Ezekiel had his worries as he set out for yet another Ancient Ruin. His luck with adventures and missions had been fairly poor. Yet he couldn’t help but feel equally excited as he and Shine boarded yet another ship. This time the expedition was to be led by one of the other Guild Leaders. They knew better than to let Ezekiel go off under Ginny’s command, but Riker had his own duties, and there were already rumors of favoritism.
It was mostly spread by Ginny and her people, but nothing could be proven beyond word of mouth. Ezekiel had lamented the restrictions of contracts many times during his stay with the Island Hoppers. Each time because they couldn’t get rid of Ginny. Needless to say, that time away from Ginny was something that he also looked forward to.
Currently, the Ruins that they were headed to were ones that were not actually located within the Desolate Land’s islands. Such a journey would’ve taken a month or so at sea and would’ve been far too distant for the small number of crews. The Ruins they were going to were ones that were rediscovered from a time when the resources of the island had run out, or when a sufficiently powerful Wild Spirit decided to claim it for themself. This led the Ruins to form after the people there had left. Such Ruins ranged from decades, to centuries, to millennia years old.
The Ruins they were headed to recently became available to humanity. The previous Wild Spirit overlord of that area had recently been driven out in a battle with another Wild Spirit of equal strength. Luckily, the other Wild Spirit didn’t claim the island for itself. It was simply expanding its territory, which is centered around another island some distance away from the island the Ruin was on. Of course, these events occurred decades ago, from what stories they could find. Still recent, but not in the frame of time that Ezekiel had initially expected.
It was a surprising trip for Ezekiel. Taking a couple of weeks at sea. This was the first time he’d been at sea since his original trip to Sanafalls that didn’t result in pirate attacks. He stayed ready at all times, of course, but as they reached the island, there was little to do beyond the basic survey and investigation.
Ezekiel’s knowledge in this instance was immensely helpful. But it also resulted in some disappointment in the crew. This was not the Ruin of a massive trading hub, or well-established resource city. The island was filled with Life and Flame mana, but no crystal veins could be found. Similarly, beyond a few decently powerful Spirits and rare plant life, this island had few natural resources.
It seemed like this island was mainly a small stopping point for ships that were sailing beyond the primary trade routes. An explorer’s rest, or perhaps a small hub for businesses that were transporting goods between larger trading ports. Ezekiel ended up spending most of his time investigating what little buildings remained. It was deemed unnecessary for him to risk himself exploring the island’s wilderness.
As such, he was stuck looking through broken and dilapidated buildings. Something that he found frustrating at times. Especially since many had collapsed, and it was hard to get through. Luckily, Shine was of great help in this instance. They and Ezekiel ended up getting much of the ruins mapped out. Little of interest was found, but then Shine went into a large building in the center of the town.
From what Ezekiel knew of the history of the Archipelago, the remains of the building couldn’t have been more than a few hundred or so years old. So, it would’ve been abandoned just after the Age of Despair had ended. It was possible that the island was abandoned because of the lack of trade coming from the islands now in the Desolate Lands.
As Ezekiel was taking notes and pondering possibilities, he nearly fell on his face, stumbling after Shine’s frantic calls reached out to him.
“Ezekiel! Ezekiel, I think I found something interesting!” Shine said as they tried to send some images to Ezekiel’s mind. After a moment to balance himself, ignoring the snickering of the Hunters behind him, Ezekiel focused on what Shine was trying to show him.
The mental image was dark and blurry, but Ezekiel could tell that Shine was right. They had found something interesting. Something that might be very, very, valuable.
“Oy! You, the Cavern Mage! I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.” Ezekiel called out to the Hunters behind him.
“Yeah?” The man in question looked confused. As did his companions.
“I need you to help me move some stonework. My golem found something.” Ezekiel said.
The excuse that he and Shine came up with was that Shine was an incredibly advanced golem. Given that Ezekiel was credited as one of the creators of the Com Slates that were growing well known, him having an advanced golem wasn’t questioned.
