Sitting in a room designed to observe armies, thirteen mages were drinking and eating while arguing about their favorite subject. On a large holographic display was Nero walking through the halls with Sergeant Blackwood. The table the mages shared was large, but they had replaced the chairs with their personal preferences. One of them had set a small auditory illusion to play background music for ambiance.
“Fine!” Jennings shouted, interrupting the rooms private conversations. “All those who think he’ll break level ten within a year raise your hands.” 7 hands shot up. “So you five think he won’t.” Jennings stared at them like they had insulted his favorite webcomic.
One of the mages put down his mug. “None of us are saying the boy isn’t amazing. We’re just saying that it is likely that the increased leveling speed is a result of the experiences that came with the mind remnant from the original soul. That experience has to run out eventually, he’ll have to contend with the leveling speed drop off that everyone faces,” he said in a firm tone, clearly stating his perfectly reasonable analysis.
Jennings just nodded, and replied in an equally calm tone, “That’s a simplistic interpretation of the facts, worthy of a simpleton. You all saw his initial readings. To say that the mind remnant is responsible for his leveling speed isn’t wrong, but it’s incomplete. He is leveling quickly, not only because of residual experience, but because of how DIFFERENT those experiences are. Who knows what he’s seen, or how those experiences have shaped who he is. It’s the lens through which he sees the world which is truly responsible for his leveling speed. And that ladies and gentlemen is why he won’t slow down as much as you think.”
The entire room took a minute to ruminate on the arch-mage’s words. One of the mages broke the silence, “Replay the part where he threatened us with destruction if we got in his way. The look in his eyes was amazing. He is starting to understand how much work he has in front of him, and he doesn’t care at all!”
Another piped in, “His eyes were intense. I haven’t seen a look that fierce since the Bedlam vs. Chandler arena fight. Remember that one? The determination could be felt through the scry.”
One voice drowned the others out, “No. Replay the fight during the Noble War. I still can’t figure out how he determined the ratio of air to heat essence. Not to mention, why didn’t he hold the spell together with a containment form, why rely on his psychic field? It was insane, he almost killed himself.”
Most of them laughed at the memory of Nero’s last words before he passed out. Jennings manipulated the screen, while making sure the recording of current events was still happening. “I don’t think he knows the containment spell form. He was just using whatever he had available in his knowledge base. If you look closely, you can see that it was an adapted condensation spell form. People use that to fill their tea kettles in the field. The fact that he could use his psychic field with that kind of precision before level 30 is the real matter worth studying.”
His words were met with nods and small conversations, as the recording of the Noble War replaced the current hologram. “Alright, quiet everyone! It’s starting, he just woke up. Look closely and you can see the moment he realizes that it was his link which was causing the pressure on his psychic field.” Jennings said causing the room to fall silent.
-----
Nero was shocked awake by something trying to enter his head… again. Glancing at the edges of the curtains, he realized that the sun was up. ‘So it’s been a few hours. It could be worse,’ he thought to himself.
The realization that it was 12:15 came unbidden, forcing that fact into his brain.
‘Stupid Time-sense!’ Nero groused at the intrusive thought.
Rolling out of bed, he stretched his back, and ignored the link that was trying to get his attention. ‘I thought I put that damn thing on silent,’ he thought as he scratched his ass and walked to the bathroom.
30 minutes later, Nero finally decided that he was ready to address whatever it was that was SO important. Freshly showered and finished with his morning rituals, he walked over to the desk. As he got closer to the desk, he found that he had no problem connecting to his link without actually having to put it on. So he just sat in his chair, put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.
It seems he still had a bunch of messages from the night before waiting for him. This morning was a series of urgent pings from Captain Angelton. Rather than reading them, he decided to just ping him.
The moment the connection opened, Nero felt the Captain’s annoyance. “Good morning Captain, I saw you called. What can I do for you today?” Nero said in a cheery voice.
“Urgent means important Nero. I’m well aware that you were ignoring me. That is very rude, and considering the events of last night, it is also very stupid,” said the Captain, his tone cold enough to chill Nero’s blood.
