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Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.57 (172)
🕑 Added 2024-05-10 22:30:01 +0000 UTCDirector Weatherby was sitting in his office, thoroughly displeased with what he was hearing.
Leaning back in his high-backed chair, he drummed his fingers on his desk and glared at the man standing on the other side of his desk. He could see the man’s team standing behind him, all of them currently cowering in fear, their heads lowered and their shoulders slouched as if they feared bringing any attention onto themselves.
“23 cities. All at once! And no one knew about it beforehand? How is that possible!” he roared. His mouth hurled spittle all over his desk as a result of his anger.
The man giving the report shivered as the director’s voice shook the room.
“From what we’ve been able to gather, this is a coordinated campaign from the Tower of Magic. They say that it is due to the surprising events in Dorchester, sir. It seems that a great many noble houses have approached them, complaining about our claims of prophecy. I spoke with Arch-mage Mathers personally, and he was rather dismissive of our concerns about the secrecy accords governing the management of fate,” the man claimed, his tone remaining as submissive as possible in the face of the director’s wrath.
Director Weatherby listened closely, trying to pull out the threads that would lead him to understand the Tower of Magic’s greater design. When the man finished his report, the director remained silent, as he was still deep in thought.
As the uncomfortable silence became too much for him, the man continued, “We’ve verified the Tower of Magic’s claims. There were reports from numerous Towers of Magic, each having been dealing with complaints and demands for the mages to explain the method behind our practices. From what we can tell, the Tower of Magic is not coming after us… They simply no longer want to be bothered by people who don’t understand the limitations of fate magic.”
That snapped the director out of his thoughts, and his head whipped up to once again glare at the man. “There are NO limitations to fate magic. If I hear you ever again claim that there are, I will personally see to it that you and your family are stripped of whatever meager titles you have managed to claim, and then I will assign someone the sole responsibility of ensuring you spend the rest of your life suffering the most tragic fate imaginable! You hear me?!?” he screamed, his face completely red with rage.
The man shuddered at the director’s threat, nodding vigorously and assuring the director that he was simply relaying what the Tower of Magic had said.
Unsurprisingly, the meeting ended shortly after that, and Director Weatherby was left alone in his office to contemplate everything he’d heard.
He felt his thoughts going over the same questions he’d had since all of this had started. How did such a simple miscalculation cause so many problems? What made this failed prophecy so much more damaging than any of the others? Was it just the scale? Was there a hand steering fate against them? How could so many coincidences be considered anything other than someone’s active manipulation of events? Why was the Matrix of Fate silent on the matter? Could a singular anomaly, in an insignificant city in the middle of nowhere, have anything to do with the kingdom-wide problems that were showing up with alarming regularity?
The door to his office swung open and one of his aides strode in with a grim look on her face. “Director, We’ve just received a communique from the burgeoning city of Brauntail. They have canceled their plans to raise a Tower of Fate within their walls. According to them, they no longer see it as a worthwhile investment. There were plenty of courteous words and apologies, but the tenor of the letter aside, they no longer believe we can help guide them toward prosperity,” she said while sliding a copy of the letter across the director’s desk.
Director Weatherby’s face contorted into a furious scowl. Months of planning and work wasted. Granted, it hadn’t been him who was working on the project, but it still caused his blood to boil in rage.
Standing up from his chair and picking up the letter, he quickly scanned it, confirming what his aide had said. Seconds later, his fists crumpled the letter into a ball and with a quick spell, he burned it to ash.
His aide stood in silence, her face a mask of patience, waiting for the director to decide how they should deal with this latest setback.
With his hands clenched in anger, his mind was consumed with a single, solitary thought. ‘I will figure out what is happening, find who is responsible for leveraging a minor error into a kingdom-wide debacle, and then I will personally ensure that an entire tower’s worth of fateweavers are dedicated to making them suffer!’ he promised himself.
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Arch-mage Jennings looked at Nero in surprise for half a second before sighing and slumping his shoulders in defeat.
Trying to make the young man understand, he said, “Nero, I don’t mind helping you with your magic when you ask. However, I have a feeling you’re going to be asking about things you aren’t nearly ready to deal with. You have barely covered the basics of elemental magic! Do you really think you’re ready to deal with planar dynamics and observational essence theory?”
Nero pointed at the old man and yelled, “Hah! You already know what I’m going to ask about. So, since I’m already dealing with it, you’re not affecting shit by talking with me about it. How about instead of telling me what I’m not ready to deal with, you help me figure out what I am dealing with? Sound good?”
