Chapter 23

Cold water cascaded onto Zale waking him up out of a dead sleep. Devon stood above him with a grin on his face. It took a moment for Zale to remember why he was passed out in the passageways of the Spirit Hall, but seeing the glowing lights he created the night before made him remember his success. Although it wasn’t a rank one glyph for someone who just started learning it was a huge success. Some people would take years to master the training glyphs. He had mastered the first one in only a couple weeks.

“We have to go now. The monks are going crazy trying to find you. Better off if they cool down,” Damon said.

Zale could hear massive amounts of activity going on throughout the compound. He was so excited about succeeding, and cementing the how into his body he had gone a little overboard. The entire Spirit Hall was now covered in his light glyphs. Anyone would be more than a little angry if they were tasked with cleaning it up.

“Where too?” Zale grinned.

It took a while to sneak out of the Spirit Hall without any of the monks spotting them. Zale was a little worried that Malchi would punish him on skipping out on the days training, but figured the success from his glyph studies would balance it out. Once they were outside they booked it straight out of the central square of Delvers Ridge and hit the streets.  Unfortunately, even the streets seemed overly congested.

“What’s going on?” Zale inquired.

“I hear one of the Capital’s ten has come to Delvers Ridge as part of a training regimen.”

The capital city of Vurith was Vursai which was the largest city in the capital by far. It made Jeskai city and Delvers Ridge look like small country villages. On top of that, it was where the Emperor lived as well as the center of the military and guilds. Because of all this, the Spirit Hall located in the Vursai had much more resources allocated to it and sponsored ten children instead of just one or two like all the other cities/provinces. The capitals ten had always dominated the school tournament throughout the years because of their advantage in resources and abilities. With a higher population to choose from the cream of the crop were normally much better than other areas of the empire could produce. Thus, the capitals top ten had a reputation for sitting on top of the world.

Just when Zale was about to ask a question his stomach made a rather loud grumbling sound. Devon just laughed and led the way a restaurant. The place was called On Heavens Door, and it was extremely out of Zale’s price range. A waiter better dressed than Zale came over to greet the two.

“The normal booth Lord Brekk?”

Lord Brekk? Zale had spent so much time training and goofing around with Devon the last couple weeks he had forgotten that Devon was a noble. Zale yearned for the respect and status that the waiter gave to Devon. One of the biggest reasons he wanted to do so well in the school tournament was to reach a level of power where he could create his own noble house.

The waiter lead them to a room which could see out onto a stage. Currently a woman sat on the stage and played the flute as entertainment. Zale and Devon sat on luxurious sofas.”

“Your best wine, and the seven-course meal for us please.”

The waiter bowed and left. Almost immediately two servers came in with wine and fruit trays for both Zale and Devon.

“There is no way I can afford this place. After I joined the guild and bought my books I have almost no money left,” Zale lamented.

“Ninth rule of man: A bro must never go unfed.”

Zale laughed and ate. He wasn’t about to decline a free feast. Besides, if he was going to be punished when he went back to the Spirit Hall he preferred a full stomach. As they ate they joked with each other and watched the entertainment. Every quarter hour the entertainment would change. They saw bass players, piano, singers, dancers. At one point, they even had someone who swallowed swords.

They couldn’t see into other people’s rooms but they could hear the laughter coming from the rooms. After almost the whole day was wasted eating and messing around, the waiter who originally met them at the entrance walked onto the stage.

“That concludes the entertainment for today. At this point I would like to invite the various lords and ladies to grace us with their arts. Lady Darth, Lord Brekk, Duke Etland...” The waiter continued to list the various Lords and Lady’s that were present.  

“Did he say Duke Etland?” Zale asked.

Duke Etland was the blond boy who had attacked Zale on his way back from the Guild Hall. Devon nodded and frowned.

“Don’t worry. He won’t try anything here,” Devon replied.

After a silence a girl jumped down from one of the rooms onto the stage and curtsied.

“I will play the piano for everyone,” she said sweetly.

The waiter snapped his fingers and two servants wheeled out a piano.

“We thank you for playing for us Lady Stellia,” the waiter said as he bowed slightly.

Zale listened as the nobles performed one after another. The performances put Zale into a strange state of mind. It was like two different colored lenses were put in-front of each of his eyes. He never had an opportunity to learn an instrument. These peers of his all had tutors from a young age that taught them many different subjects as well as the arts. He saw their lives versus his. He feared that these youths were polished gems, and feared he was a simple rock that the Spirit Hall was trying its best to polish into something he could never be.

Devon jumped down onto the stage and bowed to the rooms. Before he could speak though a laugh came out.

“This is a little boring, isn’t it? Lord Brekk, how about a little contest to finish our squabble from the other day. You’re performance versus mine?” Duke Etland shouted out.

Devon spat towards Etland’s room. “What do you have that could even entice me to agree to such a contest.”

There was a small silence followed by “How about a forging token? I acquired it recently.”

Devon smiled mischievously. “I will wager a thousand gold to match it.”

A forging token could be used at the Artificers Guild to have an Artificer forge a Spirit Artifact for you. It was true that they were bought for one thousand gold, but they were infinitely hard to get a hold of because Artificers were very picky about who the forged for. If Devon won he certainly would make out better than Etland.  

“Excellent, the only thing left is the judge of our little wager.”

“How about Lady Darth? I imagine one of the Capitals top ten is qualified enough for you?” Devon asked.

Zale hadn’t realized that Lady Darth was the one the whole city was in a commotion about. He looked toward the room she was located to catch a peek at what she looked like, but the curtain was shut tight.

“I will judge,” a soft voice lofted out of the room.