“Mrs. Salvatore, I have to say, these links are great. Why didn’t I get one when I showed up? Did the guy whose body this was not have one? Isn’t that weird? Can these things be hacked? There is so much information on it. How are you not on it all day?” Nero rapid fired questions as he looked around the room. It was neat and tidy, just how he imagined it would be. There was a large desk with a couple of comfy chairs and bookshelves along the wall. Throughout the room were some tasteful paintings and plants. All of the fancy wood furniture seemed to shine as the Big windows looking out onto the courtyard provided a warm light.

Vera Salvatore just sat there listening to the verbal barrage while being reminded of the annoyance that was Mr. Walker.

“Mr. Walker, have a seat,” she said, as she pointed to a chair opposite her desk.

Nero hopped into the chair and waited for her to say something. He saw her eyes furrow as if his presence was annoying her.

“Mr. Walker, is your link active? Why are you trying to have a conversation with a connection open? Are you in a link right now?” She said while staring at the active link on Nero’s temple.

“Huh? No, I’m just keeping the connection open because it’s interesting to see what’s available. Is that weird?” He asked.

She put her head in her hands and said, “Close the link and open your identity. You’ll see why no one uses the link continuously.”

Nero did as he was told and noticed the difference to how it normally looks:

Name

Nero Walker

Level

4

Race

Human

Growth

24%

Tier

1

Condition

100%

Age

14

Center

36%

Body

1

Mind

1

Soul

1

Confluence

10

Stars

0

Pillars

0/0

It seems that interacting with the link costs ‘Center’. “OK, so I read that the center percentage was how much energy I have available for abilities and skills that can ‘stress’ me. I didn’t know what ‘stress’ it talked about, but I’m guessing using the link is stressful?” Nero asked.

“Yes, the link works with your psychic potential, it takes effort for your mind to perceive that level of world. The higher your mind stat, the longer you should be able to use it. How long have you been holding a connection?” She asked.

“I don’t know, a couple of hours. Well, more or less since I got back to my dorm from lunch with Nick,” he said

Vera looked surprised as she asked “You don’t have a headache? No symptoms of stress? Sore joints or a ringing in your ears? How much center do you have in reserve?”

“Um… like 36% left. Is that bad?” Nero was starting to get worried. He took stock of himself. “I think I feel fine. How do I know how bad I messed up?”

She sighed, and muttered, “So this is what Nick was alluding to.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Looking at Nero like she was explaining how to color within the lines, she said, “You’d know if you were in trouble. Typically symptoms begin around 50%. No one continues to train past 40%. It’s remarkable that you aren’t feeling anything. I’ll keep this in confidence. You don’t have to worry, but I wouldn’t share this information with just anyone. People will hound you for this secret; to figure out how you do it.”

“OK, that makes sense I guess. I’m not going to get taken to some secret testing facility and get hooked up to machines in a dark room where they analyze my genetic structure under different types of pain or something, am I?” Nero asked while checking the distance to the door and windows.

Vera’s eyebrows nearly hit her hairline. “No. I was more talking about how people would be bothering you if they found out. What makes you think people are going to abduct you, and place you in that kind of environment?” She asked, genuinely curious.

“I don’t know. People always want what someone else has, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they did anything to get it,” Nero stated what he would consider a fact. He shrugged and followed it up with, “People suck.”

“Mr. Walker. People don’t ‘suck’. Envy is a perfectly normal emotion. Managing it is a personal trial everyone has to deal with. More importantly, one’s path cannot be influenced by another. You can learn how to walk your own path by watching someone walk theirs. But when you try to affect something out of your control, you lose control of that which you CAN affect. Do you understand what I’m saying?” She asked, concerned about how Nero seemed to see the world.

“Um… sure. That’s a totally realistic position to take.” Nero said. He couldn’t help but think that the only reason that works is because everyone here is on their own personal self-improvement kick for their entire lives.

Vera leaned back in her chair and slumped a little. “Why is it that every time we speak, I end up confused and slightly annoyed?” She asked.

“It’s my charm. It sneaks up on you,” Nero said with an unapologetic smile. “Anyway, what do you wanna talk with me about?”

“Very well. We can begin,” she said as she sat up straight, resumed her headmistress persona, and collected some pieces of paper. “As you know, the body that you are currently in was originally one Mr. Rodney Tipsman. All of the paperwork has been filed and verification that he is now deceased has been logged with his local Center. Next, your soulscape evaluation done by Mr. Salvatore has been filed without any flags. I registered you a new citizen of Oglivarch under the name Mr. Nero Walker, 14 years of age, residing in Dorchester. You have a presence on the Thought-hub, an account with the Center, and legal standing within the city. You have no obligation to the city at the moment, and the Tipsmans request that you do not contact them. They understand the situation and wish you no ill will, but do not want to connect with you at this time. Finally, as a legal adult, newly awakened or not, you have a choice as to what path you take. As you are not an associate of the center, you will have to vacate the dorms by weeks end, that’s 4 days from now on the 16th. Do you have any questions so far?” She said while running down a list on her desk and flipping pages over from a stack every couple of sentences.

