Hatsune had been furious when he told her about the duel. The Leporine had given him a vicious tongue-lashing the entire way back to Blacksword Manor, only taking brief breaks when other scions came within range to hear her verbally haranguing him. He still marveled at the range of new swear words he had learned on that walk. But, thankfully, she had gotten it all out of her system by the time they had gotten back home. The last thing she had said on the subject, following his efforts at reassuring her that he had a plan, was that he wasn’t the only one who needed to grow stronger. Hatsune had gone on to repeat how, now that she had found one to aim for, she wanted to unlock her class as well. There was something about them both racing against time that made him feel a bit more confident that everything would work out.
Even with the looming potential of a true duel to the death with another scion, one likely to have significantly more experience with it if his reaction to the possibility was anything to judge, Klarion was still feeling alright about the situation he was now in. After all, he had won himself time. That was the entire point of the Noble’s Agreement—time for uninterrupted preparation, a chance to gather materials, attune his Essences, and claim a class powerful enough to survive the duel when it happened.
The moment he spoke the words aloud to Hatsune, it became real. There would be no more chances after this. Either he was strong enough to win when the Festival of the Dawn ended… or he wasn’t, and Chadwick would kill him and, likely, take Hatsune as well.
Klarion exhaled quietly at his desk in Essence Studies, pushing down the anger that he had felt at that last thought. He forced himself to refocus. There was no use dwelling on what he couldn’t change. The deal was made, and the only thing that mattered now was ensuring he would be strong enough to drive his greatsword through that bastard’s chest in the duel when it happened.
Unlocking his class. That was the key.
Klarion leaned back in his seat, fingers idly tapping against the surface of his desk as he waited for Professor Darion Stormcloak to arrive. Around him, the Essence Studies classroom hummed with the low murmur of students settling in, but he barely noticed them as he pulled out the notes he had made last night on the materials he needed to unlock the Valiant Sunlord class.
The class had called to him the moment he’d seen it, a fusion of fire and might, of raw martial prowess tempered by unyielding power. It built upon the strengths he had already started to develop, the skill he was building with the greatsword, and the number of stat points he would be able to invest every level. Unfortunately, securing the unlocking of the class was not quite as simple as simply attaining the Essences he needed and then getting to a specific level to then select it from a list of options. No, according to the primer and what he knew about unlocking classes, he would have to participate in some sort of ritual that required specific materials. Though these catalysts were necessary for unlocking the class, the primer had also said that, as with every class, there were thresholds in terms of what would occur when he received the Valiant Sunlord class.
The two separate lists he was now looking at were to result. Beyond having an Essence of Fire and an Essence of Might, he would, at minimum, need the following materials: the Heart of a Blaze Lion, a Blood-Drenched Blade from an ancient battlefield, and at least six Fire Essence Crystals of small size.
Flipping the page over, he looked at the second list he had made, which was much the same as the first but with the addition of more, varied Essence Crystals. Not having any idea as of yet how difficult Essence Crystals would be to obtain, he was somewhat hesitant to commit to the longer list of materials. That being said, he did not want to risk underestimating Chadwick. He had been a noble scion his entire life, with all the expectations and the training that likely involved. When Chadwick learned that he had unlocked a class, he expected him to push out the date of their duel long enough to give him the time to unlock his own class. It was what he would do if he were to find himself in Chadwick’s shoes after the Festival of the Dawn ended. With that being the case, Klarion knew he would have to pursue the longer list of materials eventually. Perhaps Valdre and Redrek would have a better idea of how he could get his hands on the materials he needed.
The steady clack of boots echoed through the Essence Studies classroom, pulling Klarion from his thoughts. Professor Stormcloak strode in with the deliberate confidence of a man who had spent a lifetime mastering power, his presence immediately commanding the room’s attention. The murmurs and whispered conversations among the students faded into silence.
Klarion straightened in his seat, forcing himself to push aside his mental list of materials for unlocking the Valiant Sunlord class for the moment. For now, the more important thing was to focus on anything that could give him an edge in unlocking the Essences he needed for the class. After all, without those, there was no point even worrying about the materials on the lists he had made. Without those two Essences, his future class would be little more than an unreachable dream.
