Vera smiled to herself as Nicholas hurried out of the room. He’d cut their conversation short the moment he realized that he was running late for a meeting. It was always amusing for her to see how quickly he could disregard his worldly concerns when he had the opportunity to focus on science.

  As his team’s leader, he needed to be present for them to finalize their report on their methodology concerning what they’d done to overcome the kobald’s illusionary techniques. Considering that the project they worked on had been based out of the Tower of Magic, that’s where he was heading. She knew the man lived for publishing his findings and recording them in the city’s archives.

  A few steps before he got to the door, he paused and turned around. “I trust you dear. If you think we need to leave the city at some point in the future, I won’t argue with you. However you decide to handle the situation, I’m sure that will be our optimal path forward. Just let me know what you need me to do. You’re much better at this type of thing than I am.”

  Standing there and staring into her eyes from across the room with a supportive smile on his face, she saw the moment he remembered he needed to leave. Awkwardly trying to continue speaking as his feet began walking the rest of his body toward the door, he quickly added over his shoulder, “I really do need to leave. I love you. Good luck today. Let me know what you decide. If you talk to Nero… No, I’ll talk to Nero. Never mind that. I have to go. I’ll be home for dinner… probably… maybe. Love you!”

  Chuckling to herself as the door closed behind him, she took another sip of her lukewarm tea while mentally returning to what she’d been up to before her loving husband interrupted her with his somewhat charming breakfast table conversation. There was a long list of tasks that needed doing, and that was exactly how she liked it.

  She had both House Walker’s and her own recruitment efforts to manage, the trading house network expansion to oversee, and a thousand other small but immensely important details she needed to address. And that was before Nero was forcibly returned to the city after very visibly coming back from the dead.

  It was going to be a wonderfully busy day.

  Right as she pulled up the most recent report from the former evaluators who’ve been collecting intelligence on the nobles while they were building their little ‘Adventure Society’ under the noses of the council, she was interrupted by an emergency ping from Archmage Jennings.

  Her anxiety spiked as she could feel the subtle inconsistencies in the archmage’s normally very controlled presence through the connection. Whatever was going on must have been truly dire to put the man off balance enough for her to be capable of noticing anything.

  Immediately worried about what could have happened, she opened the connection and asked, “Yes? What’s wrong?”

  The archmage replied quickly, “I need you to get over here to the Walker estate as quickly as possible. You’re likely the only one he’ll listen to. You need to talk some sense into him!”

  Confused and somewhat panicked, she asked, “Who? Lord Walker?”

  Archmage Jennings, sounding somewhat annoyed, replied tersely, “Of course, Lord Walker! Who else would I be talking about?”

  Trying to understand, she forcibly calmed herself and replied, “Archmage Jennings, if you would, please explain to me what the problem is or what Lord Walker has done to upset you, only then will I be able to assist you.”

  Meanwhile, while she was replying, she was rushing through the mansion toward their private astra-teleportation platform. On the way, she took a moment to send a ping to the servants to alert them that they could now attend to their duties in the private wing, as she intended to leave for the day. Almost at the same time, she sent out another ping to her support staff, letting them know that she might not be able to make it into the office. She also took a moment to reserve the astra-teleporter by sending the technician a quick ping covering where she needed to go and making them aware that it was urgent. All the while, the majority of her attention remained on the archmage’s ongoing explanation.

  She was so adept at multitasking in this manner that people who knew her considered it one of her primary abilities.

  Speaking so quickly that his thoughts came through the connection like a solid stream of consciousness rather than in coherent sentences, he said, “I tried to broach the topic of what Nero should be looking out for, but he isn’t listening. You know as well as I do what the people in the capital might do to bring him there, and how imperative it is that he retains his autonomy. I’m sure you’ve realized what’s at stake. His path cannot be allowed to be interfered with by those simpletons. Yet, the moment I brought it up, he began throwing out crazy ideas about ignoring them or leaving the kingdom and hiding out with the dwarves… among other ridiculous nonsense that I didn’t fully understand. You need to talk to him! Make him understand!”

  Walking quickly, she soon arrived at the astra-teleportation platform. Seeing that Peter, their astra-teleporter technician, had denied Nicholas access to the teleporter as she requested, she offered the man one of her rare smiles in thanks. Assuming that everything was ready for her departure, she couldn’t help but smirk at the confused and somewhat affronted look on Nicholas’ face.

  “You need to start from the beginning. You’re not making any sense,” she told the archmage.

