General Branson had asked Rose to stick close to him. He had said that he wanted to talk to her, making it sound like an opportunity she couldn’t ignore, and she had agreed. Now she was regretting that choice. Uncomfortable situations like this were why she preferred the wilds over cities.

Rose had followed the general to the city lord’s private arena room. She was doing her best to ignore the nobles in the room as she looked out through the floor to ceiling windows. 'At least the view is nice,' she thought.

She felt a presence approaching, and she turned slightly to see who it was. She saw the general smile out of the corner of her eye.

“Good situational awareness,” the general said as a greeting.

Handing Rose a glass of wine, he said, “Thank you for your patience. I’m well aware of how uncomfortable you are. Your psyche is practically screaming. If you’re wondering why everyone is avoiding you, that’s why.” He gave her a smile and seemed to radiate a calming aura.

Rose sipped her wine and nodded. It hadn’t occurred to her, but she wasn’t surprised.

“Are you going to tell me what you wanted?” Rose said, then quickly corrected herself, “I mean, what can I do for you, sir?”

The general looked out over the arena. Rose watched him pick his words with care.

“I try to look out for people who choose to see what others ignore,” he said in a quiet voice.

Rose looked around the room, and realized that there was no one nearby.

She matched the general’s quiet tone and turned to follow his gaze into the arena. “You think the kid is going to win too, don’t you,” she said.

Nodding, the general said, “I’ve been following the reports concerning him since he predicted the Noble War. It’s been three days, and he’s already being raised to nobility, trained by the head of the mage council, and nearly adopted by a couple of departmental heads with ties to some very powerful houses. That 'boy' killed 5 mercenaries on his own during the war. One of whom had an estimated level in the 30’s. Yes, the young man will win. But most people refuse to see that. Yet, when you met him, you saw what others did not.”

Rose felt a very unfamiliar feeling rise in her chest. She knew it was pride, but she felt it so rarely that it felt weird.

Unused to such positive reinforcement, she blurted out, “It wasn’t that hard. I mean, I just thought that he didn’t look scared. He looked hungry for battle. I’ve seen animals and monsters like that in the wilds, and it’s always a good idea to avoid them. I was just avoiding a predator.”

Chuckling, the general replied, “A predator? That’s one way to describe Nero Walker. He is brash, and self centered. He knows what he wants, and he does whatever it takes to go after it. His arrival in Dorchester has caused a lot of changes in a short amount of time.”

Rose said, “OK, but none of that has anything to do with me.”

Turning his head to look at Rose, the general said, “I’d like to offer you the option of entering a training camp for elite monster hunters. It will be located in Gate 15 and will help you on your path as a hunter. Squads of elites will be sent out on excursions into the wilds. Sometimes they will stay out there for up to a month. It’s dangerous, and the training will be intense. I think you’ll do well there."

Caught off guard by the general’s subject change, she stuttered, “Um… that’s… Don’t elite hunters have to spend time on monster elimination squads before they can be an elite hunter? Do we even have elite hunters in Dorchester, aren't they only in the bigger cities? And how does me recognizing the obvious danger I was heading toward merit an invite?”

The general replied, “Hold that thought, it’s starting.”

The nobles in the room all gathered at the windows overlooking the arena, and Rose cautiously looked around at the curious faces. In the middle of the stadium, she could see the giant projection of the center arena. Seeing Caleb’s face smiling in anticipation of the fight, she felt a pang in her chest. He wasn’t a bad guy, it was a shame that he was going to die. She’d known him for years, and they had gotten along well enough.

The fight was so short that the nobles were all paralyzed in shock. Rose looked up to to see the general chuckling. He turned and said over his shoulder, “Come along Rose, we’re done here.”

Rose hurried to follow, cold sweat beading on her back. “What the hell was that? How did he do that?” she hissed.

General Branson said, “I don’t know. That’s why I want you in the training program.”

Rose's steps faltered, her mind trying to see the connection. “I don’t get it,” she said.

As the general led her down the halls, away from the noble’s private boxes, he said, “I want someone there who is capable of seeing through Lord Walker’s facade. Too many people see him and think he is an idiot. I want someone to report facts, not interpretations.”

“He’s going to be in the program too?” she asked in disbelief.

The general smiled and said, “He will. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

-----

Nero was finally heading back to the dorms. It had been a long day already. He was looking forward to a nap. Unfortunately, he still had a meeting with Mrs. Salvatore at the end of the day. She had told Nero that there were a lot of things she needed to talk with him about, but she was too busy during the day.

After they had left the arena, Nick and Jennings had taken Nero to a fancy late lunch while Mrs. Salvatore had taken off to go deal with paperwork or something. Nero knew he should have paid more attention, considering that she was currently acting as his proxy, but he just couldn’t bring himself to care.

