“What are you, a magic 8 ball? What do you mean the future’s clouded?” Fiona practically screamed at Jenna.

  “Shhh,” the rest of the group shushed her.

  “It doesn’t necessarily mean we should panic,” Jenna reasoned calmly. “It’s just… never happened to me before.”

  Fiona scoffed, “I’ve heard that excuse a few times already. And guess what? Things don’t get better from here.”

  “Is all of the future gone?” Nate inquired with a frown.

  “It’s not gone. More like driving through a really thick fog. I can see a little bit ahead still, but it’s really hard to tell which way the road goes.”

  “Or if there’s a deer waiting to jump out in front of you?” Fiona asked pointedly.

  Jenna frowned, but nodded her head. “Or that.”

  “Well- we should tell someone, right?” Nate looked around his group. “This sounds pretty important.”

  “I have Intermediate Control coming up. I could ask my professor. She’s an Oracle- maybe I’m missing something,” Jenna proposed with a tinge of hope in her voice.

  “Worth a shot,” Nate shrugged.

  “Wait a second,” Huck frowned with open confusion apparent in his expression. “I thought you said you were in Intermediate Conditioning with me?”

  “She is,” Nate answered for Jenna as she closed her eyes and focused. “And my guess is things are about to get a lot more confusing.”

  Huck frowned, his eyes silently requesting Nate to explain further.

  Nate obliged. “Normally she sees the future. Right now, she’s looking at a future that could have been; one where she took Intermediate Control instead of Intermediate Conditioning.”

  “What,” Fiona and Huck demanded simultaneously.

  Nate frowned, suddenly very unsure of himself. “Uhm. Time is… like a river and there’s fate, but not really, but also yes-”

  “You can just say ‘Oracle bullshit’,” Huck huffed. “We don’t need a working universal theory.”

  “Oh. Then, yes. That.”

  “Her Trait is too strong,” Fiona scoffed jealously.

  “Not that great. Oracles have a pretty big weakness,” Huck gave a conciliatory shrug. “You’ll see what I mean before today is over.”

  “Guys, we really ought to pick our base locations,” Mi chimed in, breaking up the weird headspace the group had managed to work themselves into. “I’ll pick St. Louis, but someone else better take Memphis if we want this to work out.”

  “St. Louis?’ Huck questioned with astonishment. “St. Louis is nothing but rubble and roaming demons. That’s got to be a risk factor V area, isn’t it?”

  “Opportunity V also,” Mi nodded.

  Nate pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, “Didn’t we just say we’re not doing anything above a risk III?”

  “I’m taking it,” Mi stated simply.

  “Well… New Orleans is right where the river meets the ocean.” Fiona let out a contemplative grin as the gears in her mind turned. “I wouldn’t mind setting my base there. Food, culture, Mardi Gras, what’s not to like?”

  “Vicksburg, Mississippi looks like a decent half-way point between Memphis and New Orleans,” Huck reasoned, but frowned upon consulting the chart. “Risk factor Tier I, opportunity factor Tier I. I’m not gonna sit on my ass and do nothing out in the middle of nowhere. I’m taking Memphis. You can have Vicksburg,” Huck gave Nate a good-natured grin.

  “Okay, I’ll take Vicksburg. And I think Jenna should get Davenport right outside of Chicago,” Nate decided with finality. “As the Northernmost base, she’ll be able to send any important warnings, instructions, or messages to the rest of us downstream- assuming we want her to be the acting Battalion Commander?”

  “Yeah,” Huck nodded. “Seems the appropriate choice.”

  “Can’t argue with future vision,” Mi agreed.

  “I’m a bit worried about her current fog,” Fiona started, “but even with that, I think it makes more tactical sense to send things down a river rather than up. And if our Battalion HQ is right next to Chicago, we should have plenty of protection when the skies shatter.”

  Mi nodded, moving to circle the varying locations on the map, as well as pencil in each name next to their base location before handing everything in. Looking around, Nate noticed Tobi’s group was still going strong debating where their bases should go, while Nico reclined in his chair; his hands clasped behind his head, surrounded by his group scrolling on their study pads apparently finished with their task. Dominique’s group seemed to be in a deep discussion about their plans.

  A soft huff of breath drew Nate’s attention back to his group. Jenna had finished her vision. “Anything?” Nate inquired immediately, already noting the look of disappointment written all over her face.

