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Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.6 (121)
🕑 Added 2024-02-29 23:30:00 +0000 UTCCaptain Angelton leaned against the 10ft tall stack of lumber, enjoying the smell of fresh cut wood. With his arms crossed, he calmly watched his men putting the finishing touches on the perimeter wall. Soon it would be completed enough for Sergeant Howard to anchor the more permanent wards.
Even with the reduced manpower, the teams were performing admirably. The barracks were finally assembled, and he had just come from making sure their supplies were stored correctly in the new warehouse. Even though there were probably 100 of these camps spread through the wilds by now, this one was his, and he was proud of it. If everything goes to plan, he and the elites will be manning this outpost for at least a year.
Motion to his left brought him out of his thoughts, and he looked over to see his friend, Sergeant Blackwood, leaving the communications tower. The 40 ft tall wooden structure acted as a beacon along with a transmitter, creating a room where Dorchester’s Thought-hub could reach them out here in the wilds. Initially, building one hadn’t been part of the plan, but in light of recent events, he decided that it was probably a good idea. It was intended to serve as a replacement for the squad’s communication orb, but Sergeant Blackwood had just been using it to check in with his family in Dorchester.
Seeing his friend’s confused face, he asked, “Everything all right, sergeant?”
Blackwood’s eyes rose from the ground, and looked up at the captain while walking over. “Um… better than fine, sir. When I spoke with the new house head, I found out that I’m to be brought into the family’s ladder. I’m officially the 14th heir of House Blackwood,” he said, stunned.
The captain shrugged himself off the timber pile, letting his hands fall to his sides. The surprise was clear in his tone when he replied, “You’ve been legitimized? Did Victoria officially take over?”
Nodding dumbly, Blackwood replied quietly, “Yes, sir. She is now the new Lord Blackwood. She told me that my actions were brilliant, hiding a warning that would only be seen if the target of my father were to survive. She seemed to be under the impression that I was hedging my bets, making sure that either way I came out a winner.”
Captain Angelton raised one of his eyebrows in shock, the only evidence of his surprise.
Blackwood had known the captain for a long time, and he could tell how surprised the man must be. “I know, I couldn’t believe it either. She asked if I wanted to return to the estate, or just return to Dorchester to represent the family’s interests within the walls,” he said, then held up his hands and continued, “But don’t worry, I told her I’m staying with the elites. She seemed to read something into that, but I’m not sure what. It probably has something to do with the fact that this all started because I was trying to find a way out of this assignment.”
Captain Angelton nodded, then rubbed his chin in thought. “She probably thinks you have some game going with Lord Walker. It’s probably best not to dissuade her. She’s always been a crafty one. Those types always read too much into things. Let’s just focus on our jobs and leave politics to the politicians,” he said firmly.
The sergeant ran a hand through his hair and nodded quickly. “You got it, sir. This whole thing has only proven what I already knew. I’m not cut out for all these plots and plans. Give me a simple job and I’ll earn my beer just fine,” he said happily.
The captain laid a large hand on his friend’s shoulders and replied, “Well, it won’t be all that simple. Command sent word that Wesker’s team, along with Lord Walker and his associates will be here by nightfall. You’re going to be serving as their team coordinator. It was supposed to be Sergeant Howard, but orders changed. So you’ll have to get their assignments together before tomorrow morning. Any questions?”
Standing up straight, Sergeant Blackwood replied, “No, sir. I’ll head over to the command pavilion and get started on their updated deployment plans.” After finishing, he started walking away with purpose.
Captain Angelton shouted, “Sergeant, one more thing.”
Blackwood stopped, but before he could turn around, the captain said, “I’m glad I didn’t have to execute you. But the next time you discover a plot that affects my mission, tell me immediately, or you’ll wish I had.”
Despite the harsh words, Sergeant Blackwood could sense the camaraderie in his friend’s pyshce. So, he replied with a smile, “Yes, sir. I’ll keep an eye-out and let you know. Or better yet, I’ll just ignore it and let someone more qualified handle it.” Then he turned around and continued on his way to the command pavilion.
Cracking a very slight smile, Captain Angelton shook his head in amusement and muttered, “Son of bitch never lets me get the last word. He really is a terrible soldier.”
Putting the encounter out of his mind, Captain Angelton returned the lumber pile he had been leaning against, and returned to his vigil. From here, he could monitor most of the camp, making sure everyone was working at optimal efficiency. It was a nice feeling seeing everything proceeding according to his plans once again.
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After having spent the last 30 minutes without any signs of pursuit, Sergeant Wesker finally called for a halt. Nero could see how annoyed the man was, but he wasn’t sure if it was the fact that they had been forced to retreat or how much time the encounter had cost them.
Wesker barked out orders to get a small camp going for an early lunch. Nero and Nick set up the ward stones, while Cathleen pulled out supplies for the meal, and Rose started a small fire. Wesker, who usually set up logs for seating and organized the supplies instead started pulling pieces of armor out of his personal space.
