect the attunement he already possessed). After upping his mana levels to 'acceptable' heights, his father began sending him on chaperoned climbing trips, so that he may finally earn the family name as a shaper. Until finally, after unending preparations and expolorations, the kings wish was finally granted. following a rather grueling spat with a spire guardian and what seemed like 30 of its closest friends, stairs lifted up out of the floor in the center of the room. at the foot of the stairs, still partially underground was a caged enclosure. In the enclosure a crystalline font, filled with sparkling azure colored water was barely visible between the bars. After several hours of hacking, sawing, blood, sweat, and tears, the lead chaperone finally managed to break off one of the bars of the cage. In celebration of this accomplishment, he unceramoniously flopped down on the first stair. the board broke beneath him revealing a long silver lever. as he got up, he spoke progressively louder, ending in a shout, " hidden under.. a false board... in the stairs... IS A RESHING LEVER?!" he continued shouting for many more minutes but one of the other chaperones had covered Damascus' ears. The lever when pulled, collapsed the cage around the enclosure and lifted the font to ground level. The bowl was only big enough for one person to drink from, so naturally since this had been the goal of every trip the group had made into the tower, Damascus was the one to drink. After draining every last drop, Damascus collapsed, suffering a vision of the patron visage of Valia, Tenjin. the visage said kind words that the prince promptly forget, then adorned Damascus' right hand with the Shaper attunement. Upon returning home, the prince witnessed the first and only glimmer of pride his father had ever shown him.. " About time.." the king said with a slight glint in his eye, his lips rising marginally at either side. " Meet your new trainer, Lord Teft.." " A pleasure indeed young master Valiano." Lord Teft spoke in earnest his voice a deep baritone. he lifted a hand for Damascus to shake. " The pleasure is mine Lord Teft. I look forward to training under you". the prince said, clasping Lord Teft at the wrist. The companionship the two developed was volatile at best. Even after suffering countless injuries, humiliations, and demeaning speeches at his tutors hands, Damascus begrudgingly had to admit he kind of liked Lord Teft. or at least he respected him, although he would never openly say it. Their relationship became antagonistic as the princes abilities clawed their way up to Teft's weight class. Lord Teft was much like the king in many ways, save for the fact that he was not afraid to grant words of encouragement when earned (however rarely they were). Teft pushed hard. Harder than any of the princes former instructors. He had high standards and enforced them ruthlessly. Under Lord Tefts tutelage and in conjunction with his fathers mana therapy regimen, Damascus's Shaper abilities flourished. His mana count soared, acheiving citrine levels in just over 2 years. A learning curve absolutely unheard of anywhere. and though Teft declined to acknowledge it most of the time, The prince knew he was proud of his accomplishments. So proud in fact that Teft felt it was time to start testing the prince with escalating difficulty. The trips into the tower began again,
with renewed vigor and, much to the vexation of Damascus, a foreign feeling. 'fun'. Damascus was truly beginning to enjoy his exploits in the tower when fate decided to turn the tables again, run him through and roast him on a spit. Almost literally as it turned out, because his last trip into the tower ended in complete disaster. His chaperone party had dwindled to 4 people as his abilities rose so when the group reached the guardian room to the 13th floor and got obliterated by a surprise dragon (dragons aren't even reshing real), and a minotaur on its back, weilding a fistful of spears and a cluster of floating swords, he felt that getting blasted through the floor, Gillean in tow, was an appropriate punishment for his hubris. Clearly the goddess had other plans for him however, because 6 floors of freefall later, the pair crash landed in a room with a very shallow pool of water on one side, and a significantly less shallow bed of spikes on the other. Sadly, Gillean did not get a bath.
After a lengthy bout of watery triage, Damascus managed to set his leg in a splint made of sword and shorn blouse and hobble out of the water.
He took stock of the situation, noting that Gil was definitely dead, and his own pack had taken the brunt of the explosion above leaving nothing but a charred strap and the tattered remains of his spare pants. He scanned the room and spotted a red door (bad news in his present condition, as red doors typically led to battle) and no other visible exits. After the prince said a prayer on behalf of his fallen supervisor, he turned back to find that the door was no longer there. After All his escapades in the tower, the prince was hardly surprised by the change, although he'd never seen doors change like that before. Curious..
