"A mistake most people make is keeping a secret too close, holding it tightly, doing their best not to reveal anything," Vanessa continued. "But what’s the point? Keeping secrets are overrated and most secrets can be better leveraged if revealed tactfully. Let me give you an example of this.
"You have now, officially, been to two unexplored places with minimal supervision, both packed with endless possibilities and potential. If, a few years down the line, it comes to light that you have gained some kind of treasure, or benefited from some kind of adventure that, I don’t know, hypothetically evolved your innate ability one sequence ahead of others - meaning your innate ability has evolved more times than the innate ability of others.
"Even if you don’t reveal the origin of where you encountered such fortune, those who study your files will determine themselves that it was likely from these two regions. This is the burden of carrying a secret - it’s almost impossible to hide all traces of it. But this burden may not necessarily be a burden if used wisely.
"For example, in a similar situation, a different secret comes to light. Let’s say you have a unique card recipe or some formidable treasure, and people learned about it. The truth might be that you got it from a different source, but if you leave hints behind, those who study you might discover that the likely origin of such a secret is, once again, one of the two regions you explored, thereby covering your tracks. If you happen to have already revealed some gains from either of those places before, then all the better.
" This is the art of dangling secrets as bait. Some secrets are better off partially revealed than completely hidden, though you have to be careful how and when you reveal any clues. This is also something that can’t be used repeatedly, lest it lose its effect. For example, when I joined Mount Aidin and revealed that I’m an exchange student from Nova, I placed obvious bait in front of everyone. I came as nothing more than a student, by the awkward timing of my arrival and my clear origins provided bait for certain entities to look into my background on its own.
"When they discovered my actual role as a secret diplomat, they felt smug and overconfident, approaching me feeling superior, whereas in truth, they were doing exactly as I wanted them to. This way, instead of me approaching various parties, most of them approached me on their own to try and leverage my secret in exchange for some benefits."
Nero raised his eyebrows, both surprised and impressed. Back when Vanessa had arrived at his school, he had also immediately assumed she was some kind of spy. The fact that she seemed to befriend Silas, who had a prominent background, was too convenient so it only furthered his suspicions. Now, hearing that she had actually done all of that on purpose for her own reasons was surprising. It had never occurred to him that his careful deductions
Of course, he thought she was a spy rather than a diplomat, but he was young and naive back then - he was fifteen, unlike his current sixteen your old self.
"So leaving various kinds of bait for everything, that’s your tactic?" Nero asked, admitting that it did seem kind of useful.
Vanessa snorted, as if feeling insulted.
"You wish," she said, rolling her eyes. "This is just the part that I told you first because I think it’ll be the easiest for you to adopt. You’re too used to being secretive and trying to guide your target towards certain conclusions - don’t think I didn’t notice you trying that out on me. You’re good, but not so good that someone else trained in this stuff won’t notice what you’re doing.
"No, the much more serious advice I have for you, the one I think you’ll find harder to do since you’re so used to having secrets and not trusting others. It’s quite simple for most, but it might be very hard for you. It’s sincerity."
Nero was taken aback.
"Sincerity? Seriously?" he asked, looking at Vanessa oddly.
But instead of smiling, or smirking, or even jabbing at him, she maintained her serious and instructive demeanour, lest he not take her words seriously.
"No matter how you look at the world, it’s basically a fact that you’re too used to being secretive and subtly manipulative, and for the most part, it seems to work for you. What you did with Silas back then, being mean to him just to prod him into working harder, it totally wasn’t necessary - at least in my eyes. The same results could have been reached by being supportive, or at least, that’s how I would have done it. But the results speak for themselves - he gained self confidence, and even transformed into something else entirely.
"But just because your tactic worked with him, and worked on other teenagers, does not mean it can so easily work on others. Especially those who can easily see through your act, and determine that you have some ulterior agenda. You will instantly create a divide between yourself and them as long as you appear to be ’acting’ and ’putting on a front’. Like I said, treat others as perceptive as you consider yourself."