The Cavern Mage and his Spirit came over. After getting very specific instructions from Ezekiel, the Hunter-Spirit pair moved the exact amount of stone necessary to lever a wall that had collapsed on a previously hidden room. Taking a better look, Ezekiel realized that this was someone’s private office.
There were a few knick-knacks here and there, but few were objects of value. However, there was one thing that Ezekiel saw that could very well make the Island Hoppers, and the Church of Ten, very rich in the not-so-distant future.
A large map was carved and painted on the one undamaged wall. It had obviously been reinforced, and the colors originated from differently colored stone, rather than paints. The names of different places were also clearly engraved on the stone map. Ezekiel recognized several from the primary trade route. But there were several islands with names that he’d never seen before. Some were even in the area that was now the Desolate Lands.
“Get the Captain! He’ll want to see this!” Ezekiel ordered his fellow Guild members. An Apprentice Tempest Hunter flew off. She was their fastest runner, and a message like this wasn’t an emergency, so they wouldn't bother with their Com Slate. Better to give the Captain the full picture as well.
As she went off to inform the Captain, Shine crawled out of a small hole that they’d sequestered themself in while the room was being opened up. They quickly shifted their soul back to their sword, and Ezekiel put the golem body back into his Void Pouch.
He then removed a stack of pens and papers, as well as a small writing desk and stool. Scribbling could be heard as Ezekiel frantically, but carefully, began drawing the map on the wall. He’d have to redraw an official map later, but this would do for now.
----------------------------------------
Needless to say, the Guild leader who was captaining this expedition was ecstatic to find the map. While most maps from before the Age of Despair, or prior, were still around, only those that detailed the major areas of importance were in good condition. Occasionally you found good maps like these ones, but they were few and far between. Especially in smaller towns like this Ruin likely was.
They ended up staying at the Ruins for roughly a month. During that time, Ezekiel spent almost all of it recreating the map and making copies, just in case. Beyond that, he was sometimes called to investigate and explain what some of the destroyed buildings were.
One such instance stopped a team from nearly blowing themselves up when he recognized the smell of gas. The team in question didn’t have a Radiant Mage and were going to have a Flame Mage create a spark to give them some light. Needless to say, when Ezekiel showed them what would’ve happened, by making them stand back and having a Spirit drop a torch in the area, the team decided to be more careful.
Ezekiel was very surprised when the gas was found. Especially since he couldn’t figure out where it came from. There were no natural pockets that they had found, but he figured that it was something that had been left behind from before the town was abandoned. He didn’t bother putting much more thought into it and moved onto another team to assist.
Ultimately, they found what might be equal to a couple thousand gold worth of Relics and resources. A few of the rare plants were apparently very useful for Alchemic purposes, but Ezekiel only had a passing knowledge of such things. He made a note to look into it more after he eventually returned to the Cathedral.
Beyond that, the map copies were locked away in several locations and with several people taking care of them. It would do no good to have such a resource lost yet again. The hidden route to the Desolate Lands was already priceless when it came to the possible hidden treasures.
Thus, it was after a surprisingly successful expedition that Ezekiel and Shine returned to the Island Hoppers’ headquarters without much incident. There was a bit of a scene when Ezekiel was called forth to meet with the guild leaders again. Apparently, Ginny had tried to frame him for something when he was gone. Luckily, he and Riker had made plans, gotten proof, and kept records of everything they’d done in preparation of Ezekiel’s departure. Thus, her attempts were brushed off, and several men were assigned janitorial duties as punishment.
Afterwards, although he wrote it off as a trick of the light, he could’ve sworn he saw a look of begrudging respect flash through Ginny’s eyes. It was then replaced by frustration and suspicion, however, and he and Ginny went right back to annoying each other. Ginny tried to assign him ridiculous amounts of work, while Ezekiel went above and beyond expectations.
Ezekiel found himself swamped with work, but his behavior and results proved him to be capable. To the point where one of his requests was easily fulfilled not long after he’d returned. Though there was some confusion at first.
----------------------------------------
“You want to do what?” Riker asked after Ezekiel had explained what he was hoping to do.
