"I prefer the gorgeous freedom,

And I fly to lands of grace,

Where in wide and clear meadows

All is good, as dreams, and blest.

Here they rice: the clover clear,

And corn-flower's gentle lace,

And the rustle is always here:

"Ears are leaning... Take your ways!"

In this immense sea of fair,

Only one of blades reclines.

You don't see in misty air,

I'd seen it!It will be mine!"

'I Prefer The Gorgeous Freedom'

By Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok

****

“You know,” Ludendorff said conversationally to Nero who was seated beside him in the front of a wagon. “You never told me what you thought about ‘em.”

“Hm?”

“The group,” he nodded to the people in the back of the carriage. “How they fight and whatnot. What do you think?”

“Well,” Nero said slowly to organize his thoughts. The carriage lurched forward as it hit a pothole in the cobblestone path. As they were nearing Sarra, the dirt road had turned to paved stones a while back. “I’m no expert, but they seem pretty good to me in a fight. A bit dysfunctional and some of them probably have some sort of psychological issue but other than that they worked well together and didn’t panic in a crisis, so that’s something.”

“What kind of issues?”

“It’s not my area of study so take what I say with a grain of salt but they all display more than a bit of sadism, and I’m pretty sure Hope has a disassociated personality disorder. She might be bipolar, but the mood swings don’t seem sharp enough for that.”

“Never thought of that, could be true.” Ludendorff shrugged. “Anything else?”

“Slayer obviously has problems with communication, Killer is used to being independent and sometimes forgets he’s in a team, Hacker can be a bit arrogant, Newt tends to focus on only one thing in combat, and Clarent is too passive and doesn’t take the initiative when it is presented. Fishfood is probably the most well-adjusted to working in a team, possibly due to his computer wife, but he seems a bit rigid in his thinking and lacks adaptability when surprised. Don’t take this as pure truth though, I’ve only worked with them for about a week.”

The general looked at his companion in surprise. “That is quite a lot for somebody who isn’t an expert.”

“I’m no expert in fighting and, like I said, psychology is not my area of study, but I like to think I know people pretty well.” Nero shrugged. “Combat wise I didn’t see anything I thought was too egregious but I’m only a novice myself. I think Newt and Hope might have some prior training in some martial arts and I wouldn’t be surprised if the twins have been in some street fights.”

“And you?” Ludendorff asked as he pulled the carriage to a halt in the back of the line up to enter the city gates. Once Nero sent him a questioning look he elaborated. “How do you evaluate yourself?”

The line progressed steadily as merchants, mercenaries and others sought to enter Sarra to sell their wares or return home.

“I’m not good with a team, I’m too private and independent for it. I react around others rather than with them. I chafe under authority because I tend to think I know better and I do not communicate enough for others to understand my train of thought which leads to misunderstandings. This week was fine because there was no official leader, but in an organized team, I would be a major source of problems. Apart from that I keep my cards too close to my chest and don’t trust others. Combat wise I’m not bad for somebody who only has a few months of training but not to the point of being a prodigy. I think quickly on my feet, and I can solve problems in creative ways, but I also get stubborn and bullish if I feel justified.”

“That was,” Ludendorff struggled to find a word that wouldn’t come across as insulting, “honest?”

“I try to never lie to myself,” Nero shrugged once more. “I know my strengths and my weaknesses, and I dislike false humility.”

“No, no. I appreciate the bluntness.” The general was quick to clarify. “Operations would go much smoother if everybody was that clear when it came to their own abilities. Too many times people promise things they can't deliver or do not speak up in fear of failure. But it's rare to meet somebody so blunt."

"I can be polite and circumspect when I want to be," Nero admitted. "But ever since I have started playing Gods' Nature I haven't really seen the need to be. Maybe it is because it's a game, maybe it's all the fighting I have been doing, either way, I've found myself talking more directly."

"Ha! I get it, trust me I do," Ludendorff exclaimed. "You should play some other online games sometime. If you want blunt, you'll never find a group less circumspect than online gamers. Gods' Nature is a bit different because you can see people face to face but when you have the power of anonymity people tend to pull fewer punches."

"I'll think about it," Nero lied. He was only playing Gods' Nature because it was this or lay in a hospital bed doing nothing for months. Once he was released and finished his rehabilitation, Augustus would be back at work. Maybe in future, once his sisters had graduated from university and had started to live their own lives, he would try a few.

"If you do decide to play one, tell me. I was part of a major guild in pretty much every popular, and a few of my friends still prefer them over Gods' Nature."

"Thanks," the carriage inched its way forward again, drawing them nearer to the gate guards that were inspecting the arrivals. While nowhere near the level immigration inspections in the real world, cities did need to keep an eye out for wanted individuals, restricted goods, and undesirable types. "Will we have any trouble entering?" When he had gone on the expedition with Ground Sheer they had been waived in with no fuss due to the guards, have been graduates of the training hall and thus familiar with the instructors.

"Nah," the general waived off his concerns. "So long as I show them my Bank papers they never cause us any problems."

"Alright, then I'm going to go rescue my friend from Hope before he dies of asphyxiation."

"When you do, do you mind sending Fishfood up here?"

"Sure," with a casual wave Nero left the front seat and disembarked from the stationary carriage and made his way to the back. A few moments later Fishfood took his place beside the general.

"Sup boss?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about something."

"The new guy right?"

"What do you think of him?"

"He's no gamer, that's for sure." Fishfood started, having expected this conversation for a while now. "He understands a bit of the lingo, but that is about it. He seems to have no desire for loot or equipment, all his clothes are those that don't provide any sort of stat boosts or skills. Many jokes flew over his head, and his train of logic tended to go differently than the rest of the group. That isn't a bad, but it does mean that he'll need some training to be a big player in Gods' Nature, especially if he's going to be on a team."

"I already knew he wasn't a gamer from the start, he was a total newb when I met him," Ludendorff explained. "He also just told me straight up that he wasn't going to do well on a team."

"Fair enough," Fishfood shrugged and continued. "In combat, Nero performs pretty well, probably thanks to that training hall. He thinks on his feet and doesn't panic, even in dire situations like when we were ambushed. Speaking of which, any news on what caused that?"

