Will of the Many by James Islington

Here is a summary with spoilers for Will of the Many by James Islington

Vis stumbled into an orphanage a few years back and hasn’t looked back. He works in the prison where many high-profile prisoners are held. One day, a high official, Sextus Hospius, wants to unofficially visit the prisoner Nateo. Vis helps him but overhears their conversation, even though it is in a different language. He plays dumb when Hospius asks him. Later, Vis hears Hospius tell his boss that he is a smart boy and should be given a high job offer.

After his shift at the prison, Vis wanders through his city, Lateness, until he finds his underground fight club. Upon arrival, he finds out he is supposed to fight a Sextus, which means Vis will get badly injured and is sure to lose, as a Sextus can use the Will, and a punch from him will have the power of sixteen men. Vis agrees, but when the Sextus starts mocking him about the marks on his back, Vis goes into a rage and ends up almost killing the Sextus. A spectator, a woman who has been asking about Vis for weeks now, also watches the fight. He doesn’t know why she is there. Because of the fight, Vis is banned from the club and slowly starts walking back to the orphanage.

When Vis gets to the orphanage, he is told to start helping the children, as a Sextus is coming the next day to adopt a child. When the Sextus arrives, Vis realizes it is Sextus Hospius, the man from the prison. He asks to see Vis and immediately puts him to the test by threatening him in another language, revealing Vis’s secret about knowing languages. Hospius then introduces himself by his real name, Ulciscor Quintis, someone who is very high up in their government. After testing Vis, he decides to adopt him and take him to Dedita, where he can attend Catenan Academy.

On a transport vessel, Ulciscor talks about the plan. He needs Vis to be a spy while at the academy, specifically to spy on a man named Veridius, who has potentially created a massive weapon and is the Principalis of the academy. Vis agrees but creates a complication when he says he doesn’t want to use or gain any Will. The two don’t get to talk much more, as their transport explodes and they are attacked. Ulciscor goes down despite all the Will he has, and a girl reveals herself. It is the same girl from the club who has been asking about Vis. When she reveals herself, she calls Vis “Diago,” a name he hasn’t heard in years. She introduces herself as Sedotia and reveals that it was her plan for him to get adopted, but it happened too quickly; he is not ready to go to the academy. Vis doesn’t want to go with her, so she tells him to come find her in a month so he can be ready. Vis then grabs Ulciscor and attempts to get them to safety.

Vis, badly injured from the fight, wakes up in a hospital at the academy. He meets some students, but then Ulciscor gets to him and takes him to his new real home, where he hears about Ulciscor’s reluctant wife, Relucia, and staff—specifically Lanistia, a woman Ulciscor trusts with everything. While Vis is taken to his rooms to relax, he decides to take the opportunity to sneak out and listen to Ulciscor and Lanistia’s conversation. They are talking about Vis and how Lanistia thinks it was a poor decision to adopt him without any background on his life. To Vis’s relief, Ulciscor doesn’t believe Vis to be a spy for anyone else—just someone they can hone and turn into a weapon, or, if needed, a sacrifice.

Ulciscor leaves but puts Lanistia in charge of Vis’s training and education. She is a hard trainer and forces Vis to read lots of books and learn how to temper his anger during a fight. She does all of this partially blind, thanks to her time at the academy. She is determined to make Vis the best, even though she only has two months to do so.

The house gets a visitor, Magnus Quartus, who wants Vis to meet his daughter, Aequa, because she is also at the academy, and the two together could be a great asset. To meet officially, they go to a naumachia together. Vis decides this would be the perfect time to leave Aequa, since this is the first time in a month he has been by himself. While alone, he runs into Sedotia, who takes him into the sewers to meet someone—Meilor, the infamous figurehead of the Caten people. He and his men have been killing thousands of innocents. However, when Meilor calls him Diago, Vis gets a closer look at him. His real name is Estevan—one of his father’s trusted advisors. Estevan calls him “my prince.” Estevan wants Vis to become Domitor at the Academy, or as close as he can get, then pick a position that places him in Caten, and to make sure he chooses Religion or Governance, not Military.

But Vis has some parting words. He shares that when he was running, he found shelter in a village. When he returned, the Anguis people had killed them all, including women and children. He says the Anguis aren’t winning hearts but hardening them. On his way out of the sewer, Sedotia gives him a stylus with his blood in it, saying he may need it soon. Back at the naumachia with Aequa, the show goes on but is interrupted by Meilor, who gives a speech telling them that they are in the wrong, to choose his side, then proceeds to kill many in the stadium. Vis gets Aequa out but realizes he can’t just let his old friend create a massacre. He puts Aequa in a safe place, then runs to Estevan. He puts the stylus to his neck in a threat, but Estevan leans into it, killing himself. The Will that Estevan was using wreaks havoc, causing Vis immense pain, and he passes out.