Professor Stormcloak stopped at the front of the room, his brown eyes sweeping over the assembled students, assessing them, weighing them in some silent judgment before he spoke.
"Before we begin," the professor said, his tone carrying a distinct note of disinterest, "let us take stock of your progress. Raise your hand if you have successfully unlocked an Essence since our last session."
Klarion glanced around. Not a single hand was raised. Not one. Some students shifted uncomfortably in their seats while others exchanged furtive glances. For his part, Klarion was somewhat surprised. Even though he got the sense that unlocking an Essence was no simple feat, he still expected at least a few of his classmates to already have done so.
Professor Stormcloak let the silence stretch, as if offering his students one last opportunity to prove him wrong. Then, with an exhale through his nose, he shook his head. "Predictable. Unlocking an Essence through the Assessment Orb alone is exceedingly rare."
A few students visibly stiffened at that, and Klarion felt his own irritation start to rise. It hadn’t been as long as it should have been, but he had spent time attempting to unlock an Essence with the Assessment Orb. If the Professor had not thought it would be worth doing, why give one to each of them at all? As if reading his mind, another student off to his right asked the question.
“Professor Stormcloak?” At the professor’s nod, he continued, “Why give us all an Assessment Orb, then?”
Professor Stormcloak inclined his head, unfazed. "A reasonable question. While the Assessment Orb itself is rarely the key to unlocking an Essence, it serves a necessary function. Through it, you are learning how to reach outward, how to sense the potential that lies dormant within you. When used properly, it conditions the mind to perceive what was previously imperceptible. I expect some of you have already felt something—an impression, a pull, the ghost of something just beyond your grasp."
A few students around Klarion nodded hesitantly, and several of them looked noticeably less irritated at having spent hours with the orb.
"Moreover, the Academy itself plays a role in this process. You have surely noted that it does not reside within the Empire proper but in a pocket plane. This is not a trivial matter of security or convenience." He paused, his gaze sweeping across the room, ensuring he had their full attention before continuing. "The nature of this place makes unlocking Essences… easier. I do not claim to understand every intricacy of why, but the results speak for themselves. That said," he added, his tone sharpening, "do not mistake environment for entitlement. Favorable conditions will not compensate for personal inadequacy."
Klarion wrote down notes on what the Professor had just revealed. There was clearly something more to it, but if Professor Stormcloak was not going to elaborate right now, he might have to look into it himself later. If it turned out to be relevant to unlocking Essences, that is.
“Regardless of the details, it is the environment here that makes it easier to unlock an Essense. Now,” he said, tone firming, “if I don’t miss my guess, the vast majority of you have already been looking into the classes you wish to unlock with — I hope — Rare classes being what has snagged your attention. This is why I urge you all to focus on Essence unlocking now," he said, his tone firm. "You may be eager to unlock a powerful class—and many of you will. But if you ignore this crucial step, you will cripple your own potential. This is largely due to the fact that, beyond being a requisite for more powerful classes, unlocking an Essence before your class also grants you special bonuses even if it is not one required for the class itself. Some are straightforward—additional stat, extra skills, affinity bonuses, perhaps even improved control over your abilities. But there are deeper benefits as well. In some cases, the synergy between an Essence and a class produces traits so unique that they define an entire combat style. This is why some scions and nobility both within and outside of the Empire spend years trying to awaken an Essence before even considering their class selection.”
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Without thinking, Klarion asked a question that brought the attention of the entire classroom to him, “Then why does the Academy not require scions to unlock Essences as well as a Class before they can go on to their second year? Why only a class?”
Professor Stormcloak, rather than being irked at being interrupted, seemed to be satisfied that Klarion had blurted the question out. “The answer to Scion Blacksword’s question is simple: Not all students are capable. Some of you,” Professor Stormcloak continued, again cutting off the comments that followed his claim, “will never unlock an Essence. That is the nature of power, even in a place like the Imperial Academy, where you have access to many benefits. For those unable to unlock an Essence, the Academy will not waste resources on those who are incapable of doing so. While those who fail to unlock an Essence by the time of their second year will not be removed from the Academy — so long as they unlock a class of Uncommon rank— they would still be advised to adjust their aspirations accordingly.”