"A bit, supposedly a mutated wolf has a bit of earth magic that allows it to travel in the ground. It's only a puppy, and a low-level one at that, so it uses its ability to lead other wolves in ambush."

"That would explain it, did Nero ask anything about it?"

"Not one word, I don't think he cared."

"It's times like that when it is apparent he isn't a gamer." Fishfood looked a bit chagrined. "That smells like a sidequest, and anybody else with his skills would be all over it. That is another thing about him, whatever his Nature is, it's lore based. It gives him some pretty good supplementary skills, especially in recon work and information gathering. I think he derived his only combat spell from that snake of his so maybe some sort of shaman or druid with a focus on animals rather than combat."

"So maybe a scout or ranger," Ludendorff said thoughtfully. "Maybe a full-on pioneer? With his disassembly skill, he would be fine in the wild for a while. Something where he can work alone and put his skills to the test. What do you think Caren?"

"He displays several sociopathic tendencies, such as lack of empathy and social withdrawal," the holographic image faded into view over Fishfood's shoulder. "There is also a high probability that he plays on either the realistic or horrific setting." The pair drew in a sharp breath. Sociopathic tendencies were actually quite common in the Bank, so long as they were channeled appropriately, they could be put to use, but Caren's other statement was almost unimaginable. Playing Gods' Nature on the realistic or horrific settings was the domain of monsters.

"How certain are you?" Ludendorff asked forcefully, staring at the pixelated face.

"87% sure. There were many times when I noticed him performing actions that make no sense unless he was playing on at least the realistic setting. He would wipe away blood I couldn't see only for it to appear on his hands, he would protect himself from splatter when there was none in my eyes and his eyes would following things I couldn't track. There is a possibility of it just being some weird habits or coincidences, thus the 13% uncertainty, but it happened too often for it to be anything else."

Fishfood summed up the pair's thoughts succinctly. "Fuck."

Their reaction would make sense if one were to consider the fact that Gods' Nature was a game. A very realistic virtual reality game but a game none the less. People played games to have fun and live out fantasies, not to be traumatized. In reality, if somebody came face to face with a wild wolf or monster, they are more likely to void their bowls than they are to try and fight it. Even if they did, imagine getting covered in gore everytime you wanted to try and level up, it wouldn't be a fun experience. Thus, even a real game needs to temper realism with enjoyment.

The game's four settings were the compromise that the creator of Gods' Nature came up with. Cartoon, animated, realistic and horrific were the four ways players could play the game. Players were only able to play on the cartoon level of detail until they turned fourteen. With this setting, there would be no blood or gore, bodies wouldn't change at all when damaged, and there would simply be a few red pixels with a damage number and if a limb were 'damaged' it would just stop working. The entire aesthetic of the game would be bright and colorful, looking nothing like real life.

The animated setting was a step between cartoonish and real life. Things would appear colorful and not realistic but there would be blood and damages would appear on a body. You might lose a limb or such, but there would be no gore, such as intestines and the like, when you killed an enemy. This was the setting most players used because it was the one most reminiscent of games they were familiar with and because there was a lot less hesitation when it came to killing things when they looked animated.

There was a massive divide between the animated and realistic settings. While playing the former made it obvious you were playing a game, playing on the later gave the impression of living in the real world. When injured in the eye you won't just get a blinded status effect, your eye might be gouged out until your health regenerates. Cutting something in half won't just kill them and leave a shade of red on each half, the innards and organs will fall to the floor. Gameplay wise there wasn't a real difference, as damage dealt and received would remain the same, but the visual and emotional impact were on entirely different levels.

Despite this, many played with the realistic setting, and they were called monsters. This was both a compliment and an insult. Those people were the worst and the best of the players. They were those who reveled in slaughter and bloodshed, who used Gods' Nature as a way to vent their violent and horrific tendencies. But, there were others who played with the realistic setting who were the exact opposite, those were the best players in the game. There was an almost unofficial rule that if you wanted to be one of the best in Gods' Nature, you had to play on the realistic setting.

By suppressing their disgust and hesitation, players were able to get a lot more information than if they were playing on the lower settings. With more details, they could make out critical bindings in armor, discoloration in skin tone from previous injuries, weaknesses that weren't apparent even on the animated level. It generally took a long time of getting used to before players were comfortable enough with the realistic setting before they could operate in it as well as they could at the animated level.

The horrific setting, in contrast, provided no benefit. It was purely for those who enjoyed the bloodshed.

"You mean every time he... dealt with the goblins?" Fishfood looked a little pale at the thought of what Nero might have seen while killing the humanoids. Seeing his recruit's mind stuck on the idea, Ludendorff gave him a moment to recompose himself. The carriage had arrived at the guards and, while the general was showing them his papers and explaining that they were on their way back from Maqi's annual hunting festival, he kept an eye on his younger companion.

This small hunting team was the best of the best in terms of recruits. Out of the tens of thousands of players that few were the ones that qualified to be trained under him. Very few in the organization benefited from his skills in increasing growth rate. These eight were going to be raised to be an elite team and, so long as they didn't mess up, they had high positions in the organization waiting for them to reach the required level.

When Nero had commented that each of the group had psychological problems he had been neglecting to take into account the daily impact combat would have on players. These people had to risk pain and death every day to improve and be the best, it took a particular mentality to achieve that. They had to enjoy the fight, they had to have a killer instinct that most lacked.

As the carriage drove past the guard station at the gate and deeper into the city proper, the general kept an eye on Fishfood as he whispered a conversation with Caren. He decided the recruit would probably be fine when he suddenly chuckled at something his wife said. Though Ludendorff wished that it wasn't at his expense when Fishfood turned to him with a teasing smile.

"I've meant to ask, what's with the beard?"

"Noticed it, did you? What do you think?" Where before there had been only a bit of stubble on his face, over the last week it had started growing into an excellent beard.

"I think it looks nice," said Caren. "Very manly." The general flushed a little at the praise.

"I don't think it will help though. Those two don't seem the type to go for the manly men." Fishfood added on after his wife, making the general slump in depression.

"How would you know?" Ludendorff asked petulantly.

"I don't," Fishfood admitted easily. "But after all you've tried, I don't think the two richest women in Gods' Nature will fall in love with you over a beard."

