Vilhelm had no doubt that if Isabella wanted, she could hide all her thoughts from himself. He did not know if she was unaware of his innate ability, or if she couldn’t be bothered to hide her thoughts, but he could see through her intent. He could see through the intent of anyone near him, unless they actively hid it.
That is why, more than anyone may have realised, Vilhelm was aware of the extent of the ulterior motives everyone around him had. They wanted to befriend him, possibly even recruit him. Everyone had high hopes for his future, so getting his help early on would be a tremendous boon.
"Do you remember when you were told about the Valkan Legion? That you were nominated to join it," she said, turning her gaze from Vilhelm to Nero. "Well, he was recently nominated as well. Unfortunately, between the both of you, only one can get the actual position. So, to increase his chances of winning, he’s been taking extra classes to cover up the gap between you two."
Vilhelm looked at Nero, and focused on his intent. It didn’t look like he was studying to cover the gap. No, if someone asked him he’d say that Nero was greedy for it.
Vilhelm narrowed his eyes. Nero was tough to read, because if he went by what he saw on the surface, he would be fooled. Beneath that unwaveringly focused determination and focus hid the true motivators that guided his actions. He just hadn’t seen through them yet.
"To be clear, he’s been studying twenty one hours a day, every day for the past four days and hasn’t shown the slightest hint of exhaustion just yet," Isabella continued, not wanting there to be any confusion.
Vilhelm was taken aback.
"What? How is that possible?" he asked, confused.
Isabella stepped next to him and looked at Nero.
"How it’s possible is irrelevant. The reason I’m telling you this is not to discourage you. I’m telling you this because first I used you to test him, and now I want to use you to test him again."
Vilhelm looked at Isabella, and found that she was completely serious, but his own interest in fighting Nero was waning.
"What kind of a fight can he even put up in this state? Studying for over twenty hours, four days in a row, his mind must be drained and his body fatigued. What can he even achieve like this? A more endurable pace over a long-term period is more likely to get results than rushing like this," he said, not at all impressed.
Isabella almost nodded. She agreed too. Her plan was also to put Nero on an intense training regimen, but one not as intense as this. However, he was reacting differently, so the only thing left to do was move to the next step.
"Thank you, Mr. Helvig, for educating me. In my 51 years alive, I never, ever encountered the most common household educational story of ’slow and steady wins the race’," Isabella said, her voice and body language dripping with sarcasm.
Vilhelm could not help but smile awkwardly. Though this professor of his was quite old, she actually acted the same age as she appeared most of the time.
"You just need to challenge Nero when he gets free from class. If you no longer feel like it, I can give you some incentive. Helena has been asking to be enrolled in a certain training routine since she joined KMA, but has consistently been refused. If you manage to beat Nero, I can approve her enrollment."
Vilhelm’s awkward smile widened even more as he looked at Isabella.
"Just because I favour Helena does not mean I can be manipulated using her name," Vilhelm said, sounding slightly offended.
Isabella was, honestly, quite impressed. He thought that he would have jumped at the opportunity to do something for her, based on all the stories going on around the students. It was actually pretty good to know that he wasn’t so foolish. That is, until she heard...
"Helena will earn that training on her own. If she found out I helped, she’d kick my ass," Vilhelm muttered.
Isabella had to control herself from laughing out loud. She didn’t know what kind of crazy or unique relationship there was between the two, but this was certainly not what she had been expecting.
"Before you look down on him, challenge him. If this routine is making him weaker, maybe losing to you will help him wake up," said Isabella, taking another approach.
Vilhelm paused as he thought about her words. He knew she was just trying to use him, but that didn’t mean that what she said was a lie. Vilhelm had great expectations from Nero. He expected his own fighting to improve drastically facing Nero, so how could he let him stumble now?
"Alright, no need to convince me anymore. I’ll beat him for his own good," said Vilhelm with a nod, and froze.
For some reason, the moment he said that, Nero looked towards him through the glass.
"Can he hear us?" Vilhelm suddenly asked.
"No, this is a one way window. He has no idea we’re here," she said, though she knew that was no longer true. Nero’s sensitivity to aether was surprising, even to her. Nero had not sensed Vilhelm’s words - he had sensed the aetheric fluctuations his body caused when he made that declaration. It was subtle - too slight for an ordinary Initiate to sense - but that made no difference to him.
About twenty minutes later, Nero’s class ended, and he was finally given some free time. Nero immediately closed his eyes, both to rest them, and so that he could mentally revise everything that he had learned.
He could not waste a single second of his day with his current routine. Unlike Vilhelm, who learned something the moment he heard it, Nero could only absorb so much information at a time. Since he’d been taking classes throughout the day, he was already at his limit. Thus, he needed to constantly revise.
The military standard for forward operations in unfamiliar territory was to...
A familiar yet unexpected set of footsteps distracted Nero. From the pace, the weight behind those steps, and the rhythm, he knew who was here.
"Do you want to fight?" Nero asked, without even opening his eyes.
Vilhelm snickered. So self confident.
"I did, though I’m not so sure you’re worth challenging anymore in your current state," he said dismissively. He was grinning, anticipating that Nero would get offended at those words. Yet that did not happen.
Nero opened his eyes and studied Vilhelm. To fight him, Nero needed to be entirely focused. Such inconvenient timing, but then again, such was life.
"Say that after you beat me," Nero said standing up. He glanced at Isabella who was standing by the door. She nodded, letting him know that he had free time.
"You have twenty minutes. After that, it’ll be time for a class differentiating between Tainted and Revenants," she said casually.
Nero merely nodded, and looked towards Vilhelm.
"You’ve been training to figure out how to avoid a draw?" He asked as he walked out of the room.
Vilhelm shook his head in response.
"Training? That didn’t require any training. I didn’t come to find you earlier because I didn’t want to be a bother."
Now it was Nero’s time to be stunned by Vilhelm’s confidence. The worst part was, he knew that Vilhelm probably wasn’t bragging.
"I’ve heard you’re also very good with a spear. Next time, do you want to try to fight with weapons? I can get special permission," said Vilhelm as he walked casually by Nero.
Nero did not immediately respond. He was using the walk to the Battle Arena to clear his head. After a whole day of more or less studying, he felt like he needed a moment to reset himself. In fact, he even began to stretch his arms while he walked.
"If you’re not afraid of a concussion, sure," answered Nero. "Fighting hand to hand, and fighting with weapons are not the same experience. I cannot guarantee that you won’t get hurt."
Nero was not trying to intimidate Vilhelm, he was simply speaking the truth... not that Vilhelm was intimidated either.
The two talked casually until they reached the battle arena, and got a referee. This time, their fight drew almost no attention since everyone was used to it. In the past few days, some people had challenged Vilhelm and lost badly. That just affirmed to everyone that it wasn’t Vilhelm who had lost his touch, but that Nero was a great fighter.
"You know, I thought you were a smart guy," said Vilhelm right before the match began. "But I’m kind of disappointed in you. What you’re doing is not sustainable, or smart."
Nero calmed himself down, and focused on Vilhelm, ready to give his utmost.
"Say that after you beat me," Nero responded.
His words were followed by silence, as neither of them spoke again. The moment the referee began the match, Vilhelm attacked. This time, though, instead of attacking in a straight line his movements were a blur, going left and right so fast that Nero wasn’t able to follow him.
He took a step back to defend, but it was already too late. Vilhelm struck him on the left side, and kicked him behind the knee, causing him to immediately drop to the ground.
Nero’s mind blared with danger as he realised that Vilhelm had found openings and weaknesses in his fighting style even Nero didn’t know existed.