The King sat in one of his gardens manipulating the essence around him to stamp complex spell forms, and then releasing them immediately back into the air. Over and over he practiced. ‘Successful repetition in preparation for combat is preparation for repetition of success in combat,’ he thought to himself.
Looking over the calm pond, his gaze landed on some ducks that were enjoying the day. As his bench was seamlessly integrated into the landscape, they didn’t notice his presence. The garden around him was beautiful, which was why he often chose it for his daily practice.
“Sire, Director Weatherby would like a word,” said a voice from behind him, breaking his reverie.
Sighing, the king waved his hand over his shoulder. “Send him over,” he said.
Director Weatherby watched his feet as he didn’t want to disturb the King’s preferred garden. “Sire,” he said. “The matrix of fate is starting to show some startling results. It may be a few days until a comprehensive report will be available, but I thought you’d like to hear some of the preliminary findings.”
The King stood up and faced the Director of the Tower of Fate. Noticing the director wringing his hands, he said, “Charles, it’s good to see you. What is my grandfather’s toy showing the Fateweavers that has you so worked up?”
Weatherby could feel the king’s psychic presence in the air. Even with the king’s exceptional control, the ambient essence made it clear that Weatherby was not it’s master. Even the essence waited for the king’s command.
Coughing lightly, Director Weatherby ignored the king’s familiarity and replied, “Sire, the prophesied path for one of the cities in the south, Dorchester, has been significantly altered. The Cosgrave’s will not fall, and the Noble War doesn’t make sense. There aren’t any battles being foretold. A lot of what is being shown is contradictory to what we previously thought. Even the prophesied beast tide has been moved up. We are very concerned.”
The king nodded, and he took his time to formulate a response that wasn’t insulting to their faith in the matrix of fate. He looked at the nervous Weatherby and said, “Remember that the paths we walk are winding, and many things can alter our course. This is not the first time a prophecy has not come to pass, and it will not be the last. Each of us directs our own fate, and the matrix of fate was created not to offer a destination, but to warn of the impediments we will face.”
Off to the side, the king’s aide interrupted their conversation. “Sire, there has been a call from Dorchester for the Populators. It’s been routed to your personal hub.”
As Weatherby’s eyes widened, the king looked back at the Palace. Forming a connection, he read the request and chuckled. With impressive speed, he went through the related files, and collated them into a new report on Dorchester. With a smirk, he then opened a link to his Queen.
Queen Marrisa’s psyche touched mind and he felt her love through the link. “What is it dear? I’m currently meeting with Jenkins, there is a projected beast wave heading toward Newgate that we might have to deal with,” she said while seeming distracted.
“Leave it to another team. I want you and yours in Dorchester. I’m sending you the relevant files now. I think you’ll find it interesting. Let me know how it goes,” he replied.
After a few moments, the king felt her confusion. “What is this file on Project-Nero?” she asked.
The king replied, “You’ll see. I’m sure you’ll love it.” While projecting his merriment over the link, he closed the connection.
Turning to Weatherby and his aide, he laughed out loud at their confusion. ‘It really is a beautiful day,’ he thought as he looked over his pond. Meanwhile, the king’s aide and Weatherby just waited for him to pay attention to them again.
------
Nick rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. “In the future, please don’t practice magic in my office. We have labs for that. Also, what were you doing?” Nick asked, then caught himself, “No…. Don’t answer that. We’ll come back to that. What I came in here for is the contract you had David write up. Vera called to inform me that I’m an idiot, and that I owe her a nice dinner. When I inquired as to the nature of my idiocy, she then quoted the contract which is now currently under review with the educational directorate. Why in the hell did you want a contract?” Nick asked, genuinely curious. To him, Nero asking for a signed and legitimized record of their bargain was so stupid, that he couldn’t figure out the angle. Based on historical precedent, when it came to Nero, he was missing something.
