Prologue, 15 Years Earlier

"Are you sure everything's set up correctly Ray?", Sofia exclaimed as she continued configuring the acoustic drones' translation parameters.

"For the millionth time yes, I'm sure!", I replied in a somewhat annoyed tone.

I understand her need to constantly check my work, but this was the tenth sensor we were setting up today alone.

To be fair I would probably be worse in her position, the First Council has been down all our throats recently making sure Erima's debut is executed flawlessly.

"Seriously Sof, you need to relax our setups have passed every check perfectly.", Julia said as lightheartedly as ever. "I get that this is your first assignment as a Bishop, but Ray is one of the most intuitive Empaths around do you really think he would risk stressing you out even more today?" she continued to say while giving me a fairly aggressive hip-check.

As I tried to stop myself from crashing down on my equipment, I handed Sofia one of the calibration panels to reassure her that everything was set up exactly as specified. "Don't worry boss, our team is already way ahead of schedule, I'll retest the sensors and make sure every emotion is relayed down to the atoms".

Sofia gave out a sigh of relief as she replied, "Thanks Ray, this is why I love having you on my team".

"Yea I'm sure that's the only reason." Julia said with a slight giggle, nudging Sofia and giving me a playful wink.

Feeling Sofia's embarrassment building, I placed my hand on Julia's shoulder ushering her to come with me as I said, "Come on let's go, I need your Polyglot skills to make sure the sensors are translating our speech correctly.".

"Wait, why do you need me?! I'm a Somatic not a Polyglot.", Julia quickly protested. Sensing that Sofia needed a break from Julia, I played to her ego and said, "Having the rank of Rook, don't you want to demonstrate the height of your other wisdoms to the rest of the team?"

Knowing that Julia wouldn't pass on a chance to show off her wisdoms I continued to say, "Besides you know I have zero aptitude for Polyglot wisdom, do you really want all your sisters hard work to go to waste since you were too important to help a lowly Pawn like myself retest our sensors?".

Before Julia had a chance to realize what just happened, Sofia gave us a quick smile and began walking over to the other members of the team. "Thanks guy, let me know when you finish running the tests and we'll go grab some drinks before calling it a day."

With that Julia and I continued running the tests, ensuring that everything would be perfect for tomorrow's speech, where we would finally introduce Erima to the rest of the world.

As the new day began, I could barely contain my excitement and rushed off to the capital center to experience our last morning before we officially announced our return.

Although we had only established Erima a few months ago, the capital district gave an impression of decades worth of life. The city was a mix of giant skyscrapers, flourishing gardens, and varying monuments honoring the sacrifices of those made during our time through the Rift. While some still argued that we should continue our isolation and not involve ourselves with the outside world, the general consensus was that of pure excitement. Now that we have returned to earth, we could finally enjoy our reward after years of battle. As I made my way to the grand atrium, where the First Polyglot was to introduce Erima to the rest of the world, I let myself get lost in the emotions of those around me, relishing in the wonder of my people's pure excitement.

Being an Empath, I was constantly indulging myself in the emotions of those around me. I loved the connection that came with understanding the emotional influence of those around me, which is why it becomes an issue whenever I sensed malice around me.

What was a calm mix of curiosity, worry, and general happiness, quickly become engulfed by a storm of pure terror and fear.

I quickly made my way to the source of these emotions and found myself in an alleyway ready to confront whatever was causing these sensations.

Once I managed to distinguish this feeling of fear from my own emotions, I found three of the biggest looking people I have ever seen blocking off what appeared to be a terrified man.

As I approached the group of people, I could hear the largest of the three attempting to intimidate the poor man in front of them.

"Please just let me go, I promise I won't support Erima's exposure I just want to witness the First Polyglot's speech myself.", said the man in front of them visibly trembling from fear.

The women on the right of the group of aggressors responded in a clearly frustrated tone, "Why do you even care what that princess has to say? Do you really think any of the first council would waste their time on a useless Satori Pawn like you?".

Sensing that this was about to escalate into a physical altercation, I approached the group while subtly activating a high-pitched ringer I kept in my pocket for this exact type of situation.

"Hey guys what seems to be the issue here?" I said with a forced smile, making sure to exude as calm an energy as I could.

