“Yeah, that’s it for me too guys.” Cole said into his microphone, “Goodnight.”

“Night.”

“Night, man.”

Cole moved his mouse to hit the disconnect button, leaving the call he and his friends had been on since school ended. Stretching both arms into the air, Cole inhaled sharply.

Here I am, he thought to himself, about to graduate high school, but playing video games with my friends as if it’s the same-old-same-old. Even if everything goes downhill from here, at least I’ll have these goons to complain with.

Cole had spent the day, as usual, playing video games with his friends. After a short pause, Cole got up from his chair and moved towards his bed. He cranked the air conditioner up to high and pulled out his phone to check for any new chapters in a manga he’d been following.

“Come on,” Cole groaned, “nothing new today, either?”

Having settled into bed, Cole quickly fell asleep, his final thoughts being of his impending graduation.

 

***

 

Cole woke to someone gently poking his arm. He tried to ignore it, pretending he was still asleep. The poking persisted.

“It’s a Sunday,” Cole mumbled, turning onto his side and pulling the sheets closer to his head, “five… twenty more minutes.”

The poking stopped, and Cole could hear a chair slide against the floor.

Wow, Cole thought to himself, Dad gave up awfully fast toda-

Suddenly, Cole felt his bed begin to lean to one side, and his bed was rudely flipped over. Cole fell flat on his face, as he’d turned on his side to avoid having to get out of bed in the first place. Noting the oddly cold surface he felt with his hands, Cole pushed himself off the ground.

“What was that for?” Cole asked, his eyes jutting open.

Cole looked around in shock, slowly realizing the oddity of his location.

This isn’t my room. Where the hell am I?

Cole scanned the side of the room opposite his fallen bed. What he saw was two rows of empty beds spaced equally across the room. The cold surface he felt was a rough cobblestone that spanned from floor to ceiling. Cole’s initial assumption was he’d been hospitalized after falling asleep, but there were no medical supplies or equipment to accompany the number of beds. Meanwhile, as Cole lost himself in thought, the one who’d flipped his bed began to grow impatient

“Ah, I see you’ve finally awoken.” The man said with a hint of sarcasm.

Cole sat up, turning his body back around. While the man was sitting behind the bed, he seemed to loom over it, giving Cole a warry impression.

“Where am I?” Cole asked, nudging himself back slightly, “and who are you?”

“I’ll be your guide… so to speak.” The man replied with a slight grin.

Cole examined the man closely. Sitting on a wooden chair, the man had his legs crossed, with one arm hanging off the back of the chair. His other arm was to his side, holding an old, thin book. The man had black hair, brown eyes, and a tall, scrawny frame.

“I’m mostly referred to as Sensei” The man continued, “I believe your world uses a similar term, does it not?”

“Wrong region,” Cole replied, “but if you’re a teacher then yeah, good enough.”

Wait, Cole thought to himself, did he just say ‘your’ world?

“Where exactly did you say we were?” Cole asked, his voice cracking a little.

“We’re in the lower levels of The Tower.” Sensei replied, getting up from his chair, “though I doubt your curiosity will be satiated that easily.”

Before Cole could get another word in, Sensei pointed his thumb behind him, as if saying “let me show you.”

Well damn, Cole thought to himself, dream or not, if this is another world, I may as well dive right into it.

Cole pushed himself off the floor, following Sensei down the row of beds leading to the wall. As they walked, Cole noted a large pocket watch dangling from Sensei’s side. It swayed back and forth as he walked, almost hypnotizingly.

Sensei stopped directly in front of the wall, Cole stopping a step behind him. A few moments pass in silence. Cole looked around Sensei to see him staring at a circle inscribed on the wall.

“Mm-hmm.” Sensei loudly cleared his throat.

As if on command, a purple hue began to emanate from the inscription, forming a circle slightly taller than Sensei. Unimpressed, Sensei moved his right foot to the circle, passing through it with ease. Cole watched as Sensei’s body disappeared. Before he knew it, Cole was left alone in the strange room he’d awoken in.

“Um,” Cole gulped, “that… that’s pretty cool.”

Seconds of contemplation turned into minutes as Cole came to grips with his new reality. Realizing he was in a dream was something that rarely happened to Cole. He’d normally just go along with whatever happened, never considering that he didn’t remember waking up in the first place. The fact that he recognized that he may be dreaming led him to believe he was actually in a new world. At that, one with magic portals.

Cole was no stranger to the concept of magic, but how deep does the rabbit hole go? Already decided on riding whatever wave that brought him here, Cole stepped into the portal, unafraid of the mysteries that laid before him.

To his surprise, these mysteries would have to wait, as the portal he walked through led to what appeared to be a medieval classroom. Sensei had already taken a position at the front of the room and gestured for Cole to take a seat.

“Sorry about any dust,” Sensei said, “these facilities haven’t been used in quite some time.”

Cole looked to the set of desks closest to him. To his surprise, they were in nearly pristine condition. Cole pulled out the chair of the desk closest to him but paused before sitting.

It’d be weird if I didn’t sit in the front, right? There’s no one else here.

Cole pushed the chair back into the desk and walked to the front of the room. Pulling out the chair of the desk directly in front of Sensei, Cole took a seat. School was never Cole’s strong suit, but, if he wanted to learn about magic, he was ready to study harder than he ever had. Cole looked up from his desk to see Sensei holding a large, clear crystal while glancing at his pocket watch.

