Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.8 (40) (Patreon)

Arch-mage Mathers was standing at the back of the council hall.  He had been summoned to account for his colleague’s actions.  He wasn’t worried, the entire procedure was going to just be a theater production for the nobles.  If there was one thing he and his colleague, Arch-mage Jennings, agreed on, it was that nobles were a necessary evil on par with cafeteria lines.

The entire kingdom was organized in a way that could only function with the House system intact.  By fostering the honor and reputation system, the first king had done a masterful job of leashing the economic power houses of his time.  In ages past, those with power abused their positions.  But, by codifying the benefits of nobility, and punishing transgressions harshly, the nobles now fight each other to be considered ‘better’ than the others.

The entire system was brilliant, while inherently sad.  Just by accepting that politics and cast systems were inevitable was a depressing realization.  However, the data didn’t lie.  No simulation ever came close to the stability that this system provided.

With all that being taken into account, Mathers still hated coming to these council meetings.

He looked around the room.  Hundreds of attendants in the balconies were silently watching the proceedings.  In the middle of the room was a circle under a soft, but bright light.  The nobles sat at their large unnecessarily ornate tables surrounding the supplicant’s podium.  The gold motif on the royals thrones set them apart from the dark mahogany wood that made up the rest of the room.

‘This could all be done through pings.  This is such a waste of a morning.  I wonder what Jennings discovered during Nero’s test?’he thought as his mind wandered.

The council speaker’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“The council calls to podium Arch-mage Mathers of the Hennings Tower of Magic.  Voice of the your tower, come forward and be heard,” intoned the obnoxious man.

Mathers was lazy, and didn’t care if he showed it.  Instead of walking up the steps from the recessed floor, he floated up to the podium.  ‘This room is stupid.  No room needs to be this big.  Most people at the back aren’t even a high enough level to see or hear what the hell is going on.  Morons, all of them,’he thought as he tried to hide his annoyance.

Landing lightly, he gave a bow.  Looking at the king, he said, “Sire, you have called, and the tower has answered.  What can we do for you?”

The king sat on his throne, leg’s crossed and a smile on his face.  “We would like an explanation of Arch-mage Jennings’ actions yesterday.  I’m sure you’ve heard what he did, and the results of his trip to Dorchester.  As he hasn’t returned, you will have to answer for him,” the king said in a tone that was without emotion.  He could have been asking about the weather.

Mathers nodded.  Putting on his most serious face, he said, “We of the Tower of Magic apologize for the confusion that Arch-mage Jennings must have caused.  It was, however, unavoidable.  Yesterday, a sworn mage of the tower refused his orders, and went rogue.  It was the court mage of Dorchester.  As the kingdom and the tower both take oaths of service seriously, the head of the tower went personally to deal with the renegade.”

Mathers looked solemn as he spoke the heavy words.  The entire hall gasped at the words.  An oath-breaker!  A court mage oath-breaker at that!  How scandalous!

One of the nobles on the council spoke up.  “What was the order that he refused?  Was the order lawful?” she asked.  Apparently, she hadn’t bothered to read the brief.

The king looked over at her with frown of disappointment.  “The council should be aware that it has no place in the running of the towers, only setting policy.  But, I will allow this question.  All will know what prompted the renegade’s actions.  Speak plainly Arch-mage, and let all doubt be dispelled.”

Mathers knew what the king wanted, and he played his part accordingly.  “The council of mages had ordered the court mage to watch over a new noble.  He was to protect him from nefarious schemes and foster his growth from a distance.  The new noble was raised that day, and had earned his title as an independent in a noble war.  His heroics saved the life of the heirs of the city lord, and showed remarkable insight into new ways of magic.

“When ordered to protect the young man, the court mage thought that the task was below him.  His words were that ‘if the boy dies, then that is his fate’.  As everyone here knows, new nobles have 100 years of protection under the crown.  The tower’s orders were in support of that edict,” Mathers finished with a voice of iron support for the crown.