"Ah, but you see young grasshopper," Ludendorff said in a faux sagacious voice. "Though you got lucky with Caren, most of us are not so fortunate. We must prove our dedication through trial and error. Though my love may not win the first battle or the second, even if it fails on the hundredth, so long as it wins the hundred and first battle then the war is mine. Even if they do not care for the beard, I shall try something else, and there will come a day when love triumphs!"

"...Sure." Fishfood agreed with a deadpan voice. "I would be more inclined to believe in you if you were only in love with one of them, instead of trying to get both twins."

"Love cares not for numbers," the general waived the criticism off with ease. "Think about it, two beautiful and powerful women with all the money and strength they would want, but lacking in love. Their loneliness continues until they realize that what they have been searching for has been right in front of them the entire time in their loyal subordinate. Doesn't that sound like a great fairy tale?"

"It certainly sounds make-believe," Fishfood agreed easily as the carriage parked in a special lot behind a tall building. He rapped on the wood to tell the passengers they had arrived. The carriage wasn't anything fancy, but it did have an enchantment to block out sounds so the passengers wouldn't be disturbed in their rest. That was why Ludendorff felt comfortable enough to have these conversations. "Especially since I've met those two. They don't belong in a fairy tale, they belong in a horror movie. As the serial killers!"

"You're probably right," Ludendorff laughed a little at the idea of either of those two women being princesses. The others had disembarked and were stretching their legs from the long ride. He noticed with some amusement that Jorry was keeping a wary eye on Hope from his position on Nero's shoulder while the human was talking to somebody over the network function. "Still, that's probably why I like them. I never liked the wishy-washy princess types."

"It doesn't hurt that they are hot twins, does it?" Fishfood asked with a sly look.

"That too," Ludendorff agreed with an energetic nod. Before he could go on to explain the wonders of twins, he was stopped by Nero approaching the pair, his call done.

"I suppose this is farewell then," Kaesar started. "I'll be leaving the keep soon so we probably won't be seeing each other for a while. I want to say thanks for your help, your advise when I first joined was very useful and your skill helped me gain a few levels in this last week."

"It was no problem, you sure you don't want to join the Bank. We would treat you right?" Nero just shook his head at the offer. "You leaving now then?"

"Not just yet, I'm waiting to meet somebody here. She said she was nearby." Nero looked around for a moment before seeming to spot something. "There she is."

Ludendorff was surprised that he wasn't looking towards the entrance of the lot but rather the large building behind him. There were very few people in the area, it was a private location after all, and only one person was walking towards the group. The general felt his mouth part in surprise as he recognized her. If the armored chest plate and metal skirt that did nothing to hide the curvaceous form beneath weren't familiar, then he would have known her by he golden hair and aqua green eyes. The general found himself gulping in nervousness and trying to calm down his erratic heartbeat. This wasn't too difficult as it was all too common when he met either of the sisters.

It took a moment to connect the dots, but when he did, he whirled to look at Nero in surprise.

"You were waiting on her?" He half shouted in surprise.

"Well yeah," Nero backed up a few steps, a bit off-put by the intensity of the other man's gaze. Whatever Ludendorff would have said would remain unknown as a shout interrupted the two.

"Onii-chan banzai!" It spoke of how much more reactive Nero had become through intense combat that as soon as the shout registered to his ears, he jumped aside in a hurry. It was a good thing too as, appearing from nowhere, Claudia fell onto the ground from the sky right where he had been standing before. "Ouchie," she said pitifully as she hit the ground.

"Hah! Serves you right!" Far from being sympathetic to her sister's pain, Octavia added salt to her wound by bringing Nero into a hug and sticking her tongue out at the twin laying on the ground. "Welcome back." It spoke of the long familiarity the two girls had with each other that Octavia quickly stepped back from the hug and greeting as Claudia shot to her feet and tackle-hugged her brother in turn.

Ludendorff watched with wide eyes, never having seen his bosses act this way. They were eccentric usually, so that was normal, but they never displayed this level of familiarity with others before. It took the general a moment to realize Octavia was walking towards him. He found himself standing a bit straighter and puffing out his chest as he always did in their presence.

"I heard you've been helping Nero out," she said with a smile that made Ludendorff want to melt. "Thank you. You've done a great job."

"No problem, happy to help." He managed to squeeze out, and Octavia turned to rescue her brother from their hyperactive sister.

It took a few moments of struggle to get Claudia to let go after which she pouted and made to follow the pair as the blond dragged Nero into the building. Before she had advanced a few feet however she paused and turned to look at Ludendorff for a moment. After a moment of thought, the woman walked towards the general, causing him to gulp in nervousness. He liked both sisters but he wasn't blind to their faults either, these were the two who had given him his first death in Gods' Nature within moments of meeting him after all. And Claudia was always the more mercurial of the two.

So it was with nervousness but minimal surprise that Ludendorff was able to look into her eyes when she approached him and grabbed him by the beard and forced him to look at her. Something that wasn't difficult considering there were only a few inches in height between the pair.

"Octavia was the carrot, I'm the stick," she said harshly to him. As if to emphasize the point, dozens of ghosts and spirits faded into view around the group, their weapons ready and their faces contorted in a rictus of pain. Hope was looking exceptionally pale as some sort of ghost/monster/squirrel thing perched itself on her head. Ludendorff knew more than most about Claudia's Nature, and he knew how these spirit warriors were created. It was not a happy thought.

"You will not mess with Nero, from now on you are to treat him like he is our boss. If he says jump, you don't ask how high, you just jump and keep jumping until he tells you to stop. Got it?" The general tried to nod but was unable to thanks to the vice grip on his new beard. Thankfully his eyes seemed to get the message across. "Good! If not I'm going to rip this beard out with my bare hands and feed it to you. But just to make sure you get the message, you and this team of yours are going to report to the training room at sundown."

And with that, the beautiful yet deadly woman let go of his beard and followed her siblings into the Bank leaving a stunned group behind her.

"I would make a joke about you being whipped," Fishfood said after a moment. "But I'm too busy trying not to shit my pants in terror."

"I think I'm going to shave my beard." The general said in a daze.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Hope said, eyes wide in fear and surprise.