“I want to do some training with the Hunters, as well as give some lessons on potential dangers found in Ancient Ruins.” Ezekiel explained.
He had gotten the idea when he’d gotten back from the expedition. The fact that there were several near misses when it came to dangers that could’ve been avoided was something he’d hoped to change. The explosive room alone was enough for him to want to give a lecture on safely investigating hidden or sealed rooms.
However, he knew that if he suggested it when Ginny was around, he’d likely never get anything approved. So, he waited for her to be sent on a mission before bringing his ideas to anyone’s attention. Currently Ginny was away for a month on a trade escort to one of the islands that were a bit farther out than usual. The perfect time to present his plans to Riker and see if they could be passed on.
“Here. I’ve created an outline and lesson plan that I think will help with avoiding casualties, or at least lessening them, when investigating Ancient Ruins. It’ll also help with preserving the sites for Scholars to research at later dates.” Ezekiel said as he handed over a stack of papers.
It wasn’t anything particularly groundbreaking. Just a summarization of what he recalled from his past life, detailing some simple procedures when working on archaeological digs. Altered to incorporate the use and benefits of magic, of course. He wasn’t a professional, by far, but he remembered a few things he figured would be important. The lectures regarding safety procedures were something he’d likely never forget.
Riker took a few minutes to look through the outline Ezekiel had provided. It detailed procedures for checking safety and stability when looking through Ruins, as well as provided examples of dangers that they regularly faced. Even beyond those that Ezekiel had personally experienced on his recent expedition.
“I’m not expecting every single person to be involved in these lessons. But I figured if we could get even a couple dozen Hunters brought up to speed when it comes to this stuff, it might make things go a bit faster. Especially since it means that, on short expeditions with fewer to no Scholars, Hunters will be able to more safely do their own investigations. Without destroying things that Scholars might want to research.” Ezekiel explained.
Riker finished reading Ezekiel’s proposal. He let himself get lost in thought as he pondered over what he’d read. He didn’t disagree with the proposal. Not entirely. However, he knew that it might look bad if he was the one that brought it to the other Guild leaders. Especially since Ginny was away and was likely to argue against it as soon as she returned.
“I don’t think I can bring this forward. Perhaps you can check with one of the other Guild leaders first. See if they will support you instead. You can’t be coming to me for everything, after all.” Riker said.
Ezekiel looked a bit disheartened, but he could understand where Riker was coming from.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
“I’ll do that. But does it at least look feasible? From your perspective as a Guild leader.” Ezekiel asked. If Riker didn’t think it was feasible, then he’d try to alter it a bit more before bringing it to one of the other leaders.
“I do. But I just don’t think I can be the first to support it.” Riker explained. “Take it to one of the others first. Regardless of their answer, you and I can discuss things later. You’ll be coming by to tutor Rain later, right?”
Rain was Riker’s daughter. Ezekiel had been helping tutor her in magic, and she’d nearly passed the halfway point to Tier one. Ezekiel hoped to get her a pure crystal to push her past the final step. He and Shine had been working on figuring out how to make the one hundredth mote of Void Mana, but other than the method Ezekiel had used, they hadn’t had much luck.
The problem was that not many kids had a soul powerful enough to withstand the pressure he’d forced on himself. The few people who’d succeeded in other parts of the world, according to the Church, were all adults at least twenty years old. He’d hoped that progressing with Shine would grant him some inspiration but had no luck so far.
Perhaps when they both advanced to the next Step. He had little to do besides work and train after all. Maybe he could start dedicating his time to reaching the next Step sooner, rather than later. He had nearly reached Step six at this point, and Shine had reached Step four. Only due to Ezekiel sharing his mana, but even so, it meant that they were progressing quite well.
After Ezekiel finished with Riker, and agreed to have dinner with the man’s family, he headed to one of the other Guild leaders to set up an appointment. He was lucky enough to get a meeting later in the day, so he’d get his chance surprisingly soon.