“It’s to stop you from changing the deal later on. Right now, you need me to sign over my intake testing data. Everything else is just a potential future gain for you. To put it another way, most of my side of the deal is front-loaded, while yours is back-loaded across several years. If you decide to go back on your word, I’d be screwed without the deal in writing,” Nero said as he continued collecting, and organizing his papers.
“You think I’d break my word? Do you think so little of other people?” Nick asked.
Nero paused his collection, and looked at Nick. He didn’t look hurt, or offended, he just looked interested in what Nero would say. So, Nero answered honestly, “I don’t expect people to break their word for no reason. But there’s always a reason. Who knows what can happen. Maybe Vera decides to leave you for David, and you decide to retire to an island somewhere and sulk. What would happen to me then? Or what if one of the hundred things I’ve never heard of happened, and your life would be a little easier by cutting ties with me. Contracts aren’t for holding someone to their word, they are for enforcing a deal in case of unexpected crap showing up. It’s nothing personal.”
Nick smiled. “Your mind is like a potential futures machine. All you seem to think about is what can happen, and how things can interact. It’s fascinating to watch. I can’t help but wonder about the world your soul used to reside in. It must have been such a peaceful place, with everyone heading off any potential dangers at all times. Or maybe it was an apocalyptic wasteland, and your soul was forged in the fires of survival. It’s infuriating that I can’t devise a way to track where you came from,” Nick finished with an unhappy growl.
“Uh, yeah. Tough break. Anyway, I’m going to take off. I’m hungry. I’ll probably spend the rest of the day in my room.” Nero raised his hands in preemptive defense. “Don’t worry, no more magic practice in the dorms. I’ll just be studying and going over the syllabus you sent me. I’ll let David know what I don’t care about.” He paused and looked down at the papers he’d collected.
“Speaking of things that I don’t care about. I noticed that I’m supposed to spend every other morning with unarmed combat training. The sheet listed it as a class in the army compound. Then after lunch, I have room assignment with a note saying, ‘combat caster trainer will be assigned’. After dinner, I’m supposed to self study. Considering this is all supposed to start tomorrow, I have questions,” Nero said, while shuffling through the papers, looking for the sheets in questions.
“Very well, ask away,” Nick said as he got himself something to drink and walked past Nero to take back his chair.
“Well, first multiple six hour sessions is a bit much I think. Also, Do I have to come back to the dorms for food? That’s like a 20 minute walk both ways? Then, is the caster trainer a private tutor or something, how did you swing that? And not to focus too much on it, but 6 hours of unarmed combat training, followed by 6 hours of magic combat training; isn’t that nuts?” Nero asked.
Nick looked amused. He sipped a glass of whiskey and eased back in his chair. “There are 30 hours in a day, and spending 18 of those hours in structured improvement is barely over half of that. That still leaves plenty of time for personal reading, and catching up on personal projects. It’s completely normal to have 3 blocks reserved for work.
“As for your lunch and dinner, you can eat at the compound. You’ll probably be using their practice rooms for your self study. Once you approve the syllabus and send it to Kendra, you’ll be registered for classes and have use of the facilities there. As for the mage trainer, you can thank Captain Angelton. He said he knew someone who’d be a perfect fit. I didn’t ask him for details, but I trust him to know his business.
“By the way, I already removed you from the classes you had signed up for. Those weren’t what you wanted anyway. The whole point of ‘introduction to essence’ is to help people develop a feel for essence flows, and you can already do that.” He looked sourly at all the displaced nick-knacks on his desk. “And the good captain would never allow you to settle for a basic combat class, he’ll want you training to actually fight.
“On the days that you’ll be here, David will have a lab set up for you. He should have sent you your coursework and reading lists. You can consider it self study, but I’ll make sure that David is available to answer questions. That should cover everything in our agreement, don’t you think? Speaking of our agreement, how do you plan to use your star?” Nick asked, now actually showing some interest in what he was saying.