Nodding, the king said in loud voice, “I allowed the tower of magic to act in accordance with their principles.  The orders were just, and to ignore them out of pride was an insult to the oaths that the renegade swore.  Arch-mage Jennings did his duty.  Although the outcome was tragic, it was necessary.  No one is above the law of Oglivarch.  Any other questions?”

Another noble, who didn’t seem to be intimidated by the speeches spoke up, “I have three questions.  Why hasn’t the Arch-mage returned?  Do you lead the tower in his absence?  And who will be appointed to the court mage position in Dorchester?”

The king sighed in annoyance, and gestured for Mathers to just get on with it.

Mathers looked at the noble in disgust.  “Matters of the tower, as previously stated, are not your concern.  However, if you must know, then Arch-mage Jennings will be staying in Dorchester for a while.  He is going to go through the Tower of Magic in Dorchester with a fine tooth comb to see what else your son ignored.  So far he has found evidence that he ignored the bribing of mages who were responsible for hiding an army, and a rather extensive smuggling operation.  That operation included arms and essence crystals being sold to Islangur.  The Arch-mage has been there less than a day, who knows what else he’ll find.  For the foreseeable future, he’ll be stuck their cleaning up your son’s mess, ‘Lord’ Cranston.

“As for the Tower of Magic here, I will lead the mage council for the time being.  I’ll be more than happy to personally address any of your concerns.  Anywhere.  Anytime,” Mathers finished with a sneer.

As Lord Cranston paled, the king addressed the council.  “The matter of treason is being addressed.  The Populators have already purged the House responsible, but the investigation is ongoing,” he said.

Letting the silence hang over the hall, the king’s eyes swept across the nobles in calculation.  “Does anyone else on the council wish to be heard?” he asked.

Without waiting for a reply, he looked to Mathers and said, “Thank you for your presence Arch-mage.  Your wisdom is missed when it is absent.  May your path remain wide and clear.”

As Mathers bowed, and floated down from the podium, his flight stumbled as he heard the king’s voice in his head.  The man bypassed Mathers’ essence shield like it wasn’t there, and said, “Well done.  And tell Jennings that he can keep the yacht he stole.  He’s right that I owe him more than one.  And tell him to watch out for the guild of assassins, apparently Lord Cranston met with them earlier this morning.  I don’t know who their target is, but I doubt it’s Jennings.  Cranston couldn’t afford the price, and they don’t have anyone that would try.”

Returning to the tower, Mathers had a lot to think about.

-----

Nero opened his center, and willed his fancy clothes that he borrowed from Nick to loosen.  He felt them accept the command, and await further instructions.  Amazed at the quality of the enchanting, he carefully put them away in their garment bag.  Nero planned to return them unwashed, because he didn’t know what washing something like them entailed.

‘Are they magic dry-clean only?’he wondered.

Walking into his bathroom, Nero spent a moment or two debating on why he didn’t care that someone could be spying on him at the moment.  While relieving himself, he decided that there was nothing he could do about it, so he didn’t need to care.  If someone wanted to watch him shower, when there were so many more attractive people in the world, than he’d just be flattered and forget about it.

In no time at all, he was under the hot water of his large shower head.  As the heat released the tension in his muscles, Nero’s mind went over the day he had.  Thirty hour days were long, he decided.

“Since last night, I’ve met nobles, learned how to properly cast magic, saved a princess (or close enough), killed men in combat, and won a war.  This world is ridiculous,” he muttered to himself.  Saying it out loud seemed to make it more real.  Turning off the shower, he grabbed his towel and headed into his room.

Looking at his desk, he saw all his notes stacked up in neat piles.  ‘Thanks Nick,’he thought with a smile.

The books all recommended meditation for growth, but Nero thought it was unnecessary.  He’s never been the mediation type.  Besides, there weren’t any candles or incense.  No vapes, or edibles for that matter.  He’d have to level by just laying in bed with his thoughts.

