Chapters 16-18 - The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett (Also: The Painted Man)

 We return to Arlen who is making a treck from the edge of Fort Rizon to Krasia. Many are tempted to brave the trip to bring back a fortune in Krasian goods, but many also meet their doom in the desert. Arlen has made the trip many times. Upon his entrance into Krasia he is respected by the guards and many of the people in their city. He earned that respect by showing desire to fight the corelings and through his actions in the maze. This shocked the Krasians, who have been at war with the coreling for hundreds, if not thousands of years- and they are the only Great City that is willing and able to do it.

Arlen treks to Ruins on an ancient map that may or may not be where the map says that they are. Cob and Regan warned him about taking detours, but he pressed on anyways. Due to limited supplies he could not spend much time there. During one trip he discovers a spear covered in wards that he has never seen before. Given that the spear is a weapon, maybe the wards are some of the long lost offensive wards. Like a good scholar and archivist, Arlen captures the wards by drawing them in his notebook.