Killian leaned back in his chair and let out a deep, exhausted sigh. Life... life was too hard. He just wanted to take it easy, enjoy a little, start a family and watch his kids grow old. Was that too much to ask for?
Actually, it wasn’t. Since he was a peak Arcanist, it would not be hard for him to find a nice partner and settle down. Considering that he was a highly qualified Aether Engineer, with his work mainly related to setting up and maintaining cables through which aether can power cities and bases, he could also be considered quite wealthy.
It was rare for non-combat related careers to pay as highly as his did. Yes, he actually had all the necessary requirements to enjoy life. But he couldn’t. He knew that such a life was a facade, and that he could die any time.
The only way to ensure survival was to grow stronger, but that’s where he had hit a roadblock that was nearly impossible to cross. As a peak Arcanist, he could not become a Mystic unless he used a Profession Card to help him transition. But how could he get his hands on a Profession Card?
Everywhere in the world, Profession Cards were in high demand. The resources required to craft one were rare, and artisan skilled enough to craft one were even rarer. Like everywhere else in the world, Kolar had more applicants on the waiting list for Profession Cards than they had cards available, so how did they decide who got the cards?
It was based on merit. One could acquire merit through any number of ways, and it didn’t have to be combat oriented. Heck, Killian himself had acquired quite a bit of merit too, so much so that if he wished, it would only be a matter of time before he could qualify for a Monarch Profession Card.
For various logistical and resource abundance reasons, Monarch Profession Cards were more widely available in Kolar compared to the others, making their merit requirement the lowest. Unfortunately, Killian did not want a Monarch Profession.
His innate ability would better benefit if he acquired the Eldermyst Profession, and the required merits for that were too high. At his current rate, Killian would need years to get enough merit.
In fact, Killian had known this for a long time already. That is exactly why he had joined Unity. After all, one could also acquire Profession Cards through them! The best part was that since they usually had missions related to information rather than combat, Killian could more easily acquire enough points to get an Eldermyst Profession Card through them.
Fortunately, Nero had also given him another opportunity. It seemed he knew a lot about Vanessa, who coincidentally had been in the limelight, meaning that information about her was valuable. Not as valuable as information about Noman - at least to Unity - but valuable nevertheless.
He felt exhausted, drained by a long day at his regular job. But as if motivated by some knowledge of impending dangers, Killian picked up his weary body and dragged himself out of his tent.
His team was working in the wilderness, protected by several teams of soldiers, as they lay power lines underground. It was tough, grueling work, but someone had to do it. More importantly, it regularly gave Killian access to confidential areas which weren’t shown on maps, allowing him to attain valuable information which could be sold.
"Park, where are you headed?" asked a soldier who was familiar with him. His full name being Killian Park, many people chose to call him by his surname, and why wouldn’t they? A family with two Ascendants, the Park family was well known throughout Kolar.
"Can’t sleep. Going to go inspect the lines," Killain answered, waving his hands as if he was annoyed.
The soldier just shook his head. After a long, 12 hour shift, he was heading back to do extra work instead of resting. Maybe it was that kind of dedication that made the Park into what it was today.
Killian didn’t care what others thought. He simply made his way to the power cables, and grabbed onto one. Using Aether Conductivity, his innate ability, he could control and transmit aether in a range far beyond what anyone would believe. When touching these power lines, which were spread in a grid throughout the country, there was scarcely anywhere he couldn’t reach with his aether, and thus, with the effects of his cards.
That included a certain safehouse where he sent his aether to, and began to search for a response to his previous message. Although his range was unbelievable, it was extremely taxing on his aether reserves, so what he could do in one go was usually limited.
A short while later he found the message he was looking for, and faintly smiled. It seemed news of Vanessa using Vitracil was far more valuable than he had anticipated. Not only would Nero’s demands be met, he would get a lot of additional perks as well.
*****
With his mind clear, and his confusion abated, Nero returned to the hospital, though this time he did not use the wheelchair. Previously, he had tolerated the indignity of using a wheelchair because he needed to conserve his mental focus to sort through the disarray of random thoughts that were clouding his mind. Now that it was no longer so, there was no excuse for him to use it anymore.
It hurt to walk, it was exhausting, and it required every ounce of his focus that he had available, pushing him to his limits, and for that, Nero was grateful. Alongside his body, it was important to train his mind.
Now that he was thoroughly entrapped by the swaying emotions brought about by his enhanced puberty, he needed to strengthen his mind further, and this was the perfect opportunity.
Nero did not need to rest. He did not need to recover. The process of training, of growing stronger, of getting closer to his goals was all the motivation he needed. If it were not so, how could he have become so skilled with the spear at such a young age?
Dr. Iris had told him to just deal with the difficulty of walking on his own, likely thinking that he wouldn’t actually do it. How could she know that Nero loved to push himself? That was also one of the main reasons all the students in his previous school unanimously trusted Nero.
In this world, much was uncertain, yet the strength one earned through relentless effort was a truth no one denied.
Of course, in this instance, those who did not know Nero’s situation just looked at the teenager pushing an empty wheelchair, looking like he was battling for his life, and gave him a wide berth. It was best to stay away from psychos.
But over the next few days, the sight became pretty common, and news spread that Nero was Dr. Iris’ patient. Everyday, after his regular physio and mandatory counselling, Nero would spend the remainder of his time familiarising himself with Corporal Thomas and the others in his team, or training by walking around in the public areas of the base.
Soon, watching Nero walk became one of the few sources of entertainment in the base. With limited options available, the soldiers took to betting how many steps Nero would take each day. Of course, instead of betting with money, they bet with something far more valuable: additional meal rations! The only rule was that the ones betting couldn’t interact with Nero.
Considering that each day, he pushed himself to walk farther and longer, the bets became an interesting way to gamble. Many winners came over and thanked Nero at the end of the day, thereby slowly increasing his network and the number of people he knew.
The losers would grumble, but they knew better than to complain or throw a tantrum. Just because no one had interfered with the betting didn’t mean the command was unaware of it. These kinds of activities were often given tacit approval as long as they didn’t disrupt operations and kept morale high.
The only thing that surprised Nero in this whole situation was that Dr. Iris didn’t seem to stop him, and instead seemed curious to see just how far he could push himself. What Nero did not know was that her treatment was extremely thorough, and the more he would push himself now, the stronger he would be once all of this was over.
Thus, it was with much regret that, several days later, Dr. Iris showed up in Nero’s room early in the morning.
"Fun time’s over for you," she said, poking him in the waist and sending a stream of aether within. "You’ll be heading back to Fordham today in the afternoon. Your recovery will be taken over by the base doctors once you’re there."