Mage-adept Newbanks stood near the back of the control room on the platform overlooking the array. With her arms crossed and a stern look on her face, her presence filled the room despite her staying out of the way.

  While the main focusing array spun in the center of the room, the mages scurried around it like frenzied worker bees. They knew she was watching.

  The mage currently in charge of the central array continued to call out orders, attempting to bring some semblance of order to the chaos.

  They needn’t have bothered, as Newbanks was too invested in what she was doing on her link to bother paying attention to what they were doing.

  Simultaneously searching through all the hurriedly updated protocols, she skillfully assigned teams to the different tasks that needed doing to alter the array. She was also crosschecking the technique Lord Verena proposed against the archive of information she had from the capital, which only she had access to. But neither of those tasks took up too much of her focus.

  Indeed, most of her attention was on the conversation she was having with the city lord and the implications of what was happening. Both City Lord Cosgrave and the Dorchester Council of Leadership continued to push for more than she was able to give, and the legal restrictions she was under were beginning to chafe. Although she sympathized with their position, there wasn’t anything she could do about it.

  “So, you’re saying that this is not a verified research direction already discovered and perfected by the kingdom?” the city lord asked skeptically.

  Replying quickly, Newbanks said, “No, that’s not what I’m saying. I can not legally tell you anything about the kingdom’s methods of scrying that you haven’t locally developed. What I CAN tell you is that I am unfamiliar with this technique Lord Verena has come up with. Whether or not the kingdom is aware of it is not something I can confirm or deny.”

  Sounding rather fed up with Newbank’s restrictions, the city lord asked tersely, “Not that we don’t appreciate you and Archmage Jennings being here, but don’t you think it might be time to assign us a courtmage who is within our city’s development level? We are at war you know.”

  While somewhat surprised at the city lord’s audacity, Newbanks tried to sound sympathetic to her position when she replied, “I’m sure the archmage has his reasons for remaining, and in the interim, I will continue to do my best to serve the council to the best of my ability. Even though I may not be able to personally progress your technological levels, I assure you that I am doing everything I can to guide your mages to the answers you and your city need. However, if you are unhappy with the situation, you are of course free to register a formal complaint with the Tower of Magic in Hennings. The council of mages is always willing to work with the cities of Oglivarch.”

  Normally, cities were happy to have a mage or an advisor with experience and knowledge restricted under the law. Those types of people were able to offer wisdom and guidance that could shave years off a city’s development. However, it seemed that the city lord was questioning the archmage’s and her usefulness… this was not something she had predicted.

  “That will not be necessary. Dorchester is more than happy that you both are here to help us in our time of need. The council and I just believe that it might be more productive to have another point of view from a mage who isn’t so… restricted… in what aid they can provide,” the city lord replied delicately.

  Keeping her mental presence over the link calm, she made sure none of her fury at the insult was being projected. “I’ll be sure to pass on your thoughts to the archmage at my earliest convenience. Is there anything else?”

  The city lord’s presence recoiled slightly, making it clear that she knew she may have overstepped.

  Changing the subject, the city lord said, “Concerning this new scrying technique, the report I was given showed that there is a good chance this might be able to pierce the kobald illusions and prove the validity of the map the dwarves have given us. While I understand you cannot compare it to the scrying methods you are aware of, can you at least tell us how likely it is that our mages are right to be optimistic?”

  Clearly, at the end of her patience, Newbanks replied sharply, “As I’ve already told you, I cannot comment on the technique. You’ll simply have to wait until the array is altered and an attempt is made to scry into the mountain. If you’ll forgive me, City Lord Cosgrave, I must return to overseeing the array’s update.”

  After quickly cutting the connection, the frown on her face only grew more pronounced. Her normally stoic demeanor was obviously fraying. ‘I shouldn’t have overreacted like that,’ she thought to herself angrily.

  Taking a few calming breaths, her expression smoothed as she redistributed her attention onto the other matters she was dealing with.

