Chapter 17
Zale was speechless. The next couple hours he was in a daze. It felt as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Being a part of a guild was monumental. It signified wealth, power, and status. As long as he did guild tasks he would have the guilds backing. The guilds backing was very similar to how the Spirit Hall had sponsored him, except it was for life and came with much more benefits. The Spirit Hall sponsorship was only until the school tournament, once Zale was accepted into a school his relationship with the Spirit Hall would come to an end until his graduation. When his graduation came the Spirit Hall would try to vie for his services alongside other major powers. His relationship with the guild though would last for the rest of his life, and no matter who he swore allegiance to in the distant future he could always fall back to the Glyph Master’s guild. All guilds were considered neutral similar to how most schools were. During times of war guild members could sell their services to the highest bidder. A very mercenary approach was taken.
Of course, all of these things depended on how successful Zale could become in the guild. There were many apprentices that never left apprenticeship because they hit bottlenecks in their training they could never overcome. The tests were designed to test talent and promise. A test can never prove what someone is truly capable of, just gauge potential. Hard work, dedication, and luck all go into the blend alongside talent when it comes to how far someone can travel on a path.
When the ball of light rose from the glyph in the sand it wasn’t just Zale who was shocked, the entire room of students and proctors froze. All eyes in the room were directed at Zale. The students of the Spirit Hall were all familiar with Zale but the other adolescents who were getting their training from either their family or a privately paid tutor were etching Zale’s features into their mind. Guild acceptances were just that rare. Zale had spent a couple hours waiting in the four lines and he was the only person that had passed one of the tests the entire time.
The proctor stuck a booklet into Zale’s hands during the excitement.
“This is your apprentice manual. It gives a brief description of the rules of the guild, perks, and most importantly locations of guild halls all throughout the entire continent.”
Zale took the small booklet with a big grin on his face. Today was just too good. He had leveled up Impulse Control, and now been accepted into a guild. It seemed everything was falling into place.
“When you have time in the next week you should come visit the guild hall in Delvers Ridge. We can assign you your guild card and you can purchase different books on glyphs from the shop,” the Proctor informed him.
Something wasn’t right with the proctor’s words. “The methods to become a Glyph Master cost money?” Zale asked.
The proctor laughed. “Only the three most basic glyphs are given to apprentices for free. As for the books that can teach the thousands of other glyphs that have been found throughout the ages, you will of course have to pay a fee. As for the notes of other glyph masters and their findings during their experiments, those too can be purchased for the right price. The Glyph Masters guild is a guild of professional craftsman at heart.”
Damn leeches. They even charge their own guilds-men. Even the upper level Glyph Masters would sell their personal notes on their experiences to amateurs to make a quick buck. Zale could smell a pyramid scheme. Unfortunately, the draw of this pyramid was much too enticing for Zale to turn away from. So what if they charged him for knowledge? He would pay up if it meant he could make even more in the future.
Malchi grabbed Zale by the collar and dragged him back out of City Hall. Zale was barely even able to say thank you to the proctor before Malchi and him were on the streets headed back to the Spirit Hall. Zale didn’t even mind that Malchi wouldn’t respond to anything as they walked. Zale was reading the apprentice booklet the entire time. Although it was only a slight glimpse into the inner workings of the guild it was more than enough to awe Zale.
There were pages of rules, but only three were punished heavily. All the others besides the main three were punishable by fines only. The three big no-no’s were pretty standard though; don’t teach non-guild members, don’t kill guild members under any circumstances, and don’t kill members of the other guilds unless there are extreme circumstances. He didn’t see himself teaching or killing anyone anytime soon so he skipped the rules and read the perks. Discounts basically everywhere. That was what Zale arrived at when he skimmed over the pages of perks. Most of the discounts were minor as well. It seemed that if he wanted any real perks he would have to raise his guild rank from apprentice to a true Glyph Master.
When they finally reached Zale’s room, Malchi finally inspected Zale and spoke.
“How are your wounds?” he asked as he poked and prodded the different burns on Zale’s body.
Zale was use to Malchi’s body inspections. It was very important that his muscles were evenly proportioned. If he ever gained too much upper body strength for instance his balance while performing his martial arts could be completely off. On top of that, Malchi was inspecting Zale to see if his body could take another round with the eels. It was a gamble letting Zale train through electrocution.
“May I see your abilities?” Malchi asked.
Zale offered Malchi his right hand. Even though Malchi could have checked his abilities when Zale was unconscious the last couple days it was considered taboo. Peoples abilities were almost sacred ground. If you read someone’s spirit gem without permission, it was considered a massive breach of privacy. Malchi would never read even his own disciples spirit gem without permission.
The information rushed into Malchi’s mind as he touched the gem. Impulse Control’s new level and added effects were instantly made aware. Zale smiled with pride. He had survived the devilish training and came out ahead.
“Good. When you fully heal you can take on two eels instead of one,” Malchi commented.
This old demon. Zale was confident he could survive and learn from the eel. He wouldn’t hesitate at all if he was asked to step back into that tub of water. The pain was gruesome but he knew deep down that it was nothing compared to what real lightning would be like. Why couldn’t he just face one eel like the previous time? It wasn’t like he gracefully channeled the electricity and was unaffected whatsoever. He did pass out for three days with his body covered in burns after all. Wasn’t it a little too early for talking about facing two eels instead of one? Malchi saw the anxiousness in Zale’s eyes.
“You were only able to level up Impulse Control so fast because it was life or death. You were forced to comprehend and learn. If you can look me in the eyes and tell me that you face real danger with just one eel then that’s what we will do, but I think we both know that one eel won’t truly pose a threat.”
Zale remained silent. No matter how much he wanted to disagree he knew his master was correct. When he manipulated the electrical currents it was out of a desperate desire to live and avoid as much of the pain as possible. If he were to face the same challenge again he would have much more control and wouldn’t make any of the same mistakes he made last time. He probably would be able to endure much longer than the eel could discharge electricity.
“Plus, it’s not like twice the number of eels equals twice the amount of electricity. It just means the time between discharges will be drastically shortened,” Malchi added like he was making everything okay.
Zale just ignored him and put the Glyph Master booklet on his desk. He wanted to change the subject as fast as possible. He did not want to face the eels anytime soon. All he could do was hope his burns took a while to heal.
“Should I go to the guild hall tomorrow?” Zale asked.
“Absolutely. You should begin training in glyphs as soon as possible. This is a true blessing. Honestly, I have been thinking about ways you can actually fight. With your current passives it would be very difficult to face one of your peers in combat. The difference at this stage between passives and actives are just too large. I must admit I don’t know much about Glyph Masters, but if we can figure out a way to use them in combat it may be what you need to stand on par with other during the tournament.”
Zale nodded his head in agreement. After watching the display Devon put on training with Commander Cipher over a month ago he knew he was in trouble. There would be hundreds of contestants just as strong as Devon during the tournament. Even though Zale may be more powerful in martial combat, his abilities were still largely lacking. He needed something to make up for the disparity. If glyphs could accomplish this then this was truly a great fortune.
“We will go after your morning run. Just because you’ve been accepted into a guild doesn’t mean you can skip out on your physical conditioning.”
Zale just curled up in bed at that. His body ached from blisters and burns everywhere and his master wanted him to continue his physical training? Not yelling at Malchi at that moment was one of the hardest things Zale had ever done. He had promised himself he wouldn’t question Malchi’s judgment anymore. The man had come through so far on everything. He had told himself he would give everything he had to make it as an Elemental Master. A man must see things through to the end. If Malchi wanted him to run, he would run. He may not like it, but he would do it with the end goal in sight.