The Will of the Many

By the end of the Academy year, Vis — secretly Diago, the last surviving royal of the conquered kingdom of Suus — has climbed to the top ranks of the Catenan Academy while juggling two masters: Senator Ulciscor, who wants him to uncover the truth behind his brother's death, and the rebel Anguis, who blackmail him into graduating first so he can claim a position of influence within the Hierarchy. Ulciscor believes the answer lies in the Pre-Cataclysm ruins on the island, where Vis has already found a hidden chamber full of blinded corpses and a labyrinth identical to one used in Academy training.

During the final competition that will decide class rankings, Vis secretly returns to the ruins and runs the labyrinth himself. He passes through into a strange chamber that claims to lead to two places called Obiteum and Luceum, is bitten by one of the indistinct hovering figures there, and only escapes when mysterious writing appears on his arm to guide him out. He returns to the competition carrying the wound and finds that the Academy's safety personnel have been murdered and replaced by Anguis operatives now hunting the remaining students. While Vis works to save his classmates, Emissa — one of the top students he has grown close to — notices the bite on his arm, recognizes it as connected to whatever killed Ulciscor's brother, and, horrified, tries to kill him. He survives, but the delay costs him the chance to reach his friend Callidus in time, and Callidus is killed by Anguis saboteurs.

Despite the losses, Vis fights through to the end and is declared the winner of the competition, securing the top position in his class. Principalis Veridius, who has been secretly connected to the ruins and the deaths surrounding them all along, reveals that he possesses deep knowledge of the labyrinth and claims his ultimate goal is to prevent a second Cataclysm. He urges Vis to place himself under his authority so he can be brought fully into his confidence, but Vis refuses, choosing instead to enter Governance and work under the father of the friend he just lost, so that he can keep investigating on his own terms.

The book closes with a short epilogue titled "Synchronism," which reveals that Vis's passage through the labyrinth has effectively split him: one version of him wakes among symbols suggesting he is now in Luceum, and another wakes in Obiteum, where he is greeted by the ghost or remnant of Ulciscor's dead brother, who warns him of a much larger conflict still to come.

Vis Telimus is actually Diago, the sole surviving member of the royal family of Suus, an island kingdom conquered and had its rulers executed by the Catenan Republic three years earlier. Posing as an orphan, he was drawn into the orbit of Senator Magnus Quintus Ulciscor, who adopted him in exchange for infiltrating the Catenan Academy and investigating the mysterious death of Ulciscor's brother there. Vis secretly despises the Hierarchy and its practice of "the Will," whereby graduates cede their strength to superiors, and has no intention of ever willingly ceding his own.

Before reaching the Academy, Vis was twice approached by the Anguis, a rebel group fighting the Hierarchy, whose brutal methods he rejected. At the Festival of Jovan, the Anguis leader used a mysterious weapon to slaughter tens of thousands of spectators before dying by his own hand in a way that framed Vis as his killer — an act that, ironically, boosted Vis's reputation and eased his entry into the Academy. The Anguis have since blackmailed Vis into rising to the top of his Academy class so he can claim influence within the Hierarchy on their behalf, even as he continues secretly working for Ulciscor.

At the Academy, Vis formed close bonds with Callidus, son of a powerful Catenan official, and Eidhin, a skilled foreign fighter whose people were also destroyed by the Republic. He also grew close to top students Emissa and Indol, and shared a romance with Emissa. Ulciscor and Lanistia (a former student blinded in the same incident that killed Ulciscor's brother) believe Principalis Veridius is connected to that death and to strange Pre-Cataclysm ruins on the island, which Vis has been secretly exploring — finding a chamber of blinded bodies and a labyrinth matching one used in Academy training, along with warnings about something called "Synchronism."

During the year's final competition, Vis ran the ruins' labyrinth and passed into a chamber connected to two places called Obiteum and Luceum, emerging with a strange bite wound and cryptic guidance written on his arm. He returned to find the Academy's safety teams had been replaced by Anguis operatives hunting students. Emissa, spotting his wound, attempted to kill him, and the resulting delay led to Callidus's death at Anguis hands. Vis nonetheless won the competition outright.

Veridius then revealed he has real knowledge of the labyrinth and Obiteum/Luceum, claiming his true goal is preventing a second Cataclysm, and asked Vis to serve directly under him — an offer Vis refused, choosing instead to join Governance under Callidus's late friend's father so he can keep investigating independently. The book's epilogue shows that Vis's trip through the labyrinth has somehow split him into multiple versions: one waking in Luceum, and another in Obiteum, where he meets the spirit or remnant of Ulciscor's dead brother, who warns of a far larger conflict ahead.

Going into book two, open threads include: the true nature of Obiteum, Luceum, and "Synchronism"; the meaning and danger of the coming "second Cataclysm" Veridius fears; the fate and intentions of the Anguis now that Vis has won his position; Emissa's fractured trust in and feelings toward Vis; the consequences of Callidus's death for Vis's relationship with Callidus's father in Governance; and what exactly happened to the other version(s) of Vis created through the labyrinth.