“Well, I had set my link to ignore all pings. I just assumed it was broken again. By the way, who was it that told me that links couldn’t be weaponized? I swear he was someone I used to respect. I just can’t think of the name. Eh, I’m sure it will come to me. So, what was it you needed so urgently?” Nero responded in a mocking tone.
Keeping his tone cold, the Captain said “Your presence is required at the army compound. The military can ignore privacy settings if the matter is deemed urgent. The links are working fine. If we didn’t know you were in your room, we would have already sent someone to collect you. Come to the gates, I’ll have someone waiting for you. You have 20 minutes.” He then cut the connection.
‘Well, he’s pissed. That’s fine, I’m pissed too,’ Nero thought. Picking up his link, he put it on his temple. He’d need it for directions to the army compound.
After getting dressed, Nero left his room while making sure he had all his books in his satchel. He assumed that when he got there some ponce would have him wait somewhere.
It was 13:15 and the hallways were empty. Nero didn’t remember when he went to bed, but he felt much better than he thought he would after all that happened. ‘I should just check the damn identity,’ he reminded himself.
Name
Nero Walker
Level
6
Race
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Human
Growth
9%
Tier
1
Condition
87%
Age
14
Center
98%
Body
1
Mind
1
Soul
1
Confluence
10
Stars
2
Pillars
0/0
‘Well my condition isn’t as bad as I feared. But 9% growth? Isn’t that too low? Do I still have to ‘process’ the experience or whatever that stupid book said?’ Nero wondered.
Thinking back, he leveled last night and then he did some studying. After a brief unintentional nap, he had his adventure. There he did a bunch of sneaking, pick-pocketed a knife, even had some combat. He killed 5 guards solo, does that not count for experience? ‘I had a boss fight! I deserve a level at least,’ he thought with a grimace.
If it wasn’t the fighting, then what caused his growth? He couldn’t figure out this ‘growth’ system at all. The books said that ‘a person’s growth is a result of incorporating into their center the following: information gained, utilization of skills and abilities, observations, and reflections. Work your body, mind, and soul to grow.’
To Nero, that just meant that anything you do will cause you to gain experience. Unfortunately, walking the halls and taking the elevator didn’t help him figure anything out. By the time he finally went through the front of the Center, he realized that he wasn’t going to suddenly understand anything, so he decided to just ignore it.
The roads were exactly like he remembered. Identical to how they looked when the captain dropped him off at the Center. Nero enjoyed walking through the crowds and soaking up the atmosphere. He realized that this was the first time he had left the Center since he got here. These people seemed more REAL than those in the Center. Nero could see people arguing with merchants, and some people even moved like they were late for something. The entire experience was refreshing. Although everyone was still polite, it wasn’t that suffocating polite that the Center had going on.
Eventually, he reached the entrance of the Gate 7 army compound. Nero expected to see some damage to the walls, or some signs of fighting at least. Surprisingly, everything looked fine. The soldiers on duty seemed fine. There were no signs that they fought off an army the night before.
“Mr. Walker!” he heard.
Nero turned to see the guy who was with the Captain when he was found at the merchant train.
“Blackwood, right? Do I call you mister or am I supposed to use something else?” Nero asked the man as they met at the gate.
“Sergeant Blackwood. Regular army is either called by rank or by the appellation ‘Defender’. Oh, and guards are just called ‘guard’. They don’t like being called Defenders,” he said with a smile.
Gesturing with his hand out, he ushered Nero through the gate. Blackwood gave the guard station a nod as they passed through.
“So what’s this meeting about? And more importantly, is there food around?” Nero asked
“I’m sorry, but I’ll be taking you directly to the Captain. I don’t know why he wants you, but he said to bring you straight there,” Blackwood said as he directed Nero through the compound.
The entire place seemed like ‘business as usual’. Everyone was focused on their jobs, and it was obvious to Nero that no one was suffering from the events of last night.
