Free Shadow Walkers by Micheal Kostura Page B

captain’s warning about the Void. They were all bloodthirsty monsters who craved destruction, though nobody has ever figured out what caused the Void to act in such a way. It was the one trait that the Void all had in common. They were all pure evil. So why would Valus help the Walkers out by telling them about one of his own kind being among them? Allison kept rearranging the pieces in her head, trying to make sense of Valus’ warning. But just as she finally grasps onto a logical theory of the Void’s plans, Nick shouts out, causing her to completely lose her train of thought.
    "Hey guys, what does this mean?" He asks. She turns to yell at him, to tell him to concentrate and stop distracting her from her thoughts. But then she sees that the Pathfinder was glowing a light green color.
    Isaac stands up in alert. "Woah, Nick! That was super fast for a rookie. It didn’t even take you an hour to garner enough shadow energy.”
    Nick looks down awkwardly. “Uh, sorry.”
    Hector smacks him in the back. Allison wonders how Nick can just sit there and not yell at somebody after they hit him. But her teammate just smiles awkwardly as Hector laughs. “Don’t be stupid, Nick.” He says. “It’s a good thing that it happened this fast- it means that your shadow energy is almost as strong as Allison’s!”
    Her hand twitches a little at the remark. At his current rate of growth, Nick really was going to be a problem for her. The last thing Allison wanted when joining the Guard was to have to compete with other people. She always imagined that she would join a team and completely overshadow her teammates, and not long after training, her captain as well. That would make it a lot easier to impress her father.
    Nick sighs and takes his hand away from the orb. “So what class do I fall in? It’s not red like Allison’s was, so I’m assuming I won’t get a sword.”
    Isaac smiles. “No, unfortunately you won’t be a dueler. It would have been pretty cool to train two at once. But don’t be discouraged, this green light indicates that you’re a mage. You should feel lucky.”
    The super rookies eyes light up. “Why is that? Are mages super rare or something?”
    Everyone but Nick laughs. Allison wonders how in the world this boy could be a threat to her. She grins at Nick. “No way. Mages are actually the most common class of Walkers.”
    The boy frowns. “Then why should I feel lucky?”
    Isaac puts a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Mages are the most common, but their powers are the most diverse. As the name implies, a mage’s power is the closest thing to wizardry in this world. They have the potential to do all types of things. They can create fire, read minds, summon objects from thin air- you name it. The Pathfinder itself was created by using the powers of the mages. They also have the innate ability to master their powers faster than the other classes. And just so you know, your mother was a mage herself.”
    Nick smiles. “Really? I mean now that you’ve explained it a little bit more I guess it does sound pretty awesome. As long as I get cool powers, I don’t care how special or rare I am.”
    “That’s a good attitude.” Hector says. “Too many people take pride in their powers just because they’re rare. Especially the duelers.” He looks at Allison and Isaac. “No offense.”
    Allison grins playfully. “None taken.”
    Nick folds his arms across his chest. “So I’m guessing that duelers are the rarest kind of Walker?”
    Isaac nods. “Duelers are the rarest class of Walkers. Followed by trackers, then the support class, and then the mages standing at the front lines. The rarity stays the same when we’re discussing subclasses.”
    Allison looks at her Captain. “Speaking of which, what are all of your powers? You never showed us anything besides your sword.”
    Isaac looks to the ceiling. “Well, you know that I’m mainly a dueler. However, I also have powers in the support and tracker