Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.59 (91) (Patreon)

Vera was in her office at the newly renamed Salvatore-Verena estate. She wore a satisfied smirk as she monitored the multiple screens hovering above her desk. For her, there was no better feeling than watching multiple plots and plans proceeding in perfect harmony. The delicate web of cause and effect, move and countermove, all resulting in her victory along with a confusing loss for her opponents.

On one screen, she was keeping track of the acquisition team she had sent to Bevin Industries. The recent acquisition had cost a great deal, and House Walker had required a loan to cover the expense. Although Nero had a great deal of money coming in, and even more that would soon be awarded, he was anything but flush at the moment.

She smiled at the thought of all those greedy politicians who had smelled blood in the water. They had fought over who would sponsor the loans, and what it would cost House Walker. She had carefully played them off each other, and allowed herself to fall into a trap. Should House Walker default on their payments, it would have to hand over the entirety of Bevin Industries to House Lorach.

Vera turned slightly to look at the screen monitoring the team that was in charge of ferreting out House Lorach’s plan to sabotage her efforts to repurpose Bevin Industries. The industrial assets would be the main supplier for all of the new trading houses she was in the process of opening. Apparently, Lord Lorach was trying to use his connections to limit her potential profits. He incorrectly thought the trading houses would be relying on goods for the margins.

Smiling, she sent out a few pings to tweak her orders. Everything was proceeding according to plan. As she sipped her incredibly over-priced tea, she glanced at the other screens. One was providing updates on her shipping concern, Precision Shipping. Another was displaying the current results of her private mercenary firm’s recruitment efforts.

Using Nero’s advice, she had started the mercenary outfit under House Walker. House Walker needed guards that were loyal and well trained, while she could charge the business’s a hiring fee to use their services. Nero would be paying himself to provide the guards. It was brilliant. She had liked the idea so much, that she had done the same thing with her shipping company. Unfortunately, she had to include House Walker as a part owner, so she wouldn’t be embezzling from House Walker. Once again, she wondered how she hadn’t thought of it.

She checked her screens, and she still had no word on what the award would be for reporting the exploit. As she had never heard of a successful exploit being found, she wasn’t sure how long it would take to hear back from the Council of Leadership in Hennings.

She took solace in the fact that Hennings Tower of Law would be personally seeing to the award Nero would receive from the assassination challenge. Initial estimates were much larger than she had expected. All of that money should be transferred sometime in the next week. Nero would be returning to a surplus of valens. She would have to fabricate a reason to explain why she didn’t pay off House Walker’s loans.

Vera took another sip of tea, and smiled at the thought of Nero hearing what she had accomplished. She would deliver him a bank statement that would make him run and hide. That young man’s hatred of responsibility was like nothing she had ever seen. Maybe he would come up with another brilliant plan she could use.

While House Walker rose, it would serve to cloud her moves for House Verena. It was so nice to be able to help a friend while helping herself. Yes, House Walker would rise high. And if everything goes to plan, Nicholas will complete his trials quickly, then she would be raised to nobility by virtue of marriage and pedigree. Then, and only then, will she be able to activate plan ‘mountain-top’.

While the screens flashed with updates, she leaned back in her chair and grinned at the visual representation of her will being enacted.

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After leaving the wall, the elites made their way through the exterior towns. Nero was told that they were still technically in Dorchester, but the areas outside the walls were for trade and considered expendable. While the buildings looked solid, Nero noticed that there didn’t seem to be many complicated structures. There were no statues or fountains like there were inside the walls.

Soon enough, they reached the end of the outer towns. Even thought they had been lightly jogging, Nero was surprised to find that he didn’t feel winded. It seemed that the past week of training had made him perfectly capable of jogging for hours without issue. He wondered if this was how it felt to run a marathon.

The team of elites kept their pace, while occasionally having conversations with each other. Nero didn’t bother to take part, as he was focused on the environment.

