A little more than four hours of sleep should have been enough for Nick to recover from all the recent excitement he’d found himself embroiled in. However, instead of feeling refreshed, he found himself struggling to get out of bed.

From the moment he’d opened his eyes, memories of what he’d recently gone through assaulted him. Scenes of death and misery acted as a backdrop to the political and social concerns interwoven through the experiences. Even having been there to witness it all happen, he could still hardly believe it. Nothing in his long life had prepared him for such dramatic events.

He was a researcher… a scholar… He simply didn’t have the necessary temperament to be a supporting character in Nero’s legend.

Because that’s what it was… a growing legend.

Awkwardly making his way through the tent’s canvas hallways, he forced himself to calm down and think rationally. By the time he arrived in the communal space where he and the others agreed to meet, he felt he finally had himself back under control.

Seeing Academian Quincy sitting at the table with Scholar Idrius standing calmly behind him, Nick recalled the conversation he’d had with the man the night before. The memory of the explanation he’d been given concerning what Nero had done made him shiver unconsciously. ‘Such dangerous magic,’ he thought to himself grimly.

Taking a seat at the table, he didn’t interrupt the conversation going on between Ms. Averett and Captain Angleton.

Her voice firm, she continued on as if Nick’s presence weren’t worth acknowledging. “That sounds like a reasonable way to organize everything, at least until we can acquire more support staff.”

Ms. Keening, the current head of the wackos, leaned forward and asked, “If you’d like, I can put out the word that we’re looking for more people. I’m sure between the new recruits and our wackos we can cast a wide net.”

Nick realized that this was a continuation of what they’d spent last night discussing.

Ms. Averett would act as the head of the Walker Adventuring Company, while the now-former captain, Mr. Angleton, would lead House Walker’s military arm. Between the two of them, they would split up the new recruits and create an organizational structure that would streamline the rapid growth House Walker was going through. Meanwhile, all the ancillary details like administration and accounting would temporarily remain under Vera’s control. Since House Walker still resided in Dorchester for the moment, there was no immediate need to find someone to run the House.

Glancing over at Academian Quincy, Nick noted the satisfied look on the man’s face. ‘He couldn’t care less about the charges against House Walker. He really doesn’t seem to think the council’s decisions will affect anything,’ he thought to himself, thoroughly numb from all the changes that had been happening.

Having apparently sensed Nick’s state of mind, Academian Quincy turned his head to meet Nick’s eyes, drawing attention to himself and pausing the discussion.

While everyone turned to look at Nick, wondering what had caught the academian’s attention, the man said quietly, “I understand that you’re worried, but I assure you that the grandmaster and I have it under control.”

Captain Angleton’s firm voice added, “Leave the politics to the politicians.”

Nick shrugged uncomfortably under their scrutiny. “I still say they might have a point. What Nero did nearly disrupted the delicate balance the essence flows have achieved. During an event like an essence restabilization, his actions could be justifiably regarded as reckless. After hearing Academian’s explanation of what Nero did, perhaps we should encourage Nero to step back for a while, and spend some time learning and refining his abilities.”

Ms. Keening’s fist visibly clenched on the table, her fervor clearly displayed in her eyes. “That would be a mistake! Lord Walker’s presence on the battlefield won this battle for us. Word of his heroic actions is spreading through the camp like wildfire. I’ve even heard that some people have ferried memory engrams of his exploits back to Dorchester so they could be uploaded onto the Thought hub. We need to take advantage of this opportunity to spread House Walker’s influence.”

Nick shook his head helplessly. These people were dead set on making Nero out to be someone he was not. They all looked at him and only saw what they wanted to see.

If things kept progressing the way they were, they’d end up anointing Nero a war saint, and founding a new city in his name. Just picturing Nero’s face at the imagined coronation ceremony brought back the sense of unreality he’d been trying to shake off since he’d gotten out of bed.

—--

Nero felt more than a little uncomfortable as he was dragged through the tent’s entrance. He could sense everyone watching him, their essence fields making it clear how much they thought of him. It felt like hundreds of hands reaching out, begging for him to validate their faith in him.

Emerging into the large central space of the tent, Nero was surprised to see what could only be described as the ‘core’ members of his house. They were all patiently waiting for him to arrive. Like statues, they were standing around a sturdy wooden table in the center of the room, while behind them more House Walker flags hung on the walls as a backdrop. People he didn’t recognize moved around the edges of the room, delivering coffee and moving supplies. What looked like canvas curtains along the walls led off into hallways, most likely leading to the tent's bedrooms and kitchen. It was like someone had taken a large circus tent and turned it into a mansion.