in lieu of the red door, there stood an open archway leading into a new room that more closely resembled a bedchamber. As Damascus approached he took in its features. Ornate tapestries hung from the walls depicting angelic scenes of healing and battle. the far wall held a giant stained glass window framing the most beautiful face Damascus had ever seen. She wore a hood that almost entirely covered her gilded white hair. Her brows arched and her lower lip pouted as if to express deep remorse. Her skin, a muted technicolor like that of an abalone pearl, shined like the moon hung just behind the window and her eyes sparkled with misery. The face was weeping fist sized tears, shimmering as if they were falling from the night sky. Taking a breath to clear his mind, Damascus moved on. Where the bed should have been, there was a stone obelisk, roughly twice Damascus' width and height. As he limped through the archway, Damascus noted a whisp of air brushing against his back, a sure sign that whatever was behind him now was certainly not the room from which he just came. Without bothering to look back the prince continued limping over to the obelisk, noting that there were sigils he had never seen before scrawled across its face. Damascus had secretly been obsessed with enchanting ever since his judgement, and the promise of new articles to research and study was far too enticing to ignore. When he got within an arms length away from the obelisk however, a woman stepped out from behind it. This woman wore a tattered victorian style dress with a hood and heavily besmirched linen wraps around her feet and hands. She emanated a dim blue glow that washed over damascus and the room alike. a wave of peace and tranquility seeped through the prince's pores, as his heartbeat steadied to match the slow lapping rhythm of the glow coming off the woman. When she raised her head, Damascus fell on hands and knees in awe of her beauty. It was the woman from the window brought to life. As she approached,
Damascus felt the pain in his leg fade as his whole body was enveloped in her aura. " Stand." She said, and he did so immediately, awkwardly listing to the side to avoid placing pressure on his bad leg. He openly stared at the woman mouth slightly agape, waiting for her to do something..
anything. He was incapable of doing much other than drool. " Prince of Valia, You have been chosen to serve the goddess." she said after a brief pause.
Damascus stared for a moment more before realizing he was supposed to acknowledge that statement. He simply nodded, as he was still working toward conventional thought and had not yet attained it. " You shall usher a new attunement into the world.". the woman continued " This gift will grant the bearer the power of light.
It is your commission to discover the facets of this blessing and share your findings with the generations to come." Damascus blinked as he processed her words, nodding again to show that he was still coherent. " Do you accept this burden, young prince?" the woman prodded, possibly sensing that the prince may not be as mentally competent as he should be. " Ye.. yes your grace... I accept this honor.." The woman only nodded in reply, withdrawing a glowing yellow stone from her sleeve, smooth on all sides, with a bright gold mark in the center. She pressed the stone to the princes chest, and the waves of tranquility he felt the moment before fell away sharply as the searing pain from the stone burned into his flesh just over his heart. Smoke rose in curls and he felt his eyes bulge as the heat overwhelmed him, boiling his insides. He fell to the ground in agony, briefly thinking this must have been a trap, and that he fell all too willingly into it. How terrible to have survived so many trips into the tower, battles with great and numerous beasts, training with Lord Teft, 6 story falls into shallow pits of water and spikes, only to be bested by a pretty girl. until, just as suddenly, the pain abated. The woman stared down at him, without an ounce of clemency, waiting for him to rise again. She didnt need to say so,
The prince could tell from the tight line that her mouth had formed. Embarrassed, Damascus clamored back to his awkward listing stance, awaiting further orders. The woman nodded, then turned back toward the obelisk, presumably to dissapear through whatever door she had entered through.
" Wait your grace!" Damascus nearly shouted in desparation. 'she cannot leave yet, i must know who she is' he thought. The woman turned, wearing a mask of mild surprise at his suddenly articulate outburst. Her eyes emplored him to speak his peace before her patience wore thin, " Who are you,
o beautiful entity?" as he spoke, The womans expression relaxed into a mischevously flirtatious smirk " I am the goddess herself of course." She said,
And with that she turned and dissapeared behind the tower of stone. Damascus hovered there for a moment before collapsing flat on his backside. With a wince and a shudder he replayed the scene in his mind.
'The goddess herself just granted me a new attunement.' he thought. That thought didn't seem to register with him so he ran it through again. and then he thought it once more to ensure it had its proper effect. 'wow...' was all that followed. several minutes later he looked down at his chest where a palm sized hole was seared into his blouse. He could not see the attunement so he tore his shirt open to expose it, and sure enough there it was. A brand new marking charred into his flesh that resembled no other he had seen before. 'wow'. It took the prince several more minutes to compose himself enough to stand and leave. When he finally looked to the door he noted that he was right before, and the room had shifted to a new chamber. Usually when climbing the tower, a safe room would appear every other level or so for climbers to rest and recuperate, and this new room was one of those. Fortunately this saferoom also contained the classic exit door on the opposite side of the room. So with his broken leg, burnt chest, and brand new attunement, Damascus made his way out of the tower, straight to the guard members outside,
and went directly home. After making a brief stop at the medical wing to grab a regeneration amulet, Damascus hobbled his way up to the dining hall where he expected to find his father. Damascus burst through the doors with all the bluster he could manage in his current medical state. The room was a lengthy rectangular shape. It was lined with elaborately carved tables all along the walls and up the center, parting down the middle to allow a velvet carpet leading to the head table where the king currently sat, eating. Damascus hurriedly walked up to the head table and knelt (with great difficulty) before his father. " What is this boy... what happened on your climb?" His father asked almost feigning concern. " Father, Gillean is dead, and I do not know the fate of Darin or Thalia.. We were separated before I left." " Then why.. did you leave.." Tyriel spat, his tone venomous. " Nothing is less becoming of a leader than leaving your people behind." Damascus winced at his words, knowing that he should have done better in their last battle. Knowing that after the fall there was nothing left he could do for his former guards, and knowing that there was no way his father would ever concede that it was an unwinable situation. " Yes Father, I agree. It was cowardly to leave them behind. I lost them when Gillean and I fell. Gillean did not survive." The prince said, pleading in his tone. He knew the easiest way out was through. The room was relatively empty but those few who were dining in the hall looked on in pity. They all knew the terrible dynamics of the relationship between the king and the prince. " The trip was not a total loss however father.." The prince led, hoping to change the line of conversation to something more productive. " And how is that.. son.." The king said,
seemingly disgusted by the weak transition in conversation. " I have met the Goddess herself father, and she has gifted me a brand new attunement!" Damascus finished hurriedly, too excited to be affected too heavily by the kings mood. After a brief pause,
" Show me then. And what does it do?" The king said this with begrudging interest despite his dour affectation. The prince rose at once, tearing open his blouse to present the mark the Goddess had given him. " She said that it grants the bearer the ability to manipulate light father. But it is new to the mortal world. I am the first and thus I must discover its abilities myself" Damascus said, hoping his father would share his enthusiasm. He did not. The king drew a deep breath, then let it out in a huff as he began to speak " That seems absolutely worthless. You will focus on your shaping. This kingdom will need a ruler who can fight! The goddess if even it was her, will have to find a different test subject. You are MY son, and Valias prince. Your duty to me and our people has always and will always come first." Tyriel proclaimed. As the words sank in, something inside Damascus cracked. His innocent, childish belief that his father knows best. That his father has his best interests at heart. Despite years of proof to the contrary the prince had held to these beliefs. He had hoped that his father meant well.. That he wasnt just destructive and cruel.. But this? This was too far.