The restaurant Nick chose was a white stone building that had a rooftop dining area overlooking the city. The portions were too small, and the atmosphere was too stuffy. Rather than complain about it, Nero had spent the entire time trying to get Jennings to give him the secrets of magic. It was difficult, because Jennings said he didn’t want to color Nero’s preconceptions of what magic was capable of.

As Nero walked up the steps of the Center, he reaffirmed how different people were in this part of the city. The polite atmosphere and considerate populous was exclusive to the Center. ‘Maybe it’s like church. Everyone is polite at church,’ he thought.

Making his way through the crowds, he entered the dorms and immediately felt Ms. Averett staring at him. Proud that he recognized her psychic signature, Nero returned her glare with a smile.

She walked out from behind the desk, and made a bee-line straight for Nero. He kept walking toward the hallway for the dorms. He figured she’d catch up to him if she really wanted.

Soon enough, she did. Even knowing that she was coming, the woman still managed to make Nero jump when she appeared in front of him. 'Damn, she's fast,' he thought sourly.

“So it appears that you are now nobility?” she said as she crossed her arms.

Nero smiled at how little she seemed to care about his supposed nobility. “I guess so. I’m just coming back from the arena. I know I haven’t had the chance to attend any combat classes, but rest assured, I’m taking my self-defense seriously,” he said. From what Nero knew of her, that was all she cared about.

Nodding, she said, “Yes, I saw your fight. You just stood there and let him hit you. Are you an idiot? If he had essence infused his blades, you’d be dead. Where would your smirk be then?”

Nero’s eyes widened. He didn’t know what essence infused blades were, but that sounded bad. “Um… I was using my mage-armor. I was perfectly safe. You know I won right?” he said.

Eyes hard, she huffed. “Yes, I know you won. But how you win is just as important as winning. Perfection in combat is the goal, and when you take stupid risks, you increase the chances of losing the next fight. An essence shield is a just a tool, it’s not impenetrable,” she said through pursed lips.

Nero said, “I know there is a lot that I don’t know. I did the best I could with what I had available. Don’t worry, I’ll be more careful in the future.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Are you going to be staying in the dorms? I’ve heard that you acquired an estate.” she asked.

Nero shrugged, “Honestly, I have no idea. Mrs. Salvatore is going to be in charge of all that I think. I’ll find out tonight. I have a meeting in her office at 22:00. For now, I was going to have a nap.”

Ms. Averett gave Nero a blank stare as she repeated slowly, “A nap.”

Nero saw as a vein in her forehead start to appear. ‘Danger! Abort!’ he shouted to himself in his head.

Before she could say anything, he blurted out, “I just had a fight to the death, and I spent all morning in combat training with an arch-mage. I’m beat. I don’t want to be walking around without a full center and with weak legs. Now that I’m a noble, there is danger everywhere.”

Thankfully, the vein disappeared, and she replied, “That’s good thinking. I’ll contact Mrs. Salvatore and find out what she has planned. You have too much potential to be wasting it with noble nonsense. You should be out fighting monsters and using your talents. That was a good spell work you showed in the arena. It was a good fight.”

With a final nod, she walked away without another word. Nero wiped the sweat from his palms on his robes and gave a deep exhale to relieve the tension. ‘That woman is a menace. Maybe staying at a mansion would be nice. She won’t follow me there, will she?’ worried Nero.

Back in his room, Nero tossed his satchel on the desk and threw his boots near the door. Laying down on his bed, he reached out to his link that he now kept in his pocket. Setting an alarm, he put his arms behind his head and took a look at his identity.

Name

Nero Walker

Level

7

Race

Human

Growth

2%

Tier

1

Condition

100%

Age

14

Center

37%

Body

1

Mind

4

Soul

1

Confluence

10

Stars

0

Pillars

0/0

Even after a good meal and some downtime, he still only had 37% left in his center. No wonder he felt so tired. He was also going to have to spend some time reflecting on the events of the day, or he wouldn’t grow. Huffing, he decided that he didn’t feel like it. He’d just grab a nap and deal with it later.

Five minutes later, Nero couldn’t stop his mind from going over his ridiculous morning. Nick and Jennings both knew that Nero had memories from another world, and they didn’t care. Jennings was a super mage who went around killing people who pissed him off. Nick was a noble, but also wasn’t. Mrs. Salvatore was capable of intimidating everyone, but that wasn’t surprising. Someone had tried to assassinate him.

That thought forced Nero’s mental process to a halt. This world was dangerous. He knew that, but it hadn’t really sunk in. The government had procedures on how to legally assassinate someone. It wasn't much of a comfort that they, at least, seemed to focus on fairness. Nero was confident that he could win a fight with someone who couldn’t cast magic, or didn’t have abilities. But how long would that last? He was already level 7. If they had tried to kill him when he was level 9, they could have sent someone with a pillar. What effects do essence shields have on abilities? Would he be dead now?