Feeling the wacko who’d led him here finally let go of his arm, Nero looked over at her in shock as she awkwardly bowed before leaving as quickly as she came. It had all happened so fast that he hadn’t even had a chance to say anything to her.

“Lord Walker, please join us. We were just discussing when to hold the life-oath ceremonies,” offered Ms. Keening with a smile.

Turning back to the table, Nero blinked rapidly to clear his mind. “Right. That’s the thing where people sign their lives over to me so they don’t have to serve their criminal sentences anymore?”

While Nero joined them at the table, Academian Quincy’s smooth voice replied, “Not exactly, they’d technically be swearing to House Walker, not you. House Walker would then be taking on their social debt. However, as you are the only official member of House Walker at the moment, it amounts to the same thing.”

Looking like he was unable to contain himself, Nick spoke up. “Nero, before anything else, I think we should talk about that last spell you used to end the battle. You probably haven’t realized it yet, but Archmage Jennings has been dealing with the fallout since yesterday.”

Taking his seat, Nero was happy to see a pitcher of coffee and some pastries laid out, just waiting for him to indulge himself. Glancing up at his friend, Nero replied, “What fallout? I thought the kobald bodies and everything else got vaporized. Is there some kind of spell radiation or something?”

Nick’s reply was cut short as he parsed through the translation of Nero’s words.

Filling the pause, Academian Quincy said, “No, not so much as any kind of dangerous emission, more like the ether in the area has been slightly affected by the spell’s density and flow rate.”

Nero, now confused, felt like he was about to be getting another lecture.

And, just as he’d expected, Nick and the Academian Quincy then spent the next ten minutes explaining in detail what Nero’s spell had done to the ether. When taken as a whole, it sounded kind of bad. ‘I wonder if Jennings is going to be pissed about how much work I caused him.’

After making a mental connection to something Nick had just said, Nero cut him off abruptly. “Wait a second. So, that’s what the council is talking about? The war crime thing that was mentioned yesterday?” he asked

After piecing together what he could understand from what Nick and Academian Quincy were saying and his limited grasp of local history, he could understand what the council was worried about. It sounded like he’d almost caused the same kind of disruption in the ether that the populators had when they fought in that rebellion. If Jennings hadn’t been here, Nero might have actually screwed up the essence flows even worse than they already were.

Before anyone could respond to Nero’s question, he jumped ahead to the crux of the matter. “So, are there any legal repercussions I have to worry about? I’m like a unique or whatever, not to mention a noble. Considering how fancy all that sounds, what am I looking at here? A fine? A public apology or something? I’m telling your right now, I’m not going to be picking up any trash,” he declared quickly, worried about what this bullshit was going to cost him.

Nick sat there shocked as if Nero had completely missed the point of what they were saying. On the other hand, everyone else was displaying varying levels of amusement in response to his questions.

Ms. Keening was the first to respond, bouncing around in her seat like she was ready to lead the charge in organizing an extensive letter-writing campaign. “They wouldn’t dare! You did nothing wrong. Your actions saved countless lives and ended the threat of the kobald invasion. Those bastards should be thanking you and giving you your justified rewards. Don’t you worry, my lord. We’re with you to the end!”

Nero tried to keep the confusion he was feeling off his face but wasn’t sure if he managed it. Looking around the table with interest, he tried to feel out what everyone was thinking.

Captain Angleton looked stubbornly determined for some reason. Cathleen looked rather proud, and the evaluators both wore matching smirks. Meanwhile, his old friend Nick continued to look poleaxed.

Not knowing the best way to handle it, Nero went with an old platitude he’d heard somewhere. “Well, you can’t please everybody. Trying to will just end up disappointing both them and you.”

“Well said!” shouted Captain Angleton, making Nero jump a little in surprise at the man’s intensity.

‘What the hell did he just read into that?’ Nero wondered.

Sitting up in her seat, Cathleen’s stern visage alerted everyone that she was joining the conversation. Keeping her voice quiet and calm, she said to Nero, “Which brings us back to the beginning. We need to schedule a time for the life oaths. House Walker is currently in an unprecedented growth stage. More people are signing up than we currently have members. Your house needs structure and management to handle this kind of rapid expansion.”

Nero bought himself time by slowly sipping his coffee.