Nero was surprised because the man was already carrying a big ass backpack. He had thought Wesker just didn’t use a personal space, or at the very least, he didn’t carry anything useful in it. However, it made sense in a way. Sergeant Wesker had a great deal of experience in the wilds, and he probably had things stored away in there which could cover any number of eventualities. The man having a set of full plate in case of situations just like this shouldn’t have surprised him.
Nero and Nick made their way around the camp in a wide circle, placing and charging the stones. Rather than start a conversation that he knew would require his full attention, Nero waited to bring up the subject of essence shields, which he desperately wanted to talk about.
By the time the ward stones were in place, Wesker was already halfway dressed in his new suit of armor. Cathleen and Rose were finished with their tasks and a large pot was warming over the fire. They were really getting good at setting up a quick camp.
Nero and Nick took their places around the fire, each of them pulling a small stump out of their respective personal spaces to serve as a stool. It was a little trick Nero had learned from watching Nick.
Coughing lightly to grab Nick’s attention, Nero saw his friend turn to him with a smug smile. “Yes, Nero? What can I do for you?” he asked happily.
Narrowing his eyes, Nero didn’t let the man’s tone get to him. “I’ve come to realize that I may not fully comprehend essence shields. So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a few questions concerning the subject. Hopefully, you’ll be able to clear a few things up for me,” he said through gritted teeth.
Nick feigned shock and replied, “But Nero! You told me that you already knew all about essence shields, and that you weren’t interested in hearing a lecture on a subject you’ve already mastered. In fact, didn’t you tell me that you learned how to cast one from an arch-mage! I clearly recall us discussing this very thing during our classes with Sergeant Howard. What were your words exactly?” Nick held up a hand to his chin, as if he were struggling to remember something.
Shoulders slumping, Nero begged, “Enough! Nick, I get it. I’m an idiot. I clearly need your expertise, and I’d be lost without you. I’m sorry. Please take pity on me and do me the honor of gracing me with your knowledge. No one in all of Dorchester is more qualified than -”
Laughing at Nero’s antics, Nick interrupted him, “Fine, fine… and I’ll do my best not to treat this like a classroom. Let’s start at the beginning. When you learned this from Arch-mage Jennings, what did he tell you?”
Nero pursed his lips and thought about it. After a few seconds, he said, “I wasn’t really paying attention to be honest. I just copied what he was doing. He grabbed hold of a bunch of essence then compressed it along his body. It took me a couple of tries, but I got it. He then shot me with a spell that flung me across the room, but the shield stopped it from hurting me. I took that to mean that my shield was working and that was about it. After that, we covered some simple spells and never spoke about the essence shield again.”
Nick patiently listened to Nero rambling, his face not reacting in any way. “And did you read up on essence shields after the lesson?” he asked.
Nero nodded, and replied, “Yeah, a little. I know they can be pierced by essence blades and disrupted by enemy fields, so they don’t do much more than reduce the damage you take during hand to hand combat. There was something about maintaining control over the gathered essence, and a section about advanced uses that I didn’t really get to. I ended up spending most of time reading about how to find hidden enemies through essence perception. I thought it would help find the assassins I was expecting to be waiting for me out here. But that’s not really relevant. So… yeah… that’s about it.”
Nick’s face remained passive as he let Nero talk. While Nero had been talking, the rest of the team had taken up places around the fire, and were now listening to the conversation. A fact which made Nero increasingly uncomfortable.
After Nick let Nero’s words trail off, he nodded in understanding. “You expected the assassins? How? I thought you didn’t read the mission packet?… Never-mind, you’re right, that’s not relevant at the moment. Let’s stick to the subject for once. First off, I think you’ve learned the importance of listening when someone is trying to teach you something. Secondly, I don’t think the arch-mage even realized what you did. It’s probably been hundreds of years since he taught anyone how to cast an essence shield. What works for him isn’t really of much use to someone like you?” he said lightly.
Nero didn’t reply, he just stared at Nick in confusion. Nick cracked a small smile and continued, “Nero, the man is nearly a thousand years old, and who knows what level he is at. Do you have any idea how powerful his essence field is? He has to keep it contained so it doesn’t rip the control from everyone around him. You copied ‘his’ shield? Be serious. He probably uses a personalized technique that might not even have a meta-physical layer. His shield most likely has so many spells tied to it that it might as well not even be called an essence shield anymore. All you were doing was collecting a bunch of essence and imbuing it with your control. I doubt you even filled it with your center.”
Nero nodded softly, then asked, “I’m not saying you’re wrong… but then how come it worked?”
Nero could see everyone around the fire nodding along with the question, especially Rose. She seemed very interested in hearing Nick’s answer.
“Well, that’s a complicated question… kind of. The problem is that I don’t exactly understand what you are doing. I’m just basing all of this on what you’ve told me, and what I’ve observed. I can make some guesses, but without getting you in a lab, I’m hesitant to offer any unsupported conclusions,” Nick said quickly.
