Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.47 (79) (Patreon)

The king was sitting in his drawing room, enjoying some time with his head consort, Lydia Collins. She had been in charge of his household for many years, and he had never tired of her fascination with gossip. While he could observe the whole of his kingdom through his abilities, she could do the same with just whispers and rumors. It always made him smile when she fixated on something, then forced him to hear about it.

Sipping his wine, he was listening to her describe how she caught Merissa, the queen, ignoring a servant’s pregnancy. Calling the situation amusing was an understatement.

Lydia stood in the middle of the room, waving her arms as if she were on stage performing in front of an audience. “So, I’m standing there just listening to Merissa go on and on about what needs to be done. And I’m thinking to myself, ‘How does she not see how ridiculous this is?’ I mean, the poor servant girl was just standing there, arms full of bed-sheets, her belly making her almost tip over as more sheets were added to the pile she carrying,” she said.

At that point, the king started laughing. He could picture Merissa being completely oblivious to the situation. The woman was the definition of focus. She hadn’t earned her position of ‘Champion Charity’ by being scatter-brained.

Pointing an accusing finger at the king, Lydia continued, “You laugh now, but you should have seen the looks on the faces of the other servants in the room. They were all panicking. Every one of them was paralyzed with indecision. They couldn’t decide if they should help the poor girl out, or just stand there and watch.”

While the king laughed, she took a sip of her wine. “I finally couldn’t take it anymore. Walking up to Merissa I said, “Dear, put the bedding down. We still have weeks before clan Shimmershield arrives. There is plenty of time to put fresh linens down and clean up the rooms. It will all be taken care of before they get here. Besides, they normally sleep wherever they pass out, they won’t care if things aren’t up to your standards.

“She looked at me like I was crazy and said, ‘Whether it gets done now or later, it will take the same amount of time. This task isn’t going anywhere.’ I matched her stare and said, ‘That may be true. But, Merissa my love, the servant you’re currently drowning in bed sheets is leaving to have her baby in an hour. The task may remain, but she has somewhere to be.’ It was then that our dear Merissa actually LOOKED at the poor girl. I haven’t seen her so apologetic since that time she burned down Sarah’s gazebo when she was trying to learn how to cook,” finished Lydia, while flourishing her wine glass. If anyone were to have been watching other than the king, they might have expected her to bow at the conclusion of her performance.

King Oliver Oglivarch was holding his side as he laughed, while doing his best to not spill his wine. Just then, the star of the story, the queen, walked in. Seeing the two of them laughing, she furrowed her brow in anger.

“Dammit Lydia, you said you wouldn’t tell him,” screamed the queen, sounding like a teenage girl shouting at her mother.

The king gave up on holding his wine glass. He released it into the air. But instead of letting it fall, he held it with his psychic field. That allowed him to fully embrace the laughter. As he roared in amusement, the queen was throwing pillows at Lydia while chasing her around the room.

Lydia flitted across the room like she was dancing through the furniture. She shouted over her shoulder, “Merissa dear, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Anyone could have missed it. How could you have known she was pregnant? She had only been standing next to you for the past year. It’s perfectly reasonable for you to not have noticed her growing belly. I mean, she wasn’t having twins.”

Merissa’s embarrassment was coloring her face a hilarious shade of red, and the king couldn’t help but watch the women he loved acting like school girls picking on each other.

The queen finally got fed up with the fact that she couldn’t catch the nimble woman. She stopped and put her hands on her hips and looked at the king. “Did she tell you that she is the one who spilled wine on your first edition of ‘Mortigan’s Treatise on Shaping’?”

The king’s laughter died down and was replaced by shock. He looked over to see a furious Lydia staring daggers at Merissa.

Lydia took off toward Merissa like an arrow, while shouting, “You promised you wouldn’t tell! I’m gonna shave you bald, you traitor!”

Laughing merrily, Merissa ran out of the room, shouting back, “You’ll never catch me! Not when you’re wearing that ridiculous dress. You look like a closet threw up on you!”

King Oliver just watched them leave with a smile on his face. Sometimes he wondered if those two even wanted him around. Their love for each other made him feel like a third wheel most of the time. He didn’t blame them, they were both more fun to be around than he was.