A gift from the goddess. THE GODDESS, and my father still cannot allow me one modicum of control over my own life? No. I cannot live like this any longer. This is not my destiny. I will abide the goddess' whim of my own accord then. And thus the prince began plotting. It was only 2 weeks until the academy opened their gates to the new students after all, and Damascus had always been intrigued by the idea of going to school. What a perfect opportunity.. That which this new plan provided. Over the next two weeks Damascus had a laundry list of activities to complete. First, he had to beg one of the resident nobles with a proclivity for 'less than legal' activities in the palace to assist him in falsifying documents, so that he could ammend his name. Then he had to organize the paperwork, review his plan for flaws, and pack, all the while maintaining appearances so as not to raise any alarms. After all was said and done, the last thing Damascus needed to do was the most difficult. Speaking to Lord Teft. The prince knew it was solely this facet of the plan that would make or break him.
He had thought that convincing Lord Teft to aid and abet his daring escape would be difficult, that proved not to be the case by any means.
" My my finally a hint of rebellion from the perfect prince.." Lord Teft mused. " Whats your plan then master valiano? Escape to military school? Train at a quartz level for two years? Dawdle about in the military for a few more? then what? die in blazing eternal glory so as to avoid meeting your father again?" Tefts sarcasm was tacitly noted by the nervous young prince before him. He had dreaded this confrontation since the birth of his plan and now that it was coming to pass it was going exactly as he'd expected. Poorly. " Lord teft.. My father will not allow me to train anything other than my shaping! I am an enchanter! and moreover, I have a duty to the Goddess above, to decrypt and interpret this new attunement. I cannot turn away this responsibility. Will you help me? or will you not." It was a bold play and the prince knew it, but Teft had left him no option other than robust indignation. It was, it seemed, the right play. " hmm..." Teft considered. " Yes." baffled, Damascus replied " yes... what?" " Yes.." Teft drew out the word to emphasize his disdain for having to elaborate " I will help you." " Your cause is noble, and besides, who am I? to stand in the way of the goddess' will. I will look forward to seeing your advancements in this new field of study." Damascus would have jumped with joy, if he hadn't been so shocked. His plan would come to full fruition. 'Perhaps teft is better than I realized..' he thought as a grin began to spread from his left ear clean over to the right, only to be halted by a stiff finger wagged in his face, belonging to Lord Teft. " Make no mistake boy... If your cover is blown you are on your own. I will not take the fall for this. As of right now this conversation never took place. I know nothing of your plan. I know nothing of you. What even is your cover name? Do you have one? How will you get to the academy?" Teft rattled off,
shooting questions faster than Damascus could follow. " Uhm.. a 'confidential' ally helped me forge my judgement paperwork..? My name will be Damascus Cane." " Good." Teft replied simply. " I suggest you get your affairs in order. I will arange things at the school to ease your transition. From this point forward, do not expect preferential treatment from me boy. We no longer know each other, and you shall act accordingly." Damascus nodded sagely, overwhelmed with gratitude. " I acknowledge and accept your conditions Lord Teft. Thank you." " You wont be thanking me when you get to school I assure you of this.." Teft replied ominously. The three days following the encounter with Teft were a whirlwind of preparations and nerves. Finally all that was left was to dawn a large over coat, a large backpack filled with some meager supplies, a giant bag of gold, and his trusty sword and shamble off to the train station at the quickest nonchalant pace he could muster.
Chapter 2 The house of Cane
As he vacated the train station, Damascus noted several people glancing sideways at him, one girl in particular staring outright. He quickly remembered to dampen his shroud, seeing as he was supposed to be a newly attuned first year student, not a seasoned citrine leve mage.
