Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.36 (68) (Patreon)

Sergeant Wesker had been training soldiers for the past 10 years. Before that, he’d fought in units that faced class 3 threats regularly. He’d even faced a few class 4’s and lived to tell the tale. He knew his business. When he was told that he was going to train a new class of elites, he was ready. Elites were offered the best of everything, but thrown into the worst combat environments available. To say he was excited, was an understatement on par with pointing at a black brick of meat, and calling it slightly overcooked.

Watching his 4 recruits train, he was no longer so enthused with the assignment. The older woman was vicious, and to be honest, kinda scared him. The older man obviously didn’t want to be here. The young woman was too timid, she obviously didn’t want to offend anybody. And the boy was just weird.

Wesker had them doing counter-attack drills in pairs. One person throws a punch, the other blocks and counters. The older man, Nick, was with the former assassin, Rose. While the boy, Nero, was with the crazy woman, Cathleen. Neither group was doing what he asked, and he just watched as they worked very hard on ignoring the task they had been given.

Rose and Nick were making half-hearted attacks at each other, but their conversation was lively. Nick was reassuring her about her future, and seemed to be offering her a job on behalf of his wife. Yet it was Cathleen and Nero who had him hesitating to call a halt to the training. Normally, he’d start yelling and get his recruits to focus on what they were supposed to be doing. Yet, he was hesitant to interrupt the woman and the boy.

Cathleen kept knocking Nero down, and the boy kept getting back up. He’d throw a punch, she’d counter it, then knock him on his ass. Wesker had seen her elbow him in the face, kick him in the nuts, throw him over her shoulder to land face first in the dirt, and even grab him by the back of the head and plant her knee between his eyes.

Wesker watched as Nero stumbled to his feet, spit out more blood onto the dirt, and said, “OK. That one hurt a little bit.” Rather than wait for a medic, Nero picked a tooth up from the pile of blood he just expelled. After dusting it off, he shoved it back into his mouth with a grimace.

Amazed, Wesker watched as Nero cast a quick healing spell, then started jumping up and down as if he were just getting started.

“Alright old woman! Just ‘cause you look like a fitness model, doesn’t mean that I won’t whoop your ass. Let’s do this,” said Nero, psyching himself up.

He walked straight at a smiling Cathleen with his fists in the air as if he were a boxer. She stood patiently, loose hands held ready near her chest as if she were waiting to catch a ball. Nero started swinging before he was close enough to hit her. In order to close the distance, he jumped forward turning his swing into the mother of all haymakers. Cathleen took half a step forward and received Nero’s blow on her left forearm. Her right hand performed a front punch directly into Nero’s face. As he was already in the air, the rest of his body kept going forward while his head snapped back. Wesker appreciated the air-time, but the show ended with Nero out-cold on the ground… again.

Shaking his head, he didn’t know what he was supposed to do. None of these people should be elites. This was ridiculous. As he was about to call a halt to the training, he heard the Sergeant Blackwood’s essence infused voice echo across the field.

“All teams, switch to weapon’s training!” he said.

Wesker watched as Cathleen kicked Nero in order to wake him up, while Rose and Nick were smiling and chatting like they were at a cafe. ‘I’m sure this isn’t going to be a disaster,’ he said to himself.

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Nero came to with a start. He was staring at the sky again, which meant he must have been knocked out again. Rolling over, Nero’s mind caught up with what had happened. Cracking a smile, Nero stood up on shaky legs. He loved this world.

He’d once been knocked out in his old world. It had been during football practice from a helmet on helmet illegal tackle (which was totally on purpose). So, he knew from experience that short term memories normally weren’t able to be recovered after a good knock on the head. But here, everything was different. Nero felt like he had an external backup. He could remember everything, the feeling of Ms. Averett’s fist smashing into his face, the scent of the dirt as he landed flat on his back. It was like the world was in HD for the first time.

Yet the best part was the pain. Pain used to hurt. But here, getting smacked in the face was like getting slapped on the wrist. Everything felt the same, but the terror and recoil seemed unnecessary. A quick little spell, and everything was right as rain. Healing magic was the greatest thing Nero had ever seen. It made everything almost surreal. Life was without consequences. Cathleen even said that the medics could bring people who died, at least those recently killed, back from the dead! ‘Take away the consequences, and pain is just an annoyance,” thought Nero.