  “Dear, what’s going on? You know I’m running late! We just talked about this. Why did you order Peter to stop me from leaving? Where do you need to go so urgently? All Peter would say is that you ordered him to redirect the outbound coordinates. What happened?” he asked hurriedly.

  All her poor husband got in return was a quick kiss and a pat on his cheek as she walked right past him onto the platform. Although, as a courtesy, she did take a moment to send him a quick ping explaining what little she could. It was easier that way, as she didn’t have the time to waste bothering with a conversation.

  The archmage replied, “Sorry, I’m currently trying to keep Nero occupied by explaining to him the intricacies of Dorchester politics, but I doubt he’s even listening. He has that stupid look on his face that he gets when he’s ignoring me. The good news is that he won’t be leaving here anytime soon as I’m actively slowing down the essence streams affecting the thermal profile of the stew he’d ordered. The kitchens are somewhat nearby, so I’m close enough to do it without anyone noticing. Although, whoever you’ve hired as the cook is oddly capable of some interesting cooking magic. Where did you find her?”

  Mentally scoffing at the archmage’s ramblings, she replied, “Archmage Jennings, I doubt you’ve contacted me for my ability to manage an estate.”

  “You’re right. Of course,” he replied, before returning to what he’d been saying. “Nero plans to head back into the mountain to rejoin House Walker’s forces. After he returns with them, he’s planning on going with the dwarves. I think. Or he’s possibly going to ignore the expected summons from the capital and stay here. He also mentioned something about just leaving the city and traveling the rest of the kingdom. Despite how adamant he seems about his plans when he says them, he keeps changing them. I need you here to get him to focus. This is not the time for him to be recklessly deciding his future as if he were picking out a random dish from a dessert menu.”

  Guessing that Nero had probably just been expressing whatever thoughts popped into his head on how he might deal with the situation, all while seeming to be intending to go through with them, it was understandable how a man like the archmage might get confused. Nero wasn’t a planner. Not really. He was the type of brash, self-assured, young man that would have multiple theoretical game plans running concurrently, only picking a path forward when he was ultimately forced to. Only afterward would Nero claim that it had all been part of his plan.

  if Jennings had expected Nero to calmly sit down with him and rationally discuss the situation, then it would explain why he currently seemed so off-balance. Anyone trying to follow Nero’s thought process would end up suffering from anxiety-inducing heartburn along with a skull-shattering headache.

  “Don’t worry, archmage. I’m on my way,” she assured him. Hopefully, the archmage would remain sane until she got there.

  Meanwhile, she watched Nicholas’ eyes gloss over as he opened up the ping she’d sent him. Assured that her loving husband would understand, she turned her attention to Peter. After giving him a quick nod to indicate that she was ready to depart, she felt the astra-teleporter activate.

  —--

  While Jennings continued his in-depth lecture on whatever subject he was currently prattling on about, Nero was entranced by the current Thought Hub video he was watching in his head. It was a series of video blogs that were bundled together by some teacher who worked for the Center on the topic of Magic Academies. The lady appeared to be trying to highlight the growing disparity in educational standards between Dorchester’s various schooling options and what was available to students in other comparable cities.

  Nero found it incredibly interesting because the videos she was referencing were all personal blogs about what students liked and didn’t like about where they were studying. The lady had collected them so that students and parents who were interested could learn more about what to expect when attending four of the main magic academies in Dorchester. She obviously had been trying to be helpful, but Nero found the videos hilariously informative in a way she probably didn’t intend for them to be.

  He’d known about how cities in Oglivarch were supposed to be self-reliant, and how informational controls were put in place to limit what people could learn. But what he hadn’t known was how utterly stupid the system truly was until he saw how accepting people were of it. Rather than discuss how the government was restricting their education, video after video showed that they were more interested in ‘how’ things were being taught than ‘what’ was being taught.

  She did an entire episode on ‘the proper way to cast a cleaning spell’. While the original spell was available for every city from the moment it was founded, over time advances in research have affected how it was being taught in different cities. The lady had worked hard to show that people who’d immigrated to Dorchester from other cities had access to better cleaning spells and that Dorchester needed to take better advantage of the knowledge it had available to them.

  Instead of being pissed that the government was hiding the real advanced versions of the spell, she and every student blog she referenced focused on how the different schools should be stealing the knowledge from other cities. They were so intent on following the law, that their only concern was how best to acquire better spells without doing anything wrong.