“Do I really need to grow the house? I mean, it’s not like I’ll be staying in Dorchester forever. There is a hell of a lot of world out there. After we finish off the kobalds, I’ll probably be heading out and dealing with the awards and crap waiting for me at the capital. It would be good to stop by the library there and check out some books on magic while I’m at it. I don’t think I need an army for any of that,” he added sarcastically.

Before Cathleen could respond, Ms. Keening interjected excitedly, “Where you go, we go. I seriously doubt that when you get there you won’t need support. We are willing to follow you into whatever adventure you find yourself in. The Walker Adventuring Company will earn its keep, don’t worry about that. We can take contracts through the local Hunter’s Hall or under House Walker’s name through the city.”

Stolen story; please report.

Captain Angleton nodded along, agreeing with the former guard. “That’s right. I and my troops will be handling the training. We’ll make sure everyone is ready to face whatever challenge you lead us into. Have no fear, my lord. Your people will be safe.”

Nero’s mouth opened and closed mechanically a few times, not knowing what to say in response to that obvious miscommunication. ‘Did he think I was worried about them? How the hell did he get that from what I said?’ he wondered, completely at a loss.

Academian Quincy leaned forward, adding his opinion to the discussion. “That’s all for later. For now, we need to focus on the present. The grandmaster of Dorchester’s knightly order and I will handle the council. We’ll make sure they live up to the quest they issued. Ms. Averrett and Ms. Keening will handle the recruitment of your forces, while Mr. Angleton will manage their disposition. The only thing you need to decide is whether or not you’ll personally be involved in taking their life oaths. While it’s not strictly necessary, it might further encourage their loyalty,” he advised softly.

Nero set down his coffee cup, before brushing his hands free of crumbs from the pastry. “There is no way in hell I’m getting involved. If you all want to build up the house into something, have at it. Aside from my name being on the flag, it has nothing to do with me. I’m just here for the lolz.”

Silence descended on the table like a heavy weight. Nero could feel it in their essence fields, they were all digesting his words with a gravity that immediately made him feel uncomfortable.

Whispering softly, Academian Quincy savored the word… “LOLZ… enjoyment of the moment and the unflinching pursuit of personal happiness. Wonderful… what a beautiful and profound concept.”

Nero couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement as he watched them all struggling to rapidly comprehend the concept of ‘lolz’. Once again, he found himself contemplating the potential repercussions of his imagined T-shirt company.

Ms. Keening’s fervent voice rang out across the table like a declaration of war. “Yes. It’s about what we want out of our lives after joining House Walker. You’re right. You have your own concerns, and shouldn’t have to cater to our dreams. It’s up to us to realize them ourselves. If we want House Walker to flourish, then we can’t simply rely on you to make it happen. It’s our responsibility… our destiny!”

Nodding along, Captain Angleton replied strongly, his voice sounding like a soldier assuring his commander of victory. “I understand. We’ll get it done, my lord. Your words will be passed among the adherents. You can count on us.”

Nero’s face must have lost three shades of color as the blood retreated from his cheeks. ‘What in the ever bloody hell are they talking about?’ he wondered.

Even Cathleen looked like she’d taken something away from what Nero had said, as she was currently rubbing her chin in thought.

Nick decisively ended the conversation by standing up and gesturing to Academian Quincy. “Nero’s right. He’s got more important things to do than deal with politics. He is a unique of unprecedented potential. Academian Quincy and I have agreed to work with him on his spell casting before we return to Dorchester to prepare for our next engagement with the enemy. He trusts you all to handle it, and I’m sure you’re up to the challenge,” he said supportively.

Nero’s brain rebooted the moment he heard that he was going to be getting some more instruction in magic. Was what he was hearing accurate? Were they all agreeing to let him fuck off and learn magic while they managed all the crap he didn’t understand or care about? Was there a luck stat or something that he’d overlooked?

Academian Quincy stood up to join Nick. “We’ll be taking Lord Walker to the training field. Scholar Idrius will join you while the other evaluators continue aiding the grandmaster in dealing with the council.” Turning to Nick, he added, “They’ve already passed along your message to your wife. She assured them that she could handle it.”

The other members of House Walker’s defacto council stood up as well, trading subtle nods of encouragement with each other, reassuring themselves that they could handle their duties.

As the group broke apart, Nero remained seated. He felt himself paralyzed with shock at how quickly everything had been decided. ‘Did that just fucking happen?’ he wondered.

“Nero, are you ready now? Or are you still eating?” Nick asked, his voice sounding neither rushed nor impatient.

Forcing himself to stand up, Nero replied quickly, “No, I’m good. So, the whole war crime thing is being handled? The recruit stuff with all the criminals is being dealt with, and I’m free to do some magic training with you guys?”