----------------------------------------
Ezekiel’s proposal was refused by the other Guild leader he had submitted it to. Not because he had thought it was a bad proposal, but because too many changes happening all at once would create a chaotic mess. They were already swamped with work after being commissioned to explore the re-discovered chain of islands leading to the Desolate Lands. Changes in their expeditions just weren’t something they could deal with right now.
However, Ezekiel’s request to join in with the Hunter’s training was approved, and he found himself a regular member of the training fields. Of course, this was only after he’d managed to cross over to Step six. He’d been finding that having a Spirit was becoming more and more beneficial. Shine would use their mana while they sparred and trained, while Ezekiel would focus solely on gathering mana to break through. Then, when they felt they could risk it, Shine would piggyback off of Ezekiel’s mana to reach the next Step for themself.
Shine was still a ways away from being able to reach Tier two, but it was looking more and more like Ezekiel would reach Tier two within the next couple years. Sooner if they could find a couple of pure crystals to expedite the process.
Things slowly settled into their new routine, even after Ginny returned from her mission. Ezekiel would spend his mornings training, before heading off to do whatever paperwork he had to, as well as replying and conveying any correspondence between the Cathedral and the Island Hoppers. He’d then do whatever Guild assigned tasks that were given to him, usually by Ginny. Finally, he’d finish his evenings with one more training session before either going to tutor Rain, or simply heading to bed.
He wasn’t able to do as much research with his new position as he could before, but he felt that his personal progress was making a breakthrough, so it was a fair trade. Shine had even managed to learn a few new tricks with their Void Spell. One that Ezekiel was able to somewhat replicate.
It had happened when the two were training one evening. They were experimenting with their Void Magic after the training field was emptied. Ezekiel wanted to see if there was a way to extend, or redirect, their blows using their current Spell. When he mentioned redirection, Shine seemed to space out for a moment. Ezekiel, recognizing what was happening, waited patiently.
It didn’t take long before Shine snapped out of it. They became very excited, and when they transferred their enlightenment to Ezekiel, he also became excited. It seemed their spell was able to do more than just shorten the space between his weapon and the first semi-solid object in front of him.
As Shine channeled their mana, they performed their usual spell, but this time it was different. This time, they’d focused on that line between the tip of Shine’s blade and the training dummy in front of them. The moment the spell impacted with the dummy Ezekiel stumbled forward as Shine was ripped from his hands. It was as if the Spirit possessed sword was sucked through a tube, and instantly appeared inside the dummy, fully pierced through it.
Ezekiel was shocked. While he had assumed something like this might happen, he’d not thought that teleportation was actually possible. Then, Shine’s incredibly weak voice came to him through their bond. Panicked, he ran forward to see if Shine had been damaged using the spell. Examining the blade, Shine seemed to be fine, physically. It seemed like the spell had used all of Shine’s mana, and had even taken some from Ezekiel, now that he examined himself.
This spell was obviously very costly when it came to mana. To the point that even at Tier two it would be a risk to use it. It also seemed like the range of this was something that they couldn’t’ test. Not regularly, at least, and not with Shine as the subject. However, Ezekiel did take a chance and used the spell on a kitchen knife. It seemed like the cost was far less expensive at shorter ranges.
It seemed like the minimum cost for the spell was one hundred mana for ten feet of distance. But the mana doubled for every additional ten feet. Luckily the dummy was only twenty feet away when they tried it, or Shine might’ve killed themself burning their soul when they ran out of mana.
Ezekiel decided that this spell was something that they would only use when they knew that they could control how far the spell would try to take them. Giving it some thought, Ezekiel also realized that this might be something that he could use methods from the Com Slate to make better. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the time to properly experiment with all of these things.
It seemed like there was another expedition coming up. One that all the Guild leaders agreed that he needed to be a part of.
----------------------------------------
As Ezekiel crouched low to hide from a pack of Wild Spirits, he couldn’t help but internally lament the sharp turn that his current expedition had taken. He’d hoped that, after nearly six months working as part of the Island Hoppers, that he’d gotten used to being a Hunter. But it seemed like it was impossible to get used to anything as a Hunter, as Expeditions apparently never go as planned.