Nothing would give him away faster than glowing yellow to anyone that happened to be checking. Shrouds worked as a subconcious natural defense. Mana essentially leaked out of anyone more powerful than quartz, and the color corresponded to the persons mana concentration values. Quartz mages had so little mana that it was all contained within that persons body. Damascus noted that most, if not all of the people surrounding him were not yet capable of checking for shrouds but it still made him uncomfortable. 'Perhaps they were admiring my good looks?' the prince thought. It wasnt vanity that led this belief, but history and references. While his father was short, stout, wrinkled, and liver spotted in his old age, his mother had been a beauty to rival the goddess herself. He inherited most everything of his anatomy from her, though in his good fortune Damascus also got his fathers one redeemable trait. His hair waved and curled like golden water cresting on a beach, exactly like the kings.
From what the prince understood, this rare genetic anomoly appealed to most people though he couldnt understand why. It was just so unruly ALL the time. After a moment Damascus pushed his thoughts elsewhere. Dwelling too long on his mother always had undesirable effects on his mood. As he walked he took in the crowd around him. 'Wow.. I've never seen so many people in one place before. Incredible.'
As he continued on, he thought that he'd caught the girl who had been staring at him stealing another glance but she quickly evaporated into the crowd. 'I'll definitely have to be more on my toes from now on.. I cannot afford stupid mistakes' the prince inwardly berated. Once the crowd surrounding him slowed to a halt, Damascus rose from his introspect again to take stock. He stood in a field just outside of the general campus,
amongst several thousand others, patiently gazing up to the makeshift stone daise where several instructors stood. A surly man in pristine military garb paced forward toward the podium and began to speak, his voice magically amplified to reach all the students in attendance. " New students! welcome!"
Only after his opening words did Damascus notice the jagged scar crisscrossing the mans forehead. 'He must be the commander I read about' the prince thought." I am Lieutenant Commander Jack Bennet.." 'ten points to house Cane..' " ..the vice chancellor of this institution. First, I would like to formally congratulate all of you on reaching this point. You've shown a degree of worth in the eyes of the goddess to make it this far, but your training is just beginning. I'll be keeping a close eye on you throughout the years to come, helping to hone you into the fine generation of soldiers that you have the potential to become. The final arbiter of your success, however, is the chancellor." Bennet said as he turned toward chancellor Wallace. Every aspect of his speech had been carefully manicured, all the way down to his hand gestures and facial expressions. 'He must give that exact speech every year..' Damascus thought as he turned his attention toward the woman who was now speaking. " .. and thank you Commander Bennet". She said,
smiling genially in the direction of the crowd. " As the Commander has just said, the goddess has seen potential in all of you, and as such it is our duty here to cultivate that potential and help it and you to grow. Now, before we continue let us say a few words in her praise.
Please join me in the hymn of accord." Damascus heard several others in his vicinity sigh exasperatedly, at the mentioning of the hymn.
'I wonder if this is common practice in public schools? hmm' he pondered to himself as he bowed his head.
goddess great,
goddess high,
watching from the distant sky,
give us peace,
give us strength,
watch us live,
watch us fly.
The new students intoned, off key and without any semblance of rythm. 'hah," watching from the distant sky." As if I should be so lucky'
Damascus said under his breath. " Very good. Now more about the school. The role of this university is to prepare you for the dangers you will be facing in the future. A key component of this is learning proper discipline" Wallace recited, showing signs of rehearsal as well. Chancellor Wallace made a sweeping gesture to the crowd indicating all of the students were her subject matter " This year, I am not only welcoming the next generation of promising candidates from our own nation,
but a number of transfer students from our friends and allies in other nations. I would like to be among the first to welcome you all to Valia. And I would also like to assure you that this academy holds all students to equal standards; there will be no favoritism toward local students. Now, our local students, I invite you to remember that these exchange students are our HONORED guests, and they shall be treated with the utmost civility. Actions taken against other students based on their home nation will not be tolerated. Outright hostility toward our guests will result in punishment, up to and including expulsion. I would like to make absolutely certain this is clear. If you understand me, reply 'yes, ma'am'" .
The students, somewhat surprised from the confrontational and threatening words, replied immediately, though poorly with a chorus of out of sync 'yes, ma'am' s. 'huh. I suppose the " utmost civility" afforded to the guests here is not frequently honored.'
damascus considered. 'It's probably got to do with that Edrian kid who got beat up a few years ago. I'm no overt nationalist but i'm also not stupid. Why would you badmouth the country your a guest in.. to its hosts?' " Good. There are a number of other rules at this university, each intended to help improve your discipline for your future career.
You will find a full list of academy policies among your entry paperwork." Chancellor wallace said, pausing and continuing again " As this is your first year at Lorian Heights, each of you will be assigned to one of six divisions based on your attunement.
Your division will determine the types of training and instruction you'll be given, as well as your primary instructor and uniform".
'Phoenix division for me.' Damascus said quietly, though not quietly enough to not have been heard by a few of the closer students. This he knew with certainty as it was part of his master escape plan. Two of his three attunements he could easily hide.