Academian Quincy and Nick shared an almost impossibly fast glance at each other before Nick replied, “Yes… if you’re up for it. We really need to go over the possible repercussions of what your kind of soul magic can do. What you did yesterday cannot be allowed to happen again.”

Had Nero not been sufficiently stunned by events, Nick's tone near the end there might have made him wince. But, as it happened, he was barely paying attention to what he was hearing.

‘I finally achieved the impossible. I’ve acquired the mythical protagonist aura that will allow me to do whatever the hell I want without any sort of consequences. This… this is the dream,’ he thought to himself in awe, his face contorted into an offputting smirk.

“Lord Walker, are you alright?” asked Academian Quincy worriedly.

Shaking off the weird thoughts, Nero’s eyes cleared and he refocused on the two old mages in front of him. “Yeah, no problem. Let’s go learn some magic!” he said excitedly, thoroughly putting everything else they’d talked about out of his mind.

Like a kid being taken to the toy store, Nero was nearly skipping in excitement as the two led him out of the tent toward the training area.

On the way, Nero began mentally compiling a list of all the questions he’d wanted to ask but never had a chance to. Figuring he’d start with the most recent and work backward, he said, “So, I should mention that I’ve been having dreams of kobalds that might not be dreams. It kind of felt like scrying, but more ‘big picture’ if that makes any sense. How do I go about controlling that?”

Both Academian Quincy and Nick halted in their steps, immediately making Nero nearly stumble into them. Looking up at their shocked faces, he asked, “What? Is that not normal or something? Jennings made it clear that I needed to be careful not to kill myself while delving and scrying, so I figured that was near the top of the priority list for what I needed to learn.”

Seeing as the two scholarly men were just continuing to stare at him in shock, Nero added, “Seriously, did I almost kill myself again or something? What’s wrong this time?”

Academian Quincy and Nick recovered at nearly the same time, quickly exchanging looks with one another. While Nick subtly began looking around as if he were searching for spies, Academian Quincy reached out, placing his hand on Nero’s shoulder. “Nothing’s wrong. We’re just a little surprised. Before we voice our suspicions, let’s start at the beginning.”

As Academian Quincy led Nero forward, protectively shielding him with one arm, Nick walked alongside them keeping an eye out. Nero wasn’t exactly sure what Nick was so worried about, but he felt the tense atmosphere and adjusted himself accordingly.

Keeping his voice low, he spoke about what few of the dreams he could remember. He painted a tale of his ethereal consciousness floating around, observing the kobalds in their natural habitat. The longer he talked, the more he seemed to remember.

He described the feelings and explanations of what he had experienced in addition to what he had actually witnessed. He recalled details that he thought he’d forgotten about what the kobalds had been eating, how their homes were decorated, and even their social structure which was more complicated than he’d realized. When he got to the parts about the ‘true’ kobalds and how they lived versus the ones they’d been killing by the thousands, he found himself pausing due to the uncomfortable feeling in the ether.

Like he was coming out of a trance, he blinked away the memories and looked around.

Academian Quincy and Nick had led him to a small bench alongside a large open area set up with training rings. While most of the training rings were empty, he could see a few soldiers arranging themselves for their morning workouts. As the central chamber they were currently occupying was large to the point of ridiculousness, there was plenty of space for everyone to do their own thing.

Looking up at Nick and Academian Quincy, Nero was surprised to see the worried looks on their faces. “Ok, seriously guys. What the hell? Why do you both look like I just told you I secretly collect toenail clippings in mason jars?” he asked snidely.

The mood immediately lightened, and Nero felt the oppressive feeling of their concern through their essence fields retreating.

Coughing lightly into his hand, Nick awkwardly began, “Well, it’s like this Nero. Do you remember the time you accidentally sent your consciousness through one of the essence disturbances?”

Nero took a seat on the bench alongside the two men, frowning in confusion at the subject change. “Um… yeah.” Glancing over at Academian Quincy, Nero added, “But I thought we weren’t supposed to talk about that?”

Shrugging uncomfortably, Nick replied, “Nero, Academian Quincy is an evaluator. In addition to being a much more knowledgeable scholar than I am, he’s also at a much higher level. With his position at the Royal Academy, and his orders having directly been given by the crown, he had every right to discuss his target with whoever he wanted. Despite our friendship, I couldn’t have lied to him when he asked me to tell him about you.”