Nero took a moment to absorb everything Nick just said. Rather than answer Nick’s question, he shoved the papers he was still holding into his satchel. Then, he walked over to pour himself a glass of scotch, but didn’t see any ice and decided to just have coffee. Finally grabbing some more cookies, he walked over and sat down in front of Nick’s desk. Now comfortable, Nero looked up at Nick ready to answer. ‘Why does Nick look annoyed?’ he wondered.
“Well the book on awakening that I read said that each star infuses the essence of the world that you’ve accumulated into the stat that you choose, but all the stats are important, so I’ll be just putting one in each of them at a time, this next one is going to Confluence,” Nero proudly stated as he munched on his cookie.
Nick nodded and replied, “That’s technically accurate. But there are many accepted stat distributions. Not to mention you should be taking advantage of your natural inclinations to make the most of your growth. There is a great deal to consider how to get the most of an essence infusion. Preparing your leveling path is the work of a lifetime.” Nick looked over to Nero enjoying his cookies, seemingly ignoring everything Nick just said.
Nick squinted his eyes. “Nero, did you actually READ the book, or did you just skim it?” he asked.
Nero’s attention snapped up. Nick’s tone of voice sent him back to high school. He answered instinctively, with as much detail as he could remember. “I read it…. For the most part. There was a section on what the stats mean with a bunch of graphs on population averages, but it was just for reference. Then there was a section on recommended stat distributions for balance in life, but that section was on how to set up ratio’s for the stars. Since I figured I’d just spread them out, it didn’t apply to me. I also skipped the section on skill interactions, because I read that skills aren’t like abilities. I’ll be increasing my skills by just learning stuff, so there's no reason to waste my time tracking that ridiculous list. All in all, I got the gist of it. I don’t know why the book had to be so big, there are only 3 stats… and the confluence thing.” Nero finished while enjoying his coffee.
Nick’s mouth hung open in amazement, his hands in his lap as he leaned into his desk. It looked like the desk was the only thing keeping his shoulders from dropping his forehead into the desk. “That is …. I don’t…. HOW DO YOU KEEP LEVELING!?!?!” he shouted and threw up his hands as he shot to his feet.
Completely caught off guard, Nero jumped in his seat and almost spilled his coffee. Giving Nick a glare, he shook the splashed coffee off one hand. “It just happens. What the hell are you on about?” he asked in annoyance.
Nick walked behind his chair and place his hands on the back. He gave Nero a serious look. “Normally a parent or guardian would be there to help you break down your identity, but as you present yourself as such a mature young man I mistakenly assumed you would just read what you needed from a book. LIKE YOU SAID YOU WOULD. However, you clearly are incapable of learning without someone holding your hand.”
Nero didn’t like Nick’s tone, not to mention what Nick was saying. He was about to give him a piece of his mind, but Nick continued on in a loud and authoritative, very un-Nick-like voice.
“I will not interfere or attempt to guide your path. But! Now that I’m your advisor, I will at least make sure you understand the choices that your are so flippantly making. First, I want you to open your identity and then tell me when you can visualize it in your mind.”
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Nero gave Nick a dirty look, but complied while crossing his arms like a stubborn child. “OK, I can see it.”
Name
Nero Walker
Level
5
Race
Human
Growth
88%
Tier
1
Condition
100%
Age
14
Center
96%
Body
1
Mind
1
Soul
1
Confluence
10
Stars
1
Pillars
0/0
“Now focus on one of your stats and attempt to learn more about it.” Nick ordered Nero while filling his voice with as much condemnation as possible.
All of the sudden, one of the useless tables that he skipped in the book he had read on awakening made a lot more sense. One after another, he opened his detailed stat panels. A sinking feeling came over Nero while his face drained of color as he looked them over.
