The Buried Symbol (The Ruins of Issalia Book 1) (53 page)

The noise of the crowd carried through the changing room to the baths. Brock waited to see if Cam was advancing to the final round or was coming to join him. After a few minutes without Cam showing, he decided that his friend had won. Brock felt a twinge of guilt for not watching, but it soon passed. He had had enough of these senseless duels. Any bit of joy he used to get from sparring was now gone. All the same, he wished his friend the best of luck. If Cam wasn
’
t the best, then he was darn close.

Soaking in the bath alone, he enjoyed the serenity of the moment. With closed eyes, his mind drifted. A roar from the Arena brought him back to reality. With a sigh, he waded to the stairs to grab his towel. Once dressed, he emerged from the changing room to see how his friend fared.

As Cam came into Brock
’
s view, Goren swung a wide-sweeping strike. Cam
’
s shield knocked it aside, and his sword came around low to hit his opponent hard behind the leg. Goren dropped to one knee, and Cam smashed him on top of the head with his shield. Brock knew how that felt. Cam stood ready above Goren
’
s prone body and Budakis jumped in to call the match. The applause grew to a crescendo when Budakis held Cam
’
s hand high.

Brock smiled. He was happy for his friend. If anyone deserved the recognition, it was Cam. Not only was he physically gifted, he also worked harder at perfecting his skills than anyone Brock knew.

While the crowd watched the victor receiving his medal, Brock climbed the stairs to stand with Ashland. She flashed him a smile, putting her arm around his waist as he put his around her shoulder. Though it hurt when she squeezed him, he didn
’
t care.

Soon after, the crowd began to filter through the doors to fill the halls outside. Brock and Ashland followed along, holding hands to not become separated. He just wanted to spend some quiet time with her before joining his friends to celebrate Cameron
’
s victory.

CHAPTER 83

“
It
’
s not working, Benny. I
’
m telling you I don
’
t feel it,
”
Brock complained.

Benny shook his head.
“
I know we
’
re close. I just know it.
”

Brock sat, removing his water skin.
“
I need a break. My head
’
s still throbbing from last night.
”

Benny flashed a grin.
“
The wine was good, right?
”

As Brock drank from the skin, he nodded. Swallowing, he replaced the cap.
“
Too good. That
’
s the problem.
”
He rubbed his eyes.
“
Where did you get a whole cask anyway?
”

Benny held up his hands.
“
I
’
m sorry, but I cannot divulge my sources. I
’
d hate to give a secret up so easily.
”

“
Well, it must have cost you plenty.
”

Benny nodded.
“
Oh, it was expensive. But, I figured it was the least I could do after you and Cam helped me win all that gold.
”

Brock chuckled when he thought about the prior evening. Benny had been more animated than ever as he raved about how they had helped him rake in the winnings. After opening the cask, it wasn
’
t long until half of their floor had joined them in the lounge for a cup or more.

He wasn
’
t quite sure why he had let Benny drag him out to the quarry behind the Foundry yard this morning. He would have gladly slept longer, feeling the lingering effects of too much wine. Thank Issal it was Seventh Day.

Taking a breath, Brock gathered the will to try again. He walked over to the solid steel pole wedged under the huge stone block. Gripping the pole, his fingers traced the rune of
Power
they had carved into it.

“
Tell me how you expect this to work again,
”
he said to Benny.

Benny walked over, patting the pole with one hand.
“
It
’
s simple. From what I can tell, the way the rune worked with the catapult is that it somehow augmented the normal amount of energy released, resulting in an energy level many times higher than normal. Here, you have a strong lever wedged under an extremely heavy object. If you can somehow charge the symbol that
’
s engraved in the pole, the energy applied to the lever will be multiplied many times, which will allow us to lift the stone block.
”

Brock nodded.
“
Okay. I think I got it that time. The last time, you spouted cryptic stuff like,
”
Brock
’
s voice took on a nasal quality,
“
the applied effect caused the
potential energy to increase exponentially
blah, blah, blah.
”

Benny laughed.
“
That was close. You almost had it, but the terms aren
’
t important. What I need you to do now is make it happen.
”

“
That
’
s what I
’
m telling you. I
’
m not sure how it happened before.
”
Brock shrugged.
“
It just kind of happened.
”

Benny shook his head.
“
Don
’
t give up, Brock. Think back to the last time it happened. Focus on what you did. Think about what you saw, what you heard, what you smelled, even what you felt.
”

Brock nodded, thinking back to the situation. Corbin had just launched his catapult, breaking the school record. This was after he had tried to sabotage their catapult.
Wait.
Sabotage. Brock had left his staff in the changing room before breaking for lunch. He suddenly realized that Corbin had cut his staff. Corbin knew the staff would break when he had swung the heavy overhand blow.

Anger began boiling inside of Brock. He closed his eyes, imagining Corbin sneaking into the changing room and making deep cuts into the staff. He felt the heat of that anger and of an angry energy around him. He absorbed that energy, drawing it in until he felt like he would burst. Opening his eyes, he poured the frantic energy into the rune and it began to glow hot red.