"You'll be fine, just don't mess with him anymore and hope he doesn't tell those two." Ludendorff tried to comfort her after recovering himself, but by her disbelieving look, she wasn't buying it. Ah well, he tried. Thankfully death wasn't permanent in Gods' Nature. He just hopped his bosses wouldn't scar them for life.

****

"Where are we going?" Nero asked Octavia as she dragged him deeper into the building. She had walked by a counter of sorts while ignoring everybody who was lining up and had stepped into the hallway behind it. From there they had navigated a few corridors and up three flights of stairs. Kaesar was just curious why nobody had tried to stop them yet. This looked to be a rather important building, but all the occupants had only stood to one side looking at the pair with wide eyes but not stopping them in any way.

"Just a sec, we are almost there." She said and continued to lead him by the hand, Nero idly noted that despite probably having a much higher strength stat he wasn't feeling too much force from her. "Here we are." They had stopped in front of a pair of large wooden doors. They seemed to be decorated with a few mosaics, but Nero didn't have time to see what they were before they were pushed open.

Inside was a room of moderate size dominated by a long oval table made of some sort of crystal. Comfortable looking armchairs were arrayed around it while a chandelier provided some lighting. There was a casual opulence here, nothing tacky but enough for visitors to know that the owners had wealth.

"Octavia? What's going on?" Nero asked, really curious about what this was all leading up to.

Rather than answering, the Creator brought him to the end of the table, and half shoved him into the head chair. "Have a seat. Would like something to eat? Drink?" She looked nervous, Nero realized. Octavia was shifting on the balls of her feet, her hands awkwardly at her side as if she did not know what to do with them and she wasn't maintaining eye contact as she usually did.

"Something to drink I guess?" Though he decided to play along with whatever this was about, his words came out as a question due to the oddness of the situation. The way she smiled at him though told him he had done something right, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what. Octavia hurried to a corner of the room and opened a cupboard he hadn't noticed. From it, she withdrew a glass and pitcher of some sort of crystal and poured some liquid into the cup which she brought over.

Taking it from her Nero was surprised to find that it was cold to the touch. As if reading his mind Octavia explained. "Everfrost is a crystalline metal that always remains cold, no matter the heat outside. I made these myself." The way she proudly puffed up her chest when she said it made Nero crack a smile. The drink was rather good, a sort of fruit juice he was unfamiliar with, but that didn't stop him from finishing the glass entirely. It couldn't be helped, after all, he had only had water to drink in months as the middle ages weren't known for their refreshing beverages.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Jorry, quiet as he always was when around others, had slithered onto the table and was staring up at Octavia pitifully. It only took a moment for his sister to cave in and go to the cupboard once more. She returned with a plate piled high with the treats the girls had taken to giving the snake. Jorry dived in with gusto.

It was around this time that Claudia entered the room. Unlike her sister, however, she didn't seem to be too nervous and immediately made a B-line for Nero and plopped herself down on his lap. Well used to Claudia's eccentricities by now Nero simply shifted a bit to get comfortable. He was just glad her leather armor was a lot less hard than Octavia's metal skirt.

"Ok," Octavia said as she drew a nervous breath. "Ok, I guess we should start." She withdrew an orb-like jewel from the pouch at her waist. "Do you know what this is?" Octavia asked her brother.

"Oh, I know! I know! Pick me!" Claudia raised her hand and waved around like she was in a classroom. She was ignored by her twin however when she saw Nero shaking his head.

"It's called an Occularis crystal," she explained. "With it, people can project a portion of what they are looking at or what they have seen into the past into an image for others to view." Setting the Occularis on the table and waving her hands over it, it lit up, and a picture was thrown onto the opposite wall. Nero recognized the image from the park when they had first reunited. It was him, leaning over her and smiling down at her, his face framed by the stars. He would have thought it a good picture if it weren't for the fact it looked like it came from a romantic movie.

Octavia coughed in surprise and quickly brought up her menu and did something with it that erased the picture and replaced it with a pure white screen. "As you saw," she said with red cheeks. "It can be a bit finicky. I've been trying to improve it to allow it to show video but so far no luck. Anyway, players have discovered they could use it to show NPCs stuff they have seen on their Network function."

The white background was replaced with a big title; "The Bank: Past, Present, and Future." It took Nero a second to recognize what he was looking at, so at odds was it with what he had come to expect in Gods' Nature.

"A powerpoint?" He exclaimed in disbelief, to which Octavia blushed in embarrassment and Claudia chuckled.

"It's useful," Octavia said feebly before straightening her posture and looking Nero in the eye for the first time since arriving in the room. "Alright then, what do you know about The Bank?"

"It is a large and powerful organization, and it functions as a bank." When Octavia waited for him to continue, he simply shrugged his shoulders as well as he could with a hundred and fifty pounds of little sister on him. "That's it."

"I suppose hearing nothing about it is better than hearing bad things. But for your information, we were the founders of The Bank." Octavia preened in pride, and even Claudia looked smugly up at him.

"Oh," Nero said simply, already expecting something like that after seeing the title on the powerpoint. "Good job."

"You really don't get it, do you?" Octavia said, deflating. "I suppose that is what this show is for anyway. So sit back and let me explain."

From there the presentation really started. Nero's sister launched into an explanation about how the bank had started as a way for her to get materials for her Nature. From there it had developed into a sort of auction house then into a storehouse for goods that players didn't want to carry around with them all the time and from there into a full-fledged bank. As it grew so to did the number of people who worked for them and eventually it had developed into a full-on faction.

Afterward, she talked about the westward expansion from Selwe, the starting city, until Sarra. Octavia explained about the history of the Calm Belt, the road that stretched the length of the continent between coasts, and the trade revenue it brought the five factions who had developed it. She talked about how the bank had helped establish a standard currency between the two leading city-states, the usual gold, silver and bronze coins that were familiar to most players.

Finally, Octavia talked about their plans for the future. How The Bank's team had discovered the lost city of Valiskali in the center of the continent that Nero had heard rumors about and how they were planning to develop it into their own personal trade based city-state and connect it to the Calm Belt. She explained that it was a significant resource sink at the moment, but once it was set up, it would provide a substantial source of revenue in the future.

"And that is what we've been doing for the last decade in the game. Any questions?" Octavia asked as the presentation came to an end.