Vis wakes up days later, and Ulciscor is ecstatic. Vis is labeled a hero for killing Meilor and saving up to sixty thousand people. The people give him a new name: Catenicus. Ulciscor wants to know why Vis did it, because clearly Vis has no love for the Anguis people, as they gave him the scars on his back. Vis won’t tell him why, nor will he talk about why he wasn’t affected by Meilor’s magic. Since Ulciscor is proud of him, he tells Vis a story of his brother and the reason for adopting him. Ulciscor had a brother, Caeror, who mysteriously died, and he believes Principalis Veridius has something to do with it. Vis continues his training and is then sent to the academy.

Upon arrival, Vis meets Principalis Veridius, who tells him that he most likely knows Vis is there to spy for Ulciscor—and he understands that. But he wants Vis to keep an open mind. He also reminds him that just because he is a hero doesn’t mean he gets to start in a higher class; he will need to work his way up from Class 7. Veridius then introduces Vis to Callidus, which ultimately leads to a fight with a kid named Eidhin. Callidus has a father who has made many enemies, and Eidhin is one of them. Vis stands up for Callidus and punches Eidhin hard, causing a scene—one that nearly gets him expelled. But he manages to trick Eidhin into accepting an apology, and all is blown over. Though Vis does have to do stable duties for a month.

While there, Vis’s inner monologue reveals that he is the son of the king and queen of Suus. Vis also meets Emissa, a girl in Class 3, who decides to serve her own penance and muck out the stables as well. After his first few days, Vis already manages to move on from Class 7 to Class 6 and is now roommates with Eidhin.

Vis doesn’t try to adjust to Class 6 much, and none of his classmates want anything to do with him. But he and Eidhin are forced to train together for the labyrinth. Eidhin doesn’t help Vis, but Vis decides to be the bigger man and help Eidhin through. They manage to win by communicating via a dead language, though they get disqualified for it.

Vis decides he has been there too long without doing anything for Ulciscor, so he goes out into the ruins to find information. He runs outside the academy and stumbles into bodies—hundreds of them. There is also a sign that says, “Obiteum is lost. Do not open the gate. Synchronous is death.” Vis has to run back to the academy before anyone catches him, which he does, though he has to fake an injury the next day because he got a sizable cut.

The country is celebrating the Festival for the Ancestors, and Vis gets permission to go, though he regrets it when the crowd swarms him with praise. Ulciscor comes in to save him and get information about everything that has happened. He is unimpressed by what Vis has found and that he hasn’t moved up further in his classes. The two start working on a plan for Vis to explore more of the ruins without being caught, and they come up with something that might easily kill him. Before the plan goes underway, Vis gets to meet his adopted mother, Relucia—though, to his shock, Relucia is actually Sedotia.

It’s time for Vis to go back to the academy, but his plan is insane: to jump from the transport into the ocean and swim to an island. His plan works, and what he finds there are more bodies and a man who introduces himself as Artemius Sel. Vis doesn’t want any information from him, so he runs away. While running, he finds an alupi (a baby wolf) and saves him. He sees himself in the alupi and lovingly names him Diago. Vis makes it back to the academy just in time. One of the students doesn’t, which gives Vis the opportunity to move to Class 5. But the teacher in Class 6 doesn’t want Vis to move up, so he must prove he is ready by fighting another student. Vis realizes that the student and teacher cheated, and in order to win, Vis is forced to get a bit violent and smash the kid’s head. Just like that, Vis advances.

Vis starts a new routine. Emissa helps him train now as well. Alongside him are his two friends, Callidus and Eidhin. Callidus helps with book smarts, while Eidhin and Vis train together physically and practice Eidhin’s common tongue. After one month of hard training, Vis is promoted to Class 4. With Class 4 comes a new task—he needs to start befriending his classmates, even if they don’t want to know him. He does a good enough job that Indol, a student from Class 3, invites him to come train on his island during the winter break. To Vis’s horror, the island is Suus—his old home. Aequa, also in his class, starts to believe that Vis is cheating and using Will; she even corners and attacks him to prove it, but she is wrong, which causes some tension.

