HC2 Ch1

Previously…

Benedict Aaron Rodney had a terrible life for eighteen years. His parents were dead, leaving him with his uncle, Skippy Rodney. Skippy was a bust-out drunk who could barely take care of himself. Given a child he didn’t want, he took out the anger he had against the Heavens on the child.

If that wasn’t enough, things got worse for Benedict. His one-time friends got tired of him and made him a target of their boredom and anger. This left the growing child with no safe haven. At school or at home, there was someone abusing him every day.

But then, something miraculous happened: the Heavens stepped in, granting him a Sphere. Spontaneous manifestation of a Sphere was very rare, but happened on occasion. Benedict, while being beaten unconscious and having his bones broken, was suddenly the Holder of a Sphere of Regeneration.

A passing Watcher broke up the attack and whisked him off to a clinic to see a Healer. The Healer discovered that Benedict’s newest injuries were gone, and the long list of previous injuries that he’d endured were mending. That examination also turned up the fact that Benedict had a Sphere and, as such, was bound for the Academy to learn how to deal with his new life as a Holder.

He was shown around by Agatha, his appointed psychiatrist, who would help him learn things that his school had never told him about Holders. It was also on his first day that he met Atropos Rosaria Foxglove, his roommate, who had her own trauma.

Over the course of his first semester at the Academy, he became friends with Atropos and with another student, Sadie Uriela Somnius. Sadie was his gym instructor, but eventually, they became friends, and then Sadie and Atropos also became friends. The fact that all three of them had their own hangups was oddly a bonding experience for them.

The three of them found a common purpose and ways to help each other. Sadie had to walk a careful line, because she was their senior and an instructor for both of them. But at the end of the semester, they’d found a way to balance that and even found something to look forward to after the semester break.

His new life wasn’t all good news for Benedict— there was an instructor who despised and belittled him in class. Worse than that, he was used as a puppet by Atropos’ old enemy, Ellen Rox. Ellen focused on Benedict after seeing Atropos being kind to him, “befriending” him to warn him off from Atropos. When that failed, she was going to press him more, but her fiancé ruined her plans, causing Benedict to distance himself from Ellen.

Ellen wasn’t deterred; she played a long game, keeping up the pretense of friendship to get him to attend a party. There, she drugged him, attempting to frame him for rape, only to have it all blow up in her face. When the dust cleared, she was stripped of her Sphere, and her family had to pay Benedict for the crime she’d committed against him. The Rox family tried to dispute it, but the judge forced them to pay, leaving them with deep animosity toward Benedict.

The settlement paid enough for Benedict to fully equip himself for his entire time at the Academy and gave him his first combat skill; Gravity Well. That skill made his time delving Pockets with Atropos easier, allowing the pair to plow through them in quick order. The real kicker was when they finished their Rank 2 delves to hit Rank 3. Instead of receiving mana stones, they got a skill shard as a reward. That new skill would change their delving dynamic again.

Atropos pushed the Mana Regeneration skill onto Benedict because of the synergy with his Regeneration Sphere. With the upgrade he’d gained for making it one of his inner Soul skills, his mana regeneration jumped from two percent an hour to twelve percent an hour. With his mana regenerating faster, they decided to be daring as the semester came to an end— they tried to clear the Rank 4 Pocket. They knew the risks of delving a Pocket that was a higher Rank than them, but in the end, it worked out.

That made them eager for the semester to end. During the break, the Academy would be holding a mock-war and a Pocket delving tournament. They’d signed up for both, confident in their chances to earn rewards, possibly even a few more skills or a Sphere for each of them.

Chapter One

Benedict and Atropos chatted with Victor, Hanz, and Franz while they waited for the shuttle. There weren’t many people left as the day headed toward afternoon. Benedict didn’t mind; as soon as they got to where they were going, the rest of the day would be spent setting camp for the night.

As they got closer to the shuttle pad, Benedict gave passing interest in how the people on duty were filling each one. It seemed the shuttle could seat six, so the staff would get two or three groups in each shuttle, leaving at most a single empty seat. It made sense from an efficiency standpoint, which impressed him. With as much as the Academy just gave away, he hadn’t expected them to be so strict here.

As they got closer and closer, Benedict frowned. “I don’t think we’ll be in the same shuttle. They only take up to six people at a time.”

