Nero woke up feeling quite refreshed. He felt the strangely soft yet hard when squeezed mattress underneath him, the thin yet rough woollen blanket covering him and the distinct smell of disinfectant.
He was waking up in the hospital again. He almost expected to see his father sitting right beside him when he opened his eyes, ready to crack some joke at his expense.
But when he opened his eyes it was not the warm, relaxed face of his father that was waiting for him. Instead, it was the anxious and irritated mug of a thoroughly pissed off redhead.
Gabriel, despite using crutches, was pacing around the room with a deep frown on his, muttering something to himself.
His memories came rushing in, or at least, a part of them. He recalled the vine invasion in his hostel, and fighting them and…
"Glad to see you're okay," Nero said, his voice oddly hoarse. He didn't remember screaming, so it was odd that there was something wrong with his voice. Maybe the exertion gave him a sore throat, or maybe one of the vines had choked him towards the end.
"Okay?" Gabriel said, turning to look at Nero. Instead of relieved at him waking up, he looked like he was on the verge of exploding.
"I am not okay. In fact, we are not okay! We're thoroughly fucked!"
Gabriel kicked a chair that was beside him, but that nearly made him trip because he couldn't balance on the crutches properly, which only made him curse again.
"Language!" Nero said, surprised at how irritated his roommate was. Although, to be fair, the guy had literal vines growing in his leg, so it's fair that he's a little emotional.
"No, you don't understand!" Gabriel said with frustration on his face. "This is exactly why I left. I hate it when this happens! We're being used! I… I don't know what you did, but your face is all over the news. They're calling you the voice of Kolari dissatisfaction.
Someone is using you as a political tool."
"I… what? What do you mean? What did I do?" Nero asked, confused. The last thing he recalled was jumping out the window with Isa. No, wait, he crashed through a window.
"Here, look at this. If you don't remember, then you better recall what you did quickly. The situation in Aetherpeak is about to change drastically, and you've made yourself into a big target for anyone looking to get some quick recognition."
Gabriel handed him a newspaper with his yearbook picture on the front page! Just as Gabriel said, he was called the voice of Kolari dissatisfaction, as well as a number of other corny titles such as the leader of the future generation, hero of Mount Aiden and such.
Although he was surprised, Nero waited to ask questions till he read the article. It stated how when the hostels of Mount Aiden were being overrun by a new breed of, as well as the rest of Aetherpeak apparently, as a lone student, Nero did not hesitate to face danger by himself and apparently saved dozens of students on his own.
When the army arrived, they found him fighting off an Arcanist levelled cursed plant by himself, just moments away from sacrificing his life to kill it alongside himself.
When he was finally rescued, instead of being relieved, overwhelmed with grief over his peers who died, he stormed up to Sage Haiden, the commander of the Demon corp, and questioned the capability of the military, right up until he collapsed from blood loss.
Instead of being enraged at the child, Sage Haiden praised his bravery, and promised to personally give him a commendation after the situation was resolved. Also, upon hearing the dissatisfaction of the people, Sage Haiden declared that the demon corps will be taking over the security of Aetherpeak since apparently the local government is failing miserably.
Apparently, he also gave the other Sages a deadline to present him with a retaliation plan, otherwise he would do it himself.
But considering the attack on the vines was assumed to be a natural occurrence, just like the Poaceae epidemic from when he was young, who did he want to retaliate against? Was this actually a terrorist attack?
The article then splintered off into a host of other conspiracy theories that were completely unfounded.
Nero was dumbstruck. Was he really reading the news? Nothing in the news was ever published without the military's approval, that was common knowledge, so how did this article full of exaggeration make the front page?
"A political tool, you said?" Nero said slowly, as he put the newspaper down. "Explain the situation to me slowly. I thought Kolar doesn't have politics since the public mandate is decided by the military. Besides, whether we like it or not, I'm in the limelight. We can use that to our own advantage."
"Politics is not just a governing affair, Nero. Where there are humans and human interests, there is politics. The Demon corps is only supposed to deal with cursed incidents, zones and creatures. It has no business taking over a region of the country, even if it is in the name of defence. After all, all such internal matters fall under the purview of the Felix corps.
"But because of how seriously the city was impacted by these new kinds of vines, and using your complaints as an excuse, the Demon corps has taken over the situation. This is like the most basic political power play there is. I'm sure there are levels of this that I can't even see yet, but have no doubt, this is not about the city.
The ruins they discovered must be even more important than we, or anyone else, thought.
"Now one person has made use of you, putting you up on a pedestal in front of the nation. So if anyone wants to combat Haiden, they obviously won't attack him. But attacking you, or even your character, or maybe even your family, are perfectly viable options. Even likely options."
Nero frowned, as he tried to recall the incident in the newspaper. For some reason, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember it at all.
"Are we sure this actually even happened? I don't remember it at all."
"Oh yes, it definitely happened. In front of hundreds of eye witnesses no less. I'm not blaming you for this, if that's what you're thinking. Between you and me, I would not doubt it at all if this was all perfectly orchestrated. Your confrontation of the Sage, I mean. Not the vine attack, although who am I to guess how far back this thing goes?
After all, it shouldn't be so easy to walk up to a Sage and just yell at him. But, you did it. And you're even getting an award for it."
Gabriel suddenly began muttering to himself again, grumbling about politics and how much he hated it, cursing from time to time. Nero wasn't too thrilled to learn that he had been used either, but he did not dwell on it.
He opened the newspaper and went through the news once more, looking for anything he missed. His situation was precarious, obviously, but there was no reason he couldn't benefit from it either. He was not one to just stand and wait for his doom.
"What's this? A recruitment… tournament?" Nero asked as he noticed something in the inner pages.
But his question only caused Gabriel to groan in agony, as if he had been kicked.
"What is it? Stop being a baby. We're in this situation so let's deal with it."
"It was an announcement made a short while ago. The army officially announced and acknowledged the prescience of the Eldrim ruins, and stated the need for Neophytes to enter the ruins, for whatever reason.
"But, the entire army is designed to strengthen its soldiers as much and as quickly as possible, so the number of Neophytes in the entire army may not even be a couple of thousand, out of which maybe only a handful are field operatives. To make up for this shortage, the announcement for the KMA recruitment has been brought forward, and to an extent, made somewhat easier. But there's a catch.
"There will be a tournament, and all top 500 entrants will be treated as potential candidates for KMA this year. But to solidify the position, all 500 will have to participate in a military operation within the ruins that specifically requires Neophytes. If you take part, and succeed, then your position in KMA is confirmed!"
"Why the hell is something like this in the back pages?" Nero exclaimed as he suddenly pulled the article out and began reading.
"Obviously because the spots are more or less already confirmed. Do you think just any random people can get in? I bet all 500 participants come from various great families. By the way, since both your parents are Arcanist, you can also be considered a member of a minor great family, I guess."