  At the core of her mind, she couldn’t help but be preoccupied with the thought that the king must have known this would happen. When she’d failed to get Lord Walker into the tower to personally utilize his abilities to scry the kobalds, the king had made it clear that it would all work out. How he could have predicted this outcome was beyond her. The fact that he did makes her feel all the more unnecessary.

  ‘There’s no point in questioning my purpose. All I have to do is to continue to do what he tells me. Whether I succeed or not is immaterial to his plans, as he’s already taken everything into account,’ she told herself once again, attempting to reassure herself.

  —--

  After setting up his tent alongside everyone else's, Nero couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact that they were basically camping inside a giant cavern-turned-chamber inside a city fully encapsulated in a mountain. It was all so surreal.

  There was no weather to get avoid, and no monsters that needed an enchantment to confuse. Yet, everyone was still using tents for some privacy and sleep. Granted, the fact that they could activate the silencing function on them helped with the noise, but Nero still found it weird that they were even bothering with them.

  In the end, it did work out for him, as he could use the privacy for his meditation.

  Having told Merrick the mage that he was getting some rest, and asking him to alert him when they were ordered to move out, he ducked into his tent and set up his bedroll.

  The tent was larger than necessary, and much better than the one he’d used while in the wilds, but still rather cozy. It made slipping into his inner world easier than it would be out among the crowd, and Nero quickly found himself back on the cobblestone path he’d gotten familiar with.

  All around him the recent events and experiences he’d gone through were floating around like wisps. There were more than he’d expected as it hadn’t been all that long since he’d last dealt with them. It wasn’t like he’d done anything all that important, or at least he thought he hadn’t.

  Checking his identity, he took stock of his progress.

  Nodding to himself in thought, he recalled the last time he’d done this was the night before he’d done the whole oath-giving ceremony thing. That was a few days ago… maybe two? He wasn’t entirely sure as the whole 30-hour day thing continued to throw him off. He’d definitely slept more than once since then… probably.

  Regardless, Nero pushed the pointless thoughts aside and dug into the memories and experiences that were waiting for him.

  Starting with the densest ones he could see, he found himself back in his estate giving his speech to the newly inducted wackos. Seeing it in the third person was just as cringe-worthy as it had been when he’d been giving it. He really did look like a tool.

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  However, looking at it now, it was obvious that people seemed to have enjoyed it. And from what he could tell, no one looked all that bothered by his reluctant stance on leadership and responsibility. In fact, they seemed more than happy with it. Perhaps they were so used to micromanaging asshole lords that they were looking forward to working under someone more laid back and less controlling.

  ‘Maybe I should set up a game room and snack table at the estate for everyone. Big ass companies do that for morale, right?’ he thought to himself before wondering if they had ping-pong here.

  Slipping through the memories, he watched his interaction with the dwarves, noticing that he didn’t look nearly as carefree as he’d thought he had. Instead of coming off as a free-spirited young man, he came off more as a host trying to ensure that his guests were enjoying themselves.

  More and more memories went by… His kicking out the nobles from his after-event party. The various interactions he’d had with the people who worked at the estate. That time when he’d found the former evaluators sneaking around. Even the little moments he’d shared with the few wackos he’d interacted with stood out to him as something worth internalizing.

  He found his actions and thoughts somewhat surprising when looked at from this new perspective.

  Nick having given him shit about not knowing about Thought Hubs, him being casually ordered around by Cathleen, and his respectful nods and greetings to people as they passed him by resonated with him. He didn’t look nearly like the typical carefree jerk he was… he actually looked and acted somewhat mature.

  ‘Huh? Am I becoming boring?’ he wondered, as he noticed that he hadn’t been screwing with anyone in a while.

  Standing there on the path after all the memories had been cleared out, Nero realized that he’d barely even noticed the brief fight he’d had with the kobalds. Most of what had stuck to his soul as an experience worth noticing were his interactions with his followers and friends. His small deviations in personality and improved focus on the moment stood out as important in ways he didn’t fully understand.

  Checking his identity, he saw that he’d gained some more growth, but not nearly enough to level. Although, it was probably more than he should have expected.

  Rubbing his chin in thought, Nero tried to understand what was going on.