Damascus was rarely without a shirt and he currently wore a glove bearing the mark of house Cane on his right hand, as was tradition for nobles. But his Enchanter attunement was inescapable from public eye and thus, he would fall in with Phoenix division as an apprentice of the arcane arts. It rather suited the prince in fact, because he was desperately interested in learning to weild his first attunement. Sure he had practiced and studied when he could, but the king for all intents and purposes near literally tied Damascus' left hand behind his back. It especially reflected in his mana levels. His right hand mana was exponentially higher than his left. Even his mental mana was higher and he didnt even have an attunement there. This was a problem Damascus emphatically looked forward to fixing.
" Each division will have objectives throughout the year. Completing these objectives will earn points, both for individuals and for their divisions. Each student has a minimum requirement to earn five hundred points to continue to the second year at the academy." Wallace continued. " Candidates will enter their second year retaining their scores from the first year, and graduates with high scores will enter their military service at a higher rank. A large part of your score is derived from the performance of your division, and thus, it behooves you to work together with your classmates."
Chancellor Wallace ushered over a clean cut looking man in a suit with a graying beard and salt and pepper hair. He obliged by stepping up to the edge of the stage and shouting to the crowd (quite unnecessarily as it were, since the voice projection spell seemed to be of the area of effect variety) " TIGER DIVI.." students and instructors alike visibly cringed and shriveled at the volume. He began again much quieter " Tiger division specializes in offensive combat. Students with the Elementalist attunement will be assigned to me. I am Professor Ceridan and I will be your supervisor." He said, chagrined as he turned to walk back to his spot in line. Chancellor Wallace eyed him dubiously until he was back in place. " No wonder he's the supervisor of offensive combat attunements." A pretty red headed girl snickered to her friend next to Damascus, " His voice alone should classify as offensive combat" Chancellor Wallace waved over a professional, hawkish looking woman in a black suit with straight black, shoulder length hair next. Clearly hoping to avoid any more faux pas, Wallace spoke on this instructors behalf " Professor Orden will be supervising Serpent Division, which specializes in reconnaissance. Students with the shadow and diviner attunements will report to her." With a curt nod, Professor Order turned and walked back to her place. Chancellor Wallace next pointed to a remarkably familiar man in an ostentatious purple suit. He had short shorn black hair, an immaculately kempt goatee, and piercing grey eyes. Complete with matching tophat and a very outdated style dueling cane. " Students with the shaper attunement will report to Lord Teft and focus their studies on personal combat. He oversees Hydra Division." Though Damascus was afloat in a sea of people, Lord Teft immediately honed in on the princes face and blatantly winked. 'Resh it all hes gonna blow my cover all on his own with pizzazz.' Damascus thought, withering into the crowd. By this point a good number of students had been sorted already and were buzzing amongst one another discussing their assignments. Tuning out the drone of a few thousand whispers, Chancellor wallace carried on, " Phoenix division-
'ding ding we have a winner' whispered damascus " - provides valuable support both on and off the battlefield. Students with the mender and enchanter attunements will report to Professor Edlyn." damascus smirked as others around him groaned and teased. 'Knowledge is knowledge' damascus mused, 'be grateful you have an attunement at all. Besides, Enchanters make SERIOUS money when they get more experienced.' the prince argued to himself while Chancellor Wallace pointed out the supervisor of Tortoise division. He was another military man, though he was much skinnier and his uniform wasnt quite the same as the Vice Chancellors.
" Lieutenant Talon will oversee Tortoise division", the Chancellor said, " Tortoise Division focuses on defensive combat and battlefield control. Summoners and guardians will report to this division." Wallace closed, finishing up introductions. " transfer students with attunements from the other towers will be assigned an appropriate division for their specialization. For example,
Soulblades will be assigned to Tortoise Division due to sharing similar combat capabilities as summoners." 'oh if only they knew...'
" And finally, there is Spider Division. You already know if you're in Spider division. As the name implies, Spider Division is infiltrators and saboteurs, and thats exactly what they'll be doing within all of your other divisions." This was not welcomed news to the students, including Damascus who had not known there was such a thing as Spider Division. 'If we have people deliberately trying to sabotauge i'll be ruined within the month.' Damascus' good mood took a violent flair south as he debated his innevitable ousting. 'It will probably be public too.. Resh reshing resh. Thanks for the warning Teft.' the prince thought.. " Listen closely!" Wallace nearly shouted to reattain the crowds attention, as the students quieted, she continued " This is one of the most important parts of your first year of training. Each of you will have specific opportunities throughout the year to report someone you believe to belong to Spider Division and any supporting evidence."
" Correctly identifying an individual Spider can yield a reward of up to one hundred points. However, if your entire division fails to identify even a single member of Spider Division by the end of the year, each division member will lose two hundered and fifty points. And incorrectly identifying someone as a Spider will result in a loss of up to one hundred points."