  It was a cultural belief structure so foreign to him, that he couldn’t stop himself from watching them bitch about it. How they could not care that the government had the knowledge and was keeping it from him was mind-boggling.

  To be fair, he only started watching them because he fell down the Thought Hub hole in the same way he used to fall down the Internet hole. It was like the time he spent an entire night watching YouTube videos on the development of twine. Nothing about the subject was relevant to him, but he’d found it fascinating.

  He was snapped out of his obsession by a change in the tone of Jennings’ voice. “Oh, thank the gods in the heavens above, you’re here!”

  Blinking rapidly, Nero pulled his mind out of his connection to the link. The archmage across from him had stopped talking and was standing up from the couch he’d been sitting on to go over and greet Vera. She’d just walked into the room, and Nero could tell immediately that something was wrong.

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  Feeling like he was waking up from a dream, Nero winced at the mental pressure he was experiencing from having the multiple attention streams he’d been maintaining coming back together. He gripped the arms of his chair in a death grip and held his eyes closed so hard he was seeing spots.

  He wondered if Jennings had put him under some sort of learning spell because the part of his brain that had been half listening to him downloaded itself into his main consciousness with all the subtlety of a grenade going off in a china shop.

  Nero suddenly remembered hearing everything Jennings had said. Every pointless fact about the various factions in the city along with those in the capital. He also remembered hearing the man explain the delicate political interplay between the dwarves and humans, along with their shared history as longtime neighbors. It all slammed together into his brain as if he’d actually been listening the entire time.

  “Lord Walker, what’s wrong?” he heard Vera ask.

  Nero opened his eyes to see Vera hovering over him with a concerned look on her face.

  Turning to glare at Jennings, Nero asked, “What the hell did you just do to me?”

  The archmage unfortunately didn’t look as guilty as Nero expected him to be if he’d actually been the one responsible for what he was going through. Instead, the man just stood there staring at Nero in confusion.

  Rubbing his temples, Nero said, “I feel like my head just got put through a woodchipper. Did you cast some spell on me to force me to pay attention to all that crap you just spewed?”

  Vera looked over at Jennings for an explanation. Her eyes made it very clear that despite how powerful he was, he better not have.

  Jennings replied, “What? No, of course not! I was just trying to keep you here until she arrived. What are you talking about?”

  Seeing that the man likely hadn’t been responsible, Nero explained, “I don’t know how to explain it. I remember everything you said, but I wasn’t listening. Don’t get me wrong, now that I know it, I can see how all that information might be useful, but that’s not the point. I hadn’t been paying attention to you, but I still heard it all. Does that make sense?”

  Jennings began chuckling as if he were proud of him for some reason.

  Vera on the other hand folded her hands in front of her waist and said, “Lord Walker, likely you just experienced your first split mind event.”

  Picking up the explanation with enthusiasm, Jennings said, “When you actively divide your attention, part of your mind can be tasked with any number of things. You probably just diverted some of your mental power to listening to what I was saying. Did you really actually retain all that? That’s extraordinary! At your level, being able to successfully split your mind is a remarkable achievement. I wonder if it is a result of your recent self-actualization. Perhaps your mind is now more in sync with your physical brain?”

  Nero didn’t understand half of what the man was talking about, he was more focused on marveling at the fact that he knew about the 38 Great Houses and what made them different than the regular nobles that lived in what he now understood was the tiny ass city, Dorchester. The kingdom was freaking huge. He’d known that… but he’d not understood what that meant up until just now.

  He understood so much about how the society here was structured, and how cities were intended to run. It was like he’d gotten an exposition dump directly into his brain pan.

  Muttering somewhat weakly, Nero asked, “So, my half-listening somehow turned into an ability or something? Now I’m going to be able to just learn stuff while I’m not paying attention?”

  Vera replied, “Not exactly, you’ll still have to put in the effort required to split your mind into tasks.”

  Nero said, “But, I hadn’t been trying to. Was it just the effort of trying to pretend to be listening to what he was saying enough for it to count? That’s broken as hell. What I wouldn’t have given for this ability back in college.”

  Frowning in offense at Nero’s implication that he was gullible enough not to have noticed, Jennings replied, “Whatever the method you use to split your mind, it's one you should master. The skill usually manifests around level 35 or 40 for people who focus on mental acuity and their mind. For others, even ones approaching 100, they never manage it.”

