Vanessa stopped playing games as she was now convinced that Nero was completely serious. Perhaps infiltrating Lumina in itself might not have been enough to attract his attention, but unsealing and resealing the Vault, getting out undetected and helping him out in a few things had tipped the scales.
She narrowed her eyes, and for a moment considered Nero. Admittedly, gaining strong and influential allies was one of the reasons she personally came to Kolar, and so far she had been quite successful.
Mr. Rodney and his wife were more than willing to build a connection with her, which was even more valuable now that Rodney had reached the Mystic realm. The scientist James was also a good contact, and she had made more than a few friends in various places.
Even if all of them weren't in places of influence now, it was clear that in the future they would be.
In all of that, she didn't know where Nero fit in. He had immense potential, that much was obvious to everyone. But an unfortunate reality of this world was that fighters tended to die a lot more. That simple observation was in stark contrast to her feelings, which told her that he would surely-
"I can see you overthink things," Nero suddenly said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "It seems there is some kind of misunderstanding between us. If you are not interested in long term cooperation, then we can cut right to the chase, and instead focus on our more immediate requirements."
Vanessa leaned back into her chair and looked at Nero with a raised eyebrow.
"You're quite capable, Nero. You're a good fighter, very observant, and apparently very well connected it seems. But I don't exactly know the limits of your connections, and while you're a good fighter, hiring an Arcanist or even a Mystic to fight when I need it is pretty easy. So what is it that you're exactly offering me? And what exactly do you need?
"I admit, having you called to Fordham may have been a little forward on my part. But you would have done your service wherever you were called, and I genuinely believe your ability can aid in this particular encounter. That does not mean you will always be the one I want to call in case of trouble."
Nero almost chuckled. It was cute when she tried to be serious and critical of him. Although her mask hiding her thoughts and emotions was good, it wasn't
that
good.
"Being practical is good, so I'll give you the practical answer first. I'm good at fighting, and I understand Kolar and Kolari customs better than you will ever be able to. Whether it's Lumina or Perilith or the untamed countryside, they will only hone my skill and serve to make me stronger.
"Then there's also my immense talent with aether, as well as the fact that my ability is awesome, and that in the next few months I should become an Initiate, long before a single year is over from my stabilisation.
"My contacts extend to the Whisper Guard. If you don't understand what that means, then later on you should really look into how exactly I was sentenced to military service. Things will make sense to you then. Did I mention my mother works for the MIA? My best friend is in the Anzem family, not to mention I'm pretty sure the Ferro family and a few other Great families have a decent impression of me, not to mention that I've had more than one encounter with Sage Haiden, so everyone thinks we're on good terms.
"I think, all of that, at the very least, should be enough to convince you that at the very least, in short term goals, our cooperation can be beneficial. That's if you ignore the fact that our prior corporations have come out well, with you benefitting immensely from my efforts."
Nero looked at her amused. She was quite the professional, but trying to have him objectively explain why their cooperation might be useful when they had already spent so much time together revealed more to Nero than she could have guessed.
He was certain she knew him well enough, but the fact that she had questioned him in such a manner despite knowing him meant she was relying on habit or old, familiar patterns to try and gain control, or at least to adjust her own mental state.
It seemed suddenly being brought into the illusionscape threw her off balance, and deviated things from her plans.
In many of his assessments, Nero was right. The only thing he failed to guess was that it was not the illusionscape that suddenly affected Vanessa, but the intensity of his gaze as he looked at her.
Nero waited a couple of moments to see if she would respond, and when she didn't, he continued.
"I see your point though. As of right now, it doesn't make logical sense to invest in a long term cooperation with me. Chances are I'll die along the way, and until I reach a sufficient level myself, there are many others who are stronger than me.
"But Vanessa, you see, when I trusted you back in Lumina, I took a
huge
gamble, and the thing is, for the future, you cannot do without gambling a little. You see, it's not about contacts. It's not about strength. It's not about survival. It's about realising a simple truth."
"What's that?" Vanessa couldn't help but ask. There was something in Nero's voice, a certain energy, or maybe it was passion.
"That the world is changing, Vanessa. It took a thousand years after the emperor to access a second set of ruins, but will reaching the third ruins really take another thousand? The emperor unleashed an era of Eldrim cards, and finally brought aether within our grasp. He changed the fate of humanity, turning us from victims of curses to curse hunters.
"From the darkness of ignorance I emerged, and to mother nature I commanded, yield, and to destiny I demanded, kneel," Nero quoted the emperor. "After the emperor's demise we looked back into that darkness, and entered as hunters. We paid in blood, we paid with power, and we paid with the corpses of our brothers and sisters, and conquered all we could of this cursed world. Yet even now, a thousand years after his death, even a thousand years of progress later, who can claim that they defined this era
but
Iskunder Macedon?"
Nero looked at Vanessa questioningly yet she could not answer. Instead, she seemed almost mesmerised. This was a new side of Nero she had never seen. For once… for once he was not the completely in control, completely calm abnormality of a teenager that was Nero Grant. Instead, he was Nero Grant, the warrior, revealing just a hint of the perfervid fire within his chest.
"But now the race has begun. The fog has retreated revealing the ruins within, and the first steps have been taken. Monsters unseen for an age have once again seen the light of day. Powers long forgotten have returned. Histories long hidden have been revealed. As the Sages race to reach a new peak of power, as the countries contest for their rights, as the hidden powers of the world reveal themselves, vying for a hint of the right to write history, the question remains Vanessa… who will define this new era?
"Will this new era be called Kade? Ushered in by an undying demon? Will it be called Barakus, a testament to the powers of old? Will it be Golden Dawn?"
For a moment Nero paused as he looked at Vanessa, his last question clearly hinting towards the largest political party in Nova, and one of Vanessa's backers.
"Or, a thousand years from now, when people look back on history, will the name they recall be Nero? Or maybe Vanessa? Or maybe someone else we don't even know? Who will define this new era, Vanessa? I do not know.
"But what I do know is that without the will to challenge the world, the ambition to take the world in the palm of your hands, without the courage to look at a path marked by ruin and then walk it, no one will reach it.
"So, earlier on, when I asked to get to know you better, I guess what I was asking was… do you have the courage to take on the whole world? Are your ambitions larger than the boundaries of Nova? Are you willing to take a risk that could potentially destroy your whole life if it fails… but bring you just a little bit closer to achieving the impossible? Are you the kind of person who can command mother nature? The kind of person that can demand the unreasonable from destiny itself?
"If so, then I think, Vanessa, that we can be each other's allies for a long time. And if not, then there's no harm no foul. We can at least get through Perilith together."