There were nine Professions one had to choose from when ascending from Arcanist to Mystic. Nero did not know the exact details of what was required for the ascension, or why a Profession was required at all, but he knew a bit about them.
Of the nine, the one most commonly found in Kolar was Monarch. Whether it was because the founding father of the nation, Adelix Invictus was a Monarch, or the current strongest recognised Sage was a Monarch, or for some other reason, Kolar was recognized for it Monarchs.
The Profession suited warriors well, granted immense power, and had a rich history in terms of famous people who selected the Profession. Then again, so did the others.
Polymath was a Profession only found in New Velarya, since the royal family of New Velarya had a monopoly on that Profession and would kill anyone who tried to become one.
Virtuoso was, perhaps, the least common Profession, and it was straight up banned in Kolar for reasons Nero did not know.
Oathwarden was a Profession that could be linked to Saint Codale, if only because they had an Oath Sage, as well as a sect dedicated solely to that Profession. This was a very tricky Profession, from what Nero knew, and they were especially adept in setting traps and tricking people.
Orchardist was one of the most famous Professions worldwide simply because they played such a great role in the food production of all mankind, though that did not make it a weak Profession by any means. They were some of the hardest to kill, and were absolutely ruthless in combat.
Agha were considered the guardians, protectors of all mankind. They had highly defensive abilities from what Nero understood, and that was not limited to just defending themselves.
Eldermyst was one of the more well known Professions, similar to Monarch and Orchardist. From what Nero knew, this Profession was a good fit for anyone with elemental innate abilities - much like Nero himself.
Conversely, Spectre was a mysterious Profession where very little was common knowledge about it, like Virtuoso. Nero had heard they made good assassins.
That left Ayurvedists. As Dr. Iris tapped random points on Nero’s body, treating him while talking about how interesting his body was, Nero thought more about this Profession. They made the best doctors, although Orchardists also played that role well. However, that did not mean Ayurvedists were bad combatants.
Based on what Nero knew, they were especially potent in single combat, and that their Profession had something to do with balance.
In truth, a lot of information about Mystics and above was kept limited, and it wasn’t like he had one at home who he could learn from. Now, observing Dr. Iris’ strange obsession with studying his body, he began to suspect that from the Mystic realm onwards, progression was not so straightforward as absorbing a card.
Studying, growing, and understanding some concepts might play a role in their ascension. If that was the case, the reason Ayurvedists are considered to be the best doctors might not be because their abilities are relevant, but because Ayurvedists gain the most from studying the human body. More importantly, they might gain a lot from studying the aether within the human body.
He did not voice his speculations for now because he didn’t have much to base it on. It was simply a random thought - one that explained Dr. Iris’s behaviour a lot more than simply declaring her a maverick.
She did not stay long, though, for she had been postponing a lot of work to oversee Nero. She gave Nero some medicine which made him drowsy, telling him to get as much sleep as possible, and then left.
Nero did not resist sleep. Even after three days of recovery, his body was in a terrible condition, so it was best not to push things. He closed his eyes and let dark, dreamless sleep take him.
While he had suffered slightly as a result of his ascension into the Initiate realm, he had also benefited tremendously. His own body’s resilience has grown tremendously, not to mention his recovery. When combined with the effects of Iris’ treatment, he was healing rapidly.
Even so, when he woke up next, his body remained incredibly sore. No one was in the room with him, and based on the direction of the light entering the window, he guessed that he had only been asleep a few hours.
The problem was, now that he was awake, what was he supposed to do? Being on bedrest was not ideal. He was not accustomed to wasting time so...
Nero began to consider his future. Now that he was an Initiate, he would need to learn how to craft the upgraded version of Augmented Radix. He also needed to upgrade all his cards and figure out a new basic configuration around which to base his combat. Snowflake was no longer helpful unless his mother gave him a 2 star card, and he didn’t even know how to contact her. He also needed to learn how to craft his own Innate card.
Besides that, he needed to debrief, and also he needed to talk to Vanessa once before Luminalink broke down. There were some important things he needed to discuss.
One by one, Nero planned out what he would need to do over the next few months before he was free. Once his sentence was completed, he could enter KMA. Normally, he would need to send in an application, but his entire generation, or more importantly, all those Neophytes who had entered Lumina and survived had been granted admission into KMA.
It was while he was planning out his future that a nurse came in and noticed he was awake. After checking up on him and taking his readings, he was told that Lieutenant Earl would be coming to personally debrief him.
Nero was not surprised. By now, he had already understood that there were various factions operating within the army, and the Lieutenant seemed to be from the faction that was silently supporting Vanessa. Or maybe they were supporting the alliance with Nova.
To make their mission happen, the Lieutenant had sacrificed his future career, and unless he achieved something worthy of erasing the Letter of Reprimand from his record, his future growth would be stunted.
Yet another price someone else paid for Nero’s actions. A part of him wished he could be heartless enough to ignore this, to simply blame him for being a part of a corrupt system that Nero hated, and let it be. But he could not.
Despite how their initial interaction had gone, the Lieutenant seemed to be a genuinely honourable man. He was also Noman’s father, someone who had served under Nero’s command.
The consequences that man would have to face because of Nero were not lost on him. But instead of letting himself be weighed down by guilt, Nero simply took note of all those who had helped him, or had suffered because of him.
One day, Nero would repay all these people a hundredfold! It was no longer hate that was driving Nero. Sure, the hate of all those who had harmed Nero’s family had been a strong driving factor in his life, and it still motivated his actions now.
But he was no longer 13 years old. He could not ignore everyone and everything, focusing only on his own anger. The ideals that Nero had grown up with... they may not exist in all of Kolar, but they still existed within him!
It was just that they had been altered somewhat because of his experiences. Nero was no longer selfless, nor did the ambition of protecting all of Kolar drive him. Instead, the will to protect his people was a new idea that was slowly taking shape in his mind.
For a while, his people had been just his family. But, before he knew it, Silas was also included in that group. So was Gabriel. So was Vanessa.
Noman, Lina, and surprisingly, to a small extent, even Bael had earned a place within the group of people Nero respected, and thought of as his own. That did not mean he trusted them wholly - not in the slightest. But he also couldn’t ignore that fighting with them, suffering with them, surviving with them, had left somewhat of an impact on Nero’s heart.
Despite how disciplined and calm he kept himself, the truth was that Nero was a very emotional person. It was precisely because of how emotional he was that the pain he felt on his brother’s loss had been so overwhelming. Since then, Nero learned to temper his emotions, to control them. He taught himself not to get attached to others and other things.
But, for all his efforts, he was just a teenager. Some things were not so easily given up. Now that he was in an even more emotionally heightened state - or so he had been told - those emotions came up even more often.
Nero acknowledged them, finally. But his actions would still be driven by his purpose, his goal. He would repay all those he owed, and he would repay them a hundredfold!
Nero had only just completed this thought that the door to his room opened, and Lieutenant Earl stepped in with an empty wheelchair in front of him.
"Take a seat," he said plainly and without the possibility of protest. "We’re going to take a small trip."
Nero smiled wryly as he thought of how Dr. Iris was going to react, but he removed his drip and sat in the wheelchair without protest. He just hoped that the Lieutenant would face the doctor’s wrath, not him.