  The only thing he could come up with was that the pressure of so many people looking at him like he was important was getting to him.

  ‘If enough people start treating you as a serious person, eventually you’ll end up agreeing with them,’ he told himself.

  He just wasn’t sure about whether or not that was a bad thing. Having watched a version of himself looking somewhat competent was a new experience for him… and not an altogether unpleasant one.

  It was clear that he’d gone out of his way to handle the dwarves without them blaming him for the mountain’s ownership snafu, while successfully shifting the issue onto the shoulders of the city’s nobles and the kingdom.

  Not only that, but his wackos weren’t treating their name like the joke he’d originally meant it as. Everyone seemed proud of what House Walker was building, and the people he’d put in charge of stuff were handling their positions well.

  ‘Is this what useless CEOs feel like when they walk around their company seeing everyone doing their jobs and somehow blaming them for their success?’ he wondered before realizing it was a pretty good feeling, despite how undeserving of their loyalty he felt.

  Looking around his inner world, he saw the sun shining brightly and the shadows from the trees dancing merrily around him. The path in front of him remained clear, and the stone path under his feet was getting flatter and more firm. There was a ‘sense’ that there was much further to go, but he was heading in the right direction.

  Smiling to himself in amusement at the imagery, he let himself return to his body.

  Back in his tent, he realized he’d only been meditating for under an hour. Either due to his limited experiences to process, or his improved ability to process them, he seemed to be shaving off the time he needed to be meditating. Whatever the reason, it was good news, as he had a book to finish.

  Laying down on his bedroll, Nero stared up at the tent’s canopy and closed his eyes. Opening up his link, he reopened the book Nick had given him and returned to the last place he’d ‘bookmarked’.

  At around the halfway point in the book, the tone changed dramatically. No longer was it just covering the basics and sounding like an advert for the usefulness of Thought Hubs, it was now getting into the nitty-gritty of how and why they were made and what they were capable of.

  Having been told that the book was meant for schoolchildren, Nero found the progressively advancing content interesting. The earlier chapters were clearly meant for foundational learning, while the later ones required a more adult mindset to understand. He’d never seen a book arranged like this before.

  Typically, books carried the same tone throughout all of their chapters and were meant for a specific audience. This one, on the other hand, seemed to be meant for long-term reading over many years. It was an interesting way to organize the study of a subject. In a way, he kind of thought it was better than requiring multiple books with varying reading levels.

  There was a more detailed chapter covering how the initial Thought Hubs were meant to deal with crime and monitoring of the citizens. When they were conceived, they hadn’t been intended as a communication system at all. They were instead meant to be a forced observational tool to protect the citizens and prevent people from abusing their positions. Instead of having meant to stop muggings and the like, they were meant to stop people in power from sidestepping the laws. They were intended to protect the commoners.

  It came as such a surprise to Nero that he had to set the book aside for the moment and sit up to think about what he’d just read.

  The nobles in power had been getting so fed up with people anonymously reporting abuses of power and issues with the assholes in charge that they conceived of a way for people to constantly be in contact with the authorities. To Nero, it sounded like the exact OPPOSITE of what a person in power would actually do.

  Diving back into the book, Nero had to reread several chapters to understand the subtext that he’d been missing.

  There was a sense of community that he’d been completely misunderstanding.

  The entire system of government they’d set up was geared toward rewarding nobles for smoothly running their cities and keeping their people happy and progressive. Levels and moving along their path were all that really mattered to these people. What constituted ‘power’ and ‘prestige’ were not the same to them as what he was familiar with. As far as he was concerned, a system of government like this only worked because of the monitoring ability of the Thought Hubs.

  The technology saw and experienced everything, while not being able to actually express what it was witnessing to anyone in particular.

  What the Thought Hub could do was rather accurately give a happiness index for the city and highlight areas that were underperforming. Since it was completely based on how the people using it thought, it was inherently limited from violating anyone’s personal preferences. It was like a giant mental metaphorical mirror that showed the entire city.