He could see the large forest in the distance. Between the outer town and the forests were occasional houses, and what looked like lumber mills. It seemed like they were constantly chopping down trees to keep the rolling hills clear of vegetation.

The road they were on was dirt, but it was packed so tightly that it was like a highway. Nero could see trails where wagon wheels had marked the ground, but they hadn’t managed to cause any grooves. The road was wide enough for multiple semi-trucks to travel side-by-side, and there were plenty of wagons and people traveling in both directions.

As the elites jogged past them, the people offered their thanks and well wishes. It felt odd to Nero, but he figured it was just part of their culture to celebrate people facing the wilds.

Without warning, the front of the column left the road and headed straight toward the forest in the distance. Nero couldn’t figure out how they were deciding where to go, it’s not like they had GPS.

When they reached the edge of the forest, Nero looked up at the incredibly tall canopy. It was like a line had been arbitrarily decided. One one side was a forest, and the other was grassy plains. Even the brush was cut back. As he looked left and right, Nero thought it looked like a forest butting up against a beach, but instead of sand, it ended at a grassy field. He couldn’t help but wonder what that meant for the lumber mills they had passed.

They broke into their individual teams, and then turned to face Captain Angelton. The man stood in front of the command team. Nero tried to lock eyes with Sergeant Blackwood, whom he recognized from his time at Gate 7 army command, but the man seemed preoccupied with the map in his hands. The rest of the command team was checking each other’s gear and prepping for combat.

Captain Angelton spoke loudly, but didn’t shout. “From here on out, you’ll be in the wilds. You all know the drill. Listen to your team leaders, they know what they’re doing. Watch out for each other. Keep an eye on your surroundings, and don’t lose focus. We’ll rendezvous at the designated camp site in three days. If changes to the targets have to made, we’ll address it then,” he said.

Looking around, seemingly judging the look in everyone’s eyes, the captain asked, “Team leaders, do you have any last minute questions or concerns that need to be addressed?”

Silence greeted the captain, and he waited a full minute. Deciding that it was time to get started, he shouted, “All right, move out!”

Nero turned to face Sergeant Wesker. His squad-mates, Nick, Cathleen, and Rose were standing next to him. Everyone seemed ready, and Nero’s heart was pounding. He felt like he was in the pre-battle area before a paintball game. Wringing his hands on his pants to wipe off the sweat, he waited to hear what the sergeant had to say.

“OK. You all know what to do. We’ve only got three days before we have to meet up at the campsite the command team is going to set up. Stay in formation, and keep your eyes open. Let’s get moving,” he said.

The sergeant hefted his shield, made sure his sword was clear in his scabbard, then turned to start off into the woods. Nero watched as the others readied their weapons and tightened their straps on their bags. Seconds later, everyone walked off, leaving Nero standing there stunned.

He jogged to catch up and asked, “Um… what’s the formation?”

Sergeant Wesker stopped, and then so did everyone else. They all turned to Nero and gave him a look that made him feel about two-inches tall.

Nick hissed quietly, “You didn’t even look at your responsibility section?”

Nero shrank a little and offered an apologetic smirk. “Well, it took a while to get everything into my personal space, then I kinda forgot. Just tell me where to stand and I’ll do my part,” he said, sounding like a child reassuring his parents that he would take out the trash.

Rose seemed the most surprised. She looked at Nero like she had never seen him before. Cathleen didn’t seem too surprised, just disappointed. If Nero were honest with himself, that hurt more than Nick’s quiet fury.

Sergeant Wesker said, “Stand in the back left, next to Nick. Watch the left side, and keep an eye on our rear. Call out anything out of the ordinary. Keep your presence hidden, and don’t make a lot of noise. Look, listen, and then report. And try not to get anyone killed.” With a huff, he turned and started stalking into the forest.

Everyone else followed suit, and Nero took up his assigned position in the formation. His left hand was gripping his sword’s handle with white knuckles, while his right was holding the strap of the messenger satchel Jennings had given him. Nero’s eyes darted around and tried to focus on the surrounding forest.