Waving his hand as if it didn’t matter, Nero said, “I’m not interested in proving you wrong or anything. I just really need to understand essence shields. Feel free to guess away. Any help is appreciated.”
Nick met Nero’s eyes, and sent a request for a private connection through the ether. Nero’s eye twitched, but he did his best to keep his face calm. Accepting the request, Nero heard Nick say, “Are you sure you don’t mind them hearing this? Some of this might touch on some things you aren’t comfortable with them knowing.”
Nero didn’t cut the connection, but he turned away from Nick and looked at the team members sitting around the campfire. Cathleen was stirring the chunky nutrient slop which passed for their rations, while Wesker and Rose sat comfortably, waiting to hear what Nick had to say.
Nero looked down at the ground, thinking about how hard he’d been working to avoid asking questions which might cause someone to figure something out about his stats. He knew they were weird. He’d seen the tables in the books which graphed how most people’s stats looked at his level. Was it really worth putting this conversation on hold, just so he could avoid having the military find out about his weirdness? It’s not like they didn’t already have their theories. They probably had a committee or something going over his test data. He didn’t believe for a second in the integrity of the Thought-hub. Government snooping seemed exactly like something they’d do. If he looked it up, the relevant laws might even be publicly available. The citizens probably considered it common sense.
Rose’s voice snapped Nero out of his thoughts. “Well! What’s your theory?” she asked Nick impatiently.
Nero looked around the forest, reminding himself that this world was just as real as his old one. It was stupid to pretend to be powerful when the opportunity to become powerful was sitting right next to him, offering to help. It didn’t have to be all or nothing, he’d just see what Nick had to say, and deal with it as it comes. There was no reason to blurt out all his stats and ask Nick to interpret them. If he needed to, he could always do that when they were somewhere more private.
Nero looked over at Nick and nodded. Over the connection he said, “Go ahead. Try and keep it general though. I’ve been half-assing my education, and if I don’t grow up a little and learn how to protect myself, I’m gonna get myself killed.”
Nero almost closed the connection before he realized that he was once again ignoring the GLARINGLY obvious. Quickly, he nearly shouted over the connection, “Wait! We can just talk through this connection… can’t we? Just say that you refuse to speculate and will only address the subject when you can get me back in the lab.”
Nick snapped his mouth shut. Then his eyes widened at what Nero had said. Instead of replying, he said to the entire team, “I’m not comfortable offering anything right now. I need to put Nero through a few tests and see what’s happening with his essence field.” Turning his head to look at Nero, he said, “You’ll just have to do your best until I can figure out what makes your essence shield so unique.”
Nero nodded easily, accepting what Nick said with apparent complaint. Wesker frowned, but kept silent. However, Rose couldn’t stop herself from speaking up, “His essence shield is special? How so? Is it why he is able to cast one at such a low level? Do you think it’s something other people could learn?”
Nick shook his head and replied, “Until I get him in the lab, I have no idea. He doesn’t even know what he’s doing, so how can I know what’s possible. How about we just eat, then go deal with that mob?”
Wesker’s harsh voice broke the studious atmosphere. “20 minutes for chow, 10 for reflection and prep, then we’re back at it. We still have two marks to hit before nightfall and we’re wasting daylight,” he said.
Cathleen reached out, collecting everyone's large mugs, perfect for drinking their rations. Rose schooled her face, and if he didn’t know better, Nero would have thought she had really dropped the subject.
As they ate in silence, Nero asked Nick over the connection, “So… what didn’t you want them to hear?”
Nick took a large sip of gruel before chewing it and mentally replied, “Nero, is your soul density over 50?”
Nero knew his best friend didn’t have any bad intentions, and despite knowing that the question was incredibly rude, he answered easily, “The operative level is almost 150, what does that have to do my essence field?”
Nick started coughing, his gruel having apparently gone down the wrong pipe. Mentally, he shouted, “I knew it! I fucking knew it!”
Smirking into his cup, Nero replied, “Language Nicholas! What would Vera say if she heard you talking like that?”
Comments
Leetle Sheet
In this world, everything with life has consciousness, with varying degrees of course. A tree isn't as mentally powerful as a squirrel even. At least not without a lot of time to grow. Dungeons, spawn-points, and other planar events are physical phenomena and not alive... usually. A dungeon that has been around for a millennia is an entirely different story. So a mob can't be dispersed manually, but it can be broken down. monsters and beasts are corrupted identities that hold a soul or souls that aren't intended for their bodies. As such, kill the body, free the soul. Just like any living thing, they must be killed before their pattern is released from conscious control. Mobs are a hive mind that need to be weakened before their base pattern appears. Nick referred to it as 'bleeding off potential' I think.
Ocean Breeze
I had a thought. If they can use their center to directly disperse dungeons and ?wellsprings?, why can't they do the same with mobs? Isn't the basic idea the same?