Damascus pondered the implications of this turn of events. 'Falsified documents? Sure. They were good enough for the school they'll be good enough for any would-be spies. Surprisingly adept abilities, less easy to explain or to hide.. Perhaps i'll have to start a 'child prodigy' routine to get away with it but I'm not the worst actor in the world. Hiding my two additional attunements for the rest of the year and the accompanying schedule whilst avoiding intentionally prying eyes? This will be harder than I thought... '
" People for Spider Division were selected from all possible attunements, and thus, you cannot identify them that way. Attempting to discover the spies in your midst should be a valuable exercise." Chancellor Wallace folded her hands on the podium, smiling smugly to herself, clearly delighting in our dismay. " Now im sure you all want to meet your classmates. Thus, we'll be concluding this ceremony. You will find your schedules within your orientation packets, but you'll need to head to the dispensary to pick up your uniforms and shield sigils. Good luck! and keep your eyes wide open."
Damascus was already on the move. He was very eager to get to the comfort of his own room. Lord Teft had hand delivered His room key, since receiving it in the mail would have been too conspicuous. On his way to phoenix male bldg #6 however, he got swept into an arm around the neck embrace by another boy twice his size. This particular boy had a bright sky blue elementalist mark on his forehead, freckles all across the bridge of his nose, hazel eyes that bore a hint of blue around the iris of his left eye. He had a scar on his upper lip, presumably from a mild sword incursion or a fall.
he had a glove on his right hand that Damascus didnt recognize, but still indicated that his captor was a noble.
After thoroughly cataloguing the minute blemishes of this boys face, something more comical became evident.
The boys face was contorting from laughing carelesness to shock, mortification, and apology very slowly before the princes eyes. Come to notice it.. Everything was moving incredibly slowly. All this detail, Damascus took in, a fraction of a second after being acosted. It was almost like the world had slowed to a near standstill. What was happening? As soon as Damascus noticed it, everything wound back up to regular speed, except for his frame of mind.
As the other boy released the headlock, Damascus was reeling. 'Was that my light attunement?' he wondered. " Hey, I'm really sorry about that.. I thought you were somebody else. My name is William Vance, I'm an Elementalist." Damascus, still in a daze replied " No worries.. uhh my name is Damascus ..." " Damascus valherberda..?" William said.. confusion now the dominant expression on his face. " No sorry.. Damascus Cane. Sorry my head was still spinning there. Thanks for that". Damascus said it meaning for it to come out more harsh, however all he managed was halfhearted sarcasm. " Ha!" William laughed with uncomfortable jubilance and continued on " Well hey do you know your way around yet? Let me make it up to you." " Urm no thanks William. I was actually about to head to my room.." " Nonsense! you've got to get your uniforms at least before they're out of your size! Come on i'll show you there! " William said as he grabbed the prince by the shoulders and forced him onward toward the dispensary. 'Apparantly I have a new friend' Damascus thought angrily. But as he processed this, his anger warped into something more akin to pleasure. 'I have a friend' he thought while fighting a losing battle with a dopey smile. While William and Damascus stood in line, the prince's new friend regaled him with his life story. Everything from the origin of the name Vance all the way up to his sisters weird taxidermy collections.
Some other students threw disgruntled looks over their shoulders toward the pair when he got into the grittier details of taxidermy but Damascus loved it. The prince had had plenty of acquaintences before. Father liked to force him to play games and socialize with his house guests' children when he was younger, but those kinds of relationships never ammounted to anything. Other than that he'd had a small army of prospective retainers, but when you're striving to be a retainer for a royal family member, you're more professional than you are friendly. Damascus had known many people,
He'd even gotten on relatively lighthearted terms with some of his tower chaparones. But he had never had a friend.
" What about you? Where does Cane come from?" William asked. Woefully unprepared for having friends, Damascus had not thought that deeply into his characters backstory. So when presented with a fight or flight situation, he said the first thing that popped into his head. " My uh great great.. great grandfather invented the dueling cane.." the prince supplied unconvincingly. Completely unaware of the deception however, William replied with exuberance in what Damascus was quickly realizing was his default setting, " WHoa! Your family must be rich then! Jeeze I wish MY great great great grandfather was that cool!" The prince smiled in spite of himself, feeling sad that he had to lie, and worse that it was to such an easy and kind target. But anyone finding out was game over, and thus,
Damascus doubled down. " Yeah, Thats how we became nobles. You might hear about him in history class." 'Resh just a little bit too far.. take it back take it back! " Or maybe not. It wasnt actually all that notable." 'nice'
" Well I dont think so. Dueling is my favorite pastime. I've been practicing for most of my life! I really wanted to be a shaper but goddess knows best I guess." William said this with a casual swish of his hand to reference his elementalist attunement on his forehead. " Yeah well your better off than I am.." Damascus replied with a pointed gesture toward the backside of his left hand.
" Oh you didnt tell me you were an enchanter! I suppose I should have seen it before anyway though." William slapped his forehead in playful irritation. As the boys chattered on, they reached the front of the line and got beckoned over to a table where what looked like a second year student sat, clearly taxed from the hundereds of students he'd already encountered earlier that morning. " You, stay here. You, come with me." He said, first indicating William, then grabbing Damascus and pulling him into the fitting room behind the desk. After taking his measurements, he pulled a wrinkled piece of paper from his pocket and began to read in monotone " You are a size medium. All uniforms are white, with colored accents. What division are you in?" " Phoenix." Damascus replied quickly. " Your accents will be red then.