Shaking his head at their antics, his internal musings were interrupted by an emergency alert from the Tower of Law. His good mood evaporated, and he mentally reached out to discover the details.

His eyes widened in shock at what he found. He muttered into the now silent room, “Gods above and below, how could I have missed that.”

-----

Day 5 of their training found Nero covered in mud. The rain was coming down in sheets and it didn’t seem to bother anyone other than Nero. Dragging himself along the rope, he did his best to keep his grip from slipping. This particular exercise was a series of ropes hanging ten feet above the ground. While over the past few days Nero had become used to failing at this, the rain made the failures more humiliating.

Several recruits who were waiting for their turn on the rope walk watched as Nero’s grip finally gave out. Rather than the scream they were expecting, they heard Nero yell, “Fuck you rain!” Then they got to see Nero crater into the mud. Everyone cheered as Nero crawled out of the mud-hole while muttering expletives, fury clear on his face.

Instead of going to the back of the line, Nero marched right back to the beginning of the obstacle and shouted at the woman who was about to start.

“Don’t you dare start your turn early! I’m not done yet. I haven’t even begun. This damned thing is going down. I’ll tell you when you can start. Just stand there and watch how it’s done,” he said then threw himself off the starting platform.

The training equipment wasn’t designed for someone Nero’s size. Therefore, most of the time, in order to start an exercise it required Nero to hurl himself at the obstacle. There wasn’t a single person among the recruits who didn’t find it hilarious.

The recruits cheered Nero on as he dragged himself along the ropes, cussing at the rain and mud. Every foot he progressed was met with clapping and encouragement. Nero’s persistence and irritability were a delight to the serious warriors. His crass manner and complete lack of regard for his safety had them all treating him like a beloved mascot.

Against all odds, Nero finally completed the rope walk. It only took him 6 tries. He was covered in mud, and the rain caused his eyes to burn. But he made it to the end. It was the first time that he had completed the exercise. The trainers even let the recruits celebrate for a full minute before they started yelling at them to get back to work.

Nero’s white smile stood out as he took his place at the back of the line. Pats on the back were awarded by everyone around him. Nero felt like he had finally started to get the hang of this training thing.

Captain Angelton walked up, and Nero noticed an almost translucent shield protecting the man from the rain. He looked down at Nero, and the surrounding recruits went silent.

He said, “Nice job Walker. Now you just need to do it without using your legs. Then you will add swinging. When you eventually manage to get through the exercise correctly, THEN you can celebrate.” After ruining Nero’s good mood, the captain walked off.

Nero stared at the man’s back and contemplated throwing a mud-ball at him. As the image of a furious Captain Angelton covered in mud soothed his anger, Nero heard Marie say, “Don’t mind him. He’s just trying to push you forward. You’re doing great.”

“Thanks Marie. But you know as well as I do that until I get some more levels, there is no way I can do most of these courses the way they’re supposed to be done,” he said.

“If it were easy, it wouldn’t be training. I’m pretty sure I heard that somewhere,” she said with some amusement.

Nero stood in the rain, looking up at her and said, “Never use my words against me. They’re my primary weapon. You should stick to your arrows.”

The recruits standing nearby all laughed. The line moved forward and Nero prepared himself for another round of ‘What bone will Nero break this time?’. Chuckling at his mental joke, Nero cast a spell to remove the mud. However, there was nothing he could do about the rain. Reminding himself to ask Specialist Howard about shields, he took another step forward in line.

The remainder of the day went as expected. He forced as much food into his stomach as he could in the dining hall. He got his ass-kicked by Cathleen during close-quarters combat training. Got skewered numerous times during weapons training. Then he was chastised by Specialist Howard for asking questions about things he wasn’t ready to learn. Suffered some more humiliations on the obstacle courses during physical training. And he ended his day with a terrifying shower filled with super attractive woman alongside physically intimidating men.