  “Apparently fog is normal for Oracles and nothing I should be concerned about. Lower tiered Oracles have more fog more often, which is where they tend to get into trouble,” Jenna explained, her eyebrows creased.

  “You don’t believe her?” Nate inquired.

  “Like I said, it’s never happened to me before. The road’s always been clear.”

  “Plus,” Fiona interrupted, “it’s not like that professor really told you anything. You had a vision of a future that didn’t happen so who knows what the woman would actually tell you in real life?”

  Jenna groaned in frustration and Nate could practically see the weight of pressure that sentence had foisted on her shoulders. She’d have to take a real midterm for a class she never actually set foot in a single time and had been coping by convincing herself those visions of an alternate self were reality.

  Nate wanted to reach out a hand and reassure his friend that her upcoming midterm wasn’t anything other than an experiment, but after holding her hand hostage in the previous class, familiar physical contact between them seemed gauche. Instead he caught her eye and tried giving her a look of gentle reassurance to which she flashed a grateful but still forced grin.

  “Hmm, looks like property is very expensive in the city,” Fiona spoke her thoughts out loud. “Certainly puts a damper on my riverfront or beachfront guild hall. Oh! We should think of Guild names! I’ll be the Tigers, of course,” she chuckled and looked around the group.

  “Of course?” Huck questioned how she’d drawn the apparently obvious conclusion.

  Fiona waved a hand absently, “My last name. Tigris.”

  “I guess that makes me the Lions,” Nate gave an amused chuckle. Heh. Lions and Tigers. Oh my.

  “Those names have to be taken already,” Huck rolled his eyes. “No way you can get away with that.”

  “If they are, it’s not like they’re famous. All this is is a tiny school project. Who cares what we call ourselves?” Fiona rebutted. “So how about the rest of you?”

  Huck, Mi, who had just returned from turning in their base locations, and Jenna all gave each other pondering looks.

  “Rat Pack?” Mi shrugged noncommittally.

  Fiona recoiled with disgust, “Rat Pack? Why on earth would you want to call your guild that? Rats are vermin. You may as well call yourselves the cockroaches.”

  Mi gave a contemplative look, “That’s not bad either.”

  Huck shook his head, “Don’t let her get you like that. At least be the Cucarachas or something.”

  “What’s a Cucaracha?” Mi frowned.

  “Same bug, but in Spanish. Adds your own little flair to her insult. Makes it yours,” Huck nodded affirmatively.

  Fiona grinned devilishly at Huck, “And what about you, Mark Twain?”

  “Mark Twain?” Nate frowned, looking to Huck for an answer.

  “My name. Huxley Finnalee. She thinks my parents were really into literature, naming me something so close to Huckleberry Finn.”

  Nate tossed the idea around his head a few times. “It’s not a bad guild name- Huckleberry. Were your parents into literature?”

  “Wouldn’t know,” Huck answered without a hint of emotion.

  “Oh,” Nate frowned, his Reader trait picking up the deep pain hidden in those two words immediately. “Sorry.”

  “Everyone always is,” Huck shrugged. “Doesn’t change what happened. Huckleberry…” Huck tasted the name on his tongue for a moment. “I can go with that one. That leaves Mi and Jenna.”

  Mi shook his head, “No, I’m good with Cucarachas.”

  “Right,” Fiona counted off, “so we’ve got the Lions, the Tigers, the Cucarachas, the Huckleberries and…” all eyes turned toward Jenna.

  She frowned as she thought, rolling her fingers across the desk. “Maybe I’ll just be the Illuminati.”

  Nate let out a burst of a laugh before he caught himself, covering his mouth embarrassedly. Despite his efforts, he still couldn’t suppress the wave of chuckles rolling through his chest as his team drilled him with inquisitive looks. “Sorry,” Nate shook his head. “It’s just: we’ve got Lions, Tigers, and the ‘Oh my’ is certainly covered between Mi and Jenna. Huck, you sure you don’t want to be the Bears to round things out? We could call our Battalion The G.A.P. as in The Great And Powerful, but also because we span the entirety of the Mississippi.”

  Fiona gave an amused chuckle. “I feel like that name would be copyrighted on a few different levels.”

