“What exactly is a Codex janitor?” asked Nimbus, his furry features twisted in confusion. “Is that your Codex Discipline?”

Silas regarded Nimbus with mild surprise. “A talking rabbit? You must be a Codex Beast. Interesting specimen.”

He quickly lifted his portable Node and pointed it at us. The Node—another pendant-style portable hanging from his neck, like Ruth’s—flashed blue briefly as it scanned us. Silas nodded. “I see. Not very strong, but definitely a Codex Beast. I’d say I’m jealous, but Codex Beasts are a lot to handle. I don’t envy you that, Aaron.”

I blinked at Silas. “Wait a second—how do you know my name when I haven’t told you yet?”

Silas rolled his eyes, as if I’d just asked the dumbest question imaginable. “Because I scanned you with my portable, of course. I figured that was obvious.”

In retrospect, it was obvious—but I’d been so focused on how he’d handled the Nullifier that I hadn’t even realized it. So I raised my own portable Node to scan Silas, allowing me to see his information:

Codexer identified! Silas Dravyn, the Codex Sculptor

Species: Human

Synced Partner: None

Chapter: 2

Page: 2

Discipline: Structurist

Affiliation: Arcane Researchers Guild of the Second Kingdom

Origin Kingdom: Ellasar

Codex Note: Potential Codex Architect Candidate identified.

Though Silas’s Codex information was fascinating in general, it was the Codex Note at the end that truly caught my attention. The mention of him being a potential Codex Architect candidate reminded me of my own Quest to End the Codex Wars, which had offered Codex Architect candidacy to me as a reward for completing it. I also wondered what a Structurist was, exactly. I remembered Isaac mentioning it once when comparing it to my Discipline, though I would either have to ask Silas about it later or look into it myself.

Why did the Codex say that Silas was also a candidate to become a Codex Architect? I still didn’t even know what being a Codex Architect meant. Did this mean Silas also had the same Quest to End the Codex Wars that I did? Was it even possible for two different Codexers to receive the same Quest independently of each other?

Silas must have seen something similar, because when he scanned me with his portable, his eyes narrowed just like mine. He jerked his head up to me with a bewildered expression. “Wait a second. Are you also a Codex Architect—”

Silas didn’t get to finish his sentence before loud screams drowned him out. I snapped out of my bewilderment and looked over my shoulder just in time to see the crowd from before returning. But instead of terrified, the people now looked joyful. They clapped and cheered for Silas, who raised a hand and waved at them with a confident grin on his face. Nobody even looked at me—every eye was on him.

“Why are the people cheering you on?” asked Nimbus, sounding slightly offended. “What makes you so special, Silas?”

Silas shrugged. “Well, not to brag, but I did fix that Spell Form you guys broke. That’s probably why everyone’s chanting my name.”

He wasn’t wrong. Now that I was paying attention to the crowd, I heard them chanting his name over and over.

“Silas Dravyn! Silas Dravyn!”

Their cries filled the air until they drowned out almost all other sound.

One person broke from the crowd and rushed toward us—it was Amos the farmer, the same man who’d told me earlier he wanted to send a message to his daughter for her birthday.

But rather than thank me for helping, Amos ran right past as if I didn’t even exist and fell to his knees in front of Silas, grabbing his hands in both of his own and gazing up at him with admiration. “Thank you so much, Mr. Dravyn, sir, for defeating that evil and annoying Nullifier! Thanks to you, I can finally send my daughter her birthday message. You don’t know how happy that’ll make her.”

Silas smiled down at Amos with the easy charm of someone used to public praise. “You’re welcome, sir, but really—I was just doing what anyone else would’ve done in my situation. I didn’t take down that Nullifier for my personal benefit.”

Amos blinked. “You didn’t? But you’re a Codexer. Surely you need access to the Greenwood Codexium, too.”

Silas nodded. “Yes, that’s nice, but the ideology of the Nullifiers offends me more than just about anything else in the world. All they do is spread fear, terror, chaos, and confusion wherever they go. If I can bring even a little order to the chaos they represent, I consider that enough.”

Amos wiped tears of happiness from his eyes. “Young man, I don’t know how else to thank you for your humility. If you aren’t already engaged, I’d like to offer you my daughter’s hand in marriage. She’s not here right now, but I’m sure she wouldn’t be opposed to marrying a fine young man like yourself.”

Silas laughed and helped Amos to his feet. “That’s kind of you, elder, but I’ve already got someone special in mind. Still, I appreciate the offer. Now, why don’t you go into the Codexium and message your daughter? I’m sure she’s waiting to hear from you.”

Amos bowed deeply toward Silas. “Thank you again!” he said, then rushed past him—and the unconscious Nullifier—into the Greenwood Codexium, laughing and crying in equal measure.

Silas turned to the rest of the crowd and flashed his trademark confident smile. “What is everyone waiting for? The Codexium is open to the public again. Everyone is welcome!”

His words seemed to break a spell over the crowd. As one, they surged toward the entrance—a flood of humanity eager to get inside. I tried to move out of the way, but the people were faster than I expected, and a few of them knocked me off balance. Nimbus, however, hopped off my shoulders just in time, landing neatly on the street before I fell flat on my back.

Nimbus gave me a reproving look. “Watch where you’re falling, Aaron! You nearly crushed me.”

I groaned, sitting up and rubbing the back of my head. “Thanks for showing so much concern for my health, Nimbus. I feel truly loved and cared for.”

A hand appeared in my vision. I looked up to see Jonah standing over me, his hand outstretched, a frown on his face. Ruth stood beside him, looking more concerned than anything.

I took Jonah’s hand and let him pull me up before brushing off my robes. “Thanks. That was … a mess.”

“Aren’t they all?” said Ruth, shaking her head. “Are you hurt?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. Just got knocked down and a little dirty, is all. Where’s Silas?”

I asked as I glanced toward the long line of people streaming into the Greenwood Codexium. I didn’t see Silas anywhere, but I did see the town guards who’d been managing crowd control cuffing the Nullifier’s hands and dragging him toward a horse-drawn cart. The Nullifier appeared to have regained consciousness, but he wasn’t resisting arrest at all.

I noticed that the town guards had already removed his portable Node from around his neck—probably the reason he wasn’t struggling or trying to escape. That, and the fact that he still looked dazed from being punched in the face by Silas.

Jonah followed my gaze, wearing an irritated expression. “I don’t know. I was too busy trying to reach you to keep track of that guy.”

Ruth stroked her chin thoughtfully. “I thought I saw him slip into the Codexium, but with all these people, I can’t say for sure.”

Nimbus began grooming himself, licking his fur with deliberate intensity. “Well, I, for one, am glad he’s gone. Why do you even want to talk to him, anyway, Aaron? He seemed like kind of a jerk.”

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at the others. “Because I think Silas has the same Quest to End the Codex Wars that I do. And I need to talk to him about it.”