Nero had only really understood half of that. He was in way over his head when it came to talking about taxation, sources of revenue, a rate of return, credit, currency exchange and other business talks. His studies had always focused more on history and culture rather than economics, but he got the general gist of things, though he did have a few questions.

"Why are you only telling me about this now?"

"We wanted to finish talks with the Minister of Selwe and the King of Sarra before we presented you with any of this," Octavia explained. "With their permission and approval, we won't have to fear invasion from either side and thus our plans will be much more stable. Both believe that we are a colony of sorts for them, we didn't tell them our full plans, and we will have to pay them a bit of tribute for now, but that is to be expected. The Bank is mainly made up of players, and we are not yet strong enough to stand toe to toe with the higher levels in Gods' Nature. We expect that within twenty years, that is four in real life, the average player level will reach around four hundred, and the highest levels might be about five hundred to five fifty. At that point, we will have a strong enough force so they won't want to casually attack us."

"Fair enough, but why are the rumors about you two saying you are guys with a harem of beautiful women?" That was bugging Nero for some reason.

"Likely because we spend most of our time in the field, so not many people actually know what we look like. Most of our main team is also composed of women. That, and Claudia has been fanning the flames of the rumor."

"I think it's hilarious," Claudia spoke up for the first time from her place on Nero's lap. "What about it bro? Want to join our debauched harem? We have nightly orgies, and you'll be the only guy," she joked.

"Sounds perfect," said Nero sarcastically. He might have been worried as an older brother if he didn't know that either of them hadn't even had a kiss before, let alone an orgy. "Final question though, why all this? Why the presentation and show? Why not just say you ran The Bank? I probably would have agreed to Ludendorff's offer of joining if I knew you two were in charge."

"Well," Octavia hemmed, looking nervous again. "The thing is, we don't want to go to University." She peeked at her brother from the side of her eye, half expecting him to get angry but he simply waived at her to continue, his face carefully blank. "As things stand, we already spend less time in Gods' Nature than other top players due to high school. We've been able to keep up due to the fact we have the entirety of the bank as support, but college will take up even more time. Now that we are making some good money with Gods' Nature we figured it would be better to invest more time into it than study for potential jobs we might not even get."

"How are you making real-world money?" Nero asked. It couldn't be helped that he didn't really understand. He knew of e-sports and the like, but at heart, he was still a bit of a newb. His studies into gaming culture hadn't yet taught him about the ways people made money in MMOs.

"Some people have more money than time and are willing to pay real-world cash for in-game currency. Others want to be the best but aren't willing to put in the effort and instead pay real money for high-level items and the like. Because there is no official auction for Gods' Nature, The Bank has taken that over, and we get a cut of every trade that goes through us. It is a measly 0.5%, but with thousands of trades going on every second we have a substantial income that we then use to buy items ourselves or to reinvest in our growth. For the longest time, we've put all the money back into our operations, but now we can start seeing the fruits of our labor and make real-world money. We were actually going to talk to you about all this once this school year was done and we had some actual money as proof, but we wanted to tell you before you left Sarra."

"Fair enough," Nero took a moment of pause to think. "Did I ever tell you two why I was so set on you going to University?" The twins shook their heads. "Because it will give you options. We're young, you aren't even twenty, and I'm not even thirty. We have a long, long life ahead of us and we need to find the things that make that life enjoyable. It takes three years of work on average to save enough money for one year of retirement; thus your job will be a big part of your life. In University you are exposed to all sorts of walks of life, it is an opportunity to learn about something you might really enjoy. If you have already found a job that you enjoy and it can support you too, then I see no reason to try to take that from you. I'll never force you to do something you don't wish to do."

At his words, Claudia wrapped him in a tight hug, and Octavia whispered a quick 'thank you' and turned away to wipe the mist from her eyes.

"However," Nero continued. "There will come a time in the future, maybe in a decade or two, when Gods' Nature won't be so popular. It is growing right now, but nothing lasts forever. When that happens, and The Bank can no longer support you, I want you to promise me that you will go to University. Even if you already know what you want to do by then, it is still a great place to learn. You know what I say about learning? The day you stop learning..."

""...is the day you start dying."" The twins completed in tandem. Others might have been freaked out by their synchronicity, but Nero had seen it too many times to be bothered. ""We promise.""

"I suppose this is a good thing then, it will give me a few more years to save up the money you will need." Though Nero had wanted to go into higher education himself, he didn't mind waiting a few more decades if it meant his sisters were happy.

"Actually," Claudia started hesitantly.

"We were hoping you would stop working and go back to school instead." Octavia finished for her sister really quickly.

"What?" Nero asked surprised. "Somebody has got to pay the bills and the insurance for the accident will only cover us until I am fit to work again. Besides, university costs a lot of money, and you know how I feel about student loans."

"We thought that we pay the bills instead and you take the money you've saved and use it for yourself," Octavia explained.

"Hang on a minute," Nero said. "Even if you could pay for all the expenses with the money you make from Gods' Nature." Something Nero wasn't sure was actually possible since he didn't know how much they could make. "Even if you could, I'm not going to waste the money I set aside for you two."

"It wouldn't be a waste," Claudia clarified hurridly. "You use that money to go to school, and we'll pay the bills and save enough that if Gods' Nature fails someday, we can do the same."

Nero took a moment pause and think this proposition through. Others might have felt insulted by the offer, considering others were questioning their ability to take care of themselves. They might have rejected it because it was a blow to their pride. But, while Augustus might act arrogant sometimes due to his natural intellect, he had no pride to speak of. The idea of mooching off others didn't bother him in the slightest, he was more concerned with whether their plan could actually work.

"I'll make you a deal," Nero finally said after thinking about it for a few moments. "I can't do anything as I am right now, so we have some time before this becomes an issue. You'll be graduating in a year, and a few months, by then my nerves will have been regrown, and I'll have started my physical recovery. That is about six years in the game. If at that point Gods' Nature is still gaining popularity and hasn't plateaued and you have saved enough money to put one of you through college, I'm talking tens of thousands of dollars, I'll go back to school. Do we have a deal?"

""Deal!"" The pair said immediately.