They were only 5 minutes into their walk, and they were already in shadow. The tall canopy did an amazing job of blocking out the sun, and only shafts of light were allowed to dance among the trees. The first branches started about 10ft up, but there were a bunch of large bushes, along with vines and undergrowth. There were even patches of odd flowers, and stalks of weird plants that ended in glowing bulbs.

Nero couldn’t stop staring at the details. Although he knew this was a fantasy world, it was weird to actually see evidence of that fact. Overall, the forest resembled a typical North American forest, but the details weren’t right. The moss was a little too green, and the shadows were a little too dark. The plants and bushes weren’t right either. Everything was close, but just ‘off’ enough that it freaked him out. Nero felt exposed and he did his best to watch everything, all at once.

After a few more minutes of walking, Nero heard Rose shout, “Contact right!”

Nero’s eyes snapped toward her direction, and he saw her draw and fire her bow like a You-Tube prodigy. Arrow, after arrow shot into the trees. Nero couldn’t see what she was shooting at, but he heard a roar in response to her barrage.

Nick created two balls of what looked like purple balls in his hands, and dropped into a ready stance. Cathleen hadn’t even turned around. She kept her eyes on the left side of the formation, probably trying to look out for anything trying to sneak up on them from the other side.

The sergeant stood next to Rose, and planted his feet, waiting for the enemy to show itself.

Nero was frozen in indecision. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do, and he couldn’t see what Rose was shooting at. Without any better options, he tried to draw his sword. As he hadn’t practiced with a scabbard, it didn’t go well. The harder he yanked, the more the sword seemed trapped.

Bursting from the tree line was a 10 foot tall monster. Nero couldn’t decide if it was some kind of bear variant, or a mutated beaver. It’s black eyes and dark mottled fur made it blend into the forest’s background. However, Nero had no trouble seeing its large maw open to display dual rows of sharp teeth. It reminded Nero of Shark-Week on the Discovery Channel.

The monster had arrows poking out of its shoulders and a few were concentrated along its front legs, but they didn’t seem to bother it much. It pounded forward, hurtling toward Rose like a linebacker heading for a quarterback, huffing and growling. Nero could only stare as the giant freak of nature kept getting bigger as it got closer.

The sergeant stepped in front of Rose and braced his large shield to receive the beast’s charge. Nero thought the man was crazy. It was like he was trying to stop a truck with a shopping cart.

Nick released the spells he had prepped, and twin beams of purple energy slammed into beast’s side, making it stumble. Rather than blowing out chunks of meat, it just seemed to blacken the fur where it hit. Nero realized they may be in some real trouble.

When the beast finally reached them, it slammed a shoulder into the sergeant, and Nero expected to see the man flying as the beast rushed through him. But instead, a sound like a gong rang out, echoing through the forest. The monster reeled back in pain, and Nero wondered if the sergeant had dislocated the beast’s shoulder.

Stumbling back, it narrowed its eyes and roared at the sergeant, who was still standing with his shield held at the ready. Rose had stepped behind him and was lining up a shot. Instead of purple, Nick fired several yellow beams at the monster, which had about the same effect as the first ones he had used. Nero heard Nick mutter some curse words at his failure to hurt the beast.

Nero took a deep breath, and finally managed to draw his sword. He stood at the ready, both hands on the hilt, trying to figure out how he could help, when he saw Cathleen rush past him on his left.

The woman held her spear down and to the right, as she hopped gracefully into air. She called out, “Over right!” And Nero saw the sergeant lean his head a little to his left.

With her left foot, she pushed down on Sergeant Wesker’s right shoulder and launched herself into the air. Nero’s jaw dropped as the woman flew threw a shaft of light which had broken through the canopy. Mid-air, she positioned her spear, and her combat braid floated in the wind behind her. Nero could swear he saw her eyes sparkling as she planted her spear into the monster’s forehead, right between its eyes. Pausing in a crouch on its nose, she released her spear and pushed off like she was launching from a catapult.