  Back when he’d first been told that people in charge could find him easily through the Thought Hub, he’d assumed that everyone was being tracked. But, that wasn’t the case at all. While the Thought Hub could find anyone connected to it, there really DID need to be a valid reason for the person who was looking for them to find them.

  Everything about the Thought Hub and how it came to be was like a mental puzzle that Nero was having trouble wrapping his head around. The idea that the people in charge created it to avoid headaches was simply too absurd to believe.

  Yet, in a way, it sort of made sense. The government they set up required a massive amount of oversight, and to make it work, they needed an impartial system to watch over everything. What kind of person with power would want to spend their days reading complaints from underlings unhappy with their middle manager who was cutting their coffee breaks so their quarterly numbers would improve?

  The people in charge had better shit to do, so they spent their research budget looking for alternatives… which then led to the Thought Hub.

  What really caused Nero’s brain to overheat was the concept that the people in charge were so competent. There was an underlying assumption in their society that only people worthy of their position should have it. It was so counter to what he’d grown familiar with that he had trouble understanding it. But, the people in charge had gotten there because they were powerful, and they only got powerful because they focused on things that mattered. You only leveled by being self-aware and controlling your vices, dedicating yourself to self-improvement, and being the best version of yourself. So, in a way, it seemed inevitable that the people in power were interested in efficiency.

  From there, Nero read all about how the different uses for it were discovered and optimized. He read about the coordinators who monitored the Thought Hub, and how they were basically just in charge of keeping the thing running and setting up automated queries. There was even an entire chapter on what it took to be a Thought Hub administrator and creator.

  Rather than being annoyed at having to read about the damn things, Nero found himself enjoying the subject more than he thought he would. It was all just so fascinating.

  Near the end of the book, the sections on Battle Hubs, and how they were developed were nothing short of intense. The idea that people in combat could share their impressions of the battlefield to create an overview that the commanders could interact with sounded like a real-time strategy game.

  This then led to the book’s ending, which was interesting enough to have Nero’s jaw drop.

  The ‘Game’ everyone always talked about was based on Thought Hub technology. Recalling Jennings mentioning something about how they created the game based on simulations made Nero realize that they were using the mental impressions that people actually HAD during recorded battles. It was no wonder that the Game could be so accurate in its portrayal of combat and intrigue.

  The Game they had created could simulate anything… a whole encounter with units and leaders who had actual ‘minds’. It sounded absolutely crazy to him when he tried to summarize what he was reading in his mind.

  Hearing a tap on the entrance to his tent, Nero closed the book and tried to get his thoughts under control.

  Stepping over to the flap for the entrance, he opened it and asked, “Yes?”

  Merrick the mage was standing there, holding a bowl of what looked like a stew. “Food’s ready, my lord. Would you like some?”

  Nero smiled in appreciation of the man’s consideration while taking the bowl from him. “Have Natalie or the scouts returned?” he asked.

  Merrick replied, “Not yet, my lord. Lord Verena has though. He was asking after you, but I told him you were resting.”

  Nodding in understanding, Nero stepped out of his tent, still holding his bowl. “Thank you, Merrick. I’ll track him down.”

  Without another word, Merrick turned around and went off to rejoin Peter, the other mage, and the others. They all looked like they were having a good time.

  Nero, scooping up a bite of stew with the provided spoon chewed happily on a bit of meat. Meanwhile, he queried the link in his pocket for Nick’s location.

  Mentally, he chuckled at the thought of his request being sent down through the ether, into his link, and over to the Battle Hub. There, the request would be processed based on his authority level, the intent and reason behind his request vs. Nick’s desire to be found for such reasons. Having found a sufficiently sound reason to tell him where Nick was, the process would be reversed along the chain until a sense of Nick’s current position in relation to Nero suddenly sat there at the corner of his mind for him to acknowledge.

  Chuckling merrily at the thought of how insane such a system was, Nero walked off toward Nick’s tent to see what he wanted. ‘I’ll also have to get him to verbally admit that he doesn’t think I’ve read the book yet, just so I can make him look like an idiot,’ he reminded himself while using the link to see if there were any available reference materials he had access to that could show him a spell form for stink bombs.