"All right, then do you have anything else you wanted to show me?" Nero asked, to which they shook their heads. "Then I'll head off, I need to sync back up with Sarra's holy land. Do you want to come with me or stay here?" He asked Jorry who was only halfway through his pile of treats. The snake looked at his companion, then to the food. Nero then food before he answered by taking another bite.

Smiling wryly, Nero stood up. His motion sent Claudia to the ground with a yelp, but he didn't pay it any mind and stretched his sore muscles. Sitting down for hours was uncomfortable, no matter how soft the chair.

"I'll see you two later, I still have a few things to do in town so I won't be leaving for another few days." With a wave, Nero left the room and made his way to the exit of the building.

"Dat ass," said Claudia as she stood up and dusted herself off as looked to where Nero had recently vacated the premises.

"That went well," said Octavia as she collapsed into a chair. "Much better than I feared."

"Should we have told him that we already have enough money to put us both through university and still have some left over?"

"Nah," Octavia waved her sister off. "We'll surprise him at graduation. The look on his face will be priceless."

"You know what this means though, sister?"

"Indeed I do sister."

"Operation; 'Love Love Onii-chan' can begin. Immediately implement plan eleven!" Claudia declared grandly.

"Where am I supposed to find a steamroller?"

"Goddamit, I said plan eleven!"

"Oh right," Octavia said, a bit subdued. "I guess I got a bit too excited."

"I understand my less amazing twin," Claudia said sagely. "But we must have patience. Seducing the wild Onii-chan takes time, effort, mountains of lingerie, and numerous panty shots."

"I'mma hit you," Octavia threatened with a raised fist but her sister backed away quickly. "Fine, but we need to build up to it slowly. We can't really do anything until he is a high enough level to join our team. That will take a few years so the operation will have to wait a bit more I guess. For now, we just need to keep it a secret from him." Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, the twins froze in realization. Slowly, their heads turned towards the end of the table where Jorry lay staring at them. He was frozen halfway into a bit of a treat.

"If you don't tell Nero about any of this, the next time we see each other I'll give more treats than you can eat," Octavia said quickly.

The gluttonous snake stared at her for a second, the pile of food, her, the food before looking at her one last time and nodding his head reluctantly. The twins shared a sigh of relief as Jorry went back to its meal. Or at least he would have if he hadn't suddenly gone still. The sisters held their breath, worried that the snake had decided against helping them but that worry was replaced with a whole new one once he spoke up for the first time in their presence.

"Something's wrong." He said lowly, thankfully the sisters now always wore the choker that allowed them to speak with animals so they could understand him.

"What?" Octavia asked the serpent.

"Nero, I think he's fighting something. And it's not going well."

"I'm on it," Claudia said as she picked up the snake and dashed from the room. As she did so, she sent out her spirits to look for her brother. He couldn't have gotten far since he had only left a few minutes ago. Unfortunately, before they found anything, Jorry went slack on her shoulder.

"We're too late." He snarled. Claudia's heart clenched at those words, but she didn't slow down as she flew from the building in the direction of the holy land. A few seconds later she got the information she wanted, and she turned back and dived into an alleyway. What she saw there made her clench her fists and grind her teeth in a fury.

Lying in a pool of his own blood, being knawed on by dozens of mice and rats, was the lifeless body of her brother. Around him were a few bodies of the vermin, showing he hadn't gone down without a fight, but that was little comfort to his sister. When something dies in Gods' Nature only one item 'drops' but the body remains, this allows players to disassemble them for parts, but it also means that wild animals can eat the dead bodies of players. The mice were apparently quite pleased with their feast.

Intellectually Claudia knew he was okay, that he was even now in purgatory waiting to respawn in Maqi. When you stare at the bloody, wide-eyed corpse of your loved one as it is slowly being eaten by mice and rats, your response isn't based on intelligence. A sound escaped her throat, a low keening wail that slowly built up into a higher pitch. In a regular human, it might have been the sound of grief, but Claudia was no ordinary human. Through her adventures with her twin, they had numerous opportunities to change their race. Octavia had decided to stay human since none of the races fit her but Claudia had accepted one's offer. Her wail was her vengeance.

First, the mice shook in pain from the noise, then they spasmed as they lost control of their motor functions and finally, in dozens of small showers gore and brain matter, their heads exploded due to the sound. Not one of them could survive the banshee's cry due to the level difference. They all died before even trying to put up a fight.

"What's going on here," the sudden voice behind her made Claudia whirl about, ready to unleash hell. She stopped when she saw it was a pair of guards, likely attracted by the noise. They eyed both her and the body, palms on their swords.

"I found the area after he had died," she said instead as she reigned in her fury. "I killed the mice."

"You'll need to come with us, the higher-ups will want to know about something like this." One said, advancing on her slowly. Disinclined to go anywhere with them, Claudia reached into her pouch and withdrew a token. On one side was the Bank's symbol, on the other the royal crest.

"Right, um, miss. Never mind then," the other guard said nervously as he recognized what that little token meant. "You can be on your way, but we'll need to report this. If mice are killing people in the street, then we need to start hiring exterminators."

"Whatever," Claudia said dismissively as she stomped her way back to the bank, intent on venting her frustration somehow. By the looks of the long shadows on the ground, the sun was close to setting which would provide her with the perfect opportunity.

****

The sun was barely peaking over the horizon when Nero made it back to Sarra. He had spent the night in another uncomfortable carriage ride. He had been lucky enough to hitch a ride for only a silver coin, but it lacked the padded seating of the one he had used when traveling with The Bank's recruits so his but was once more suffering from the unpaved roads.

Nero was more than a bit angry at the ambush and subsequent death. Not just the death itself, but also the fact he had to spend the entire night making his way back. Kaesar was also angry at himself for not noticing it. The vibrations of the nearby main road meant he didn't feel the approaching horde of mice, the numerous city smells meant that when he tasted the air, he didn't notice the mice despite being quite familiar with their taste by now.

All his supplementary skills had not prevented him from being surprised and subsequentially killed as he was overrun with dozens of small targets. His recent increase in level meant he could kill them with a swipe of his claws, but he wasn't at the point where he regenerated health faster than they could take it. Mice did not have a robust defense, nor were they particularly durable, but they could swarm, and they were agile. That was more than enough to take him down.