If anything, what the professor was saying lined up with what Klarion was beginning to understand about the Imperial Academy. It would give its scions access to opportunities and advantages, but it would not hold their hands. There would be no safety net, no gentle guidance to make sure that every student found their way to unlocking an Essence.
In a way, he was glad for the agreement he had made with Chadwick. While it drastically cut the time he had to unlock Essences and the Valiant Sunlord class, it also provided the pressure he might well need to work that much harder to achieve his goals for both. After all, he already knew that he would need every advantage he could get for the enemies he would be facing after he killed Chadwick in their duel.
“As we have already discussed,” Professor Stormcloak said, pulling Klarion’s attention back to the lecture, “most of you will find that using the Assessment Orb alone will continue to lead to failure. That being said, something I would advise you all to focus on is one of the most common triggers for unlocking an Essence: heightened emotion. Records diligently collected over the time this Academy has been in operation have been enough to confirm this phenomenon. Moments of terror, fury, desperation, sorrow — even overwhelming joy — have led scions to unlock an Essence. It has been found to be statistically significant that these surges of feeling allow the scion to tap into something deeper within themselves, something beyond mere reason or will.”
Professor Stormcloak paused to gesture behind himself, lines of golden text appearing on the board as he did so. In moments, it was clear to the class that it was a long list of various kinds of emotions.
“Now, I ask again: has anyone here experienced an unusual sensation while caught in one of these emotions?”
Overwhelming silence greeted Professor Stormcloak’s question. Some students exchanged uncertain glances, others averted their eyes, the majority reluctant to respond for some reason. Klarion thought over his last trip to the Hall of Bonds. About how that ogre had spoken about Hatsune. The rage that had grown swift and cold within him. He remembered how the air had gone cold and how everyone else in the room had reacted when that had happened. He had felt something else, too.
Klarion raised his hand.
“Yes, Scion Blacksword?”
"A few days ago, I was at the Hall of Bonds, looking for servants to restaff Blacksword Manor," he said evenly. "There was an ogre servant I was speaking with. He—" Klarion exhaled sharply. "—he angered me. More than I realized at the time."
Professor Stormcloak gestured for him to continue.
"I was furious, but it was a cold rage,” Klarion admitted. "I could barely think. And then… the room changed. The air felt cold—freezing, even. I remember everyone else in the room that I could see looking… afraid. Terrified."
The weight of Klarion’s words settled in the air. The eyes of the scions sitting around him shifted toward him, some wary, some calculating. Others bore the unmistakable glint of intrigue. Professor Stormcloak was silent, clearly in thought, but some of the students weren’t so composed after Klarion had admitted what had happened.
A young half-elf with brown hair sitting on his left spoke into the silence. “You’re saying you exerted some kind of force over the room?” His voice was skeptical, but beneath it lurked something else. Caution.
“It wasn’t intentional,” Klarion responded when the professor motioned for him to answer the question. His own thoughts were still tangled, still grasping for understanding, though it was starting to make sense in the context of what Professor Stormcloak had said. “I wasn’t even aware it was happening until nearly after.”
“Fear,” someone else whispered. Based on his uniform, he was from the minor house of a Knight. His expression was wary as Klarion turned to face him, almost as if he was afraid the Blacksword scion would lash out at him for speaking. “You said the others in the room were afraid of you.”
“They looked afraid,” Klarion corrected. “I don’t know if it was because of me or because of whatever happened in the room at the time.”
A scoff came from his left. “Oh, it was you,” a haughty girl from the House of a Count sneered. “Ogres don’t scare easily. You think a servant panicked because the air got cold?” Her gaze flicked over him, assessing. “You did something, Blacksword. Whether you meant to or not.”