You are about to receive two uniforms. You need to wear them during all classes and tests yada yada yada.." The student improvised,
very much done with the monotony " Civilian clothes authorized during other activities yada yada yada.." Now reading down the list like the example speech was providing talking points rather than quotations, " keep uniform clean.. point out cleaning facilities on mappp..." He went over to a cabinet and withdrew two uniforms from one drawer near the middle and a pin from the top, tossing them unceremoniously into Damascus' unready arms. " Tada. The pin is your shield sigil. You've gotta wear it to all your classes. Trust me, this will be your best friend. Dont. Forget it. Ever... Its relatively basic but its good for handling the occasional accident. Seriously though.. Its mandatory to wear it. I learned that lesson the hard way." The student shuddered slightly in rememberance of what was presumably a very bad day. He then tore open the curtain and loudly said to William " You catch all that Red?" " Uh, yes sir?" William said, looking afronted by the new nickname. " Dont call me sir. Phoenix kid, leave, Red, come get measured." As they shuffled past each other, Damascus caught William in the eye and shrugged trying to communicate through his expression, " sorry. What can you do?" William quirked an eyebrow and grunted in response. As he waited, Damascus looked over his new pin. It was silver, with a school insignia engraved on its face, about the size of a coin. Williams measurements went significantly quicker since he got to skip the lackluster speech. When they were done the pair shambled off in the direction of the dormatories. " I hate that name." William said with a darker expression on his face than Damascus thought possible. " Pay no mind william. Would it be better if I called you 'Blue'?" " Heh. No actually it wouldnt." The prince was glad to see his new friends spirits lift at his teasing.
" How about Will?" He continued. " Yeah Will's fine. My friends call me Will anyway." Damascus smiled at the finalization of his new friendship. They parted ways at the fork between the Phoenix buildings and the Tiger dorms and Damascus picked up his pace,
The eagerness to be alone swallowing him again. When he turned the key and pushed in the door, He thought there must have been a mistake. 'No.. Teft definitely said room 36.. and the key worked so it must be the right room.. Although it wouldnt be uncharacteristic of him to play a practical joke..' Damascus considered as he took in the room. " This place is tiny! How am I supposed to live in a broom closet?!" The prince said aloud, garnering the attention of another student as he was passing by. " Hah yeah these are aweful huh? Yknow if you rank in the top 50 of the Phoenix kids they move you into a slightly bigger room." The passerby said to Damascus. He looked older than the average first year student, Damascus noted as he turned his attention toward him. " Ranks?" The prince asked, keeping it short so as to not take out his temper on this helpful stranger. " Oh yeah you're new I forgot. Yes, all the students are ranked based on their points, and the top 50 Phoenix kids get into the better dorms. Some kind of incentive system the school thought up to make us work harder. I think the Tortoise dorms have more spots open but theres more of those students than us so.." He shrugged to indicate this matter was of no importance to him. Damascus turned back toward his room and nodded slowly in acknowledgment of that last statement, " Well this will have to happen much sooner rather than later.." " Good!" The stranger said happily " I'm glad to see the system works. Anyways, if this is your room that means I'm your resident advisor. Its nice to meet you, the names Nick." Nick offered a hand to Damascus, clasping him on the wrist. " It's nice to meet you Nick. I'm Damascus. Unfortunately you and I wont know each other long. I'll be moving shortly." Damascus replied wryly. " Moving? Oh into the nicer rooms. Gotcha. Well hey while I've got you here, I'm hosting introductions on the grass outside at 1300 for all new students. Its not mandatory but you should try to meet some of your new companions. I'll also be explaining some of the dynamics of the school." Nick replied, unphased by the princes attitude. " Thanks for the invite Nick. I think I'll be there." He didnt think he would be there. With the conversation clearly finished, Nick nodded and carried on down the hall, uniform bag and trunk cast haphazardly over his shoulder. Damascus shimmied through the doorway and dropped his bag on the trunk at the foot of his bed. He also unclasped his sword from his belt and leaned it against the tiny desk in the corner. The room had no windows, blank white walls, and a bed the size of a cot, covered in pristine white linens. The remaining space that wasnt taken up by the bed and desk held a small dresser made of cheap mahogany with 4 drawers. Bitterly, Damascus began loading the dresser with his clothes and organized his other items in the trunk, disgruntled by how much space was left inside it. His bedroom in the palace could easily have fit 13 of his new rooms inside it, with enough space left over for a kitcken and maybe a lounge. When he was done he sat on his bed and sighed heavily,
reliving the events of the morning. 'Well im here. I made it out without a hitch, picked up my school things, and even made a friend in the process. I suppose you could classify today as a success.' Damascus reflected. Feeling unproductive, the prince shifted over and grabbed his welcome package off the desk and flipped through it quickly. Damascus had an uncanny ability to remember virtually everything he read virbatum. His style of studying wasnt to read each page all the way through, but to scan each page and think back on it later. While he scanned, Domascus found an entry in the rules that caught his attention, immediately derailing his process. " Room alterations" it was titled.. " Minor alterations may be made to an individuals dorm room, so long as it does not cause damage to school property, and can be changed back prior to graduation." 'Thats all it says about alterations? That may be just vague enough to work with.." Damascus ruminated, the beginnings of a plan forming in his mind. Excited now,
