After Nero left the office to enjoy his last two days of the regular schedule that most cadets take, Isabella was left in her office, contemplating the exchange that she had just had. Nero’s resolve was admirable, but it was not realistic. She did not want to destroy a promising cadet in her hands, which is why regular counselling sessions for him would become even more important.
While she had told him that if he failed, or burnt out, his candidacy would be canceled, that was not true. The academy’s expectations of an untrained cadet were not nearly so severe. As long as he had the necessary qualities, that was fine. Moulding him into a valuable asset to the country was their job - if they expected them to come prepared, then what was even the point of them being there?
Despite all that, there were a couple of reasons why she had pressed him so. First off, she could see that Nero was a promising student, and more than anything Isabella loved to teach students who valued what she had to teach. That was also the reason she was irritated by Vilhelm. It didn’t matter to her that he got perfect scores - the sheer disregard he displayed in class for her lessons infuriated her.
In contrast, though he was slightly mischievous - at least in her opinion - his drive to learn was real, and more than anything else, she appreciated that, and wanted to reward it as much as possible.
Secondly, based on her understanding of Nero from the file she read, she genuinely believed that he would make an incredible soldier and asset for the country. She could see that he and his family had some private interests, but then again, who didn’t? She could also see how he was being targeted by various powers, and could tell that he would definitely retaliate if he came into power.
However, her response was the same. Whoever came into power would, inevitably, use it. They would have conflicts. Could she target Nero, preventing him from doing the same when so many were using that very power to target him? That would be hypocritical.
No, what she truly focused on was the fact that in her opinion, the contributions he could make to the country far outweighed any personal interests he had.
After all, she’d read his psychological evaluation. He was not greedy for wealth, nor did he relish taking advantage of people. When he was given a mission, he did his best to complete it, and he valued the lives of his subordinates. In her opinion, that already made Nero far better than most.
If that was the case, and he was someone who could genuinely benefit the country and the people, then she would do her best to ensure that he truly achieved the best of what he was capable of.
That involved telling him that he would be kicked out if he burnt out. Her intention was to, at that point, help him recover from his burnout, and then provide him with a more sustainable development path while making him complete some arbitrary task as a way to earn back his candidacy.
The reason this was important was that if he was eventually selected for the legion, the pressure of the tasks he would have to endure were incomparable to anything he had faced so far. He needed to have experienced total mental collapse, and then recovery so that he knew his limits, and knew how to recover when he reached them.
Unfortunately, all of this also meant that Nero would be deprived of the normal cadet experience in the academy. This was not only a place to train them into formidable officers. It was also a place for future officers and leaders to develop great memories, fostering positive emotions towards the army.
During stressful or troubled times, it was these very experiences, these positive memories that would build a foundation for a stable mental state that could endure. But more than all of that, it was these memories, these experiences, the very friendships formed during these times that made life worth living.
Yet that was life, especially in this cursed world. Everyone had to make sacrifices, and everyone had to endure hardships. It was just that some people had to endure more than others.
Isabella sighed, and then got to work. Changing Nero’s entire training schedule was not going to be easy, because she needed to balance the availability of professors and trainers, not to mention academy events. It seemed like she would be working overtime.
Meanwhile, Nero walked towards his barracks, thinking over everything that had just happened. It seemed like his plans of networking in the academy would suffer. He would need to leverage his additional training somehow to make others want to network with him.
It shouldn’t be too difficult. Networking involved getting to know others who might be in a position to benefit oneself. If he used his additional training to show that the academy had high expectations from him, others would automatically want to get to know him.
While that was still manageable, he needed to find a way to meet Gabriel discreetly. While it was impossible to completely avoid detection, at least in the academy, it was best to take whatever precautions he could take.
Since that was the case, he quickly changed directions, heading towards the library rather than his barracks. Predictably, he found Silas there, studying during his free time. After chatting with him a bit, and updating on what he talked to Isabella about, Nero left.
Hopefully, no one could tell that he had also used a 2 Star version of Luminalink - a card given to him by his mother when she came to meet him. On the surface, there was no difference in the 2 Star and 0 Star version of the card, so Nero assumed that only the card’s durability had increased.
The next day, everything seemed entirely ordinary. The drills exhausted him because his weights had increased once again. Breakfast was scrumptious, and he ate several people’s share of food without any shame.
Nothing changed in his classes, at least for now. Isabella would let him know once his new schedule was prepared. In the evening, once his free time started, for once Nero did not head to the Battle Arena. Vilhelm had not challenged him, and Nero had not challenged anyone either.
There was no need - his Crucible rating was pointless for him at the moment since he could not receive any of the benefits before the month was over. That was also why he was staying in the barracks instead of receiving a private room like Vilhelm had - after all, Nero had replaced Vilhelm on the Crucible ranking!
Instead, he went and visited Silas in the library. After chatting with him for a while, Nero went to a secluded corner of the library and sat down, studying one of the books Silas had given him. A short while later, Gabriel showed up and sat right in front of him.
Their meeting would become obvious to any who saw them, but that was a part of Nero’s plan. The two of them had been quite close so it would be strange if Nero didn’t try to investigate what happened. That is the conversation they would have in public - open for anyone to see.
However, within the illusionscape is where they would have their actual conversation.
"It’s been a long time," said Nero casually, taking a seat. He had shaped the illusionscape into the dorm that Nero and Gabriel used to share.
Instead of replying, Gabriel only laughed reluctantly. Why did it feel like he was in trouble when he had done nothing wrong.
"If you want to blame anyone for my current situation, blame your mother. She’s made too many enemies, and she’s harmed too many people’s interests. I’ve been firmly instructed to keep my distance from you," Gabriel said, getting right to the heart of the matter.
Nero did not respond, and only continued to look at Gabriel, waiting for him to elaborate on the situation properly. Gabriel knew too many of Nero’s secrets, too many of his plans. There was also the matter of the secret, hidden vault within the Vault which only he and Gabriel knew about.
While he didn’t think Gabriel would betray him so easily, he still needed to make sure.
Gabriel sighed in exhaustion, and took a seat right opposite to Nero.
"Alright, fine. Don’t stare at me like a dead man - I’ll start from the beginning," said Gabriel. Honestly, he too was quite upset at the situation. Too many of his own plans were tied to Nero, so the inability to meet openly or frequently put him in a difficult position.
"The moment I was told to keep a distance from you, I started to investigate. I thought I had a lead as to why you weren’t taken in under a Sage’s faction when the rest of us from the Vault were. But this... is something far more mundane, and at the same time, something quite troublesome. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has always targeted corruption, but ever since the ruins appeared, they’ve taken things to a whole other level. As a result, a lot of people have suffered. As it happens, your mother is one of the people carrying out the ministry’s orders, and so a lot of people have made her the target of their hatred."