The arch-mage seemed to deflate, then waved a hand as if he were telling Nero to get on with it. Meanwhile, he sank back into the couch, trying to make himself comfortable.
Nero’s enthusiasm was obvious, but everyone in the room could see that he was having trouble deciding where to start. While Nero thought that Nick was a wonderful resource to bounce ideas off of, the man was too focused on the application of magic. What Nero needed was someone who understood the theoretical basis for magic, and the arch-mage had proved more than capable in that regard.
“First, I’d like you to confirm something for me. How is my ability to see essence flows all that different than what everyone else does? Also, is it merely a result of my messed up stats, or is there something weird with me that gives me this ability?” asked Nero, his left leg bouncing in excitement at the prospect of finally getting some answers.
Arch-mage Jennings chuckled and replied, “Yes, your ability to ‘see’ essence flows is the very definition of ‘unique’. Whether it’s a result of your impossibly large soul stats, or due to your soul being modified during its journey through the multiple planes of existence, I couldn’t tell you. I’m not even sure how I’d go about testing you to find out how you’re doing what you’re doing. You see, most people can sense the ethereal plane, but it’s more a matter of interpretation and inference than actual sight.”
Nero wanted specifics, so he asked, “How exactly do normal people see… or ‘sense’ the ether?”
Arch-mage Jennings replied, “Well, normally we’d say that people can ‘see’ the ether. However, compared to the way you do it, I’m forced to use a different term. Even high-level mages like myself see the ether as a flowing mass of informational waves that we join and interact with. Through those interactions, we become familiar with them and begin to get a sense of what they represent. Over time, we get a better sense of what is happening and can recognize the various flows and we become better at influencing them. But, you see the flows themselves and can interact with them immediately. The only reason I understand how you’re seeing the ethereal plane is because it is very similar to how some of our most advanced technology interprets the essence flows. For example, I’ve studied the essence knots you described, and with the aid of technology, I’ve actually been able to see them the way you described them. You’re like a walking essence parsing and monitoring array, and a very advanced one at that.”
Nero nodded, figuring that it must be like everyone is walking around with really poor vision, and relying on equipment to act like a pair of corrective lenses. Perhaps this was his proverbial golden finger that he’d gotten as a transmigrator. He was in a world of people with crappy eyesight, and he was the only one with 20/20 vision.
“OK. I get what you’re saying. I’m also guessing that you’re not going to be able to help me much with all the applications and tricks that having this gift will allow me to figure out?” he asked.
The arch-mage scoffed and replied, “That’s an understatement. Your method of interacting with essence will be completely different from the magical standard. I doubt there is anyone in the kingdom who’d be able to guide you on how to use your gift. You’re just going to have to figure it out on your own. The application of spell forms and magical techniques will functionally work the same way for you as anyone else, but your method of learning will be solely reliant on your own understanding of the ethereal plane.”
Nero frowned, and said, “You see! When you say stuff like that, it makes me question everything that you’ve been saying. Didn’t you just get through telling me that ‘guiding’ someone was considered super evil or something? So why would I try and find someone to mentor me? How do you even have teachers? Do you all even hear yourselves? You’re not making any sense.”
While the arch-mage and Nero were talking, the other three people in the room had remained silent. Even though Nero wasn’t bothered by what Arch-mage Jennings did to the ether, the rest of them were feeling uncomfortable to the point of nausea. Even Nick was starting to feel the effects.
The arch-mage looked over at Nero’s three companions and said, “Why don’t you all leave Nero with me for a while? I promise on my honor to not unduly influence his path.”
Cathleen seemed to be having an internal debate with herself over whether or not she should force herself to stay and keep an eye on her charge, while Nick didn’t seem to have any reservations about leaving Nero with the arch-mage. Immediately standing up, he picked Vera up by her armpits and bee-lined it out of the room. After a few seconds, Cathleen followed them out, all the while looking over her shoulder as if she weren’t sure she was making the right decision.
Nero didn’t really care about them leaving, and he didn’t want to be diverted from his questions by asking about why they were acting so weird. Instead, he remained focused on the arch-mage, his eyes demanding the man answer the question.
Arch-mage Jennings waited for them to leave the room, then turned to Nero and said, “You’ve had to have had a very different experience with authority and mentors back in your old world. Here, guiding and teaching are about imparting simple knowledge, not wisdom. There is no limit to what spells someone can show you, or what legends they can recommend you read. However, those lessons should not be an answer to any problem you’re currently facing. If your reason for acquiring knowledge is merely interest, then your teacher has the responsibility to guide you. However, that aid shouldn’t be offered if you ‘need’ that knowledge.”