Chiming in, Academian Quincy added, “You don’t need to worry. Your friend hasn’t betrayed you. The evaluators and I are merely here to learn about you and have unanimously agreed to aid you in any way we can. Nothing we’ve learned or will learn will be used against you.”

Nero couldn’t help but snort in amusement at their obviously naive sincerity. He hadn’t exactly understood what Nick was so worried about, so he wasn’t all that offended that his friend had ratted on him. Besides, Nick was the one worried about anyone finding out, Nero hadn’t cared in the slightest.

“OK… so what do my dreams have to do with that? Was I sleep scrying? Is that a thing? Did my soul leave my body and take a walk across the ether?” he asked humorously.

Academian Quincy replied, “That’s one way to describe what you did. However, a better way to think about it is that you projected your presence along the ethereal flows which are tied to the kobald forces.”

Nick took over, “Remember when I was describing the wilds to you? We talked about how the forest had an identity that could be affected by what was currently residing in it. The entire material world works in very much the same way. The kobald society’s identity has for all intents and purposes invaded our own, overlaying itself on top of who we are as a people. What you tapped into was that essence flow. Your soul followed those flows back to the source, letting the kobalds society impart its essence into your mind.”

Trying to interpret what Nick was saying, Nero asked, “Like brainwashing? Or more like sleep learning?”

Both Academian Quincy and Nick took a moment to mentally translate Nero’s words. “Sleep learning is a good way to think about it,” replied Academian Quincy.

Nick nodded in agreement. “While you left your body behind to observe the other plane through the essence disturbance, you didn’t need to do that when you looked in on the kobalds. You merely delved into their identity through their spreading influence through the ether. You weren’t in any way in any danger, so in that regard, you can relax.”

Academian Quincy took over, “However, that you were able to delve so deeply into the ether without meaning to is rather worrying. There are high-level mages who’ve trained for centuries to be able to do what you did. Though, they tend to be awake and in control of their delves.”

Nero chuckled good-naturedly at the jab. “Well, I’m just a natural I guess. Is this anything like the will of the world thing that subconsciously teaches people how to use weapons during training?”

Nick smiled, and replied, “Very similar, yes. The world carries the entirety of everyone's experiences as an echo. Interestingly enough, you already know about the transmission medium.”

Nero immediately got the hint. “The soul stuff in the ether that I was using? That’s the leftover remnants of identities after people died, right? The potential gets stripped and added to the material plane while the experiences and memories get added to the world’s memory… but wait, it’s just the mind that’s being left behind, right? The soul gets sent on to the outer, or upper… whatever, one of the other planes,” he asked, losing his train of thought a little near the end of his hypothesis.

Academian Quincy seemed a little surprised at how quickly Nero had parsed together that subsection of ethereal theory. “Yes, that’s more or less correct. However, you’re wrong to assume that the soul is completely separated from that ‘soul stuff’ as you call it. What you were using was actually the remnants of the departed souls.”

Scoffing loudly, Nero replied quickly, “Bullshit. I know a soul when I see one, and those were NOT souls. It was just a bunch of potential with unactivated memories clinging to it. The memories passed on fine, I just repurposed the potential.”

Nick frowned in annoyance at Nero’s blatant disregard for their society’s longstanding beliefs based on millennia of research. “You can’t be sure of that Nero. There have been countless studies cov-”

“Yes, I can! I’m sure because I can SEE it. You’re acting like a blind man arguing that the sky isn’t blue. Although I don’t know how I can prove it to you, I’m telling you… that soul stuff is NOT souls. No matter what dumbass study you show me, I’m not going to ignore my own eyes and just take your word for it,” Nero declared heatedly. He was really getting tired of having this argument.

Academian Quincy’s voice was trembling as he asked. “You can SEE souls?”

Nero looked back and forth between the two shocked men. “What? I thought I mentioned that? Can’t everybody? How else do you resuscitate people?”

Nick’s timid voice was barely a whisper when he replied, “Nero, resuscitation is a conceptual spell worked out over hundreds of thousands of painstaking trials. No one… and I mean NO ONE… is capable of remembering what happens after a soul delve. It’s just the application of theoretical knowledge trained into a spell skill. Do you…actually recall what the inside of a soul looks like, what you experienced?”

Nero looked back and forth between the two stunned men, thoroughly caught off guard by what they were saying. He felt himself mumbling incoherently, “But the book said… or, I thought it said… there was a part about the connection between the soul and the… a tether…”

Pausing to take a deep breath, Nero closed his eyes and said quietly, “Well… shit.”