“No, that sums it up quite nicely. What are my options to make money?” Nero asked.

She seemed surprised at what Nero was focusing on. “Well, someone in your position normally would focus on a training program of some kind. A job typically comes AFTER you have acquired some skill which you can market. I don’t want to presume, but considering your background, I’m not sure what skills you intend to market,” she said.

Nero took a minute to think about his plan. He said, “Just to be clear, there is no way that I can join some magic school with all expenses paid is there?”

Vera smiled and replied, “No. Without a strong education it would be very unlikely to get into any of the Center-point academies. Even then, scholarships are reserved for non-nobles who have shown great potential in leadership, sciences, and combat. I’m sure if you had the requisite background, it wouldn’t be an issue. However, as it stands, that isn’t an option for you.”

Nero nodded, not at all surprised. ‘Center-point sounds cool though,’ he thought. He then asked, “What would you recommend?”

She folded her hands and said, “We don’t usually offer recommendations, only options. Your options are severely limited, as I can’t think of any privatized training facilities that would take you. I’d say your only real choices are to join the army, the guard, or the center as a basic worker-associate. Worker-associates pay for their tuition and room and board by working every other day at an assigned job. You’ll probably work in the kitchens, custodial services, or maybe I could see if someone will take you as a receptionist. Any one of those paths are easily available to you, and you can get started today if you want.” She finished with a smile.

Nero was reminded of his high school guidance counselor who did her best to avoid calling him a lazy idiot while telling him that the community college was a wonderful option. They even offered a work-to-learn program that offered great opportunities.

Chuckling and trying to dismiss the mental image, he said “Mrs. Salvatore. No offense, but this is a world of magic and wonder. There is no way in hell that I’m going to be a grunt in the army, a low paid rent-a-cop that starts at the bottom, or a janitor. And I’m sure as hell not going to be flipping burgers in a world with freaking Dragons! I’m going to learn magic. I’m going to learn how to fight. I’m going to fight monsters, and save damsels.” Nero stood up and started getting into his rant.

“I’m going to win a war. Trick a dragon out of its treasure. See far off lands, and fuck an elf! No! A hottie of every race! I’m going to do it all. I’m going to see it all. And there isn’t a damn thing anybody can do to stop me!” He finished with a shout.

Standing there, with his hands in the air, he realized that he had gotten carried away. Lowering his arms, he noticed that he was facing a painting of some guy on a mountain watching the sunrise. He turned back to her and paused. She was looking at him like he was nuts. ‘Was it the swearing? She doesn’t strike me as the type of lady that would put up with that,’ he thought.

Vera smoothed the front of her robes, and adjusted the papers on the desk. Coughing slightly, she said, “Well Mr. Walker, No one is going to try to impair your path. However, many of those things seem very unlikely. In the short term, you have to find something to do. I think the army can address… some… of those goals.”

Nero paced back and forth. He was going to go for it. “Does this link thing act like a phone? I mean, can I call Nick on this thing?” he asked Vera.

Confused, she said, “A phone? Yes. You just connect then think of reaching out to Nick, it will send him a ping.”

Nero did as instructed, and felt someone’s attention. Specifically Nick’s attention. He could feel it was him. “Nero my boy. You figured out the link. Nice job. I’m glad you pinged, I wanted to talk to you about something,” he heard Nick say in his mind.

“Nick… this is cool…. Anyway, hold that thought.” Nero started chuckling at his unintentional pun. “My personal data is all weird and useful to you right?” he asked.

“What? Did Vera say something to you? I told her that I was going to talk to you about it. I’m not going to pressure you or anything. It’s just that it was the first time someone recorded the use of 3 stars in succession like that, and the data showed a remarkable full body activation. The essence fluctuations were very interesting. In addition to your wildly disproportionate soul strength, your mind is also an outlier. The big thing of note is that while, typically, a person pulls in around 20% of their soul strength to boost an aspect of their existence, each use of YOUR stars showed significant deviations from the expected essence allocation. I’m sure the paper I write will get a lot of notice. They might even see it in the capital!” Nick said while ignoring the question and slipping into his Scientific blather.

Nero shook his head in exasperation. “Nick! Shut up for a second,” he interrupted. “If my data is useful, I’ll be cool with letting you use it. But my imaginary daddy taught me to never do something I'm good at for free. Since I'm good at having data, I’m calling to bargain!”

Feeling Nick's confusion over the link, Nero went over what he just said. 'I should have said something about supply and demand. Crap,' he thought with a grimace.