Nero Walker, Book 4 Ch.79 (310)

While Nero stood slackjawed, his entire mind was busy working in unison to understand what Angelton was telling him.

“... So, between the guard and the army, they should likely be able to keep things from getting too out of hand. But, you should keep in mind, their goal will be to maintain order, while ours will be to get you to the estate without any incidents,” Angelton stated firmly.

Pausing for a moment, Angelton then added somewhat hesitatingly, “Until you and the rest of House Walker’s leadership, in particular Lady Verena, decide how to respond to this development, I recommend you not engage with anyone trying to get you to publicly respond to them.”

Dumbfounded by the idea that a crowd of people was waiting for them to return to the city, Nero nodded somewhat numbly in agreement with what Angelton was saying.

“So, in short, what you’re telling me is that several thousand religious nutjobs are waiting for me to appear so that I can formally announce my status? As a planar lord or a god or something?” Nero asked somewhat awkwardly while looking up at the large and intimidating Knight who’d for some reason chosen to follow him.

“Not exactly, my lord. Many of them are likely just there to celebrate our victory over the kobalds. However, they’re not the ones you have to worry about…” Angelton continued his explanation, this time in more detail.

When Nero’s mind began to function again, he split his focus to take advantage of his newfound ability to appropriate his available brainpower. After setting aside a portion of his attention to remain on his conversation with Angelton, another part of his mind reached out to his link to check on the various updates from Vera and the others that he’d been ignoring. Meanwhile, the central part of his consciousness took a metaphorical step back to monitor and coordinate everything.

The sensation was interesting, to say the least, and he immediately began to notice a few things that caused his current understanding of reality to expand like a balloon filled with mind-altering happy gas.

Firstly, his previous experience of allowing his mind to slip into the Thought Hub through the link wasn’t currently possible. And, no matter how ‘deeply’ he focused on the Thought Hub, his access remained limited. It seemed that without his central consciousness being involved, all he was able to do was use the link’s basic interface, much in the same way that he’d been able to since the first time he’d begun messing with it.

Despite having earlier learned how to increase his presence in the virtual space, apparently how he was currently using it didn’t allow for any type of subconscious communication or understanding with the Thought Hub’s equivalent of a central processing unit. Instead of experiencing a sense of ‘joining’, all he was able to accomplish was a conversation… a disappointingly average one at metaphorical arm’s length at that.

This interesting little factoid allowed him to finally theorize a few conclusions that up until now he’d been missing. Namely, how exactly his mind and soul actually worked together to create his consciousness.

A lot of what he’d read, but not fully understood, finally became relevant. He’d already been aware of the theoretical interplay between the mind and soul, but with this new information, he was beginning to actually conceptualize how it all came together.

His updated and current theory was that his soul, being the core of who he is, runs the entire show from the background. Meanwhile, his mind operates in the real world and is a fabrication of the brain itself. His central consciousness is the ‘mind’ behind the mind, and the brainpower available to him increases with how developed his brain and body become, likely being a result of his levels and stats. Specifically, the mind stat is likely tracking the development of his soul’s ability to successfully interact with his body. Meanwhile, his body is likely the representation of his soul on this plane. All his stats work together in hopeful harmony, bound by his confluence stat, in order to ultimately reach ‘unity’ (or whatever Jennings had called it).

And yet, it all came back to the soul. That’s where it all starts.

Even as his mind worked its ass off on this new theory of existence, that wasn’t all he was figuring out.

His second major discovery was proving equally important and mind-blowing. Namely that his skills were infinitely more useful than he thought they were.

That said, he still had no intention of tracking them, but he was beginning to understand that no matter how high his level got, he’d continue to be limited by his skill levels. His mind had likely been strong enough to do what he’d currently been doing for a while, but he’d just been too unskilled to take advantage of all that potential.

This new understanding came from the fact that he wasn’t struggling at all with the multiple threads of consciousness he was currently maintaining. Surprisingly, he had no issue listening to Angelton’s explanation while also flipping through the updates that Vera and others had sent him. That feeling he’d had of ‘growing into his level’ made a lot more sense when he took into account the inclusion of skill levels into the equation.

As all this was rumbling around inside his brainpan, the various ideas were being chewed over and digested by his central mind. