Benedict Aaron Rodney had a terrible life for eighteen years.

His parents died, leaving him with his Uncle Skippy Rodney. Skippy was a bust-out drunk who could barely take care of himself. After being given a child he didn't want, he took out the anger he had on the child.

If that wasn't enough for someone to deal with, things got worse for him. His one-time friends got tired of him, making him a target of their boredom and anger. This left the growing child with no safe haven—at school or home, someone was hurting him every day.

Then, something miraculous happened: the Heavens stepped in, granting him a Sphere. Spontaneous manifestation of a Sphere was very rare, but it happened on occasion. Benedict, while being beaten unconscious and having his bones broken, was suddenly the Holder of a Sphere of Regeneration.

A passerby broke up the attack on Benedict and got him whisked off to a clinic to see a Healer. The Healer not only found his newest injuries completely repaired, but also the long list of injuries Benedict had endured throughout his life. That examination turned up the fact that Benedict now had a Sphere and, as such, was bound for the Academy to learn how to deal with his new life.

He was shown around by Agatha, his psychiatrist. She'd help him learn the things that his school had never told him about Holders. It was also on his first day that he'd met Atropos Rosaria Foxglove, his roommate, who had her own problems.

He'd have to learn to coexist with a roommate who disliked him, all while trying to find his new place as a Holder of a Sphere. One of the few non-elite students, he would have an uphill climb. Benedict never backed down from a fight or pain, and he wasn't about to start now.