In the quiet of his room, with the lights off and the curtains drawn, Nero contemplated how close he he had come to actually dying. He was flying by the seat of his pants, and too much was out of his control. Thinking back to the night of the Noble War, Nero remembered wanting to be the main character of his story. Well, his wish had come true.

Someone hired a kid to kill him. Nero remembered the look in the guy’s eyes as the lights went out. Nero couldn’t ignore it anymore. ‘I killed him. I looked him in the eyes and took his life,’ he thought to himself.

Looking up at the ceiling, Nero felt his eyes start to water. When he realized that he was feeling shame and fear, his anger sparked like a match. ‘Fuck that,’ he told himself.

The assassin whose name Nero never bothered to learn was just that, an assassin. They could call it a legal challenge, or a blood grievance, but it didn’t change the fact that the guy had tried to kill him. Nero wasn’t going to feel bad about it. In fact, he’d be starting a list. This world was full of adventure, and heroes, maybe even anti-heroes, and he had enemies. Derek Cosgrave and Lord Cranston were now his enemies.

Feeling motivated, Nero stared at the ceiling and made plans. He would start by participating in the creation of his training schedule. He had a lot to learn, and choosing what he learned was not something he would leave up to others. Also, in any world, finances were important. He needed to get hold of his account statements or whatever. ‘Mrs. Salvatore was right, we have a lot to talk about,’ he told himself.

With a grunt, Nero got up from his bed and threw open the curtains. This world had a 30 hour day, and he wouldn’t get anywhere if he wasted the extra hours sleeping. Nero went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face and wake himself up.

Sitting at his desk, Nero started making a list of questions he needed answered. As he listed his questions, he noticed that more and more of them were questions about magic. Pausing, Nero tapped his pen on the desk and looked at his satchel. There were answers in there. He had time to do this list later. His meeting wasn’t for a while. Studying was productive. He should do that instead.

Putting aside his real world concerns, Nero smiled as he pulled out real books of magic. Just because he had to rest his center, didn’t mean that he couldn't read about casting. Deciding that ‘Controlling the world around you’ was the book of the day, Nero leaned back in his chair and started reading.

Time passed, and Nero was engrossed in his book. It was a very abstract book about how essence made up the world. Matter was nothing but solidified essence. The flows of essence were potential. Casting spells using your center was giving that potential a purpose. A mage acted as a conduit, changing potential into reality. Whoever controlled the essence, controlled its potential.

Nero read about how essence was created by matter and actions. Wind moving through a valley would cause potential to bloom into existence. Animals in the area would passively absorb that essence and develop an affinity for wind manipulation. Since the types of essence were incalculable, the types of animals and environments were constantly changing. Sometimes essence would get trapped, and that potential would spawn monsters, or in rare cases, dungeons.

The world’s essence cycle was fascinating to Nero. Every being on the planet that had a will could influence the potential in the air. As people grew, their potential would form pillars. Pillars were based on how a person lived and viewed the world. Everything was perception. A person who spent all his time concerned with cleanliness, could have the option to gain a pillar of that type. Nero didn’t understand a lot of what he read, but the general ideas were extremely interesting.

He was so engrossed in his book, Nero wasn’t prepared for his alarm to go off. Jumping to his feet, Nero knocked over his chair and barely caught his book. Heart beating wildly, he looked around the room for the danger. Realizing what the omnipresent ringing was, Nero mentally turned off the alarm and set his book on the desk. Catching his breath, he held a hand to his chest and forced himself to calm down.

Looking at the papers on the desk with the unfinished questions for Mrs. Salvatore, Nero realized he had just wasted the past few hours. None of what he had read had any practical applications in the near future. His immediate concerns were supposed to be about how to get through this noble crap without dying, how to pay for food, and what the hell he was going to do with his life.

Standing up, Nero put his hands on his hips and gave a rueful chuckle. Opening his identity:

Name

Nero Walker

Level

7

Race

Human

Growth

18%

Tier

1

Condition

100%

Age

14

Center

96%

Body

1

Mind

4

Soul

1

Confluence

10

Stars

0

Pillars

0/0

‘Well, at least my center is nearly full. And I grew a little,’ he thought. Then he headed to the bathroom to freshen up.

In no time at all, Nero was ready to go. Although he tried to convince himself that he didn’t need his books, he took them anyway. Heading out of his dorm room, Nero tried to focus on the upcoming meeting. Going over the possible topics of conversation and what he needed to know, a stray thought popped into his head.

‘Wasn’t there something about noble trials that seemed important? And do I still have to pledge to the Cosgraves after they just stood by and let someone try and kill me?’ Nero rubbed his chin as he passed the few people that were up and about. There really was a lot he had to talk to Mrs. Salvatore about.