  “Hold on,” Huck cut the notion short with a chop of his hand, “I’m not going around calling myself a bear. No. Huckleberry is fine.”

  “Hucklebeary?” Jenna offered with a sly grin as everyone groaned and laughed.

  “Perfect!” Nate wheezed out between belly chuckles.

  Jenna looked around the circle for confirmation, “All for the Coalition of the Great And Powerful?”

  “Are Battalions supposed to be a democracy?” Fiona chided, grinning.

  Jenna considered her words for a moment. “As much as you might trust me, I don’t think I’m qualified to make unilateral decisions like that. Maybe I get two votes as acting BC? That way at least two others have to agree with me.”

  “What about ties?” Huck pointed out. “You plus one other would always equal the rest of us three.”

  “Coin flip?” Mi offered.

  “Debate,” Jenna and Fiona countered immediately. Jenna picked up the explanation, “First off, we shouldn’t be leaving decisions to chance. Secondly, there’s no way I wouldn’t already know the outcome of any coin flip or dice roll or even you hiding a number behind your back before it happens. Thirdly, if we disagree on a decision, we should each be able to offer our insights and concerns to each other and see what issues we’re not seeing. I’m all for making concessions where applicable.”

  And with that unilateral decision and only one supporter, the decision for how to solve disagreements was settled without debate or concession. Nate did his best to ignore that little thorn of irony.

  “We should probably work on setting foundations,” Fiona suggested. “Either buy an unused warehouse and refurbish it, or start breaking ground for construction.”

  Nate whipped out his study pad and began flipping through various lots for sale in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Time flew by as he counted up various costs and expenditures against his half a million credit loan- an amount that was wildly too much money to handle and simultaneously not nearly enough to get everything he wanted. By the time class had ended, he had barely finished picking out an old shipping dock as a base of operations for a cool 150K. What really had him sweating was the fact that the warehouse and dockyard were basically piles of upright rust, meaning his entire payment was basically toward an empty lot- worse yet, a lot that he’d have to pay to empty before he made another payment for construction to build something habitable. This was going to be a nightmare for him. The only upside so far was that this whole project was theoretical. By the time class ended, he’d spent 350K credits total for construction, leaving him with only a 150K budget for basic furnishings and payroll. With only a Tier I Opportunity for Vicksburg, he was left questioning his decision to set up base in the area. His mind was still racing through income solutions when class ended and lunch began.

  Fortunately, lunch did not have the angry faculty members prowling around and biting everyone’s heels, which reminded Nate to ask Jenna about that.

  Jenna sighed theatrically. “It seems Dean Anderson took Huck’s stairway incident to heart. Apparently us Elite students get it in our heads that we’re somehow better than the regular HPGD students- don’t know how that could have possibly been put into our minds by the way- and Dean Anderson’s solution is to start treating us like the regular HPGD students. Thus, patrolling faculty and marching formations. Also ‘random’ dormitory inspections. Those’ll be biweekly by the way. Don’t slip up and actually call them routine inspections cause faculty will swear up and down that they’re random, but it’s definitely every second Saturday between 10 A.M. and 3 P.M. They’ll also get uppity if you point out their predictability so please don’t.”

  Nate held her gaze for a moment in wonderment. “You know you mean more-”

  “Please don’t make this weird,” Jenna held up a hand to stop him, an amused chuckle escaping her lips. “Yes, I get the point you’re about to try to make, but some things can’t be unsaid. I’ll just say that yes, I know you value me as a person, and part of why I’m okay with sharing so much with you is because I know you aren’t just trying to use me for my Trait and actually like who I am.”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Nate waived the notion away, “I couldn’t have blundered saying it that badly… right?”

  Jenna’s chuckle turned into a laugh. “Let’s just say it’s not one of your finest moments.”

  “Come on-”

  “Nate, please don’t push this issue.”

  “Jenna,” Nate pressed on, emboldened by his defiance as much as he was annoyed that Jenna already had this conversation without him. His lips drew into a smug smirk as he continued after his dramatic pause, “You’re so much more than a friend to me. And I know your Trait is particularly useful-”

  “Blue skies, Nate. Please stop,” her face was already pinker than her eyes and growing more crimson by the heartbeat.