Now that I could see the groups faces, I understood why the man was as terrified as he was. On the left there was a stocky looking guy with a buzzcut and the most brutal cauliflower ears I had ever seen. To the right was a tall slender woman looking me up and down with her piercing green eyes, as if to judge if I was even worth their time. In the middle was what I can only describe as a wild beast. This man was a seven-foot-tall behemoth, covered in hair that looked more like a grizzly bear than any human.

Looking past them, I could see the face of the man behind them turn from one of fear to that of remorse. His whole face dropped, and I could immediately sense his feeling of resentment as he was powerless to protect me from what he assumed would come next.

Before I had a chance to speak again the man with the buzzcut began to approach me with a devilish grin as the women on the right looked at the man between them and said, "Looks like it's our lucky day Fyrsil, we get to beat up two useless pawns instead of one."

As she spoke, I could feel the energy imbued in her words, which could only mean I was dealing with a Polyglot probably at the rank of Knight. The man with the buzzcut continued to approach me, filled with pure bloodlust.

"Look at this poor boy, unknowingly walking to his death", the women continued to speak, "He shall soon taste the pure power that is our Rooks Somatic wisdom, only to feel despair at his own foolishness".

With every word she spoke I could feel the man's bloodlust grow. Thankfully my Empathic wisdom was able to nullify her words, but I made sure to give off emotions of fear and regret as to not let them see how screwed they actually were.

While this was happening the man behind the group seemed to be more intuitive than I had thought. What was first a face of remorse towards me had turned into shook as he exclaimed, "Wait he's way more powerfull….". Before he had a chance to finish, Frysil, which I assumed was the name of the beast in front of him, smacked him to the ground as he looked at me with the eyes of a hunter preparing to devour its pray.

By this point the man with the buzzcut was charging towards me ready to attack with full force.

Right before he had a chance to swing his hand, which had morphed into an arm of pure muscle bigger than his torso, I removed the ringer from my pocket and infused the sound waves with emotions of overwhelming terror and rage.

As the man who had correctly tried to warn his aggressors predicted, the guy with the buzzcut was now trembling at my feet. His eyes shaking as his lower lip began to twitch. He looked at me and let out a pleading cry "P-P-P-Please I'm sorry, I beg of you don't kill me!!!".

Although I had no way of actually physically harming any of these people, I had used the ringer in my pocket to alter the man's emotional state into that of a hopeless child.

Walking past the first man, who was now whimpering in a fetal position on the floor, I aimed the ringer at the Polyglot women releasing the illusion of my own bloodlust.

"Frysil we need to leave now", she whispered to the beast, her legs shaking as she tried to control her own fear. Now basically shielding herself behind Frysil, she continued to say, "There is no way someone with this much Empath wisdom is only a Pawn. My words can't even make a dent in his psyche".

Releasing as much bloodlust as I could, I continued walking towards them not saying a word, but intensifying the ringer's soundwaves with every step.

At this point the women had dropped to the floor crawling backwards in an attempt to distance herself from me, to terrified to even make a sound. It was now that I realized I might not have the advantage I thought I did.

Now that I was basically in front of Frysil, I realized my bloodlust had not even fazed him. What I had assumed to be a man to afraid to even move, was a monster looking down at his next meal.

While I kept my bloodlust steadily pouring through the ringer, to keep the other two in check, Frysil bared what appeared to be fangs at me as his whole aura began to change.

What was standing in front of me was no longer a man. Frysil's fur like hair had now engulfed his whole body as his hands morphed into claws. His giant body grew even larger as he changed into something that resembled a mix between a wolf and a bear. As I tried to maintain my composure, I had realized the man he had smacked down wasn't warning his attackers of my ability but was attempting to stop me from inciting the furry of this Anima monster.

Frysil, who was now preparing to lunge at me, gave me a demonic grin as he snarled, "Learn your place pawn".

As I braced myself for his attack, the emotions in the environment had completely changed. Frysil had transformed back into his human form and was now kneeling as he stared at something behind me.

"What is the meaning of this?", a soft and calm voice from behind me said. Frysil bowed his head and responded, "First Anima it is none of your concern. This Empath had approached us and instigated an attack. We were simply defending….". "SILENCE!!!", the First Anima exclaimed.

