CHAPTER 354: CHARACTER EVALUATION

"So now you understand why I mentioned this," Vanessa said, her tone taking somewhat of an instructive tone. "It’s not to the extent of calling it a war, but there’s definitely a clash going on between factions within Kolar right now. You have the main faction, which is following the will and decisions of Kolar as a whole, and have decided to help Nova get another Sage.

"Then, you have at least one hidden faction consisting of an unknown number of Ascendants, and possibly even Sages, who want to use those very resources for themselves.

"I can’t rightly say who is in the right or wrong here. Maybe those Ascendants or Sages paid a great price to acquire those resources, only to see them to be given to someone else. Regardless of the outcome, and regardless of whichever faction wins, what matters to you is that you get an understanding of what is really happening around you so you can better protect yourself."

A strange emotion flickered through Nero’s eyes, but he did not respond immediately. He continued to stare at the documents Vanessa was showing him - documents he should have never been able to see in the first place - while thinking about what all this meant.

In the grander scale of things, it meant many things. To him and his immediate plans, not so much. He was a weakling, a mere new Initiate who had yet to enter the army or undergo any proper training. His actual strength was inconsequential, and his network severely limited.

Whether Kolar got a new Sage, or Nova did, Nero’s next steps would not change. He needed to serve out the remainder of his sentence and then enter KMA. Once there, he needed to enter the Valkan Legion.

Nero narrowed his eyes. He recalled the last conversation he had with his father right before reaching Fordham. His father had disappeared, off to go sort out a ’vitamin C tablet deficiency’ which was code for him doing some Whisper Guard stuff. Regardless, back then his father had explained some things to him - about how the reason he was being targeted was not because of himself, but because he was supporting Gabriel.

The competition in Great families had nearly caused him to become collateral damage, and his recent officiation into their ranks granted him some insight into why their contests could turn lethal. With his latest understanding of the situation with the Sage resources, and the various factions, Nero gained a deeper insight into those seemingly straightforward motives.

But, much

more important than that, he recalled his father telling him that once he joined KMA, he should try to join the Valkan Legion. It was a group of the best and most highly trained and recognised officers who graduated from KMA.

Unfortunately, Nero did not currently know how to join their ranks just yet. The larger picture of the nation, and even of the world, did not in any way change his immediate goals.

With his thoughts now organised, Nero turned his focus onto Vanessa.

"Someone seems awfully concerned that I’ll get into a lot of trouble," Nero said, his voice both warm, and yet teasing.

"Of course," Vanessa said seriously, not taking the bait. "If our future is beyond the fog, the need for reliable warriors will skyrocket, and Nero Grant if you’ve proven yourself to be anything, it’s one hell of a warrior. You just... you’re just a little lacking in some other departments."

"Excuse me?" Nero asked, with both his eyebrows raised. His reaction seemed to amuse Vanessa more than anything.

Then, she sighed as she handed him a different folder, taking away the one she had handed him previously.

"There’s no real good way to do this delicately, so I’ll just be upfront," she said, locking eyes with Nero as she equipped a strictly professional expression. "I said once that your personality doesn’t suit that of a soldier, because soldiers have to absolutely obey orders. You said that you’re more than capable of taking orders. That might be true, but you’ve also clearly displayed a rebellious nature, a certain disdain for your superiors, and you might find it hard to believe, almost anyone you meet can probably tell you’re harbouring a great amount of anger despite how stoic you try to be. Unless you address these things, your career in the army will be short-lived."

She opened the file to show Nero a number of documents pertaining to himself, many of them character evaluations.

"In terms of combat, in terms of survival and mission execution, you’re clearly far ahead of your peers," Vanessa stated. "Among your peers, you also enjoy a vast amount of respect and recognition. But anyone with the slightest bit of political training, or the kind of training to make proper character evaluations will see right through you. I don’t know the details of how things are done here in Kolar, but I’m willing to bet that if you enter your military academy the way you are now, you will get excellent evaluations. However, an unspoken cap will be put on your military career. No army, no government, no institution will purposefully nurture a visible threat or destabilising element."

Nero did not argue against her, even though he didn’t believe things were nearly as dire as she was making them out to be. Sure, he might have a small history of being aggressive with anyone who got in his way. Yes, he might have beaten up a few people among his peers for various reasons - all of them with decent connections. And yeah, maybe his anger got the best of him from time to time.

But his record spoke for itself. He was serious, dedicated, highly focused, and most importantly, he completed missions and brought results. Of course, for now his record was too small for it to count, but over time...

Nero just recalled that in his last talk with his father, his father too had told him to fight less and to not offend his commanding officers.

Alright, it might be possible that Nero had some minor anger issues even though he seemed to always be in full control of himself.

Vanessa had been expecting Nero to argue back, but when he didn’t she was almost caught by surprise, yet she didn’t let that stop him. She had thought long and hard about this issue, and it was important that she address it.

"Fortunately for you, you’re also a quick learner," she continued. "You have taught me a lot about combat and field skills, so now it’s time I teach you how to manoeuvre in the political arena. First off, you need to stop trying to hide the fact that you’re pissed about what happened to your brother. Anyone with even the least bit of authority can do a thorough background check, and it’ll be even more efficient if it’s done by officials. Yes, mention of your brother seems to have been erased from records, but it’s not like people’s memories can be erased en masse. So, if the Kolari army is anything like the Novan army, the guy who will be evaluating you in your academy to determine your career path will have a full and detailed background check available for him to peruse."

As if to show exactly what she meant, Vanessa showed him the next page in the folder which detailed various important details about him.

"This is merely the background check that was run on you before your admission into the Fordham research teams protection unit," she said, addressing the origin of the report. "Go ahead. Read it if you wish. I’d rather you take my words seriously before I continue."

Although Nero was already seriously listening to her words, if only to see what she had to say, he decided to skim the document.

His evaluation found that he was highly motivated with a good track record, yet displayed a highly aggressive demeanor towards anyone or anything that presented as an obstacle towards his goal at the time. While this aggressive nature indicated signs of psychological triggers, it did not present as an issue in the scope of his assignment at Fordham. In fact, on a smaller, mission to mission scale, this aggression could be highly useful in delivering results.

The final evaluation read:

’The subject operates effectively within defined parameters and poses no significant risk when acting under limited authority with an established mission directive. However, should he be given broader autonomy to formulate or direct the mission parameters himself, there exists a distinct likelihood that his inherent aggressiveness may manifest in an unanticipated and potentially destabilizing manner. Further observations are required to form a credible assessment under these circumstances.’

Nero zoned out a little as he realised that this was how his superiors saw him. It wasn’t just the damage done from his previous fratricide accusation - his very evaluation said that the best way to utilize him would be in a scope of limited authority.

If things didn’t change, no matter how good he was, no matter how strong he became, the support from the army would always be limited. Without being able to rely on the army, the chances of him becoming a Mystic dropped drastically. The chances of him getting his revenge would drop drastically. The chances of him...

Nero turned his attention from the paper to Vanessa. Clearly, this is not all she had to say, or she wouldn’t have paused to let him read. Seeing that Nero was finally ready to take her words a little more seriously, Vanessa braced herself.

She was not doing this to tear Nero down - far from it. She had genuinely benefited from Nero’s guidance, in more ways than he would ever realise. But that was only because this was his arena, his area of expertise. Now, it was her turn to guide him in the fields she excelled in.