  “And sometimes quite annoying,” Nate continued, voice growing louder and more dramatic as he decided to dig deeper for the sake of embarrassing his friend, drawing ever more eyes in the cafeteria toward the pair of them. “I find myself growing more and more appreciative of the person you are beneath it all. I’m saying this all, not to praise you for what you can do, but because of who you are. You are valued, Jenna Harris, and are due respect-”

  “Bro, this is a super weird proposal,” Huck cut in.

  “A fantastic idea!” Nate cawed in triumph, theatrically getting down on one knee. “Jenna Harris, will you marry me?”

  From beet red to sheet white, Jenna’s face drained of blood like the floor fell out from beneath her. It took a few seconds for Nate to realize she wasn’t moving- or breathing much, for that matter.

  “I… think she passed out,” Nate muttered. “Help me carry her to the nurse’s office?”

  “Fine, but I’m not staying. I’ve got my conditioning elective later today,” Huck harrumphed.

  About an hour later when Jenna finally came to, Nate had been standing by her bedside with his arms folded.

  “Where are we?” she asked hesitantly.

  “Our honeymoon,” Nate’s tone was dry as he carefully examined his fingernails.

  “Nate-”

  “No, don’t start,” he finally looked up at her, staring her down. “I really did mean what I said about you deserving respect as a person and not just for what you can do. That being said- I think you also should be told when you’ve crossed a line. I was kinda up in the air about the whole thing since we met, but today… today kind of changed my perspective a bit. I’m not a fan of you looking ahead at our conversations. Feels like you have the script of the movie that just came out and know every line before it’s said.”

  “That’s not fair-”

  “-Huphuphuphup,” Nate held up a hand to stop her. “What’s not fair is you know what I’m about to say and do and how it’s going to all come out before I do. If we’re going to stay on friendly terms, no more of that. I want our conversations to be authentic for us both, not reruns of your favorite sitcom. I want to see you genuinely react to what I have to say, and I don’t think that’s too much to ask.” He gave her a meaningful look.

  Jenna paused, letting out a low breath of defeat. “What about your Reader Trait then?”

  “I go around actively suppressing my Reader Trait- especially when I interact with people,” Nate gave her a knowing look. “But I don’t have to explain that to you because I already did in the future, didn’t I?”

  Jenna recoiled, but didn’t deny.

  Nate’s voice came out quietly, but far from soft, “How far ahead have you seen of our conversations?”

  “A few days,” she muttered her reply, her voice sounding so dejected it hurt Nate to witness. “The dance.”

  “The dance,” Nate somberly nodded his head. “So you know?”

  Her eyes widened marginally. Slowly, hesitantly, she nodded her head. Her eyes pleaded with him, “We can’t, Nate. It won’t work. Not yet.”

  Nate held her gaze for a while, hurt beyond words at being turned down and trying not to let it show in his eyes. Nothing more was said between them for seconds that extended into its own eternity. Finally, Nate decided to break the silence with a soft scoff. “So what, you were going to let me stew in my emotions for a whole week before turning me down?”

  Jenna broke her gaze, remaining silent.

  Nate looked away from his closest friend, not able to stand seeing her like this. “You’ve seen up to the dance. I think that’s when I’ll feel comfortable enough to pick up our conversations again.” He held up a hand to stop her protest, “I’m not giving you the cold shoulder and I’m not saying I’m going to ignore you or not work with you. You’ve hurt me. And I’ve just hurt you. And I feel like shit for doing it. I think we just need some time to heal our hurts before we talk about meaningful and personal things again. We can still talk about class and projects and our day or whatever. But you seeing my future is just as invasive as if I went around snooping into your past. What we have, whatever it may turn into, needs to be built on trusting one another.”

  “I came as soon as I could,” a lean woman in yoga pants and v-neck t-shirt came into the room. “You said she was complaining of a sort of fog?”

  Nate gave the woman a brief smile. “Yeah. She’s a Tier V Oracle. She said it’s not something she’s experienced before. Could you spare a bit of your time and sit down with her? I’m sure you two have a few things to discuss.”

  “Hey, Professor Kime,” Jenna greeted offhandedly before realizing the professor had no idea who she was.

  “Oh. Are you in my Intermediate Control for Oracles later this afternoon?” Professor Kime asked pleasantly.

  “... No,” Jenna took in a breath before giving Nate a look heavy with mixed emotions. Gratitude seemed to predominate, if barely, as he turned and left the two of them to speak privately.