When Nero finally got back to his room, everything hurt. His joints were sore from over-use of his center, while his muscles burned from being constantly ripped apart then healed. Nero’s pounding headache was a testament to the limits of healing magic. He had read that constant deconstruction and reconstruction would cause a body to stop healing correctly. When he read that, he thought it sounded like taking a photocopy of a photocopy. Eventually, the details got blurry.

Dropping his towel on the floor of his room, he face-planted into his bed. With a groan, Nero thought about how just a few days ago, he was so proud of his unlimited endurance. The reality that everything had its limits was not an enjoyable lesson.

While Nero once again contemplated giving up on his training, and instead opening Dorchester’s first t-shirt shop, he checked his identity and stat panels.

Name

Nero Walker

Level

10

Race

Human

Growth

31%

Tier

1

Condition

88%

Age

14

Center

17%

Body

2

Mind

4

Soul

2

Confluence

10

Stars

0

Pillars

1 / 1

Body

2

Base

Operative

Level Stress

Presence

11

15.4

6.4

Durability

8

11.2

16.3

Recovery

21

29.4

22.1

Speed

13

18.2

14.3

Adaptability

32

44.8

16.8

Power

8

11.2

19.4

Mind

4

Base

Operative

Level Stress

Weight

26

46.8

5.6

Control

29

52.2

11.3

Field

23

41.4

14.8

Precision

39

70.2

18.2

Endurance

46

82.8

16.3

Focus

48

86.4

12.8

Soul

2

Base

Operative

Level Stress

Size

29

40.6

0.6

Density

101

141.4

0.5

Intensity

76

106.4

0.5

Pressure

27

37.8

0.4

Harmony

24

33.6

8.6

Adaptability

270

378

0.2

Seeing his numbers, Nero groaned once again into the pillow. He had known that his growth would slow down. Everyone had warned him, but seeing it happen was totally depressing. Even though compared to the average person, he was still leveling incredibly fast, it still seemed slow to Nero.

His incredible level stress didn’t even cheer him up. Nero didn’t have the perspective to realize how insane his numbers were. So, he just laid in bed wallowing in his misery.

Rather than get up and study like he had planned, Nero instead retreated into his mental space and reflected on his day. The world seemed to fall away, and Nero looked around the path he was on examining the events of the day. Everything was fuzzy as he felt like he was watching himself relive the broken bones and suffering the brutal ministrations of Cathleen.

Nero integrated the experience into his soul, and started to feel his burning desire to overcome any and all obstacles reignite. A part of him realized that he was just reaffirming his identity, like the books recommended. But mostly, he tried not to think about anything, and to just live in the moment. Nero enjoyed the feeling of purpose. But all things must come to an end, and he eventually let his senses return to the real world.

His time-sense told him that he had been laying face down on his bed meditating for hours. He only had a couple hours to get his studying done before he’d have to go to sleep. Forcing his sore body to move, he started to get up. Nero was surprised at the lack of pain. Eyes widening in shock, he stood up and tested his muscles. Standing naked in his room, he started laughing as he stretched and discovered that all his pain was gone.

With a bright smile on his face, he opened his identity to see what had changed.

Name

Nero Walker

Level

10

Race

Human

Growth

46%

Tier

1

Condition

100%

Age

14

Center

78%

Body

2

Mind

4

Soul

2

Confluence

10

Stars

0

Pillars

1 / 1

He was fine again. Completely healed. Even his growth had shot up. Thinking about it, Nero realized what had happened. It was just like Jennings said, ‘reality was his to determine’. That time spent reflecting was really just infusing his body with his story, strengthening his identity. As happy as he was with that realization, the very fact that the world worked like this annoyed Nero to no end.

Grimacing at the implications, Nero couldn’t help but hear the imaginary voice of some hippy whispering, “Hey man, we’re just the sum of our experiences. You gotta know where you were to know where you are. And then you can finally know WHO you are. Cool huh? Hey, pass that joint.”

Banishing the imaginary hippy from his mind, Nero stomped over to his dresser to grab some clothes. He refused to sit around his room naked, thinking about how reality is just dream or other such nonsense.

After getting dressed, he plopped himself into his chair, and pulled out a book on healing. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with the ephemeral questions of reality. Nero was going to focus on something useful. Considering how his day went, he thought learning about how to bring people back to life was the most useful thing he could learn.