Dusting himself off, Nero felt his face to see how bad it was. Wincing at his flattened nose, and probable facial fracture, Nero forced the cartilage back into place. Looking over, he could see Ms. Averett watching him with that infuriating smile of hers. Nero cast a quick healing spell, and felt the annoyance go away.

Before he could mouth off again, Ms. Averett said, “The call went out. We’re switching to weapons training. You would have heard it, but you were taking a nap. Did you enjoy it?”

Nero offered her a grin and replied, “You don’t get to be this good looking if you don’t take time for proper rest and relaxation. I’m just getting better looking. You didn’t knock me out, that was just part of my skin-care routine.” Turning on his heel, Nero walked off toward Sergeant Wesker.

The sergeant looked tired. Nick and Rose were chatting next to him, obviously annoying the poor man. Nero thought he should offer some encouragement, so he said, “Alright Sarge, what’s next? Hand to hand was very informative, but maybe we could learn something. Training is great, but it’s kinda hard to practice skills that you don’t have.”

Sergeant Wesker gave Nero a look like he was an idiot. “Haven’t you been paying attention to the hints from the training field?” he asked in confusion.

Nick, hearing their conversation, spoke up, “Don’t mind Nero. He doesn’t know how training fields work.” Turning to Nero, he continued, “Nero, this field has been a training facility for a long time; hundreds of years. The essence in the air here is full of the memories of all those warriors who bled on this field. You need to open yourself up to them, let them guide you. The forms and basics are easy to pick up if you just listen to the world around you.”

Nero stared at Nick with a blank look. “You’re telling me that training here is just getting your ass-kicked by people better than you, until you finally figure it out on your own?”

Rose, Nick, and Ms. Averett all replied at the same time, “Yes.”

Nero looked around and saw that they were all serious. “So weapons training will just be me going over to that rack over there, grabbing a training sword, and getting beat on by Ms. Averett?” Nero said while pointing at Ms. Averett.

If it were possible, Nero thought she was smiling even wider than before. “Call me Cathleen. Now let’s go. We’ll start with your suggestion: swords,” she said while pushing Nero toward the racks.

As he stumbled off, Nero could hear the sergeant telling Nick and Rose to start taking their training seriously. Soon enough, Nero and Cathleen were at the weapon racks.

“Choose a sword that feels comfortable. Because you’re so tiny, you might want to get a long dagger instead,” said Cathleen while she was picking her Nero-beating stick.

Nero snorted at the joke, and grabbed a short sword that seemed alright. Turning back to the training ring, he walked off saying, “You know, I’m still growing. But you are going to be stuck at your height for the rest of your life. Enjoy your advantage while you can.”

Nero dropped to his knees as he felt a line of pain erupt on his back. “Pay attention to your surroundings,” said Cathleen.

Nero forced himself to stand while Cathleen took her position in front of him. She took a fighting stance with her one-handed sword angled across her chest, and her feet shoulder-width apart while her left foot was forward.

Nero didn’t take a stance and instead said, “Hold on a sec. How does this ‘open yourself to the world’ thing work. I’m all for learning how to fight, but I’m not sure I gained anything useful from having my ass kicked by you for the last hour.”

Lowering her sword and standing up straight, Cathleen looked at Nero as if she didn’t understand what he was asking. “You really don’t know what Nick was talking about? Then what the hell were you doing while we were training?”

Nero replied, “I was trying to hit you. I don’t really know how to fight. I’ve seen people fight, but I’ve never been taught or anything. I thought you’d eventually get tired of kicking my ass and just tell me what I was doing wrong. Listening to ‘the world talking’, wasn’t part of the plan. So do you mind telling me how I do that?”

Cathleen was trying to understand, “So you just ‘tried’ to get better, without learning anything? That’s idiotic.”

Nero looked at her with a scowl, and said, “Look lady, I didn’t know I was supposed to be doing anything. I thought ‘trainers’ would train me. Just show me how to learn. Less judging, more explaining.”

Chuckling, Cathleen shoved her dull training sword into the ground. Letting go of the handle, the sword stayed put, and she crossed her arms. “Alright, take a fighting stance. Close your eyes. Let your senses expand, and release your control over the essence around you,” she said.

Nero followed her instructions, and said, “That’s fine, my mage-armor did jack shit against you anyway. You tore through it like it wasn’t there. I don’t think it is as useful as advertised.”