Nero’s eyes narrowed, as he didn’t see how someone could so skillfully make being an asshole sound so noble.
The arch-mage saw that Nero still wasn’t getting it, so he tried another approach. “Think about a person’s life from an outsider’s perspective. I’ve outlived a great many people, from their births to their deaths. At any point in time, I could have intervened and altered their paths. In fact, when I was younger, I did just that. However, I also saw the damage I did to their identity by stunting their growth. If I could go back, I’d let them face their trials on their own, let them grow to be more than they were. A guide should only give the tools, they cannot and should not steer the boat. Do you understand?”
Nero didn’t. But he also no longer wanted to talk about it, so he replied, “Fine. So, what can you tell me about soul magic and why everyone was freaking out when I did it?”
Caught off guard by the subject change, the arch-mage replied, “Soul magic? Well, that’s a complicated subject. You see, if you remember what I just told you, you’d know that familiarity with an essence flow is required for a mage to be proficient in its use. So, what do you think that implies when it comes to soul magic?”
Nero replied quickly, “Yeah, I already heard that from Nick. Soul mages are creepy and deal with death and souls and whatnot. What I don’t understand is why he implied that soul magic was a corrupting influence, and could somehow affect my soul by doing it.”
The arch-mage was again surprised. It seemed Nero was really not in the mood to put up with his usual method of teaching. In fact, Nero seemed as if he were in a hurry. As if he ‘needed’ his questions answered. This immediately made Jennings hesitant to answer.
“Why do you want to know? Is there a particular issue with your soul that you are dealing with?” he asked.
Nero groaned, annoyed at Jennings' evasive answer. “I thought you said you’d just answer questions and not be all ‘teachery’ and crap. Why does everyone in this god-forsaken kingdom avoid answering questions simply and concisely? Shouldn’t a mage like you have perfected a 30-word synopsis on soul magic, including its dangers, and its uses?”
The arch-mage chuckled at the idea of a subject synopsis being remotely worthwhile. “Nero, why are you in such a rush? By the time you’ve used soul magic enough to have caused a problem with your soul, you’ll be powerful enough to deal with the consequences… well, most likely. Either way, it’s an important lesson that will provide you with a great deal of experience.”
Nero felt like he’d just been smacked in the face with an ‘insight’ stick.
‘This is all about levels! Of course it was. That’s why they’re all so standoffish with direct answers. Lessons learned on their own are better for a person’s growth… probably. But I don’t have time to reinvent the wheel. Wait…’ Nero looked at the arch-mage, remembering that the guy was like a thousand years old or something. ‘OK. So they’re all about the journey, and the destination is immaterial to them. What a stupid way to live their lives,’ he thought sourly.
He thought back to his ‘lessons’ with Specialist Howard, and how the man had shown him the elemental wheel spells, only to then have him endlessly practicing them while continually reminding him to ‘work on his control’. Everything he’d learned from the man was secondary to the actual lesson the specialist had been trying to teach him.
Nero, his face utterly serious, looked the arch-mage in the eye and said, “You guys suck. All of you. If this is your idea of teaching, then I’m sure as hell not going to any school that follows your concept of ‘education’. Why’d you even bother to give me books with spells in them if you didn’t want me to learn them?”
The arch-mage smiled, seemingly not offended at all, and replied, “Were any of those spells particularly helpful to you in any of your trials?”
Nero groaned, realizing that everything he’d learned from the books was only useful in the most abstract of ways. Mostly, everything he’d done, he’d figured out on his own. Even the spells on how to find hidden enemies had more or less been useless. However, the subject matter had helped him develop his technique for finding empty spaces in the ether, and isolating things that interrupted the essence flows around them. It was all helpful, just not directly.
“You’re the kind of guy who shoves a kid into the deep end to teach him how to swim, aren’t you?” asked Nero accusingly.
Arch-mage Jennings replied immediately, “Well, maybe not the deep end, but definitely the pool. I can’t help someone refine their technique without seeing how they swim first, now can I?”
Nero’s shoulders slumped, and he said, “You know what. I give up. You are the worst mentor ever. I’m going to go on record and say that I want a refund. That favor I said I owed you… you can forget about it.”
The arch-mage chuckled. “Fair enough. I’m sure from your perspective, you’re probably right. Regardless. I do have some recommendations for where you go from here if you’d like to hear them.”
Leaning back onto the couch, Nero waved his hand and said, “Sure. Let me hear it. Try not to give any background information or anything that I might be able to understand. I’m sure you wouldn’t want me accidentally figuring something out that I’m not ready for.”