He quickly grabbed his notebook and fountain pen out of his trunk and flipped his bag over to view the runes stitched into the bottom. His bag had been enchanted to be larger on the inside than conventional physics allowed. In Damascus' scant studies, he'd discovered that enchantments were really just runes etched, drawn, or stitched in the proper order to achieve a desired effect. The prince greatly desired this effect for his room. After transcribing the runes from the bag to his notebook, he tore out the page and practically ran out the door, headed for the library. He made it up the hall, down the stairs, and out of the lobby completely unscathed, but encountered a problem upon exiting. It was 1300 and all of the other new students along with Nick were right outside the door. Swearing under his breath, Damascus tried as quietly as possible to sneak away from the group by hiding behind the bushes against the wall of the building. Nick apparantly had the eyes of an eagle. " Damascus! glad you decided to join us! come on over!" Nick shouted, unreservedly pointing the entire crowds attention toward the prince. 'Reshing resident advisor. Reshing new students. Goddess why?' Damascus muttered to himself as he walked over to the group. He had been hoping to avoid this encounter for a few reasons. Firstly, he didnt really like Nick all that much. He was too effortlessly upbeat and his nonchalance bothered him. More importantly,
Meeting more people meant hiding his secret from more people, and who knows? Perhaps the spider of Phoenix division was staring at him right now, trying to derrive his secrets from his expressions and mannerisms? As Damascus entered the crowd, Nick seemed to be finishing up his own personal introduction and he was beckoning Damascus on to approach him. The prince dutifuly cut through the crowd and stood at Nicks side, turning to the crowd. " ..that out of the way, we're going to be going around the whole group introducing ourselves. Starting with my friend Damascus here." Nick said, turning toward the prince and whispering, " Just give your name, attunement, and if you're feeling friendly,
where your from." Damascus nodded, hoping his scorn was evident in his gaze. With a resigned breath, he turned back toward the students and spoke " Hello everyone. I am Damascus Cane. I'm an Enchanter-" He held up his left hand, attunement on display, " - Im from uptown Valia, near the palace." 'All in all, true in essence' Damascus thought. A few students said hello back, then Damascus looked to his left at the next boy in line. He introduced himself in the same manner, passing off to the student on his left and so on, going all the way around the group. Out of the sixty students allocated to Phoenix male bldg#6, only thirty three were present. 'Good' Damascus thought. The less the better.
After the last student had introduced himself, Nick took up the reigns again. " So, now that we've all met, you should start thinking about who you want to team up with later in the year. For the tests, you will be in groups of six. Studying is the key to succe.. Yes what is your question?" Nick ammicably allowed the student with his hand raised to interupt him, since he looked like he might wet himself if he didnt get to speak. " What tests are you talking about?" Though to Damascus it seemed a dumb question, he saw several other students nod their heads in assent, equally confused by the vague reference made by their resident advisor. 'haven't you people read your welcome packages yet..?' " Ah good question. There will be three tests throughout the year simulating tower excursions. At the end of the year, should you last that long,
you will form groups of five and go on an actual trip through the tower. One of your teachers will chaperone this final test to ensure most of you survive." Nick said this with a grin, knowing that he'd just scared the living resh out of all of them. All but one that is. " They expect first years to go through the tower?!" One kid said turning a horrified stare to his neighbor. Several shouts of the same nature wafted through the air as the resident advisor tried to calm them. " Now now now, its not as aweful as it sounds and despite it being the actual tower its very safe.
The simulations are not in the tower, and are closely monitored by teachers and healers alike. These tests WILL be difficult though and as I was saying earlier, studying is the key to success! Healers, I know that you are more of the practical application variety, so it would 'behoove you' (Nick mockingly said this, mimicking the chancellor) to find collateral duties around campus or possibly to get a part time job at the survival match theatre to practice, yes go ahead" Again Nick gestured to a boy with his hand up, indicating that he had a question " Whats a survival match?
And wheres the theatre?" " Another good question. A survival match is.. well its sort of involved. But the jist of it is that fighters enter an arena cut off into 5 sections. Each section contains monsters and the fighters, well, they fight the monsters. Usually these matches will go until the fighter quits, is knocked out of the ring, or is too badly injured to go on. Or of course they can go until the summoners run out of mana. The latter is less common but it happens. Either way its good practice for a healer and they're always looking for part timers. And you get paid. Its a pretty good deal all things considered." Nick took in a breath and continued " Now the second question, the local theatre is just outside campus, by the shopping center. You take a right after passing 'The Climbers Court' and go on until you see the signs. You cant miss it." " Now, if there arent any other questions...?" Nick paused, waiting for someone to interrupt again. When none did he continued on " I've got a date with Destiny. Literally, theres this guardian named Destiny and she finally agreed to let me take her out so I have to leave now. If you have questions or problems in the future, my room is number twenty one. first door on the left of the second floor. Good luck everyone!" As soon as Nick turned to leave the crowd broke into a cacophony of distressed complaints about the harsh adversities of life. Damascus didnt hear one bit of it however because he had left for the library halfway through Nicks explanation of where to find the theatre.
Chapter 3 awakening