The human realm is in a state of upset with the Ascension Wars in full swing, but at Rigrus School, Leeik Farspell is living in relative safety. Relative. The son of a family of battle-mages, Leeik had neither the skill nor the interest go to into the family business, so he has to find an apprenticeship or end up on the streets. He wants to be a healer...but the teacher he gets is Bartharborus, known for two things: being the best there is at what he does, and for verbally abusing his apprentices until they all leave. He's determined to chase off Leeik, too. So Leeik has two choices: find a way to ignore his abusive teacher while learning from him, or find out how to live without the support of a family or a skill. Childhood is supposed to be the easy part of a person's life, but Leeik is struggling just to hang on and remain sane. And then assassins end up in the mix... Life can get complicated when you're a smart boy like Leeik, with nowhere to go and secrets underfoot all the way.