The expedition was supposed to be a simple one. The Island Hoppers were commissioned to explore one of the re-discovered islands. Ezekiel, as the one who’d discovered and copied the map, was to be included since he had enough knowledge to investigate the large number of buildings that were apparently found during the initial survey.
This particular island was very close to the Desolate Lands. Enough so that he’d had his first encounter with a Deep Umbral Beast. It was a large squid-like creature that oozed black ichor and had multiple eyes and mouths. Luckily, it and its pack only reached Tier two, so it was dealt with fairly easily by the Island Hoppers. Ezekiel still ended up with some nasty bruises as the ship was thrown around.
However, the worst part wasn’t the fact that they had run into a pack of Umbral beasts. It was the fact that the Umbral beast’s presence had disturbed the Wild Spirits in the waters surrounding the island they were going to. This included riling up several Adept Spirits. Worse yet, the crews and Guild leader accompanying them didn’t know if there was a Legendary Spirit nearby that might take their presence as a threat. That was not something they could deal with right now.
As the pack of sea dog Spirits passed by, Ezekiel held his breath for a few seconds before quietly releasing it. He’d been separated from his team when a group of Adept Spirits had attacked their temporary scouting camp. He was currently hiding within the destroyed remains of a fairly large town. It wasn’t quite large enough for him to call it a city. But it was big enough to have been a more important trading town than the last Ruin he’d been to.
“Are we clear?” Shine asked. Their voice was weary, and it was clear that the Spirit was as stressed as Ezekiel was.
“Yeah. It looks like we’re clear. Let’s go.” Ezekiel replied.
They’d been stuck on this island for a month now. Unable to leave as the waters surrounding it had been restless and were attacking any ships trying to leave. Luckily, they had a Com Slate that had been used to report a dangerous situation. But they didn’t know how long it’d be before a crew was arranged to get them out. They’d have to wait for the Church to provide assistance, as the emergency message used a color to indicate a possible Legendary threat.
Luckily, they’d managed to set up a base camp in a small bay area where they’d safely beached their ships. It’d take a couple of hours, but they’d hopefully be back by nightfall. Ezekiel wished that they’d be able to return sooner, but knew he had to be careful. He’d been fortunate enough to only run into a couple of Tier one and two Spirits so far, but he knew he couldn’t count on luck to get out of this situation.
Moving as carefully as he could, Ezekiel and Shine ran into three more groups of Spirits before they managed to return to the ship. They were actually caught by a patrol, at which point they finally relaxed a little bit.
This ended up being Ezekiel’s life for nearly two months as he and the crew waited for a possible rescue. But their Come Slate was continuously used, and also received regular messages from its paired slate back in Ironmast. So, they were confident that help was coming; and it did.
It was the middle of the night. The only light came from a campfire that was being tended to by several watchers. The sound of a large crash rolled across the water. Immediately the camp woke up. Looking out across the water, they could all see a large number of ships locked in combat.
It seemed like there was indeed a Legendary Spirit nearby. One that was very displeased to have strangers trespassing in its waters. There was little that the beached Hunters could do besides watch, but they didn’t really need to worry. From the look of things, the Sanafalls Cathedral had commissioned assistance from another Guild. This one at least Rank three, as there were multiple Legendary figures taking part in the battle.
After about half an hour, the ships in the battle succeeded in forcing the Legendary Wild Spirit into fleeing. Then, the beached Hunters got to work getting their ships back into the water. They’d likely stay one night on the island. Gather what supplies they could, and then leave the next day. It would be a month at sea before they got back to Sanafalls. But even so, Ezekiel couldn’t help but feel relieved.
----------------------------------------
Returning to Ironmast was quite enjoyable, and Ezekiel found himself doing everything he could to relax. While he hadn’t been able to do much other than survive during their recent expedition, he did manage to store away every single bit and piece of information that was still legible from the island. The whole reason why he’d been taken in the first place.
It turned out that that particular Ruin was a central trading hub for the surrounding area. With half of said area having been located in the Desolate Lands. This made it difficult to explore things fully, but it seemed like the Guilds in Sanafalls, and the various other islands, would have an ample amount of places to explore in the near future.