“Yeah, I noticed that,” Victor sighed. “We’ll be in with the group ahead of us. Pity. Maybe we won’t be far apart?”

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Atropos sighed. “I’m just glad I don’t have to be in the same shuttle as the creeper who couldn’t keep his eyes to himself.”

“Fair enough,” Victor chuckled. “Maybe he’ll get knocked out first?”

“Heavens willing.”

The next shuttle landed, meaning everyone but Benedict and Atropos were sent on their way. The two people on duty took their names, marking them down while they waited for the last shuttle to arrive.

“Eager for the prizes?” one of the two workers asked.

“It’d be a big help with the delving tournament,” Benedict replied.

“Going to do both? Huh… not many try to do both. Normally, the people who participate in the mock-war are mentally and physically exhausted, necessitating time off afterward.”

“We’ll be fine,” Atropos said.

“Confident. Well, best of luck to you both.”

Benedict was about to say something when another shuttle came down to land. The way he’d said the sentence set off alarm bells in Benedict’s mind. He’d heard similar statements in the same tone right before someone lashed out at him in the past.

When the shielding vanished after the shuttle landed, the doors opened to let the pair on. Benedict let Atropos go first, then followed her, his palms itching as he glanced back at the worker. As the door shut, the man’s smile fell away and turned into a sneer.

“Here we go,” the pilot said, lifting them off. “It’ll be two hours flight time. Feel free to use the entertainment system while in transit.” With that, he shut the flap between the driver and passengers so they had privacy.

“I’ll watch a vid or two,” Atropos told Benedict. “Are you okay?”

Benedict frowned at the door for a moment, unsure if he’d imagined what he’d seen or not. “I don’t know. Maybe…?”

“What’s wrong?” Atropos asked, focusing on him.

“The staff member we were talking to… what he said just twinged me. Past trauma bullshit, maybe, but then his smile slipped when the doors shut. It’s not sitting right with me.”

“Hmm… it could be that he’s not a Holder and just hates them. It’s not unheard of, especially since those who aren’t blessed by the Heavens don’t think the mock-wars are useful training.”

“Oh, okay. I hadn’t thought of that. It just needled me. Like I said, it might’ve been my trauma coloring my thoughts.”

“No, you said past trauma ‘bullshit.’” She flicked his nose since she was wearing gloves. “Which I will not accept.”

He jerked back from her, mildly affronted at the flick, then snorted. “I’ll flick your nose if you ever do something similar, then.”

“That’d be fair, except I never will.”

“We’ll see,” Benedict said airily, letting go of his earlier worry. “What vid are you going to watch?”

“Probably something focused on previous wars. I want to get myself in the right mindset.”

“Not a bad idea,” Benedict said.

“Or there’s always the Rank 10 tournaments…” Atropos murmured. “That’d give us a good look at one-on-one and three-on-three combats.”

“Rank 10 tournaments?”

“Every year, the governments send their most promising up-and-comers to showcase their talented youth. It’s a rattling of sabers more than anything else, but the prizes on the line draw the very best each Kingdom has.”

“Let’s watch one,” Benedict said.