For some odd reason, Lieutenant Earl Berkin suddenly came to Nero’s mind. It wasn’t like Nero had tried to fool or manipulate him, but that man had not liked Nero from the moment that they met.
Had he sensed the fact that Nero seemed to be harboring some secrets? Or that Nero had ulterior motives in coming to his base, despite not being the one who chose to come there. He had even tried to bait Nero into revealing details of Noman’s departure, just because of how untrustworthy he seemed to think Nero was.
Of course, Nero’s attempt to get them into Perilith one last time, for his own motives, had probably not helped his image. Nero always thought that the fratricide accusation was why he disliked Nero, but now it occurred to him that it might be more. As someone with a higher Aetherian rank than Nero, it might be much easier for him to sense Nero’s many hidden agendas, even if he might not be able to determine what they were.
"Alright. I’ll bite. How should I use sincerity?" he asked Vanessa.
"It starts with first being sincere to yourself," she explained. "Only after you know what you truly feel and want can you be sincere with others. Then it begins with realising that not everything needs to be hidden. If you’re angry, if you’re hurt, if you feel like you’ve suffered an injustice, you don’t necessarily need to hide it. By acting so perfectly, hiding your emotions and thoughts, you actually create a wall between yourself and others. Since they don’t know what’s on the other side of that wall, they can only use their own imagination to fill in the blanks, and that’s rarely a good thing.
"Instead, once you realise that most others have felt what you feel, you’ll find that it’s not so abnormal. Of course, that doesn’t mean you begin openly protesting and declaring your plans against those you hate. It simply means you try less to maintain such a stoic and composed facade. While in many situations, such a skill serves you well, in normal, day to day life, such habits only serve to create a divide between you and others.
"The best part is, you don’t need to try hard to get others to notice when you’re being sincere. Others will automatically pick up on it, and will begin to trust you a little more. This will work even better if you know exactly what others have been through, or what they’re feeling. If there’s something in there that you can resonate with, expressing that will work best.
"Now I find that I also need to emphasise that don’t try to fake sincerity. It’s better to say nothing than to fake that. Also, don’t always think of what you stand to gain when talking to someone. Sometimes, it’s best to just... be human and simply just talk to people."
Nero chuckled.
"You’re making me sound like I’m some inhuman monster," he said, almost sounding self deprecating.
"I wouldn’t go as far as to say monster or inhuman, but you’re definitely far from normal. Sometimes that can be a good thing, but sometimes that can also be bad. I’ve hardly ever had a conversation with you where I didn’t feel like you had some hidden agenda."
Nero raised his eyebrows, feeling a little taken aback by the comment. It wasn’t as if she was wrong... he just thought he had been more subtle than that.
The truth of the matter was... he simply didn’t know how to exist without his brother in his life. For as long as Nero could remember, Patrick had been there in his life. His absence brought pain and suffering, and he didn’t know how to be normal without him, so he just focused on utilizing his fathers training to the utmost. To be cold and calculating, to be precise and exacting, to be utterly and totally focused on his goal without distraction.
For a time that had worked. It had worked at keeping the pain at bay, and it had worked helping him get closer to his goal. But now it seemed like he needed to improve his ways. His fathers training was unique, and highly useful, but it wasn’t applicable in all scenarios.
Since Vanessa was from a political background, and excelled in communicating with the masses, and swaying public opinion, he took her advice seriously, and even began to implement it immediately.
With a serious and sincere expression, Nero focused on Vanessa, taking in everything she was teaching him, absorbing all the advice she had like a sponge. Perhaps even Vanessa herself did not expect just how seriously Nero would take her lessons, and how skillfully he would implement them.
It couldn’t be helped. All other things aside, Nero’s thirst and drive for self improvement, at least, was genuine, and was not limited to things related to the spear. Nero didn’t desire, he craved anything and everything that could help him grow stronger, regardless of the field.