With that in mind and given the stressful events of the past several months. Ezekiel decided to take some time to relax. He officially requested that he not be placed on any expeditions for the near future, which was granted. Then, he dedicated all his time to training and getting his work done. Taking some time to check with the Cathedral and see if there were any pure crystals that he could get for his own use. Which it turned out there were.
Apparently, he got a finder’s fee for being part of the mission to clear out the Hull Breaker hideout last year. Now that a proper mine had been set up, and the ownership of the island had been figured out, Sanafalls was finally able to make a profit from the island. He knew that using the crystals when he wasn’t near a breakthrough was wasteful, so he took what was his and held onto them for now.
Although, he did save one for his student, Rain, to which Riker refused, as he too had gotten a pure crystal for his efforts on that mission. Apparently, it was explained to him that, due to the limitations and stresses on the soul that breaking through to Tier one required, Rain wouldn’t be able to break through without a pure crystal until she was at least twenty. That, or her soul had grown through stressful, usually life-and-death, experiences.
Needless to say, Riker refused to let his daughter risk her life in such a manner, and so, it was just under a year since Ezekiel had joined the Island Hoppers that Rain got to break through to Tier one. Ezekiel couldn’t help but feel proud, and happy to be a part of this event. But a part of him was still disconnected from it. There was nothing more that he could do at this point.
He ended up halting his tutoring sessions, as his spells came from an innate understanding born by Shine’s advancement. Without a Void Spirit of her own, it would be difficult to teach her anything. Worse yet, he knew that it would be impossible to get her a Void Spirit of her own. Not without speaking to another Remnant of the Ancient Void.
So, Ezekiel fell into a bit of a lull. He’d been a part of the Island Hoppers for the required one-year contract. Upon his request, he asked to remain for a while longer, as he felt that he still needed more worldly experiences before he returned to the Cathedral on a permanent basis. He figured he’d return when he reached Tier two and could be an Apprentice in power, not just paper.
He even managed to have a few more breakthroughs during this time. The lack of relatively safe, or important missions meant that his request for leave from expeditions had extended for several months. Halfway into his second year with the Island Hoppers, he’d managed to reach Step eight, and was slowly making his way to Step nine. Shine too, had managed to reach Step six. The previously determined limit that Carrian had given them over a year ago. They decided that they would wait until they met with the Grand Scholar again before they tried to push Shine further.
During this time, they’d also gotten to meet someone they’d expected for a while. Sasha Melen had finished her time and had reached out to the Island Hoppers for membership, as she was a Hunter that was trained and powerful enough to join as an official Apprentice.
Their meeting was awkward, at first, as Sasha had remembered his part in tracking her down and arresting her. But Sasha had taken her punishment well, and due to her life being threatened when she committed her crimes, the Church was willing to grant her a referral due to good behavior. The money that her discovery brought in was also helpful. As well as the rarity of Cavern Mage’s in the Archipelago.
The two became friends fairly quickly. Which brought Ginny’s ire down upon poor Sasha, but Ezekiel was so used to it that he was able to take care of most issues. Other than a few bits of sabotaged paperwork here and there.
Things were going well for Ezekiel. But he knew that things couldn’t last, as he was summoned into a meeting with all the Guild leaders. Joining them were Carrian and Scarlet. Both had somber looks on their faces.
It seems like the location of an important island had been found in the information that Ezekiel had handed over to the Church from his last expedition. After cross-referring it with information gathered from other islands. They had confirmed where and what the island was.
It was located just inside the Desolate Lands’ official border line. The island was anywhere between the same size, to half again larger, than Sanafalls. It was also a massive caldera, with multiple volcanic vents spewing molten rock and gases into the world. Inside was recorded to be lush forests and biomes of multiple types. It was home to both Wild Spirits, and Deep Umbral Beasts. With the possibility of Cruor being there as well.
But the most important part was that they suspected there to be a Temple of the Void located somewhere on the island. As well as rumors of a pirate cult skulking around nearby.