  A mustachioed and well-bellied man paced the front of the room, eyeing every student as they entered. At precisely 2 P.M. he slammed the door closed and locked it before turning to address the class. “I will not tolerate tardiness. Intermediate courses are for those who are serious in their studies. For those of you who are present, I welcome you to Intermediate Control for Imbuers. You should, by now, have a basic proficiency with every domain. Some blessed few of you may even have a specialization of a few domains. We’ll start today off with a refresher. On your desk is a basic affinity wheel. Go ahead and begin Imbuing.”

  Nate took one glance at the set of intricately connected gears and wheels he hadn’t dared touch, further considered he hadn’t understood half of the professor’s opening statements, and realized this class was perhaps a touch beyond his grasp.

  “Professor, I… think I’ve made a mistake coming here,” Nate stood up and began packing his things.

  “Impossible,” the professor chuffed. “You would not have been able to register if you were not qualified. Let us see who you are,” the stodgy man ambled over to his desk, withdrawing a briefcase from his drawer. From within that briefcase, he withdrew stacks of folders, each with their own stacks of papers within. After thumbing through a few files, his fingers finally stopped. He hemmed. “Nathaniel Lione, is it? A Firstie I see. Parents registered as Peter and Nancy Lione… Reader III and Vanguard II? How very odd. Though perhaps not so odd as to present as an impossibility. Nevertheless. Here you are. Registered as… Tier… Blue skies above, child! You will seat yourself in my class and remain here for as long as there is something to teach you! To the blazing abyss with my planned lecture. Class, today we have a rare opportunity to rebuild your foundations of understanding. Though some of you might find the notion painful, I promise we will move quickly and perhaps cover more detail than you had previously learned. Quickly now, who can tell me what Imbuing actually is?”

  A mousy-looking girl with thick glasses raised her hand from beside Nate. “Like the name of the Trait implies, you Imbue your essence into an item to enhance it. The shape you inlay conforms with one of seven domains, each eliciting various effects from a flaming sword to the classic extra dimensional storage satchel.”

  “You’ve touched upon the crux of it,” the professor nodded. “Listen well, Nathaniel. Here is a list you must memorize quickly: Elemental, Ethereal, Physical, Harmonic, Dimensional, Targeted, and Proliferating. While these aspects do have some overlap with each other, they create the seven domains of Imbuing. I will briefly summarize each domain and its purpose.

  “Elemental Imbuing is perhaps the simplest, yet easiest to discern domains. Simply, it adds an elemental effect to an object. Resisting the effects of heat or cold, creating a wand that sprays fire, or Imbuing lightning into boots to increase running speed may all be considered within the house of the elemental domain. Notably, my latter example would also fall within the house of harmonics, as it increases an aspect of what the user must already be capable of doing.

  “Harmonics, as I just mentioned, does just what I described. Many think of Harmonic Imbuing as ‘attribute enhancements’. These are another of the classic video game examples where one of the characters ability scores is given a boost, such as strength +2. Yes, there are Imbuements that make you stronger, faster, or smarter, just as there are Imbuements to increase what your eye is capable of seeing on its own.

  “Conversely, Ethereal Imbuements have much less concrete results and are far more complex in nature. As such, many skeptics of the craft frequently argue many Imbuements within this domain don’t actually exist. Any Imbuement which claims to enhance luck, or improve thought-flow within a meditative state, or make inspiration come more easily all fall neatly within the ethereal domain. That being said, there are also ethereal domain Imbuements which do have concrete results, such as allowing a user to perceive outside of one’s own body or perceive an area one had not seen before. Delphi of the Lighthouse Guild is even purported to have a scrying orb capable of peering into some yet-undiscovered realm of reality and view activity which she claims correlates with the appearance of Gates.

  “Imbuements of the physical domain can once again be summarized within the domain title. Increasing or decreasing density, durability, toughness, hardness, edge or point sharpness, viscosity, conductivity, or any other number of physical aspects a material can have just barely scratch the surface of this very wide umbrella of a domain.

  “Dimensional Imbuements, on the other hand, is a very narrow domain. It deals with increasing or decreasing size without changing shape and may or may not affect the resulting weight. With a dimensional Imbuement, you may activate it to keep an entire car in your pocket the size and weight of a toy. Dimensional Imbuements may also increase a single aspect of dimension, as Ms. Effelmen mentioned earlier- think a simple backpack with an inside volume equivalent to that of an entire house.