“What happened last night? Didn’t you guys fight a war or something?” Nero asked.
“I wouldn’t call that a war. We met the rebels in the field, well outside the walls. There was more blustering than actually fighting. In fact, the only place that saw any action was at the keep, and even that was light combat I heard,” Blackwood said as they walked through the halls.
Before Nero could press for more information, they had arrived at a pair of doors that seemed to be their destination. “I’ll be right outside while you’re in there. Since you’re here today, after your meeting I’ll get you set up with what you’ll need for classes and show you where the cafeteria is,” he said as he opened the door for Nero to go in. Nero heard a quiet, “Good Luck” as he went through.
Walking in, Nero saw a typical conference room. There was a large table with 5 chairs to each side. In the center of the table, there were even some water pitchers along with glasses arranged in a circle. The walls of the room had some military themed art. The only surprising thing in the room were the occupants. Nero’s eyes barely glanced toward Captain Angelton before he was surprised by who he was with.
She looked like a mini-version of the Champion he had met last night. Her entire body was coated in a thin film of silver. It was obviously some special kind of armor, but it wasn’t thick like plate-mail. Nero thought it was only as thick as a wet-suit, and probably even thinner in some places. Her gauntlets and greaves looked a little thicker, but not much. She had no discernible face, and the only thing on her head was a thin ring that resembled a slightly glowing crown. Covering her upper body and most of her legs was an ornate white and gold tabard, belted with a thick silver cord. She didn’t have any discernible weapons, but considering everyone with some levels had a pocket space, that didn’t mean anything. Overall, she looked like a 5’5” techno-organic knight from a sci-fi/fantasy tabletop game.
“Um… Hi. This might be a rude question, but why can’t I feel you in the room. Are you a robot of some kind?” Nero couldn’t help but ask. Her presence was so muted, that he felt like she didn’t exist. ‘It seems I’ve gotten used to being able to feel a person’s psychic field,’ he thought.
“My mind is my own young man,” she replied in a surprisingly human voice. “The word ‘robot’ evokes a feeling that you meant an automaton without a mind or soul. Interesting, I suppose they could be useful for industrial applications; where care and attention aren’t required.”
The Champion turned to Captain Angelton and said, “You said the boy will ask simple questions with complicated answers, but this isn’t sage-like wisdom. It’s intelligent ignorance.”
Nero couldn’t tell if he should be offended.
Walking around the table, she moved toward Nero and said, “I would like you to open your mind to me, I would see where you came from.”
Immediately backing up to the wall, Nero held up his hands. “And I would like to respectfully tell you to go fuck yourself, you’ll get into my head over my dead body. MY mind is my own old woman.” he replied with venom.
“You feel threatened? Why?” she asked while pausing, then immediately took a step back. She was treating Nero like a frightened animal, and Nero did not like it one bit.
“What do you mean WHY? You just said you wanted to mind rape me,” shouted Nero. He turned to the captain and asked, “Who is this chick? Is she one of the Populators? I thought they were here for some nobles. I mean, that’s what I figured out, no one told me.”
The Captain just looked amused. It just made Nero more annoyed.
Holding up his hands, he said, “Calm down. Yes, she is a Populator, and they are here to investigate a disruption to the realm. This Populator is,” he gestured to the lady who was waiting patiently a few feet away. “Champion Charity. She recognized you as being the source of an anomaly from the upper planes which was felt by the mages in the Capital. The anomaly happened when you arrived here. She believes that you come from outside our sector of space. She was just trying to help you, there is no reason to be so defensive.”
“The Captain is correct. I did not mean to frighten you, young one. I merely wished to provide you with some answers. Reading the remnants of whatever mind used to accompany your soul shouldn’t be difficult. The opportunity will remain until I leave here. Let us move on from this topic. How have you found our world?” the strange silver lady asked.
Taking a minute to calm down, Nero realized that the Populator didn’t mean any harm. To her, going into someone’s mind was like therapy. Mentally trying to focus on her question, Nero asked himself, ‘What DO I think about my experiences so far?’