Ruffling his hair with his towel, he figured he was dry enough.  Nero laid down in bed, and double checked the alarm for tomorrow.  Even with everything that has happened, he still could manage 8 hours easy.  It was mind-blowing how much could be done in a30 hour day without TV, the internet, or some other distraction.  Looking up at his plain white ceiling, he realized that this was his life now.

Tomorrow, he would use his stars, and solidify his growth.  Opening his stat breakdown, he took a look at his progress.

Body 1
   
Base Operative Level Stress   Presence 9 10.8 6.3   Durability 7 8.4 2   Recovery 13 15.6 14.6   Speed 11 13.2 4   Adaptability 24 28.8 17.2   Power 8 9.6 0.7   

Mind 1
   
Base Operative Level Stress   Weight 20 24 13.2   Control 21 25.2 19.8   Field 8 9.6 31.2   Precision 22 26.4 36.5   Endurance 26 31.2 41.5   Focus 6 7.2 86.6   
 
Soul 1
  
Base Operative Level Stress   Size 26 31.2 2.1   Density 101 121.2 0.8   Intensity 76 91.2 0.3   Pressure 23 27.6 3.9   Harmony 3 3.6 26.3   Adaptability 270 324 0.8

The last time he looked at it was yesterday.  Since then, his level stress was pretty heavily focused on his mind.  That made sense, since he mostly just thought a lot.  The body stress was probably from being blown up.  Nero was clueless about the soul stress.

Stars were the key to changing his stats.  He’d have to remember to ask Nick about how level stress is calculated.  And how much it will affect the base when a star is added.  How high should he get his numbers before he adds a star?  Should that even be a concern?

Banishing the questions, he tried to analyze what caused the numbers to go up.  The identity system must have some benefit, other than just tracking progress.  Nero thought the secret might be in what caused the stress.

He closed the window, and thought about what he went through from when he woke up, until he laid down in his bed.  He always kinda knew that he wouldn’t care about killing someone in combat.  Whether he was desensitized by video games, movies, or he was just a sociopath, it was no surprise to him.

The surprising thing, was how well he handled being around all those important people.  He had just focused on not making mistakes.  In the future, he’d have to adjust his mindset.  Playing a defense only game was a recipe for losing.  Nero decided that he would have to sit down with Mrs. Salvatore tomorrow and make some plans.

‘The room really freaked out when I called her my proxy.  It must be some title or something.  I think she gave an oath or something,’ he thought with a cringe.

That’s something else he’d have to get used to.  Nero was going to be a noble, once he got around to taking the pledge.  He decided to treat it as a job.  He’d put up with nonsense and be surrounded by idiots, but he’d get paid.

That Arch-mage he met was interesting.  Nero bet that the man was a lot older than he looked.  Jennings was crazy powerful, and acted like no one in the room mattered.  The man was also overly interested in Nero.  ‘I bet he is one of the people who’s been watching me.  Wait! Didn’t that silver chick with the stripper name say that some guy named Jennings gave her books to give to him?  Son of a bitch, did he come from the capital?’ Nero pondered the implications.

He decided that he would focus on the positives.  The guy knew his way around a spell tome.  He was willing to teach Nero.  In fact, the guy already taught Nero a better way to cast.  Reminding himself to reread his books with the new information in mind, Nero put the old man out of his head.

He felt his body relax as he laid in bed.  With a smile on his face, he tried to remember the feeling he had when he was casting his light spell.

‘I took my first steps on my path to magic.  I imparted my will, and cast a spell.  A real spell.  I did magic.  This is just the beginning.  Tomorrow I will learn how to shield myself, and at least ONE true combat spell.  From there, I’ll build my mage tower brick by brick.  It will be glorious.  Someday, I’ll be the guy in the room that doesn’t seem to give a shit,’ he thought to himself, swelling with resolve.

He felt the level coming.  The essence flowing around him, and through him.  The soft chime announcing the level was lost in his humming.  Nero felt like he was one with the universe.

As the essence quieted, Nero released a breath and sank into his bed.  He went to sleep thinking that the day turned out all right.