"Want me to do it for you?" Porter asked.

The absurdity of the offer eased some of Eli's distress. "No, but thanks."

"Any time."

Eli knew that Porter meant that. His friend would go interrogate Devin if Eli asked him to. Some of the tension left Eli. "He said he wanted to go out with me. If he gets back to me about a date, I'll ask him about the girl."

He just had to muster up his courage.

"Fair enough."

Tired, Eli got ready for bed. He fell asleep while Porter stayed up to read, a glow surrounding him. Huh, he hadn't known Porter had a light over his bed.

A low beeping woke Eli the next morning. His alarm emitted a piercing noise guaranteed to wake up the sleepiest or most hungover student. Eli really hated that thing, but it was one of the few alarms that woke him up. Slamming his hand onto the device, he pinned it to the table until it stopped that awful racket. He'd broken more than one clock, to Porter's unending delight. His roommate enjoyed teasing Eli about his lack of being a morning person. Eli was more of a late afternoon waker. He preferred to be up at night. He now wondered if it had something to do with his abilities. Did necromancers prefer the darkness to commune with spirits? Could he convince everyone he needed to take only night classes owing to his magic?

"Time to wake up, sunshine!" Porter's amused voice had Eli blinking over at his roommate. Porter's unnatural morning cheer never failed to irritate him.

"No." Eli grabbed the covers and pulled them back over his head to hide from the evil morning light. He could live in denial as well as the next person. No reason to jump out of bed and ruin his grumpy streak.

"I don't think you want to be late for your first appointment," Porter crooned as he poked Eli in the side.

Eli growled. He hadn't heard Porter get up.

"Sure I do." Nothing could be worth opening his eyes all the way and pretending to be alert. His pillow had a stronger allure than any siren persuading a sailor to smash his ship against the shore. Eli snuggled in.

The blankets were ripped away from Eli.

"Porter!"

"Get up, Eli!"

"Why?" Eli couldn't help the whine that entered his voice. He didn't care if Porter had a gold embossed invitation to dine with the headmaster, he'd still want to stay in bed. Well, maybe he'd especially stay in bed for that. He hated formal events.

"Because today you're getting your focus stone and your new schedule. It's a big day, so get your ass out of bed."

Eli sat up in bed to stare at his roommate. "How do you know?"

Porter patted Eli's hair down. "You look like a hedgehog."

"Forget my hair," Eli said, batting his friend away. "What did you mean about my focus stone?"

"Just what I said. After you fell asleep, you got a message from the headmaster about your schedule today. The first item is to meet with the equipment manager to get your focus stone so you can practice calling your avatar. Though why you don't already own a stone, I don't know. Your father must be a cheap bastard."

Eli laughed, a sad, bitter sound, as he reflected on his childhood. "He always seems to have a buck for Frederick. My mother died when I was young, and Father always said I remind him of her." Eli doubted the story because the idea of his father pining over his love for anyone stretched the bounds of believability.

"Oh, hey, I didn't mean to ruin the moment for you. I bet you'll call an awesome avatar with whatever stone you get."

Eli sat up, shaking off his sleep. "Somehow I doubt it. I've never manifested magical abilities like everyone else. I can only do mediocre potions, my spell casting is minimal and my aura reading really sucks. Talking to the dead is the only big power I have and no one knew about that, including me. I was going to be a magical theory teacher. What kind of avatar do you think I could possibly call?"

What if he couldn't call one at all? Would they laugh him out of school? Maybe decide they'd made a mistake?

"I don't know what will come to your call, but I can't wait to see your avatar. Your skills would've been wasted as a magical theory teacher. If you've got enough power to talk to the dead, I think you've got enough to be a badass wizard. You just need someone to teach you how to channel all that magic." Porter sat beside Eli.

"I appreciate the support even if you're delusional." Maybe the necromancer Father had hired could help him. "I guess time will tell. They do say the first step is recognizing you have a problem."

Porter laughed. "I dare you to go into class and say 'My name is Eli and I am a necromancer'."

Eli shook his head over his friend's joke. "I don't even know what classes I'm going to have. It's like I woke up to a new life." Whether it would be a better one, he didn't know. When his father had shown up at Eli's dorm room after the attack, it had been the first time he'd seen him all semester. His father had had no time for a low level wizard who planned to end up teaching, but for a future trained necromancer, his father had all the resources in the world.

"I don't think I'll ever be badass, but being able to control my skill and knowing when I'm talking to a ghost would be nice. I wonder how many other times I've talked to spirits and had no idea." It was rather disconcerting to think there might have been times when the person he had talked to couldn't be seen by anyone else.

Porter bit his lip. "You'll figure it out. I'm sure of it."

"Thanks, Porter, you're a good friend." Eli dragged himself out of bed.