Standing there, immobilized in fear, the First Anima called for me, "Empath, I am the Anima Queen of the First Council, Bambi, what is your name and rank?".

Sensing that she had no intention to harm me, I faced her and knelt as I responded, "First Anima, I am Empath Pawn Ray Pechman.".

Behind the First Anima there were three women and two men each exuding an animalistic aura that made Frysil's look like a wounded puppy in comparison.

As this was the first time I had ever seen the First Anima in person, I couldn't help but be shocked by the demeanor of the women said to be the most ferocious beast to ever speak.

From the stories I had heard, I expected Bambi to be a towering force of nature that would shake the very earth as she moved. In reality, the First Anima looked more like a child than an actual beast.

She was about five feet tall, with a face as smooth as porcelain. Her chestnut hair was styled in a double Dutch braid, that flowed around her round non-descript face. She stood in front of me in a simple oak green robe, that trailed behind her slender frame. Although she seemed like an average school kid, she was engulfed by a ravenous aura that appeared as if it would devour anything in its path.

Bambi looked past me at Frysil and asked in a slightly confused tone, "A Pawn was able to incite this much fear in both Helen and Talos?", referring to the woman and man with a buzzcut, still cowering on the floor.

Before Frysil had a chance to respond Bambi continued to say, "I apologize on behalf of the Anima Bishop behind you. I will make sure he is dealt with in an appropriate manner".

Frysil spoke up attempting to defend himself, "First Anima, we were simply defending oursel…", "DO NOT SPEAK FRYSIL!!", one of the women with Bambi yelled cutting Frysil's words off. Bambi continued to speak, "Judging by the wounds on the man behind you, it is clear Mr. Pechmen was simply attempting to defend him from you". As Frysil attempted to speak again one of the men behind Bambi had already made their way to him, holding a claw to Frysil's throat, and growled, "One more disgrace and I will make sure it is your last."

With that Bambi ordered her people to retreat and gave me some medicine instructing me to apply it on the victim's wounds.

As Frysil, Helen, Talos, Bambi and her people were leaving, the woman who instructed Frysil not to speak approached me and said, "Your control over Helen and Talos emotional states is truly impressive. You hold a level of Empath wisdom significantly greater than any Pawn should be able to demonstrate.". As I thanked her for the complement she continued to say, "I am sure you are already positioned with a team, but if you are ever so inclined to work in service of the First Anima, I am sure we would benefit greatly from a Pawn with your prowess." After thanking her again they all left the alley leaving me and the other Pawn to our own devices.

I quickly approached the man and applied the medicine to his wounds. "Man, that was a close one, we definitely would have been screwed had the First Anime not shown up", I said with a slight chuckle attempting to ease the tension between us.

"I am grateful for your help", the main said with a shaky voice, clearly still recovering from what just happened. "My name is Boulus Alistair, and I am Satori Pawn", the man said after I had finished healing his wounds. "Don't mention it, honestly I just couldn't stand the emotions those guys were giving off and felt like I had to teach them a lesson", I responded making sure to keep a playful tone in my voice.

Boulus looked at me with soft smile as I helped him and said, "I am I am curious though, what was that device you used that devastated Helen and Talos?", as he pointed at the pocket I had placed the ringer back in.

"Oh, it's a ringer I made to infuse sound waves with my own emotions", I answered him and continued to explain what the device was, "I may be an Empath Pawn but I hold aptitudes for Acumen and Acoustic wisdoms on par with even Bishops".

Boulus looked at me with a sense of pride and said, "You are truly an inspiration to us Pawns Mr. Pechmen".

I give him a slight tap on the shoulder and laughed, "Please just call me Ray, by the way you mentioned you were headed to the First Polyglots speech, right?". Boulus responded, "Yes if I hurry I could still make it to the atrium before she begins!".

I looked at him with a smile, "Perfect! Would it be ok if I walk with you? Unfortunately, I have no idea how to get to the atrium from here, or where exactly we are for that matter", I said to him trying to hide my embarrassment.

Boulus gave out a slight chuckle and responded, "Of course, let us start moving before we end up late".

At his words Boulus and I made our way to the atrium and prepared ourselves for Erima's unveiling.