  “The last two domains, some academics would consider sub-domains. Targeted and proliferating are two sides of the same coin. Targeted domains seek to diminish a particular thing, while proliferating Imbuements step-wise increase a particular thing. Imbuing ammunition to deal extra damage to demons would be considered a targeted Imbuement. Likewise, most armor-piercing rounds these days are actually targeted Imbuements which act as a buffer to disintegrate non-biological materials, allowing the ammunition to continue its trajectory unhindered. There’s also, of course, modern camouflage which diminishes your silhouette.

  “Conversely, proliferating Imbuements might multiply a single fired round of ammunition into several. It also might be utilized in armor, reacting upon impact to create several additional layers of protection between the user and the object of impact. Now, why might some academics be inclined to delineate these two as sub-domains? Their argument is simple: these domains cannot act purely on their own. Most proliferation and targeted domain Imbuements act along the material or dimensional axis. In the case of camouflage, that would be the ethereal or dimensional axis, depending upon the individual Imbuer’s specialities.

  Excited enthusiasm spread across the professor’s face and body language as he looked toward Nate. “So you see the complexities that can arise from Imbuing, with each intersected axis determining a varied outcome. Too little Elemental Imbuement on an edge creates nothing but a warm blade- great for butter, less so for efficacious demonic disposal. Too much Elemental Imbuement on the other hand, and you’re left with more fire than blade- again, good for removing overgrown foliage, but lacking in sufficient structural integrity necessary to swing as a blade. I’m sure such ratios will come naturally to you, however. You are a Tier V imbuer, afterall,” he let out a ‘hemhemhem’ sort of sound as a chuckle.

  All at once every head snapped to look at him, eyes wide. The mousy-looking Ms. Effelmen arched an eyebrow before a large grin broke out across her lips. She scooched her desk a little closer. “Hi, I’m Effie,” she introduced herself. “Well, Ashley really, but there are a million Ashelies in my class, so Effie for Effelmen works better. And… I know first semester for Firsties is a bit rough, so if you need any advice on the twists and turns your professors are going to throw your way, I’m here for you.” She gave him a warm smile. “I’m sure we could come to some sort of agreement.”

  The professor gave Nate a knowing smile and a wink. “Alright, alright,” he held up a hand to cut further commotion. “Let us focus once more on our studies. Nathaniel Lione, was it? Would you be so kind as to summarize what you’ve learned thus far?”

  Nate’s eyebrows rose in concern as he felt his cheeks flush from all the personalized attention. “Right. Of course. So there are… five-”

  “Seven,” Effie leaned over and conspiratorially whispered.

  “Well now, let’s not be hasty,” the professor chortled again. “Five is an acceptable answer as well. No doubt he’s building upon the Meta-axis theory proposed by Garnier where Targeted and Proliferation exist along a meta-axis perpendicular to the other five categories. Please continue your esteemed evaluation.”

  Nate could feel the heat radiating from his face. Focus. “Elemental. Dimensional. Uh, Physical. And… um, Harmonic?”

  “Ahhh,” the professor’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Not Garnier, but a student of Loceccis. Brilliantly answered, Mr. Lione. No doubt, the rather unprovable Ethereal Imbuements mean nothing to such a concrete-results-driven man. Allow me to continue enlightening these other students. I’m rather certain your basic Imbuing instructor had barely scratched the surface of how to actually Imbue an item. This item on your desk,” he held up the geared device, “has been primed to accept Imbuements and thus already has essence channels. Normally, Imbued items are not pre-prepared for your Imbuements to settle within the material. We shall cover preparing an item for Imbuements at a later date. For now, I’d like you all to practice forming a fine thread of essence and intent from your cores. Delicately now- very thin threads. Circulate and weave. Hold up the essence threads when you’re ready.”