As long as he wasn't on the bottom of the magical heap, he was happy. No one really wanted to be a magical theory teacher. It was the lowest denominator of magic users besides non-wizards. His career possibilities had just opened up. He couldn't give his necromancer skills back so he might as well use them to his advantage. Helping people pass on or talk to their loved ones could be a fulfilling career. Eli just needed to get a handle on his skills.

Still bleary-eyed, Eli stumbled to his wardrobe where he'd stashed his clothes the night before.

"Here, wear these."

Eli turned around and gratefully accepted the clothes Porter handed him. He didn't fully function until he'd had breakfast. Choosing an outfit surpassed his ability to think. He dressed with fumbling fingers but managed to get them right side out-a victory to his fuzzy mind.

"See you later," Porter called out.

"Later," Eli agreed. Still not quite awake, he left the dorm, barely remembering to grab his backpack with his books. No doubt he'd have to replace most of them, but until he got his new schedule, he didn't know which ones would have to be swapped out.

Glancing at his watch revealed he was running late. Eli picked up speed and headed for the equipment room. Anticipation made his stomach swirl like a typhoon of baby dragons. Eli smiled as he realized his father was probably cursing over the cost. Everything on campus was charged to the parents. Eli hoped the equipment wizard gave him a diamond or something. Okay, maybe he was a little bitter. Despite telling himself he preferred to be ignored, it still hurt him a bit that neglect was an option in his father's parenting.

A pretty gnome with a wide smile and a gold collar met Eli just inside the entrance.

"You must be Eli," the gnome greeted him warmly. His blue eyes sparkled beneath a pair of wire-rimmed glasses as he examined Eli from head to toe. Maybe the equipment guy saw something that Eli didn't. "I'm Winley."

"Nice to meet you, Winley." He wished he'd studied his gnome history a bit harder. He might know their customs better.

The gnome shook Eli's hand and motioned behind him. "Come to the front counter and I'll see what suits you. Do I understand right that your primary skill is seeing the dead?"

"Some might say it's my only skill."

The gnome made a scoffing noise in his throat. "I doubt that if you're as strong as they say."

Eli shrugged. "I guess that remains to be seen."

He wasn't going to brag about his own abilities when he'd barely passed his Standard Spells test.

Glass-covered cabinets dominated three sides of the room. Various stones were set on pedestals or collected in bowls. Hundreds of different sizes and colors were strewn across every available surface-some stones smaller than Eli's pinkie nail, others as big as a fist. He couldn't even imagine trying to haul a small boulder around whenever he wanted to call his avatar. "Is it true you can use any stone to call an avatar?"

He tried to remember what he'd learned about focus stones and avatars. Both were things he hadn't ever expected to concern him. His brother Frederick had an owl that assisted him with his magic. He had friends who'd fantasized about calling elaborate beasts throughout their childhood. Eli had just wanted to get through his training and maybe get a teacher's certificate. Now that he'd proven to be stronger, he wasn't sure what to hope for.

The gnome nodded as he walked along the cases, peering inside as if seeking a particular stone. The wooden track raised Winley up high enough to see through the top of the glass displays. "Yes, you can even use an ordinary garden stone if it meshes with the type of beast you call. However, a proper focus stone gives you the best chance of calling the creature most suited to you. If you don't like any of the ones here, you can of course get one elsewhere. Some wizards don't even need a stone if they're really powerful and have a strong will."

Eli laughed. "I'm not one of those. I'm hoping to be able to call an avatar at all."

Winley peered at Eli over his glass frames. "I think you underestimate yourself, young man. I think you are plenty strong. Maybe in time you can summon without your stone, but let's get you started with one, at least in the beginning."

A low chittering sound drew Eli's attention from Winley's intense expression. A tiny dragon ran across the glass to come to a sliding stop in front of Eli.

"Hello there." Eli froze, uncertain of the proper protocol.

"He likes you." Winley grinned. "He doesn't come out to see everyone. A lot of people don't even know I have an assistant."

"Nice to meet you," Eli greeted the small beast. "Is he your avatar?"

"Oh goodness no." The gnome laughed. "Gnomes don't have avatars. He just considers the piles of stones his treasures. He watches over them. No one can break in here and steal my focus stones with Spark watching over them."

The dragon gave a squeak in response, more a mouse noise than a dragon roar.

Eli didn't know what the little creature could do, but he certainly didn't want to criticize the small beast. "I hope you don't mind if I take one of your treasures," he said to the dragon.

Winley gathered a collection of small boxes before approaching Eli. "He doesn't mind if I hand them over. It's when students come in here and start grabbing at stuff that he gets irritated. He wants his treasures to go to a good home."

"I'll do my best," Eli promised.