  Nero nodded, still somewhat in awe of the fact that he could now just learn stuff while only half listening to what people were saying. Although he couldn’t say that he enjoyed the process all that much, as having the parts of his brain coming back together felt like having a spike being driven into his brain.

  Seemingly regaining his focus, Nero looked up at Vera and asked, “Hey, what are you doing here anyway?”

  “The archmage requested my presence to aid him and you in your planning efforts,” she replied quickly.

  Nero asked, “Planning efforts for what? And when did he call you?”

  Jennings replied, “While I was speaking with you, I pinged her. You weren’t listening to me, and I need you to take what I’m saying seriously.”

  Vera helpfully added, “The archmage said that you plan to hide amongst the dwarves?”

  Nero, trying to wrap his head around the fact that people could be having multiple conversations going on at the same time, replied, “Ah, not exactly. That was just an idea. He said that some guys from the capital were going to try and force me to work for them, so I was just spitballing some options.”

  Vera turned to look at the archmage and said, “As I suspected. You can’t take consider any of what he says as a ‘plan’. The correct way to deal with him is to inquire as to what his immediate goals are and then move on from there.”

  Turning back to Nero, she asked, “What do you plan to do now?”

  Nero didn’t know what she was implying, but also didn’t like her tone. Somewhat confrontationally, he replied, “I’m going back to the mountain and getting back my Wackos. Why does it sound like you put ‘plan’ in quotation marks? I plan things. I’m a planner.”

  Vera nodded and replied, “Of course you are, my lord.”

  Turning back to Jennings and thoroughly ignoring Nero’s glare, she said, “You won’t get him to worry about the capital until it becomes immediately relevant. It’s best to just plan around him. Including him in your countermeasures would be pointless.”

  Nero, not understanding that he was just proving their point, stood up from his chair and said, “Look, I don’t have time for this. I have to go see why the stew I ordered for the Wackos isn’t ready yet.” Pointing his finger accusingly at Jennings, he added, “And you have to still go get my bag.”

  Walking past them, he ignored the look of understanding they were sharing with each other on his way to the door.

  Before he even made it three feet, the door opened to reveal Ms. Davis. She took two steps into the room and reported, “My lord, the cook will have the stew ready in 20 minutes. There was a problem with the kitchen. They offer their apologies and assure you that they have it under control now. Also, the ale has been delivered and is currently in the room across the hall. Whenever you’re ready, you may collect it.”

  Nero paused in his steps and tried to match her professional tone. “Oh, very good then. Just bring the stew over there, and I’ll collect it all together before I leave. Thank you.”

  After a slight bow, she was back out in the hall and Nero was left standing there like an idiot.

  Turning back to Jennings and Vera, he said, “Alright. So, that’s handled. Now, what are you doing here again?”

  Vera and Jennings shared a look that Nero couldn’t identify, before Vera replied, “I’m merely here to assist you in planning your next steps, my lord.”

  Walking back over to the chair he’d been trying and failing to leave for the past few hours, Nero refilled his cup from what he now assumed was some sort of self-heating coffee pot. “I just told you, I’m going back to the mountain with the Wackos. Until they’re back in the city safe and sound, nothing else matters.”

  Vera replied, “Yes, I understand that. But then what? The archmage is right to have concerns about how you will handle the various factions who are now showing interest in you.”

  Nero replied, “Sure, I get that. And after having heard him explaining for the past hour how many people might want to learn about how I kept myself together after having spiritually exploded myself, I can even understand why he’s so worried. But I also don’t think there is anything I can do about it. Until they make their move, it’s a waste of time trying to guess what they’ll do.”

  Jennings said, “You can prepare! Go over your options in detail and create a counter strategy to all of their available attack vectors.”

  Vera agreed, “Just because you don’t know exactly how they will try and influence you, doesn’t mean that you can’t make a few reasonable assumptions.”

  Nero shrugged. “I like to be unpredictable.”

  Before they could respond, Nero asked, “Hey, you know how you said that the king’s great-granddad had started the push to unify the surrounding areas? And that that’s why the current king is doing what he’s doing by inviting the dwarves to build cities within Oglivarch’s borders. How does that work with the whole human-centric concept which you said is core to the identity of the kingdom? Aren’t there like racial tensions that need to be addressed before the dwarves become citizens?”

  Caught off guard by the subject change, and surprisingly good question, Jennings took a moment to consider how to answer what Nero was asking.