“
Whoa! Look at that!
”
Benny exclaimed.

A wave of exhaustion washed over Brock. The rune pulsed, slowly dissipating until it looked like a normal engraving.

Benny smiled.
“
Can I try it again?
”

Brock shrugged.
“
Suit yourself.
”

Standing beside the pole, Benny showed a hopeful smile. The past six tries had yielded nothing except a lot of grunting.

Benny took a breath, and pushed down on the pole. The huge stone block launched into the air. The solid steel pole screamed a high-pitched tone as it vibrated, causing Benny to let go. He fell onto his rear, rubbing his hands as he watched the stone block land on the low slopes of the nearby mountain, over a hundred feet away.

Benny began to laugh, slapping his leg in glee.

Bending down, Brock asked,
“
Are you okay, Benny?
”

Nodding, Benny scrambled to his feet.

“
That was the most amazing thing I
’
ve ever seen.
”
Benny rubbed his hands together in excitement.
“
Let
’
s do it again.
”

CHAPTER 84

Spring rains started the next day. The remaining snow in the valley melted steadily although the surrounding peaks remained white as the rain turned to snow at the higher elevation. After three weeks of steady rain, the sky cleared, and the sun began to dry away the pools of water that had formed.

The experiment with
Chaos
had provided interesting information on how long the
Chaos
-induced effect lasted. The enhanced power of the lever had held steady for a time before a rapid decline. By the time two hours had passed, it had returned to just a solid metal pole. After their successful and slightly scary experiment, Brock convinced Benny that they needed to learn more before somebody got hurt or killed. Disappointed, Benny shifted his focus back to his new invention.

Brock divided his free time between translating the book and spending it with Ashland. He preferred the latter, but much of her time was occupied by tasks set by Master Varius. When the rains relented, the two were able to leave the Academy for a night in Fallbrandt. It was a pleasant diversion that not only allowed him to see Tipper, but also enabled him to share a bed with Ashland for the first time in months. The couple relished every moment, not returning to the Academy until sunset the next evening.

In the weeks after the Arena Championship, Corbin changed. The usual boastful persona that had pervaded was now withdrawn. Even in Hierarchist class, where he presided as prelate of their imaginary government, Corbin was quiet and brooding. Brock assumed that it was related to the lisp that Corbin had developed after losing the tip of his tongue, though nobody dared to tease him. To Brock
’
s surprise, he began to feel sorry for Corbin.

When the weather was dry, their Paladin class moved outdoors four days a week. While they still spent time on tactics and fitness training, their wooden melee weapons were replaced by ranged weapons. They were taught how to use the short bow, longbow, and crossbow. After spending two weeks introducing basic bow techniques, Budakis had them each select one that they were to master. Brock opted for the short bow, but when Budakis announced the Marksman Tournament coming in late spring, Brock had low expectations. He couldn
’
t seem to grasp the nuances of the weapon.

While the bulk of the class practiced at the range, each day Budakis would send a group of fifteen students to spend time with Master Herron, the horse master. On those days, Brock learned the basics of horsemanship, from caring for the animal to how to ride one. He found that he could barely sit for two days after his first day of riding. Within three weeks, the soreness became little more than an annoyance.

In Ecclesiastics, the focus on divining finally ended when Varius introduced the next talent they were to develop.

“
We are now three quarters of the way through your novice year. I
’
m sure you feel that this class has been moving slowly, focusing too long on only a few concepts. That feeling is understandable. However, I cannot stress enough how valuable healing is to the Empire and to its citizens. If the extra effort spent on developing the skill produces just one more healer per year, it
’
s worth it.
”

Varius surveyed the room before continuing.
“
Of course, the other talent we
’
ve covered thus far is divining. Though far more common, it also has value and is worth spending a couple months to develop.
”

Pausing, she smiled.
“
I will now introduce a third ability that can manifest through
Order
: prophecy.
”

She glided down the aisle as she spoke.
“
Prophecy
is an ability relating to the prediction of future events. It can appear in various forms. The most common form is often perceived as simple intuition. It
’
s when a warning in the back of your mind causes you to react to something about to happen, even before it occurs.
”

She smiled.
“
I realize that this is a complex concept, so let me give you an example. Someone who has a strong connection with
Order
might enter a room but stop suddenly, not knowing why. A second later, the chandelier above falls to the floor right where the person would have been if he or she hadn
’
t stopped. In this case, the subtle ability in prophecy becomes a sort of additional sense, catching the smallest glimpse into their own immediate future.
”

“
You may wonder how this is possible. How could one see into the future? To understand, you need think of
Order
as a force that exists not only in the present, but also in the past and in the future. I
’
ve explained that
Order
is within all living things as the life force that binds us. While we only experience time in this moment, always moving forward in a linear fashion, the
Order
existing within you has existed throughout your whole past and extends into your future, stretching forward like a thread through time. When connected to that force of
Order
, you may be able to extend that connection out just a bit into the future, giving you a glimpse of what is coming.
”