Flipping to the chapter on resuscitation magic, Nero started reading. He found out that a person’s soul stayed tethered to their body for between 5 and 10 minutes. As time passed, the tether would weaken as the world reinforced the idea that the body was actually dead. If a healer could get to a body, they could heal the damage, and then use this spell to delve into their soul and pull them back into their body. Nero kept reading, focusing completely on the lessons in the book.

That was until a thought hit him like a taser. ‘Were the people I killed still alive? Did someone resuscitate them? The mercenaries were probably dead, but what about that assassin kid? Am I going to have a destined enemy after all?’ he wondered.

Not wasting any time, Nero pinged Vera. It only took two seconds for her to accept the connection. She greeted him by saying, “I guess you heard about what happened. Don’t worry, I’m taking care of everything.”

Confused Nero responded, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’m sure you have it under control. I just wanted to ask you if any of the people I killed are still alive.”

Now it was Vera’s turn to be confused. She said, “What? Who are you talking about?”

“The assassin and those mercenaries. Did anybody resuscitate them? Are they still alive? Am I going to have to fight them in act 3?” he asked.

Vera mentally snorted over the link. “No Nero. Everyone you killed is still dead. During an arena challenge, death’s are confirmed and then the soul link is monitored through its collapse. As for the mercenaries, all five bodies were confirmed deceased. Why do you ask?” she said.

Not knowing how to phrase it, he said, “Well, over the past few days, I’ve died more times than I can count. Once I realized that it was easy to fix a body and shove the soul back in, I thought that maybe one of the people I killed would return to face me in an epic final confrontation on some bridge somewhere.”

Vera mentally sighed, and said, “You don’t have to worry about that. And what do you mean you died? Was there a training accident or something?”

Nero said, “Oh, Cathleen kills me a lot during training. Don’t worry, the green shirts bring me back pretty fast. It’s not that big a deal I guess.”

Vera’s psychic presence went cold, and Nero repressed a shiver. She said, “What do you mean she ‘kills you a lot’? How hard are you training? Nicholas told me that you were taking your training too seriously, but he didn’t say you were dying. Don’t worry, I’ll talk to Cathleen. This will NOT happen again.”

Nero interrupted her rant by nearly shouting, “Hold up! It’s fine. The training is good, and I’m learning a lot. Don’t say anything to Cathleen. I need her to keep pushing me. I don’t want her, completely justifiable, fear of you interfering with my growth. I only brought it up because I was afraid of how easy it is to bring someone back from the dead. I want my enemies to stay in the ground.”

Vera seemed to calm down, then said, “Well, if you want your enemies to stay dead, make sure you don’t leave a body capable of being healed. Burn it to the bone, by the time the marrow vaporizes, resuscitation magic won’t be enough to save them. After that, you could take their head with you, Populators do that sometimes. There are a lot of ways to destroy a body, just be thorough.”

Nero gulped as Vera calmly explained how to make sure his enemies stay dead. He said in a weak voice, “Right. Destroy the body, got it.” Trying to change the subject, he asked, “Anyway, what did you think I was calling about?”

Vera’s psychic profile startled a bit. “Oh, that. Well, you remember two nights ago when you told me your ideas about how to organize our businesses to increase our profits?” she asked.

Nodding, Nero said, “Yeah, what about it.”

Vera happily said, “It’s nothing. You see, I implemented your ideas. Then I filed the exploit with the Tower of Law so it couldn’t be repealed, and so that only we could use it. The funny thing is, they decided it was a class 5 exploit. So you’re probably going to get a very large award from the crown, and we might have to go to the capital for a ceremony. You might get a noble promotion. Oh! And you will probably have to deal with some marriage proposals. Also, you might have to testify to the Council of Leadership in Hennings. I think that’s it. Like I said, don’t worry about it.”

Nero sat at his desk, completely stunned. That didn’t sound like it was ‘nothing’. It sounded like it was ‘something’. Unable to comprehend the enormity of the situation, Nero only managed to mentally mutter, “Um… what?”