Dismounting from carriage Nero gave his fellow passengers a farewell before making his way to the holy land. As he walked, he sent a message to his sisters to meet him there, they had talked the night before when Kaesar respawned, and they had explained what had happened after he died. Kaesar was careful to stick to main roads this time, wary of another attack. Nero knew he had been getting close the mice's main base, and he had a good idea where it was, but he hadn't expected retaliation like this.

But what were they trying to achieve with killing him? They had to know he could respawn, everything could respawn in Gods' Nature, so why try to attack him in the open? If anybody found out about this mouse conspiracy, it wouldn't be hard to exterminate them all with a well-trained mage. Either way, he would find out today.

Once he arrived at the holy ground, he bought some breakfast from a stall to eat while he waited. It didn't take more than a few minutes for Nero's sisters to arrive with Jorry on Claudia's shoulder. Upon seeing her brother, the spiritualist dashed into his arms and gave him a tight hug, as if she was afraid he would die again. Jorry took the opportunity to slither onto his shoulder and give him an affectionate squeeze of his own.

"What happened?" Octavia asked.

So he explained to them about doing the extermination work for money, hunting rats and then getting killed by the mice for the first time. He talked about what he had overheard from the ratmen and how he had started hunting the mice's hideout upon his return to Sarra.

"They probably killed me because I was getting close to their hideout." Nero finished.

"So," Claudia said, almost shaking in anger. "We go there and kill the lot of them."

"No," Nero shook his head. "Jorry and I will be doing this alone."

"What? No way!" Claudia denied furiously. "You died last time, in seconds. There is no way you can kill them all. What is to stop them from ganging up on you?"

"It was an ambush, I was unprepared. So long as it doesn't happen again and I can mitigate the amount that face me at once, I'll be fine." Claudia stared into her brother's eyes for a moment, whatever she saw there was enough to convince her to relent.

"Fine! But I don't like it. If you die again, we will step in."

"Deal," Nero agreed readily.

"You probably don't have a lot of time," Octavia spoke up. "A day or two at max. The guards will have reported it by now, and they can't ignore a danger to their civilians so close to home. Whatever you want to do, you need to do it fast."

"No problem, as soon as I finish here-" Nero stopped talking as he felt the subtle connection between himself and the holy land form.

"It's because you've synced to this one before," Octavia explained as if reading his mind. "Resyncing takes a fraction of the time."

"All the better, I'll end this now then," Nero said.

"Be safe."

"Try not to die."

With a hug goodbye and those parting words of encouragement from his sisters, Nero set off.

A part of him wondered about what he was doing, rejecting their offer of help. Yesterday Nero had no problem receiving their support when it came to money, so this should be no different. But it was. For a reason he couldn't fathom, ending this mice based mystery was different. Nero couldn't understand why though.

Had he worked hard so far to complete it? Sure, but taking his sisters' help would make the job easier. He wasn't one of those macho men who believed everything had to be done by themselves. Nero was a pragmatist, getting things done the most efficient way possible was his usual modus operandi, but in this case, he ignored the best way and was doing this the worst way. Hell, he could just sit on his ass for a few days, and the issue would solve itself. The guards were now aware of the mice problem, so there was no need for Nero to move, but instead of doing thing the logical way, Kaesar was deliberately making his life harder. For what? Nero had no idea.

Getting into the sewers was easy after so many times spent scouting the area, getting near the area he wanted to be without getting spotted would be hard though.

"Alert me immediately if you taste anybody," Nero said to Jorry.

"Sure thing."

The pair quickly and quietly made their way around the sewers. They stopped several times to let guards go by on their patrol, but for some reason, they encountered no mice. Eventually, they reached their destination, a blue barrier.

Progress halted there, Nero knew he wouldn't be able to cross. This was the area directly under the mages guild, and they had set up this barrier, and other traps passed it for any would-be thieves. So far, all the mice encounters Nero had down in the sewers had been in the area surrounding this location, Nero was confident that their base had to be located nearby.

"We'll split up here," Nero said to his companion. "Don't go too far and if you see anything come back to me immediately. We are looking for something out of the way, maybe a hole or grate that most people wouldn't pay any attention to. It should be covered in traces of the mice so it will smell like them. If you find it, come back immediately, don't try and fight unless you have to."

"Got it!" The snake slithered away and around the corner to look. Nero went in the opposite direction, keeping his eyes peeled and tongue flickering as he searched for any trace.

It took a good ten minutes, and Nero was the first to find it surprisingly. It had come across the tip of his tongue, a hint of fur, that had led to a close investigation of the area. He found it wedged between the barrier and a wall. It was a small grate half obscured by some trash and no bigger than Nero's hand. Making a note of the location, Kaesar went back to pick up Jorry. Once the pair returned to the area of the grate, they spoke in hushed whispers.

"Can you feel them?" Jorry nodded a bit at the question.

"I can feel a bit, but the vibrations are faint, probably from the other side of the barrier. But I can definitely taste them. They have been all over this area."

Nodding a bit, Nero took a moment to think about the plan of attack. Though Gods' Nature was a game, its denizens weren't necessarily stupid. There was no way mice would conveniently live in an area that a player could gain access to quickly, so instead of going to them they would have to come to Nero. The grate wasn't tall enough to allow a mouse to come out of while riding on a rat and at most four could come out at any time, but Nero had no idea how many were hiding in this base, there could be hundreds for all he knew. There was nothing he could do about it, he would just have to gamble.

"Here is what we are going to do," Kaesar began explaining. "You'll go in there and, once you are spotted, you'll lure them out here where we can fight together. Our goal is to kill them as quickly as possible, so try and smack them and bite them more than binding them. Are you all right with this?"

"I got it, we'll teach these bottom feeders that they can't mess with us." Jorry seemed to be in high spirits at least. The snake wasted no time in slithering through the holes in the grate.

Nero crouched at the exit, ready to attack. He steadied his beating heart, well aware that his last few months of effort had come down to this. It was only a few moments before Nero heard Jorry's voice again.

"Comming through!" Shouted the snake as it wormed its way out of the grated hole. Behind him was the tide. There was no other way to call it, mouse and rat poured over each other in an effort to chase the snake and once they exited Nero slaughtered them.