Winter break approaches, and it turns out that the senators and Sextuses are also meeting there. Vis is able to learn a bit about politics. He and Emissa also grow closer, and he even saves her life from the tide. The two end up kissing and spending the night in a cave. When they get out, Vis is once again hailed a hero for saving Emissa. When Ulciscor hears of this, he isn’t happy about their relationship. He also isn’t happy that Vis isn’t holding up his end of the deal; he threatens Vis with the Sappers. He needs to work harder to progress and start spying on Veridius, and to find out about his brother Caeror. Vis is furious that Ulciscor doesn’t see that he is trying.

While sneaking around during the official meeting between Military and Religion, he uses the tunnels to get around but runs into one of his father’s old commanders, who recognizes Vis immediately. His name is Fadrique, and Vis breaks down, happy to know he’s alive. He finally gets confirmation that his parents and sister were hung, and Fadrique was there to confirm it—there is no hope of them ever coming back.

Back at school, Callidus reveals that he is being blackmailed by a girl named Belli in Class 3. So Vis comes up with a plan for revenge and advancement. He challenges her to a game, where she is confident she will win. But right before he does, he tells her to get the documents and give them to Callidus. She does, believing that if she does, he will let her win. He doesn’t—and Vis takes her spot in Class 3.

It’s hard work in Class 3, but the Iudicium games are coming, and Vis gets to choose two friends in a lower class to help him get through. He goes to Eidhin, who finally opens up about his life—he spent time in the Sappers, and now his people’s lives depend on him and how he does in the academy. Without further explanation, Eidhin refuses to participate. Vis asks Callidus, who agrees, and is then forced to ask Aequa, despite their tense relationship.

The games start. They are all given trackers and a task: to find and return the Heart of Joven. There are guards as well to monitor and ensure their safety. Pretty quickly, it seems Aequa has double-crossed them, but she manages to lead some others away from them and returns to help Vis and Callidus—earning Vis’s trust a bit more. As they continue their task, they stumble upon bodies—both classmates and guards who were supposed to protect them. The soldiers have been replaced and killed by Anguis, and now they aren’t being protected.

While running and warning his classmates, Vis gets attacked and at some point even finds the Heart of Joven, though some of the details are murky. After warning many classmates, Vis, though injured, decides to find Emissa and warn her. On his way, he runs into one of the guards working for Relucia and the Anguis. They warn him that his injured arm will have to go and tell him to prepare for it. They also reveal that they’re there because Relucia needs him to win—they’re making sure he can. Eventually, Vis gets to Emissa (and sees that she has used Will). She is worried that he’s incredibly injured, but when she sees he has the heart, she asks for it in a threatening way. Vis, too injured to resist, gives it to her. Then she looks sad, grabs her knife, and throws it at him. In a last-ditch effort, Vis grabs the heart back from her and falls off a cliff into the ocean.

Vis wakes up on the shore—the alupi he saved, now grown, has rescued him. Even though he is still incredibly injured, Vis starts walking and runs into a very hurt Callidus. Though barely awake, Callidus is lifted into Vis’s arms, and Vis carries him toward a healer. Callidus dies in his arms. Vis holds all his anger in until he gets out of the forest. He goes straight to a waiting and shocked Veridius and Emissa. He lays Callidus’s body on the ground beside them, says that they will pay for what they have done, puts the Heart of Joven in its place, and passes out.

Vis wakes up (with only one arm), and Veridius is there waiting for him. In a hurried tone, Veridius tells Vis that he has to make a choice right now. He won the games and is now Domitor. Veridius tells him to inform the committee that he wants to join Religion and work with Magnus Tertius Pileus. Vis is supposed to do this and trust Veridius blindly, as it will apparently help avoid the next Cataclysm.

Vis has to make a quick decision when the council comes in and asks what he wants. He realizes he doesn’t want to be in Military, which will make Ulciscor angry. So he chooses to work for Censor, Callidus’s father. The council accepts, and Veridius is not happy—to which Vis replies that he has no trust in him, so there was no use listening. As Vis is left alone in the hospital, he finds an object that shouldn’t be there: a wooden ship he made when he was a child, with his real name etched into it—Diago.

In an epilogue, Vis is back during the trial. He is welcomed to the Obiteum by a strange man. Vis realizes that the man is Caeror, Ulciscor’s brother, who they thought was dead. While Caeror has questions about his brother, he tells Vis that they need to get a message to himself in Res, then proceeds to write on Vis’s arm—the one that is now amputated.