Isaac’s lecture on the Eight Skills was much more useful than his lecture on the Chapter System, primarily because I was far less knowledgeable about the Eight Skills than I was about the Chapter System.

  In short, the Eight Skills were Codex-neutral magical proficiencies that any Codexer, regardless of Chapter or Discipline, could train and develop. These Eight Skills included quite a few different ones, but the ones that were most relevant to me, as an Inscriptionist, were Runic Knowledge, Research, and Spellcasting. Improving any of those would do things like lower the Word/Mana cost per spell, allow access to certain Skill-specific quests, and so on.

  Of course, Isaac clarified that I could practice and improve any Skills, but most Codexers tended to focus on the Skills most relevant to their assigned Discipline. That was reassuring to hear. It could take a while to train up a Skill because each Skill needed 99 Lines before hitting its limit, or Margin, at which point you would need to find a way to expand your Margins so you could continue improving. Usually, you did this by turning to the next Page in your Codex, which automatically expanded your Margins by another 100 Lines. We also briefly discussed Codex Alerts, emergency messages that the Shinar Node Authority could send to all Codexers across the Kingdom regardless of Chapter to alert them about certain issues, though they were usually pretty rare.

  That was the most I got out of Isaac, however, before he abruptly declared that he had taught me everything I needed to know from the Chapter One Orientation Class and that I could go home for the day. I asked him if I needed to come back to the Codexium tomorrow for further instruction or lessons, which turned out to be a mistake because Isaac told me that this wasn’t the Academy and that he wasn’t a professor or teacher. I got the impression that Isaac either wanted to nap or drink more, or possibly both. He did give me a short book, Chapter One Codexer, that I could study on my own, though a quick flip through its pages showed me that it didn’t have that much more information in it that I didn’t already know or hadn’t already been taught by Isaac.

  By the time I left the North Forest Codexium, the sun had nearly finished setting in the west. Stars twinkled into existence one by one in the night sky overhead as I stepped out of the North Forest Codexium and made my way down the dirt path connecting the Codexium to North Forest itself. Traveling by night was usually not a good idea due to the dangerous wildlife in the forest around the town; however, I wasn’t too worried because the sun hadn’t set quite yet, and it wasn’t very far to walk from here to my family’s farm. Granted, my family’s farm was located just outside of the limits of North Forest, but I should still make it back in time for dinner.

  But how would my family know that I was on my way back?

  Oh! NodeLink.

  As I walked through the forest, not even thinking about my chosen path because I knew the area so well, I tapped my portable and thought, NodeLink.

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  A second later, a messaging interface appeared in my vision. I eagerly tried to send Miriam a message, only to realize I hadn’t actually added her to my contacts yet. I cursed. I should have touched my portable to Miriam’s portable before she went back to the farm. Then I could have messaged her through the Codex’s messaging system and let my family know I was coming back.

  Oh, well. I’d be home soon enough, anyway.

  This walk gave me time to think, anyway. Especially about my Codexed Quest.

  The Codex Wars … it was very strange. Maybe Isaac was right about the quest being a glitch. If so, then either I wouldn’t be able to complete it at all, or it would be revoked by the Codex itself. Maybe. I wasn’t sure how glitched or broken quests worked.

  At the same time, however, I was still excited about getting to tell my family that I’d passed my trial. I mean, I was sure that Miriam had already told everyone, but I couldn’t wait to see my family again anyway. Joshua, my younger brother, at least, would probably be excited to hear about my news. Moses probably wouldn’t care, while Mom would be supportive.

  As for Dad … well, I was less sure about him. On one hand, Dad had been really against any of us becoming Codexers, but on the other hand, Dad had kept his word and let me participate in a trial using his old portable I had repaired. Maybe he would be proud of me for not only fixing his portable, but also becoming a Codexer.

  Or he might be upset that his efforts to get me to shut up worked a little too well. Hopefully, Dad would be happy once I explained how I planned to use my new status as a Codexer to get us out of poverty. Dad cared about money a lot, so that might make him change his—

  A screeching sound, like an animal being wounded, interrupted my thoughts. At the same time, my portable flashed blue and I got this notification:

  ALERT! A CODEX BEAST YOU PREVIOUSLY SYNCED WITH IS IN DANGER.

  My heart skipped a beat. Nimbus?

  Another screeching sound pierced the night air, followed by malicious laughter, and the sound of something wooden slamming against flesh. More screeching, more laughter, more violence.

  Without a second thought, I rushed through the forest, off the main path, through the trees and bushes, following the sounds of screeching and laughter. I didn’t bother trying to be stealthy. Given how loud the noises in the forest were, I doubted whoever was making all of that noise could even hear me.

  Then I saw a light in the trees up ahead and immediately hid behind a bush, falling to the ground. The laughter and scoffing were much louder now, getting louder as I half-crawled across the forest floor toward the sound. Now that I was closer to the source of the noise, I didn’t want to accidentally attract unwanted attention.

  But I still couldn’t see anything until I reached the edge of the trees and peered through the foliage, doing my best to keep my face hidden.

  I was now looking at a small clearing, which was probably empty most days, but tonight was full.

  Half a dozen rough-looking men in dirty robes, their faces covered in scars and tattoos, stood in a loose circle around a glowing red bubble of mana. Some of them carried torches, which were the primary source of illumination in the area. They were all pointing and laughing at the red bubble, though I didn’t understand why until I saw a golden burst of mana blink inside the bubble. The golden mana struck the inside of the bubble, only to dissipate upon impact, revealing a familiar, snow-white cloud rabbit with big, golden eyes staring at the men surrounding him with horror and anger.

  It was Nimbus.

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