  “You’re right, there are. Humans tend not to have too positive opinion about dwarven intelligence. But no one doubts their powers and abilities. Also, they do have their own societal model which is compatible with Oglivarchian ideals. And really, that’s all that is important when it comes down to it. While many people may not like it, the dwarves will likely fit in well after a few hundred years of integration,” he said firmly as if he were defending the king’s intentions.

  Vera added, “Considering that it is common knowledge that not all humans can get along with one another, most people consider the dwarves a valid option for the kingdom’s expansion. By accepting them for who they are, and not trying to treat them as humans, they might turn out to be a powerful addition to Oglivarch.”

  Realizing that she was referencing the war with Islangur to the south, Nero mentally reviewed what he’d just learned about that subject.

  “Right, the war. There was a failed expansion to the south that ended up causing a generational war with the kingdom of Islangur. Something about a conflict of ideals or something, right?” he asked.

  Vera nodded, “Yes, that’s exactly my point. The dwarves are an honorable species, unlike the Islangurs, who believe in the benefit of working together to protect their society against outside aggressors whether they be invaders or beasts. Oglivarch is the same. There is common ground there.”

  Nero thought to himself out loud, “So, that’s even more reason for me to go help them with their portal invaders. It would solidify the two species' newfound alliance by showing the benefits of working with humanity. I could be like an ambassador with a sword. The people in the capital couldn’t bitch too much about that I’m guessing.”

  Jennings started, visibly jerking forward to begin discussing that potential line of thought.

  Vera, however, interrupted him with a hand on his arm holding him back. “That wasn’t what it sounded like. Lord Walker didn’t mean that he wanted to pursue that as a plan of action.”

  Nero, confused, asked, “What do you mean?”

  Jennings, unable to stop himself, said, “We’ll need to begin writing the proposal for the expedition to be submitted to the Ambasidorial office. If we file it quickly, we’ll be able to use it to hold off even a royal request for Nero’s presence in the capital for some time. Matters of the kingdom, unless personally overruled by the king, always take precedence. That’s brilliant!”

  Nero looked at the archmage like he’d grown a second head. “Huh?”

  Vera sighed and said, “Archmage Jennings, I told you, that wasn’t a ‘plan’. It was just an idea he had. He wasn’t actually considering that as something he is interested in pursuing.”

  Nero finally understood what was going on. Jennings had been trying to get Nero to finalize his plans like a needy girlfriend who was demanding a trip to Niagara Falls. Not a theoretical trip to Niagara Falls, mind you, but an actual one… with purchased tickets and reservations and everything.

  Nero frowned and said, “I told you, until it matters, all of this is just talking. Don’t you just think about stuff like this in the abstract? Like possibilities and stuff? Why are you so intent on making a hard plan to counter these shadow people you keep worrying about from the capital? They’re just trying to force me to work for them, there’s like a thousand ways we’ll be able to get out of it. Stop worrying!”

  Jennings pointed to Nero accusingly while turning to Vera and shouting, “You see! He refuses to understand. Talk to him, explain to him what’s at stake!”

  Vera frowned disapprovingly at the archmage’s tone, but still calmly turned to Nero and said, “The archmage clearly believes that the ‘shadow people’ as you call them will not be so easily dismissed. And he is right. If they manage to arrange for you to be called into the capital, you won’t have the option to refuse them. Once there, you will be within their sphere of influence, and your options will be limited. It would be prudent to avoid that outcome if you wish to remain out of their control.”

  Nero accepted that Jennings might believe that, but he also knew that as long as they didn’t physically kidnap him, there was no way he’d end up going along with whatever they had planned. He had principles.

  Seeing Nero’s refusal to listen to reason, Vera continued, “I imagine that once you are there, you will be offered a great deal of magical training along with what you’d call ‘adventuring’ options in order to convince you to sign on with them. Anything and everything you might desire will be made available to you. It will be difficult to refuse them.”

  Nero thought for a moment, before asking, “Could I take the Wackos with me? I promised them they’d get to follow me into whatever bullshit I get caught up in.”

  Jennings practically squeaked, “You see! He’s already considering it! They’re going to ruin his path! He’s going to let those idiots ruin his path!”

  Luckily, before Nero could respond, the door to the room opened to reveal Ms. Davis. “My lord, the cauldrons of stew and ale you have requested have been collected. Mr. Cochran is awaiting you across the hall with your new armor as well.”

  Nero blinked at her in confusion. Turning back to Vera and Jennings, he asked, “It hasn’t been twenty minutes? Has it?”