Professor Stormcloak finished his thoughts and rejoined the conversation unfolding in his class. “And how did you feel, Scion Blacksword, beyond your anger?”
Klarion thought about it. "Focused," he said at last. "Sharpened, in a way. Like everything else in the room had ceased to matter except for me and the target of my rage."
Stormcloak exhaled softly. "You were close," he said. "Very close."
Klarion’s pulse quickened. So he had been that close to unlocking an Essence.l
The professor continued, "Based on your description, but without me being there to observe it firsthand, my best guess is that you nearly unlocked either an Ice Essence or a Darkness Essence. The cold you describe is common among those attuned to Ice, while the dimming of the light is a hallmark of Darkness."
Ice or Darkness. Klarion barely suppressed a grimace. Neither of those would help him unlock Valiant Sunlord. Fire and Might—those were the Essences he needed. And yet, if he had come close to unlocking an Essence once, then he could do it again. Perhaps the specific emotion itself would impact the kind of Essence he unlocked. If so, he just needed to be careful that the next time he felt rage, he would need to make sure it was a hot one rather than cold.
Leaving Klarion to his thoughts, Professor Stormcloak returned to lecturing the class in its entirety. “This is why understanding your emotions is crucial. Many scions unlock their first Essence in the heat of battle, during the moment their life hangs in the balance. Others—like Klarion nearly did—find it during an overwhelming emotional surge. Regardless of which situation you find yourself in, Essence unlocking is not passive. You must push. You must reach. And when the moment comes, you must seize it."
“And what would you recommend we do, Professor, to maximize our odds of unlocking an Essence?”
“The most direct method, beyond cultivating awareness of your emotions, is combat. Struggle breeds strength. Pain and adversity forge power. When you stand at the precipice, when your mind and body are pushed to the brink, the chances of unlocking an Essence increase dramatically. Since combat is dangerous, and a good number of you have, I assume, little experience with fighting for your lives, I suggest visiting the Arena at some point this year.”
The scratching of scions writing filled the room as those around Klarion worked to record the professor’s recommendations and their own thoughts. Some jotted down the professor’s words verbatim, while others condensed the key ideas into sharp, efficient notes. The more studious among them—such as a young woman behind him, long black hair obscuring her face—whispered quietly to herself, as if reciting the notes she was making to solidify them in her memory as well.
From what he could tell with a brief glance around the room after he had taken his own notes, the reactions to what Professor Stormcloak said varied. Some students, particularly the higher ranking scions further back, wore knowing expressions, as if this was merely a confirmation of what they had already been taught. Others, especially the less privileged scions, showed a mixture of determination and barely concealed anxiety. The latter group was likely thinking over how if Essence unlocking was this crucial, then their futures were already being shaped by their ability—or inability—to achieve it.
Professor Stormcloak, unfazed by the murmurs of understanding and the quiet tension settling over the room, turned back to the board. With a casual flick of his hand, more golden words shimmered into existence, sprawling in flowing script.
Klarion scanned the second list as it expanded to include lines to various emotional states. Fire and Might took his attention first, and to his relief, they, like many of them, were connected to rage. Once he marked that down, his attention turned to other Essences like Storm and Shadow. The dozens of Essences now listed on the board were likely not the limit of those available to be unlocked, but they were a good starting point. As Klarion diligently expanded his notes to reflect as much of the board as he could, Professor Stormcloak spoke of how the various relationships between specific emotions and the various Essences were recorded by the Academy. So focused was Klarion on replicating the words on the board in his own notes that he ended up missing most of what the professor said. While he recognized he would likely not be able to unlock more than the two Essences he had his eye on, he was already thinking of the possibility of helping Hatsune unlock at least one Essence as well. Perhaps also Jezeri, once she returned to campus.
Professor Stormcloak finally brought the lecture to an end. “This concludes today’s lesson,” he said. “Your assignment is simple: think about the notes you have taken. Reflect on them. Then, consider what method will allow you increased odds of unlocking an Essence of your choice.” He gestured behind himself, and the board was cleared in a burst of golden sparks.
“Dismissed.”
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