Nero studied the Flickering lantern card.
Name: Flickering lantern
Image: A white candle, nearly used up entirely, inside a glass lantern
Type: Illusion
Star rank: 0
Ability: [Disperse the darkness of ignorance with the light of knowledge]
Flavour text: "As I sate my greed for knowledge, my power grows," - Iskunder Macedon
The description of the ability was inanely cryptic, and even when Nero used the card, he did not sense anything happen. For a few moments, he looked around the restaurant, as if expecting Flintlock to appear out of thin air, but nothing like that happened.
"Is that all honey, or would you like something more?" asked the waitress eventually.
"I'll just take the bill, thanks," Nero said as he took out his wallet. He was ready to pay when he looked at his bill and saw an unusual font.
"I will see you at Fordham - Flintlock."
As soon as Nero read the words, they disappeared from the bill, as if they had been an illusion all along.
After paying, Nero crumpled the bill and threw it away. From the looks of it, Fordham base held a lot of surprises for him. Whatever was happening over there must be extremely important for so many forces to focus on it.
Nero sent a text to his parents, letting them know he was ready to be picked up, and a short while later they both showed up, once again in the van that picked up Nero from the prison. Except this time, the back of the van was filled with bags.
"How was the service?" Marilyn asked as she welcomed Nero in, closing the side door shut behind him as Edward started to drive.
"It was…" Nero thought for a few moments, looking for the right word, but could not come up with one. "It just was. There's no point in focusing on it now. Besides, mom, you're a Mystic now! We have other things I want to talk about!"
Marilyn smiled proudly at her son.
"Well, I suppose we can talk about it a little. You have 7 days to get to Fordham. Just to avoid any problems, we should aim to get there in 6 days. That means we have to go through the countryside, give you your lessons and reach the base in six days. It might sound like its a lot of time, but trust me, it's not."
"Wait, we're going to the base on our own?" Nero asked, surprised. Even though, on paper, all the territory within the border was Kolar, in truth the control the army had over its lands was not complete.
Unlike Creta, which was just barren land, the lands in Kolar were fertile and rich in vegetation of all kinds. It had various terrains and biomes, which also meant that it practically welcomed new curses to fill it everyday!
Of course army teams would be deployed to sweep through the country, and regularly clear at least the areas besides the roads and train tracks of curses, all it took was one unattended day for new curses to replace the old ones.
Traditionally, travel between cities and towns was carried out through caravans or armoured groups to avoid being the victim to curses, and even then, it was not uncommon for an entire caravan to be wiped out from a curse. That is why it was slightly unbelievable for Nero that they were going to be travelling through the countryside alone!
"Didn't you just say I'm a Mystic?" Marilyn asked with a smile. "I'm more than capable of keeping us safe. Don't worry, this is the kind of thing your father and I do on a regular basis. Besides… the things we have to teach you cannot be taught with people in the vicinity."
Nero's body trembled as he struggled to contain his excitement! Yes! He was finally going to get his mother's heritage. More importantly, out there, in the wilderness, he would finally have some privacy, so he could finally test out the effects of Virtuous Moonlight.
So far, he dared not test it out too much for fear that he was being observed. Considering Unity's visit to him in prison, his precaution might have been worth it. Even now, within the city, he did not feel completely at ease - as if hidden enemies hid all around him, in plain sight.
In truth, Nero knew that this was a type of psychological trauma. Many first time soldiers reported feeling like they were constantly being watched by enemies hidden in the dark. Most of them overcome such feelings. Others adapt.
"So, you became a Monarch, right?" Nero asked in a whisper, as if discussing a great secret. "What was that like? How are the active abilities? Do they feel the same as your innate ability?"
Marily laughed, but instead of explaining she just gave Nero a mischievous look.
Nero felt his muscles tighten, as if he was being eyed by an apex predator. His hands and legs suddenly became stiff, and Nero found it difficult to move.
"Do not focus on the abilities of the Professions just yet," he heard his mothers voice in his head, though she spoke no words. "The true power of card masters comes from their cards. Profession abilities, while powerful, are also well studied and analysed. There are entire courses based on how to counter the abilities of each Profession.
The true effectiveness of Profession abilities comes from how well you can synergise the Profession ability with your own innate ability and your cards.
"For example, Monarch is the most commonly selected Profession in Kolar, and we have two Monarch Sages! Yet why is it that only Sage Morphius commands the Undying Legion, and not Sage Donivan?"
The Undying Legion was said to be the personal guard of the Sage, raised and trained from birth by the Sage personally, and forged into the ultimate army. It was also said that since the legion had been formed, they had not suffered a single casualty because of how powerful they were.
In truth, most people knew and understood that it was mostly propaganda. They did not avoid casualties because they were all so strong - they suffered no casualties because Sage Morphius, the strongest Sage in the world, led them.
"Is it because his innate ability grants immortality?" Nero asked excitedly. Details of the Sage's innate abilities were secret, and most people didn't even know their Professions.
Marilyn snorted.
"It's because of the synergy between a Monarch's abilities, and the Sages. A Mystic Monarch's active ability is called Monarch Dominion. It creates a zone around the Monarch that strengthens allies and weakens enemies.
An Ascendant Monarch's active ability is unique, because all other Professions get a second ability, but a Monarch just gets a more powerful, more aether intensive version of Monarch Dominion called Majestic Resilience. It expands the reach of Monarch Dominion, and also absorbs the vitality from enemies to heal the Monarch.
"The final ability of a Monarch, unlocked at the Sage realm, is called Royal Decree. Within the range of Monarch Dominion, it allows the Monarch to summon the dead back to life, and have them fight for him or her.
"Now on appearance, this sounds like Sage Morphius' Undying Legion - except that the legion doesn't come back to life, they never die! Moreover, once Royal Decree is dismissed, the dead return to being dead, so it cannot be used to bring someone back to life permanently.
"How exactly the Sage achieves what he does is a secret known only to him, but what I can tell you is that it's through pairing other abilities with it. So far, Nero, you've been using cards that you bought from shops or were given by the army. But the truth is, to become truly powerful, you have to make your own cards."
Nero frowned just a little.
"I thought focusing on card manufacturing besides the basics was just a waste of time, and could be relegated to artisans to do."
"Yes Nero. For the masses, that's true. For those who will live their lives as an Initiate, or at most an Arcanist, that is true. For those who will never rise above mediocrity, that is true. But what did I say? I said to become truly powerful, you have to design your own cards.
Your previous way of thinking is suitable for a low level soldier, that's it."
Nero looked at his mother, who was somehow speaking directly into his mind, and had a feeling he knew what was coming.
"What I'm going to teach you now, Nero, is a closely guarded secret. Many know some version of this knowledge, and some may even know more than us, but none spread it widely. What the Soren family mastered was a unique branch of card crafting that focuses on altering spell models, as well as creating signature locked cards.
I'm sure you can understand what it means to alter a spell model - at least to some extent - so let me show you what it means to create a card with a signature lock."
Marilyn showed Nero an empty hand, and then waved her fingers to show a card magically appearing in her hands.