In response to the spear in its head, the monster started flailing around, slamming its paws and shaking its head in pain. Its roars were filled with misery and pain, and Nero felt like he was watching an animal suffering rather than a multi-ton engine of destruction. Looking up, he saw Cathleen soaring back behind Sergeant Wesker, while pulling another spear out of her personal space before she had even hit the ground. Watching her land in a crouch, Nero couldn’t help but utter, “Holy shit woman. That was fucking bad-ass.”

Looking over her right shoulder, she gave Nero a stern look and asked, “Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to do something little lord?”

Nero felt like he had taken a hit in the worst place imaginable, his pride. Furrowing his brow, he realized that he was being an idiot. Why hadn’t he been using his psychic field to scan the forest? Why had he been wrapped up like a burrito, hiding his presence so completely that he had blinded himself? And why in the hell did he pull his sword out? He was a mage! As he straightened his shoulders, he could practically hear Jennings laughing his ass off. The thought of someone seeing his display of cowardice was too much, and Nero grit his teeth in anger.

Nick had moved a little farther to the side, and was collecting a large amount of essence into a flaming ball of death. Nero wasn’t sure why Nick’s spells weren’t doing anything, but he wasn’t going to stand there and do nothing.

Like a bomb going off, Nero exploded his psychic field over the area. He felt Nick’s grasp over the essence, and he felt the void of control around the monster. Nero immediately identified the problem. The monster’s essence field was huge, and it was disrupting anything that came near it. Nick hadn’t imbued enough of his center into his constructs, and by the time they had hit the monster, they didn’t have enough power to do anything.

It hadn’t been 10 seconds since Cathleen had implanted her spear, and the monster had already snapped the haft against the ground. It seemed injured, but was still able to fight. Nick fired his plasma beam, and it managed to drill into the towering beast’s side. This time, it looked like the beast had been burned by a giant blowtorch, and it wasn’t happy about it.

Turning away from the sergeant, it started toward Nick. But Sergeant Wesker knew his business, and slid along the ground in order to stay between his team and the gaping maw of teeth.

Nero returned his sword to his scabbard, and cupped his hands in front of his chest. Focusing, he carved a spell-form to summon a mud patch under the monster. He ignored the ‘thwips’ from Rose’s bow, the shouts from Nick recommending spells, and Cathleen’s laughter as she danced into combat from behind the sergeant.

Nero hadn’t moved, and the team had rotated a little to the right, leaving Nero exposed. He was too busy focusing on his spell to notice, as he hadn’t tried to carve a spell-form this large before. Looking up, he saw that he was facing the monster’s right side, and he had a clear sight-line. With a smile, he released his spell, flooding the forest floor with center imbued essence channeling earth and water.

The ground below the monster’s paws suddenly lost traction, and its belly slammed into the now muddied forest floor. Nero had created around a foot of loose, water-logged, mud in a giant circle under the beast. His aim was perfect, as the ground returned to normal right in front of Sergeant Wesker.

Nero’s entire team paused at the development. Even Cathleen stepped back to watch the monster flail around.

Nero didn’t waste any time, and immediately started carving his next spell. Those years of gaming had prepared him well. Nero carved a lightning spell-form, the largest he had ever tried. It took a full 5 seconds, but he made sure to imbue his will and desire for the spell to penetrate deep and cause the maximum damage possible.

A clap of thunder shook the forest, and leaves fell from the trees. Dust and loose dirt flew from the forest floor around Nero, as a pillar of lightning lit up the surroundings. As quick as it came, it vanished just as fast.

The forest was silent in the aftermath, and Nero stood there with a giddy smile on his face. He stared at the giant monster which was smoking maybe 15 feet away from him. There were patches of red hot mud that had formed little crystals under the beast, and a giant hole was burned into its side.

Nero started laughing like a maniac. He turned to the rest of the team that was staring at him like he was insane. He threw his fists in the air and shouted, “You see that shit! How you like me now bitches!?!”