The blistering heat cooking Nero's neck was more than enough to drive a man to his knees, kicking and screaming. In fact, Nero was not immune to it, and even wanted to cover his neck in his blue flame to reduce the temperature. But he knew that his neck wasn't actually hot. Rather, the nerves in his body were being hijacked, being made to feel the pain and suffering as if he was being burned.
As morbid as it seemed, his father had taught him about such torture techniques a long time ago, as well as how to identify them. It was a fun trivia game they played as kids. Moreover, one of the reasons he was silent for so long, listening to the masked man's drivel, was because he was waiting to see if his tattoos reacted to it.
Indeed, just as he had expected, his tattoos slowly moved from his back towards the mark on his neck. That was enough to give him the confidence that he needed.
"You've been watching me, clearly. Did it not strike you as odd that, back at the camp, I went to find other teams, but didn't bring a single team with anyone I knew in them? Why would I choose to surround myself with strangers when the number of my acquaintances is not few? Almost as if I was leaving myself vulnerable and without reliable support?
Not noticing the clear invitation was your first mistake."
Nero paused as she shifted his collar and coughed. The burning in his neck had suddenly reduced as the tattoos began to do exactly what they had been designed to do.
"Well, maybe you didn't think about it. I am just a kid, after all. It's fine if you didn't see through that obvious invitation I was leaving out for anyone targeting me. But the snakes. Really? Such an obvious mistake so early in the expedition is not what I expect from a secret organisation that managed to infiltrate the army.
"Timber Horridus snakes don't have burrows in the ground, they burrow at the base of trees. Moreover, the weather is not warm enough for them to begin laying eggs. Having their eggs threatened is the only possible reason they would attack such a large group like that. Not to mention, a litter is a maximum of 14 snakes, not hundreds.
"Just because they are animals does not mean they lack basic survival instincts. Not expecting me to know everything about the flora and fauna around the city where I've lived my whole life is your second mistake. It basically just confirmed for me that someone has taken the bait."
Nero paused once more as his tattoos finally finished absorbing the small chain mark on his neck, and the burning sensation finally vanished. The man was startled as he felt his connection vanish, but Nero quickly continued talking, this time in his normal voice.
"The curse was your third mistake, though that was so blatantly stupid I genuinely question if that was even you. I suppose if you were observing me, it made sense to test how I react to or handle strong curses. It can't be exactly easy to find a curse strong enough to test us without instantly killing us, but the cursed item was so clearly not natural.
Even if I hadn't been anticipating something, that would have tipped me off. Or maybe what you were trying to test was if I reacted to it in any obvious way. Either way, quite stupid.
"The number of small encounters we faced after that seemed normal enough. Who knows, maybe it even was normal. But the Lynx. Once again, such an obvious mistake. I don't even need to mention how they only hunt for food, and targeting a large group that clearly outnumbered them was highly out of character.
No, just the fact that they only live up in the snowy mountains, and not in the forests at the base of the mountains, is enough to show foul play. I swear, by that point, it almost seemed like you were doing your best to advertise that something was wrong.
"I wonder, at any point, did it occur to you that I might be feigning everything? I mean, considering the extent of the problems we faced, did you ever wonder why we didn't turn back? Even when the healer got injured, I didn't even consider turning back. But then again, it's so easy to attribute such behaviour to the arrogance of youth, huh?
"Of all the mistakes you made, the greatest mistake was to underestimate me, and you did so at every turn. You felt like you were in the dark, watching me, but never realised that I was baiting you with everything I did.
My subpar leadership skills, reliant on threatening people, my weakened moves, my limited application of my ability, my lack of use of any cards, everything was carefully orchestrated to make you feel like I was not so remarkable, and everything was under your control.
"You made a mistake, once more, when you faced me out so blatantly, even though I was obviously not afraid of you at all. Although, to be fair, I was acting a little more arrogant than necessary just to give you the impression that I'm overconfident."
Nero took a step forward, slowly and casually, as if he were walking in his own dorm, yet the man in black did not react.
"You made an especially big mistake when you tried to blackmail me," he said, his voice suddenly becoming dangerously low. "That was a big one. Not as big as threatening my mom, though only an idiot would do something like that. She was an elite soldier. You know what that means in the Kolari army? It means she can kill even in her sleep.
She is not some amateur who can be taken by surprise."
Even at his casual pace, Nero covered the distance between him and the man in black quite easily, though the man continued to stand still, not reacting to his approach.
"Your final mistake, the only one you'll probably regret in your short remaining life, is not questioning why I'm in such a chatty mood. Though I guess being an Initiate gave you that confidence, huh?"
Nero scoffed, as if it was the most absurd thing.
"Just an Initiate, and already so arrogant. I could not help but share a few words of wisdom with you."
The pun did not land as well as he hoped, especially since no one beside him understood it, not to mention, the only one listening was hypnotised and so wouldn't react to it at all.
Name: Words of wisdom
Image: A pair of lips speaking
Type: Diminution
Star rank: 0
Ability: [Hypnotise target using your words]
Flavour text: "Just say the word, and I'll die for you," - a dead man
Words of wisdom was the card given to him by Ms. Zim, and it allowed him to hypnotise people by talking. But since it was a 0 star card, its efficiency was not that great, it consumed a lot of aether, and he needed to talk a lot, especially since his target was a level higher than him.
From the very onset of this trip, or in fact from the moment he discovered Henry and Charles might be targeting him, Nero had been prepared for some foul play. He thought that maybe the Dom family was targeting him, but it seemed he was caught up in something else entirely.
This entire trip in the forest, Nero had been purposefully suppressing his performance and making obvious mistakes in his leadership as bait to see if anyone strikes. He genuinely believed he was not important enough to assassinate, unless the Dom family was behind whatever was happening.
But even if that is what he suspected, his experience in the dorms taught him to always leave room for escape and, in fact, have multiple escape plans.
That is why, earlier on, when he went to look for other groups to possibly join him, he had slipped a note to Gabriel, telling him that someone might be targeting Nero.
He did not expect Gabriel to save him, but his connections were real, and he definitely could arrange a contingency plan. Unbeknownst to Nero, it was actually Gabriel who had, through various connections, prompted major Liam to return and keep an eye on the camera's personally. He was still in that room watching all the feeds. Unfortunately, he saw nothing amiss on the feed showing Nero's shelter.
But, ultimately, that was just one of his contingency plans. He had a few more, and having Wendy feign weakness for so long was one of them. That was not to say she hadn't been harmed for real by the curse. She had. But she had long since recovered, and was only pretending to still be weak.
He had other backups as well, but for now, he turned his attention back to the man in black. He knew for a fact that the man was not alone - after all, either he or one of his allies had the ability or a card that allowed them to control animals. So, at the very minimum, there had to be some animals hiding in the darkness, waiting to attack at the signal.
But for now, anyone who heard his voice should be thoroughly hypnotised.
"Who sent you?" Nero asked.