“Fine with me,” Atropos said as she turned on the entertainment system in the backseat.

~~~

They spent most of their time in the shuttle watching the tournament from three years ago. Benedict was fascinated with the fights; seeing so many different skills and Spheres in use was boggling. The vids that dramatized the lives of Holders had been one thing, but seeing actual skills in use was another thing entirely. None of the competitors had all their skills filled. They didn’t even have their outer Souls filled, much less their inner Souls or cores filled. Some of them only had a single core skill, as they were waiting for the perfect skills to complement the ones they already had or would synergize with their Spheres.

“All of them got their starts just like we are today,” Atropos said. “Each and every one showed promise at an Academy and was given help by their Kingdoms to advance. Some call it ‘Heaven’s Path,’ which sounds pretentious as fuck. Most just call it ‘The Path,’ though, because the Kingdoms can give you access to avenues you wouldn’t have otherwise.”

“All of which comes at a price.”

“Of course. You become obligated to fight for your Kingdom, but that just means more chances to advance quicker.”

“All of them have pseudonyms. Why?”

“Assassins. If the other Kingdoms know who our best and brightest are… it’s easier to remove them before they can grow.”

“What? And we don’t stop them?” Benedict asked.

“They’d stop ours from doing the same thing. The rules we use are the rules all the Kingdoms and empires agreed on. For it to not incur a real war, it has to be someone at our Rank or, at most, a Rank above us. In return, our Kingdom sends assassins after theirs, too.”

“What if they fail?”

“If the assassin fails and doesn’t die, they’d be held accountable for it.”

Benedict sat back, watching the fight that was on as he considered what she’d said. He’d always thought that the Holders were what kept the Kingdom safe, yet Atropos just told him that the Kingdom engaged in assassinations as a matter of course. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Atropos let him think for a few matches before she said, “We could be there, in a few years.”

“What?”

“The tournament for Rank 10. We could be there in a few years.”

“You think so?”

“With what we’re hoping to do this semester and next? And hopefully with Sadie? Yes, Ben. This is what we should be aiming for in the short term. The Kingdom will want to use us for their mock-wars and real wars, just like Denton and Martha. Doing that will ensure we’re free to have the laws we have and aren’t gobbled up by one of the other powers. If the Collective Sects took over… it would be disastrous for weaker Holders. You either join the powerful as a slave, or you’re killed.”

“I’m not against the idea of the tournament. I just didn’t think we’d be equal to them with assassinations.”

Atropos changed the topic, “If we win the delving tournament, that could mean Spheres for both of us. It would put us near the top for the next semester, and we could get Sadie her second Sphere if she doesn’t get one on her own. If we can do well enough for the mock-war, we can choose a skill or two. That’ll let me pick up a combat skill— I might even be able to get Mana Regeneration, too. You’d be solid with whatever you wanted to grab. Maybe one for you, and one for Sadie to make sure we’re a well-rounded, full party.”

Benedict nodded along with her, thinking it over. “When you put it that way, we could leave this world as the best it produces for our year.”

“Exactly, and that’ll get us opportunities after this. Maybe a bigger mock-war to earn contribution points, or a Chaotic World that we can help tame. Either of those would propel us even further along the path, opening up more options. By the time we hit Rank 10, we could be them.” She tapped the screen where a trio was tearing apart their opponents in record time.

“What Sphere are you thinking of?”

“That’s a tough question. We’ll be limited by what they have. It’s the same with the skills, but for that, it’ll also be where we Rank that matters. I have a couple of different things I’ve considered, but until I can see the choices, it’s too soon for me to elaborate. I don’t want to get my hopes up.”

“That’s fair,” Benedict said. “I want something to balance my regen out, I think. Something combat-capable would be my first choice. But without seeing what there is… yeah. Maybe it’s best not to be too hopeful.”

“For skills, Poison Bolt will always be my first choice. That, with my Sphere, will make me a deadly combination, hence why Mana Regeneration would be my next choice. With the two of those, I could maybe not feel as lackluster compared to you as I do right now.”

“You do?” Benedict was surprised by that admission.

“Ben, with your Sphere and skill, you’re a monster for mana regen. You can replenish your entire mana pool in less than half a day. I’m pretty sure because of that, you can actually cast more than the majority of the people we’ll face, even those focused on being casters and not melee. Honestly… I just play cleanup to you. Before you had Gravity Well and Mana Regeneration, sure, I might’ve had an edge over you, but since then? No.”

“Oh…”

“You don’t see yourself very well,” Atropos said softly. “That’s normal because of the abuse you went through. Being told you’re trash for eighteen years is bound to leave a mark. You aren’t trash, Ben. Not in the slightest.”

He was silent for a minute while the vid displayed another fight. “I’ll try to see myself in a better light. I honestly had no idea you felt that way. I see you and Sadie as being better than me in many ways, so thinking of myself as better in any way is just… difficult.”

Atropos patted his arm. “Trust me.”

“I do. That’s why I’m going to try seeing myself the way you see me.”

Atropos’ cheeks flushed a tiny bit; she’d considered some of the other ways she’d been thinking about him. Coughing, she smiled. “So we beat the crap out of the mock-war and tournament, then spend a month proving how much we want to improve. By the end of it, we’ll come out with more than we started with.”

He grinned at her. Her enthusiasm made him agree with her. “We’ve got this. Spheres and skills, here we come.”