  I do NOT belong in this class, Nate’s mind whirred over and over. He knew about cores and essence- theoretically; or rather: he knew of them. He’d never used essence- consciously, at least. Or maybe I used it when I Imbued the dormitory, but I didn’t realize I used it? He clenched his jaw in frustration of not knowing the first thing about essence use. The only experience with Traits he had at all was Reading, and it wasn’t like that took any sort of effort, concentration, or essence threading. Heck, Reading took active suppression just for his mind to stay present. Essence is a part of yourself, he told himself, remembering what little he’d read thus far about the subject. You cannot command it, as you serve as both master and servant. Instead, cooperate with it. Agree with yourself that you need to affect something and move to accomplish the task- much like reaching out with your limb. You can shout at and try to command your hand to grab something all you want to no result; instead you must simply do.

  “Right. So it’s like learning to move a new muscle,” Nate muttered to himself.

  Effie scooted closer. “First time?”

  “Yeah,” he sighed in defeat.

  “I can help, if you want. Promise I’ll be gentle with you,” she grinned rather coyly.

  “Um-”

  “Close your eyes,” she ordered without waiting for his approval. Nate stared at her for a moment, but ultimately shrugged and did as she instructed. “Good boy.”

  Nate cringed at her remark. “What the-”

  “Shhh. Focus on your heart beat. Right. Here,” Effie playfully tapped his chest a few times, but let her finger linger on his chest with the final tap. “I can feel it. You’ve got a strong heart there, Mr. Tier V. Picture your heart beating. Pulsing. Throbbing,” she whispered the last word in his ear. “Picture the blood it’s sending all around your body,” she continued her whispering as her finger traced along his chest and down an arm, sending a chill down his back. “Ooh, sensitive,” she whispered again. “I don’t mind that in a man.”

  “Hey, so I’m getting pretty uncomfortable here and I think I should-”

  “Nonsense,” Effie laughed easily. “Don’t worry, we’re almost done. Your core is very similar to your heart. It has its own beat- its own pulse. The only difference is while your heart spasms with coordination, your core dances gracefully in a spiral. Oh, and it’s all… the way… down… here,” she gently traced her finger down Nate’s chest as she spoke, going lower and lower- uncomfortably low- stopping below his navel, her palm hovering just above his groin. If she were half as seductive as she thought she was, she would have felt something.

  The thought caught Nate off guard. Actually, why not? She obviously wants to, and it’s not like Jenna’s gonna change her mind any time soon. Effie’s finger moved in an ever-enlarging spiral, getting closer and closer- Nate’s shoulders slumped. All consideration of Effie fled the moment he even thought about Jenna, let alone Jenna’s reaction to him, what, running wild with other women out of spite? Revenge? Even he’d hate himself forever if he let himself turn into that kind of monster. We really should talk soon. Remembering how he just told her they wouldn’t talk about it until after the dance made him grimace.

  Misinterpreting the whole situation, Effie cooed, “Oh, feeling something already? My, my, you really are Tier V.”

  “Thanks-” Nate grabbed her hand and pushed it away from him reflexively, “-for the lesson.” Even upon mentally deciding against pursuing Effie- or perhaps rather allowing her to continue pursuing him, he wasn’t fully capable of perfectly controlling his body’s reaction. Heat flushed his face as his blood continued to pulse uncomfortably throughout his entire body. “I think this is something I should take care of on my own.”

  “I can help with that too,” Effie shrugged with a playful smile. “I’ll take responsibility for what I did to you.”

  “Not what I meant,” Nate countered, though he could feel his face getting redder.

  “The offer still stands… rather upright,” she winked and bit her lower lip playfully before turning back to her own desk.

  Nate turned back to his desk and focused on the wood grain until he was certain his blood had returned to his brain. He took another moment to focus his thoughts. My core is a spiral. I should be able to feel it pulsate with essence, just like my heart. He focused right where Effie had pointed and felt- nothing. There was no movement, so pulsing, no spirals, not even the faintest whisper of his imagination saying there might be something- it was like trying to feel hunger in his thigh instead of his stomach. An image of Effie’s finger tracing along his thigh flashed through his mind, letting him know he still wasn’t all back yet. Fighting for focus, he shoved the thought aside to concentrate once more on his core. Nothing. No beat, no pulse, no spin.

  Class ended with Nate still puzzling over how to feel his core. Checking the clock, he only had 45 minutes to prepare for his first combatives class. And if Hightower’s warning were remotely accurate, it’d certainly be eventful. That’s the only part of my future I can be certain of. Between Jenna and his sedentary core, his whole life felt upside down.