Ignoring Nero’s mocking tone, the arch-mage said in all seriousness, “You need to think about what kind of man you want to be. As a unique, all your ties have been severed. You can do anything you want. Now, before you make any rash decisions, you must think carefully about what repercussions your decisions will lead to.”
Nero glared at the man, silently waiting for more. “That’s it?” he asked. “Think carefully. That’s your advice. That’s the ‘straight-talk’ you promised me. Seriously man, if you’re high, or hopped up on painkillers, you can just tell me. I won’t judge you.”
Rolling his eyes, the arch-mage replied, “Nero, this is serious.”
For a good ten seconds, they stared at each other in silence, neither backing down from their accusatory stare at each other.
Finally, the arch-mage broke and said, “Fine. Perhaps this alone can serve as a lesson for you. If you leave the elites, and back away from the war, what do you think will happen? For one, more soldiers will die as the Dorchester mages haven’t figured out how to pierce the kobald’s technique hiding their forces. Whether or not that will lead to their defeat, I won’t say. However, I will tell you that you’ll have to live with the consequences of not helping them in their time of need. Furthermore, now that you’re a unique, you can no longer head House Walker on your own. You’ll only receive tribute from the house you started. Considering that you currently have no other members of your house, what do you think will happen to Vera? Nick hinted at a solution, but did you listen? Have you decided on who you want to take with you on your future travels? Everyone who joins your retinue will no longer be part of the local power structure. So, are you expecting Nick and Vera to leave their lives behind and join you? Will you leave them here in Dorchester to face the density shift with whatever soldiers manage to survive this conflict with the kobalds?”
Nero felt his anger cool the longer Jennings talked. The man brought up some seriously good points. But before he could say anything, Jennings continued.
“Now, taking into consideration the larger issues, it becomes even more complicated. The city itself has started to talk about you as if you are a budding legend, sent here to help them in their time of need. The nobles are taking advantage of this by propping you up as the hope of Dorchester. When you were a low-level noble, that was fine. But now, as a unique, their plan has backfired and they now actually are relying on you. Their fears about how they’ve treated you will affect their actions toward your companions and your interests. Furthermore, if they decide they can’t count on you, they very well may just abandon the city and blame it on you for failing to uphold your purpose. While that might end up as nothing more than a small blight on your legend, it will most definitely affect how you’re greeted in any city you visit in the long life you have ahead of you,” the arch-mage warned.
Nero paled, not having considered that the other players in the game also had the option of flipping the proverbial board.
Not even pausing for a second to let Nero digest his truth bombs, Arch-mage Jennings continued, “Then on an even larger scale, there are perceptions at play between the Tower of Fate, the nobles of Hennings and the surrounding cities, and the mage within the Tower of Magic. Your actions since you’ve arrived here have completely altered the predictions made by the fateweavers concerning the destruction of Dorchester. As a result, the fateweavers have taken action against you, tipping the scales of fate to try and have you killed. Yes, it’s been confirmed that the Tower of Fate itself helped arrange for the city-lord’s daughter and consort to try and have you assassinated in the wilds along with your companions. If you end up successfully saving Dorchester, then it weakens their position immensely. The nobles of the surrounding regions have spent years believing Dorchester would fall in the coming years, and you have now changed everything, throwing their carefully laid plans into chaos. While they blame the Tower of Fate, the Tower of Fate blames you. Meanwhile, the mage council, at my behest, has been using this situation to weaken the Tower of Fate’s influence among the nobility in the hopes of eventually leading to their disbandment across the entirety of the kingdom. As our two towers have been at odds for hundreds of years.”
Nero wilted into the couch cushions, the pressure of concerns he’d had no idea about nearly pushing his head into his chest and making his neck disappear.
Mercilessly, the arch-mage went on to say, “So, in short, your actions and decisions have ramifications and repercussions far beyond what you’ve probably been considering. And all of that is just one chain of causality limited to your decision to remain here in Dorchester. Now that you know, do you feel particularly ‘guided’ toward any particular path? Would you like me to list some other options for you, along with their respective repercussions? Or perhaps you’d like the freedom to choose your path on your own, without the weight of matters outside of your immediate control affecting your thoughts.”
Nero’s eyes rose to meet Jennings’, and he muttered, “Worst. Mentor. Ever.”
Comments
Drake
story is fun right now
Ocean Breeze
Seeing a person like Director Weatherby suffer is so satisfying. And also, it's great that someone is actually telling Nero all that stuff. It's stuff he should be aware of.
