The class was one of the most interesting ones Nero ever attended, even if they didn’t learn anything practical. As the title of the paper suggested, it was discussing the gradual attunement of humans to aether, and the environment of this world.
The paper itself only discussed how it was becoming more common for people to rise enough ranks to gain professions, and even studied that the children of those Card Masters with Professions were more likely to have better aether control than of those Card Masters with a lower rank.
It was not a certainty, merely a matter of chance, but it was still a significant finding. The author of the paper also suggested that a primary reason that the path of a Card Master ended at Sage was because ancient humans may have had insufficient aetheric control to progress to higher ranks.
Nero wasn’t sure why everyone was so certain that there were higher ranks, but it seemed to be a given.
The majority of the paper merely discussed the phenomenon of Gradual Attunement to aether, but the last segment of the paper was reserved for speculations that could be true if Gradual Attunement was proven to be a fact.
The most important focus was on the fact that humans were not from this planet. Of that, the author was entirely sure. The reason this was the focus was because the author believed that humans were at or nearing the point of completely adjusting to the environment of the planet, eliminating any disadvantages they may suffer from.
There was also a lot of speculation of what the human’s origins could have been if they weren’t originally from Niere, and how they had arrived. Based on the cooperative relationship between the mysterious Eldrim race and humans, it was speculated that perhaps they played a role in bringing the humans here.
There were also a few other important theories put forward, such as that of natural elemental inclination. It suggested that some humans, or perhaps some bloodlines had a natural inclination towards certain elements, and spending more time in an environment full of that element would likely give birth to stronger innate abilities in the future. The Ayubi family of Dolziya was referenced in this case, which was famous for always giving birth to kids with abilities related to the Space element.
Then came the period for open discussion, where everyone shared their thoughts and opinions. Unlike the authors, who shied away from making grand statements in the absence of evidence, the cadets had nothing to stop them.
All in all, it was an interesting class, but at the end Professor Isabella reminded everyone that for now, this was just a theory and to not take it as real until proven so. There was more than one theory around for the humans adaptability to aether.
Once the class was over, Isabella summoned Nero to the side to have a private conversation with him.
"I promised that I would nominate you for the Valkan legion if you beat Vilhelm twice, but I honestly didn’t think you could do it - especially after you lost that second match. But, regardless, I did the necessary preparations for your nomination. Now that you have met the criteria, it is my responsibility as the one who nominated you to inform you of what it means to join the legion, and what is expected of you. This is not going to be a short conversation, so you’ll have to drop by my office in the evening."
Nero nodded.
"I have a match scheduled with Vilhelm for today - I’ll come by right afterwards," Nero answered.
Isabella waved her hand, showing her disinterest in the details. As long as he showed up in time, that is all that mattered.
Nero would have thought that she would be interested in seeing him defeat Vilhelm again, but that wasn’t the case. A mere child was not enough to truly earn her dislike. She merely felt irritated that he didn’t pay attention in class.
The remainder of the day passed quickly, and soon Nero once again found himself in the Battle Arena, facing Vilhelm. The only difference was that this time, the crowd seemed to be significantly smaller.
The legend had been shattered, the interest had been lost. There was no longer as much entertainment value in watching their fights anymore. Regardless of who won, it didn’t matter to people.
Vilhelm didn’t seem bothered in the least though. He had spent the last day contemplating his loss, as well as the poem Nero had left him with. Compared to Vilhelm’s own, it was shorter, yet its impact and meaning seemed greater.
It was an interesting challenge to face someone as formidable as Nero, who was also well versed in the literary arts, or at least had some skill in them. While Kolari’s didn’t disdain creative fields, they were most commonly found in the older generation, who had already experienced much.
Whether it was poetry about war, war songs, an ode to fallen comrades, they were abundant, but they also made up the majority of the type of creativity that Kolari’s expressed. While Nero’s poem fell within the same theme, at least he was much younger than most who partook in such things.
"Are you ready?" Vilhelm asked as he stepped onto the arena, hinting that he was prepared to face Nero today.
Nero only chuckled as he stepped onto the stage as well. His goal today was a lot different than it was yesterday, so the match probably wouldn’t play out as Vilhelm expected. But there was no use telling him that in advance.
The referee, upon asking all the usual questions, began the match. This time, Nero did not hesitate in attacking first, though he did not launch himself at Vilhelm with the same ferocity of the first match.
Seeing that Nero was doing things differently, Vilhelm felt reassured and was ready to employ his new strategy. Yet almost immediately, he felt something was different. While he perfectly avoided all of Nero’s attacks, the fight felt more like getting stuck in tar than it did a fight. He could neither make progress, nor could he effectively retreat.
He was no closer to winning than he was to losing, and no matter how he attacked Nero seemed to be able to deal with it. Yet, he did not feel the pressure of losing either. It was thoroughly confusing, but Nero did not seem disturbed in the slightest.