Cathleen asked, “Mage-armor?”

Nero kept his eyes closed and tried to listen to the world while he replied, “Jennings called it an essence-shield. It’s good for stopping spells, but you were right when you warned me not to rely on it too much. I’m lucky that the assassin didn’t just punch me in the arena. Physical contact disrupts it too much. All it does is blunt a strike or two. It worked alright on Rose, but it was useless against you.”

Cathleen said, “You’ll get better at keeping it active. Most battles come down to a contest of wills. If your will to defend is stronger than your opponent’s will to overcome that defense, your shield will hold. When you’re reaching out to the world, keep your ‘mage-armor’ on. Training in real world conditions is always preferable to training in safety.”

Nero opened his eyes and looked over at Cathleen. “How the hell am I supposed to ‘release my hold on the ambient essence’ while holding on to an essence shield?” he asked.

With a shrug, Cathleen said, “How am I supposed to know, I’m not a mage. Figure it out.”

Nero gave her an annoyed huff and said, “Fine. Shut up for a second and let me concentrate.”

Hearing her chuckle, Nero closed his eyes and recreated his armor. By this point, it was as easy as breathing. He felt the essence shield form and compress without issue. Spreading out his psychic field, Nero tried to stop ‘looking’ and start ‘feeling’. He didn’t know what he was supposed to be feeling, but he was going to take their word for it. This whole world worked on spiritualism transformed into reality. He just needed to let the world guide him.

Trying to clear his mind, Nero felt a little uncomfortable. Adjusting his stance a little, he felt better. Before he could try again, he heard Cathleen say, “Wow, that was fast for a first timer. It usually takes a little longer for kids to get the hang of it.”

Nero opened his eyes in confusion. “Get the hang of what? What are you talking about?” he asked.

Cocking her head, she replied, “You listened to what the world was telling you, and fixed your stance. That’s all there is too it.”

Nero looked at the woman like she was speaking gibberish. Before he insulted her, he took a moment to think about it. He did feel a little nudge to change his stance. It wasn’t like a voice or anything, it was more like a gut feeling. His stance hadn’t felt right. Is that an active thing? Could Nero keep that up during a fight?

He asked Cathleen, “If people can just channel the fighting skills from the world, what makes someone better at fighting? How is every match between warriors not a draw?”

With a smile she said, “It’s very difficult to improve. Time and training are necessary to internalize what you learn. Everyone is different. Size, speed, dexterity, all of these are unique. People can improve by listening to the world, but you’re really creating your own style of fighting. The way someone else fights won’t work for you. You have to take the time to improve on your own. Training is just taking the time to work at it. Now stop asking questions. Try and swing the sword while focusing on what the world is telling you.”

Nero nodded, his excitement building. Closing his eyes, he started to slowly swing his sword in overhand chops. Instead of letting his mind drift, he reached out to the world. His psychic field hummed in tune with the surroundings. Nero felt little nudges improving his form. Tiny little improvements with every swing. He started changing the angle of his swings, altering the trajectory with smooth transitions. The feeling was intoxicating. It was like moving mediation, and Nero felt like he was a laser-sword wielding magician.

Smiling from ear to ear, Nero started dancing. While ignoring the physical world around him, he was at one with the essence in the air. Flitting about like a martial artist during a competition, Nero fluidly stepped through an impromptu sword form. Letting his instincts guide him, he let the world teach him how to wield a sword.

“Nice job. Now you have to actually try to fight. Stop prancing around like a little kid in a garden, we’ve got training to do,” said Cathleen.

Shaken out of his trance, Nero stumbled a little. Opening his eyes, he looked over at Cathleen standing in her fighting stance. She was grinning like she had just been served a steak. Nero thought she looked hungry.

‘Well, this is going to suck. On the other hand, it can’t be worse than hand to hand,’ Nero thought while taking his fighting stance.

5 seconds later, Nero’s was lying on his back after having the wind knocked out him. His back was bruised, and he thought his forearm was broken. Looking at the sky, he panted and coughed, trying to force air back into his lungs. Nero winced as he rolled onto his side and started hacking up some blood. ‘OK. I was wrong, this is worse,’ he thought.

While Nero was focusing on his recovery, he heard Cathleen shout happily, “MEDIC! RING 2! Might want to assign someone to stick around. We’ve got a delicate flower over here!”