Nero had read once online that in Gods' Nature physical strength was the strength stat multiplied by muscle mass. It was for that reason that even if people had the same strength stat one might be stronger than the other. The mice and rats were not too different in level than Nero, but when it came to dealing damage, they had to swarm in the dozens to match him. With their natural low defense, lack of durability, and the fact that only four or five could exit the grate at once meant that it wasn't a fight so much as a slaughter. Every swipe of his claws took multiple lives, and soon bodies started to clog the drain, the mice having to push through them to exit. Any vermin that Nero missed were attacked by Jorry.

Unfortunately, as Napoleon used to say, quantity has a quality of its own. Once enough mice had gotten passed Nero, Jorry was only able to deal with a few of them at once. Those who got passed both man and snake started to attack the man. They stabbed at him with needle-like swords and bit him with their teeth. Each attack did little individually, but enough of them would bring him down.

A fool would have felt the stinging pain from these blows and turned to kill the attackers. But Nero, even overcome with adrenaline, was no fool. He knew that if he stopped attacking the grate for even a moment, he would be overrun and killed. His only hope was to keep killing the horde until it ended and hope he could live long enough to survive the task. So Nero kept killing, and killing, and killing some more.

Eventually, arms exhausted, with his bare feet and ankles bleeding from the numerous wounds, the tide slowed and finally stopped. Not wasting a moment, Nero turned to kill the mice who had been attacking him. They had more room to maneuver, so their agility was put to full use as they dodged Nero's attacks but all it took was a glancing blow to spell doom for any of the vermin.

Panting for breath in a pile of mice and rat corpses, with hands bloody and covered in entrails, Nero checked his health. He was down to 57 hp, but that was fine for the moment. He would recover it, and then he would send Jorry in to check for any remnants.

"Well, that was brutal." A dry voice from behind Nero alerted him to the fact that he really should have been paying more attention to the grate. Whirling around, Nero came face to mouse with an unusual sight. It was a mouse, as was to be expected, and was flanked on each side by six fellow mice who had come through the grate and mounted some rats. But it was the centermost mouse that was the oddest sight.

It was fully dressed in a robe and trousers, each looking like they wouldn't be out of place on a small doll and it carried a staff, more of a twig, in its hands. And it rode, not a rat, but a snake. Longer and thicker than Jorry, though not by much, it was a species that Nero didn't recognize.

"I suppose we have gotten off on the wrong foot. I am assuming you can understand me and aren't just standing there like an idiot because you have been struck with my beauty." The mouse boss said in a deep voice that sounded out of place with its small body. "Allow me to introduce myself properly, I am Augustus Aquilanus the third. I am a noble of Sarra keep and mage. I have also been referred to as the Venerable One and a host of other such titles by these simpletons."

""Gus-Gus!"" The mice calvary chanted at the introduction and Nero had to suppress a twitch at the name. This was just adding insult to injury, though Augustus did mean venerable, so it made some twisted sort of sense.

"Yes, yes. Quiet down, you morons. I'm hoping to have my first intelligent conversation in months." Augustus, the mouse, yelled at his subordinates. "Anyway, as I mentioned, I am a mage, or I was at least. In an accident, I turned myself into this, and I have been trying to get back to normal ever since. I am preciously close to getting through this barrier and taking the materials needed for such an endeavor. I was also a noble. Thus once I resume my original form, I would be willing to compensate you significantly if you were to simply leave, or better yet help me. All animosity between us would be forgiven since you have not inconvenienced me too terribly."

Truthfully, if one looked at it from an outsider's perspective, Nero would probably come across as the villain in this situation. This whole situation started because he was hunting rats and had coincidently met some mice. The two had fought, and Nero had lost. Things could have ended there, but instead, Nero and Jorry had hunted down the mice for weeks, killing dozens in vengeance for the one death. After the mice lashed out in retaliation, they had ended up here, in the mice's home where the pair had enacted what could loosely be called genocide.

From another perspective, Augustus (the mouse) had only been trying to turn himself back into a human. Though he would do it by stealing it wasn't something that couldn't be rectified with enumeration once he was in human form. The worst thing they had done before Nero got involved was capture a bunch of rats, not a bad thing in the least.

Here was an opportunity to end everything, to stop this cycle of violence before it continued out of control. The smart thing would be to take the deal and walk away, even if Nero killed Augustus (the mouse) he would merely respawn and possibly get his body back in the future. A wealthy noble and mage could make all sorts of trouble for Nero, poor and low leveled as he was.

Nero's response was quick and straightforward. He swiped at the mice on the Venerable one's right, impaling two rats and mice and smacking the other pair into the disgusting water below.

"Why?" Augustus (the mouse) asked as he backed up in fear on his snake.

"Because you pissed me off." There it was, the reason for everything was that simple. The reason Nero had rejected his sisters' help and why he was rejecting the reasonable offer before him. Anger and petty vengeance, and Nero was okay with that. Life didn't need to always be complicated, sometimes you just needed to do what you want in spite of what is smart and sensible. "Jorry! The snake!"

Jorry sprung at his foe, knocking the noble mouse to the ground and entwining himself with the opposing snake. Though his enemy was bigger and likely stronger, Jorry simply wrapped himself around him until they looked like a corkscrew and activate his spell. The enemy snake died impaled on spikes of bone.

From there, things ended quickly. Three rat riders were no match for Nero, low on health though he was. Once they had been soundly killed, Nero reached for the squirming Augustus (mouse) and crushed him in his hands.

Thus died Augustus Aquilanus the third (mouse version), not with a bang but with a squish.

Staring down at the bloody mess in his hands and the carnage that surrounded him, Nero was overcome with a sense of euphoria. He threw back his head in laughter. It wasn't the laughter that came with the relief surviving a deadly battle like when he had faced the wolves. It was the laughter of realization. The realization that here he was, barefoot and ankle deep in blood, gore, entrails, and who knew what else, and he had fun. He laughed at the absurdity of the idea and the truth of it. He laughed because all this bloodshed and violence was the most fun he remembered having in a long, long time.

Jorry stared at his companion laughing like a madman in a dirty sewer and gave the snake equivalent of a shrug and devouring another mouse.

****

"Democracy don't rule the world, You'd better get that in your head; This world is ruled by violence, But I guess that's better left unsaid."

-Bob Dylan