Body
1
Base
Operative
Level Stress
Presence
9
10.8
1.5
Durability
7
8.4
0
Recovery
13
15.6
0.8
Speed
11
13.2
0
Adaptability
24
28.8
6.8
Power
8
9.6
0
Mind
1
Base
Operative
Level Stress
Weight
20
24
1
Control
21
25.2
3.4
Field
8
9.6
3.8
Precision
22
26.4
7.1
Endurance
26
31.2
11.3
Focus
6
7.2
2.3
Soul
1
Base
Operative
Level Stress
Size
26
31.2
0.1
Density
101
121.2
0.1
Intensity
76
91.2
0.1
Pressure
23
27.6
0.1
Harmony
3
3.6
1.1
Adaptability
270
324
0.1
“I have no idea what any of this means,” Nero said quietly, his face reddening in embarrassment.
Nick threw his hands up and started pacing. “If only someone had spent the time to study each of the aspects of existence and created a book that you could reference to learn about how the world works. Maybe… A detailed account of what it all means. How the various parts of a person come together to optimize growth. Wouldn’t that be something!” Nick ranted as he walked around the room and waved his hands like he was having a great idea.
“How the hell is anyone supposed to pay attention to all these numbers? And what do these things mean?” Nero muttered.
Nick returned to his seat, happy to see Nero looking confused and thoughtful for once. “I don’t know, maybe you should try focusing on them.”
Body:
Presence – How charismatic and attractive you are.
Durability – How resistant to damage you are.
Recovery – How quickly you recover.
Speed – How quickly you move and react.
Adaptability – How you handle change.
Power – How well you function.
Mind:
Weight – Your depth of thought.
Control – Your mastery of your thoughts.
Field – Your breadth of thought.
Precision – Your exactitude of thought.
Endurance – Your will to persevere.
Focus – Your scope in thinking.
Soul:
Size – How large is your fire?
Density – How strong do you burn?
Intensity – How bright is your light?
Pressure – How hot is your aura?
Harmony – How much do you destroy?
Adaptability – How much can you take?
Nero looked over the definitions that were so easily found, if he had just looked for them. He saw that Confluence just said:
Confluence: The world will tear you apart. How well will you hold yourself together?
Nero looked at Nick, sitting in his chair, arms folded neatly, with a smug smile on his face.
There was no way Nero was going to dignify the situation with an apology. He mastered his thoughts and played it off like what he just discovered wasn’t mind shattering information. He simply stated, “Oh cool. So there are breakdowns of more stuff. That makes sense. It’s not like an entire person can be boiled down into three little stats. I’m guessing there is probably more to the identity that I didn’t pay attention to. No problem, that’s why there are books. I’m sure David’s reading list covers this stuff.
“Anyway… I’m not sure what I’ll spend my star on. I’ll probably look into the details a little more before I figure it out. Did you have a request for my star usage, I know you won’t tell me what to do, but you are paying for the privilege to study me. I’ll consider your request and if I think it makes sense, I may use it.” Nero finished with a sagely nod.
Nick’s jaw dropped, and a look of confusion washed over his features. He was completely caught off guard. He thought Nero might actually start taking things seriously in the light of such information that he CLEARLY didn’t know before hand.
“Uh… I thought it might be interesting to have you use two stars in succession on one stat. Since you were leveling so quickly, and you don’t seem to have any negative symptoms of star pressure... I wasn’t thinking about a specific stat,” said Nick.
Nero was happy with the effect his acting had on the poor man. Comfortably back in control of the conversation, he stood up. “No problem, that shouldn’t be an issue in the future. I’ll look into what direction I want to go with my stuff. I’ll have to get back to you. As I said earlier, I’m hungry. So I’m going to take off, and I’m sure you’ve got important research stuff to do. So, I’ll see you later.” He waved and headed out.
As Nero left, Nick sipped his whiskey while going over the conversation. ‘I’m sure he didn’t already know about the stat breakdowns. How abnormal are his numbers? I sensed surprise when he looked at them, but nothing exceptional. Does he even know what they mean? Would he even recognize an abnormal stat?’ he wondered.
Visibly shaking himself out his analysis, he decided to put the little shit out of his mind. He had work that needed doing. He’d spent the last few days dealing with Nero, and he was falling behind on his other responsibilities. From now on, Nero will be David’s problem. ‘Maybe now I’ll stop getting tension headaches,’ he thought.