"Do you know what will happen to all those affected by the Abstract curse?" Nero couldn’t help but ask, eventually.
That question got a reaction out of both Noman and Vanessa, who both grimaced.
"It’s tough to say. We were all affected by it, though not equally," Vanessa explained. "To be quite frank, I think… I think the curse chose who it wanted to affect."
Vanessa shivered, which was a first for Nero. He had never seen her express fear so clearly before.
"The strangest thing is that according to tests, every one of us is cured now. There’s no remaining cursed energy in any of us. But a lot of the Neophytes… it’s like they’ve lost all their drive. It’s like, instead of aether, the curse absorbed their emotions."
Nero frowned as he tried to wrap his head around it. On the plus side, he did not need to feel guilty about withholding Virtuous Moonlight if they were technically no longer affected by the curse. On the downside… he did not want his comrades to suffer needlessly.
Although he was not the greatest fan of the leadership of Kolar, that did not mean he had lost his heart for his fellow soldiers.
Before the conversation could continue, someone knocked softly on their door before opening.
The old scientist, James, popped his head in.
"There you are," he said, looking at Vanessa. "I’ve received news that Sage Triss is about to arrive in a few minutes. Would you like to see her fight? Watching a Sage display their power is always… a treat."
Vanessa paused, and looked towards Nero and Noman, who were both stunned yet excited as well. Who wouldn’t want to watch a Sage fight?
The three of them got up at the same time, ready to go, which caused the old scientist to chuckle. He didn’t mind at all that Nero and Noman were joining Vanessa. Maybe he had wanted them to do so to begin with.
"Follow me," he said. "There’s a viewing deck that should be safe enough for us to watch from."
They quickly walked through the building, but as they passed the defeated and distraught Neophytes, they slowed down. The old man just looked at them, giving the odd nod if one of them looked back up.
Nero thought back to what Vanessa had just told him. It was not that the curse was still affecting them, but that they seemed to have lost their drive.
He looked at the group, some fidgeting nervously, while others sitting absolutely still as if they were statues. Before this incident, they were the most talented, most hopeful Neophytes who had survived the trials of Lumina. Now, their future was uncertain. But if it was just about emotions, or drive, Nero wondered if they could be stimulated or inspired in some way. Or maybe, with time, they’d recover on their own.
"I heard of what you guys did, of what you went through," Nero suddenly said out loud, causing everyone to look at him. Vanessa had a questioning look on her face, while Noman and James just observed. The actual Neophytes themselves, however, mostly just had blank expressions.
"You did a good job. You have done a great service to Kolar," Nero continued, well aware that even if his feelings towards it had numbed, patriotism was a big thing on Kolar. "Yet the fight is not yet over, so I will go on ahead. Rest, recover, and when you’re ready, return so that we may fight together as comrades in arms."
No one responded to Nero’s words, and the group just continued to look at Nero with empty eyes, but Nero did not allow himself to feel awkward, or as if his words had been a waste.
As he walked out of the building under the gaze of those who had suffered, Nero could still hear the roaring chant of the Fordham war song in his ears. He had felt disillusioned to the reality of Kolar, and at the same time could not deny that Kolar was still a nation full of heroes.
Even if he had enmity in his heart for the crimes against his brother, he could not deny the gallant hearts of those who sacrificed for what they believed in.
Empty gazes followed Nero’s figure as he departed, yet right before the door closed behind him a voice, barely audible, whispered, "wait for me there."
It was a girl, sitting in the far corner, her body trembling from time to time. She was pale, and looked as if all the strength had been drained of her, yet she was the one who spoke, almost as if instinctually responding to Nero. Though her gaze was still empty, devoid of all thought or emotion, a lifetime of training and dedication had created an instinct deeply ingrained within her.
Whether she had spoken of her true self or simply out of instinct could not be determined. But Nero smiled nonetheless. A single spark could light a raging fire. The spirit of a warrior was not so easily quashed.
Besides Nero, only James seemed to have heard the words. The old scientist gave Nero an intrigued look.
"My boy, you remind me of your mother," James said as he led the group towards a tower near the boundary wall. "She has a lot of spirit as well."
"You know my mother?" Nero asked, curiously.
"A benefit of being old," James said, perhaps with a little too much pride. "I’ve met a lot of people. Although I don’t necessarily remember all of them, it’s hard to forget a woman as… loud as your mother."
Nero wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or insult. After all, he could feel that describing his mother as ’loud’ was the old man’s attempt at being diplomatic. His mother’s personality did not allow for her to be ignored, nor was she shy about voicing her opinions.
To be honest, he was fairly certain that the reason he was so good at offending people was because he inherited his mothers strong personality.
In the end, he decided not to respond, and simply stayed silent.
The tower they entered, although not directly attached to the wall, was close enough to view what was happening beyond. This close to the fight, Nero could feel the constant tremors in the ground, let alone hear the chaotic cacophony of war. The most shocking thing was, even without seeing the actual fight yet, Nero could feel that this fight was much bigger than the battle he had experienced on the way from Fordham.
Even so, when he reached the top of the tower, and looked out the window, he was shocked though he did a good job at hiding it.
He had been told that the base was being invaded by nearby curses because of the Sage level ingredient that had been brought out of Perilith. But that was not enough to explain what he was seeing.
Surrounding the wall were a few lines of soldiers fighting a frenzied melee against thousands, no tens of thousands of insect like creatures. Like an endless wave they covered all the open ground around the base, with even more pouring out of the forest nearby at a constant pace.
This could no longer be attributed to a minor battle, for the scale of the fight exceeded some battles that may happen in wars between countries! Juggernauts fired shot after shot, their beams of aether eviscerating everything in its path, yet it barely cleared the ground for a moment or two, not even a full second.
Mystics fought as individuals, not holding the line but traversing deep into the tide of enemies and wreaking havoc among them. Only through wanton destruction could they hope to mitigate the endless charge of the arthropodic abominations, yet it was only a delaying tactic at best.
If Nero couldn’t literally see Lieutenant Earl standing on the wall, calmly giving orders instead of fighting personally, he would have imagined that the base was on the verge of being overrun.
"Ah we have good timing," James said with a pleased voice. "She’s about to arrive. Tell me, young Vanessa, do you know the colloquial moniker for Sage Triss in Kolar?"
"Isn’t she called the Indestructible Sage?" Vanessa asked, but that only caused James to chuckle.
"Oh yes, yes, she is called that as well. My bad, I forgot she has more than one nickname. No, her most popular nickname in Kolar is Calamity Phoenix. Can you guess why?"
"Is it because of her innate ability?" Vanessa asked. In truth, while some basic knowledge of all Sages was public knowledge, most of their true powers and abilities were usually kept a close secret.
James opened his mouth to answer, but a deafening screech rang out in the air as a ball of fire burst through the clouds, heading directly towards the ground.
Nero squinted his eyes, making sure to take in every single detail.
Within that ball of fire seemed to be a large bird, and at first Nero thought that the flames were a part of the bird. But it took only a moment for him to remember some rumours about Sage Triss, and realised that those were not the bird’s own flames, but were a result of how quickly the bird was traveling through the air. It seemed the bird’s body was on fire!
Then, the bird crashed right into the ground, without slowing down in the slightest, causing a massive explosion.
The Calamity Phoenix had finally arrived.