The back of the watch faced Cole. While unimpressive at first glance, the emblem on the back of the watch stuck out to him. Sensei’s fingers covered part of it, but he could see three colors split evenly across three sections of the watch: red at the top, blue at the bottom right, and green at the bottom left. He couldn’t quite make out the images of the bottom two sections, but he could clearly see a bird at the top. As quickly as Cole had become interested, Sensei flipped the pocket watch closed and tucked it back away at his side.

“Hmm,” Sensei frowned, turning his gaze back to Cole, “it seems we have less time than I had hoped. I guess we’ll have to make do. I mentioned before that we were in the lower levels of The Tower, didn’t I?”

“Yeah,” Cole said, not remembering much else of what Sensei had told him.

“Good,” Sensei said, “The Tower is meant as a place to train adventurers, teaching them the skills they need to advance beyond their current rank. It is only possible to leave The Tower at the end of two of the four tiers. Because of this, you’ll be taking the trials along with them, I presume.”

“You presume?” Cole asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well,” Sensei replied, stroking his goatee as he looked thoughtfully at the ceiling, “you will be joining them in their trials. Not everyone who enters The Tower is an adventurer, after all.”

“Riiight,” Cole said, gaining a small sense of skepticism, “and what will I be doing in these ‘trials.’”

“You’ll learn of that soon enough.” Sensei insisted. “For now, let’s test your affinity. I’m curious to see what you’ll be aligned with.”

“Alright!” Cole replied.

“Hold this,” Sensei said, passing Cole the crystal he held.

Cole eagerly reached for the crystal. Grabbing it with his right hand, Cole gingerly pulled it closer. He cupped it with both hands as he examined its jagged edges. Noting its subtle heaviness, Cole admires its light blue tint.

“What do I do now?” Cole asked.

“Try concentrating on the crystal.” Sensei said, “as if you're pouring imaginary water onto it.”

“Alright,” Cole said, taking a deep breath.

A few seconds passed, and nothing seemed to happen.

“Hmm,” Sensei hummed, “interesting.”

“Huh?” Cole asked, looking back to Sensei.

“Well,” Sensei sighed, “it seems you lack an affinity.”

“What does that mean?” Cole asked, a realization dawning on him. “I can’t use magic?”

“No, no,” Sensei assured him. “Affinity classification is usually meant to test someone's innate magic, that is, magic they have been predisposed to as a child. This allows them to wield extraordinarily powerful magic, even without the help of a master.”

“And I don’t have one?”

“It would seem you do not.”

“Damn… unlucky, I guess.”

“I wouldn’t say so.” Sensei yawned. “Those with an affinity tend to live challenging lives. People covet the rare magic they possess, sometimes forcing them into hiding. As a result, being born with an affinity is often seen as a curse.”

“So… I’m lucky?”

“Depending on how you choose to look at it, yes. However, it could have been better for you, in particular, to have one. Powerful magic would have served you well in the trials to come.”

Cole was only getting more and more confused. Even if he could learn to wield powerful magic, wouldn’t it be better to not have to live in hiding? Due to him being from another world, would learning powerful magic be impossible without an affinity?

Although he was bothered by the potential limitation, Cole was optimistic. Sensei seemed really knowledgeable and would probably help him in finding out which magic suited him best. Even if he had to struggle for it, Cole was ready to learn.

“Alright.” Sensei said, “next is-”

Sensei stopped mid-sentence. He pulled out his pocket watch, flipping it open. Sensei let out a short sigh, implying he’d already run out of time. Cole was less than impressed. He’d been given, what sounded to be, the bare minimum of an explanation for what was going on.

“Lastly,” Sensei concluded, flipping his watch closed, “What is your name?”

“Cole.”

“Well, Cole,” Sensei said, “I wish you the best of luck.”

That’s really it? Cole was expecting to at least be taught some kind of high-level magic or something. Especially given his lack of affinity, he felt as though a little magic 101 was in order. After all, he was a newcomer to a world well versed in the ways of the mystical. How could he compete without some kind of initial advantage? Nonetheless, Cole knew there was no point in being pessimistic. Shoving all doubts aside, he tried to look brightly into the future.

I’ll surely be able to learn magic while traversing The Tower, he thought, I just have to be patient.

“Thank you… Sensei,” Cole replied with a wry smile, “I’m sure I’ll need it.”

“Ha,” Sensei laughed, “if only you knew how true that was.”

Sensei placed his hand on Cole’s shoulder, clicking the button on his pocket watch as he did. A brief moment passed, but before Cole could fully absorb what Sensei meant, he felt a strong pull from behind. It was as if someone had grabbed his shirt and was hauling him to the back of the room.

Before he knew it, Cole was flung out of his chair at high speed towards the wall he’d entered from. The portal that had closed behind him reappeared on the wall, and he was flung through it. Sensei watched as Cole yelped in surprise, and he was left in the room alone. The short silence that ensued was interrupted by a feminine voice.

“Well, that went poorly,” The voice said.

“I thought it went rather well,” Sensei replied with a smirk, “he seemed rather excited to start his new life here. Though, I do wonder why he lacks an affinity. Don’t most-”

“Don’t you think you should have warned him about what he is?” The voice interrupted, annoyed.

“He’ll learn soon enough. I know there will be at least one who’ll sympathize with his… situation.”

“I hope you’re right.” The voice sighed.