A short snort of smoke came out of the dragon's nostrils. Maybe he was tougher than he appeared. Eli knew better than to base power on the size of the being. Magical theory lessons abounded over the danger of judging by appearances.

"Tell me, young Mr Trenton, when you get an avatar, what kind do you think it'll be?"

Eli shrugged. "I really don't know. I mean what kind of beast is good with the dead?" A shiver danced across Eli's skin. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to that question. There were many scary beings that spoke to spirits. Most of them weren't creatures Eli wanted as a companion.

The gnome made a humming noise as he thought. "That is a good question. I'm sure there are many types. I've heard black cats can see ghosts-maybe you'll get one of those."

Eli relaxed over the idea of a cat. He'd always wanted one, but his father never allowed animals in the house. His father had had an aviary built for his crow avatar since the bird wasn't allowed in the mansion. He'd even gone so far as to create a spell circle in the garden to keep his feathered companion outside.

When Frederick had received an owl from his avatar call, Eli hadn't been the least surprised. Frederick had always been a kiss-ass. He had probably rejected avatars until he'd gotten one compatible with their father's.

The gnome spoke again, breaking into Eli's thoughts. "You might not be able to call an avatar for a while. Not everyone can do it right away. It takes some wizards several tries."

Eli let out his breath. He hadn't realized how stressed this entire avatar situation was making him. Now that he had the chance, he was determined to call a helper to his side.

"Here, hold this one." The shopkeeper handed over a stone.

Eli accepted the blue rock. It sat in his palm and sparkled. "Is it supposed to do something?"

He rolled the stone in his palm, examining it from all sides.

"Do you feel a connection?"

"It's a rock. It feels like a rock?" What sort of bonding was he supposed to do over a clump of minerals? Great now he was failing 'Getting to Know Your Focus Stone 101'.

Instead of yelling at him, Winley laughed. "I'm guessing that isn't the right one then."

Before Eli could say anything, the gnome snatched it out of Eli's hand. "Hmm. What about this one?"

Eli shook his head. That one didn't feel any different from the other. For the next ten minutes the gnome went from one stone to another, quickly shuffling through his enormous collection until he finally placed a chunky obsidian wedge in Eli's hand.

The stone warmed in his palm and a sense of rightness soothed him. "I like this one."

"Hmm. I should've tried that one first," the gnome replied, eyeing the stone in Eli's hand.

"Why?"

"It's said to have come from the caves of Bastern, the ancestral home of the necromancers. I think you've got some powerful blood in you, young man."

"Huh." Definitely the first time he'd heard someone claim that. He wondered if there was a relative in their family line that Father hadn't told him about, maybe on his mother's side.

"Now take your stone everywhere with you. It works best if it gets used to you. Once you're comfortable with it, you can use it to call your avatar."

"You act like they're alive." Eli frowned at the gnome. He'd never heard of focus stones having any sort of sentient ability. Maybe the gnome had been in his store surrounded by rocks for too long.

The gnome shrugged. "Some more than others." He pointed at Eli's stone. "That one is special. Don't lose it."

"I won't." Eli always took care of his belongings since he had very few.

He waved goodbye to the gnome and headed to the administrative building to get his new schedule. Luckily the registrar had it ready and soon Eli was rushing across campus, his revised list of classes gripped in his fist. Not only had they completely revamped his schedule, but he'd already missed two sessions.

He hurried to the bookstore to exchange his schoolbooks and missed another class. The line at the bookstore had been long. Eli didn't worry about his skipped classes. If they expected him to attend them all on the first day, they should've given him more time for the transition.

With righteous indignation on his side, Eli slipped into the back of his beginning necromancer class and hoped desperately to be ignored-a futile desire since there was only a handful of students at the lecture.

"Can I help you, young man?" The professor stopped the class to question Eli.

Eli set down his bag before walking over to hand his schedule to Professor Lorentz. Hopefully he hadn't wandered into the wrong class.

The professor examined Eli's paper for a long moment. "Oh yes, you're the new necromancer. We were going over ways to identify a ghost. I hear you have problems with that."

The class laughed behind him.

Eli flushed. "Yes, sir." It wasn't like he could deny it. Everyone on campus probably knew by now. Eli would no doubt go down in university history as the guy who couldn't recognize ghosts.

The professor handed back Eli's schedule. "Go have a seat next to Drewden. He can help if you have any questions."

Drewden had jet-black hair and cold blue eyes. From his unfriendly look, Eli doubted the student would give him a glass of water if he were on fire. He reminded Eli of Frederick quite a bit. Maybe it was the whole no-neck resemblance.

"Now, who can tell me how to identify a ghost versus other spirits?"

Nine hands shot up. None of them was Eli's.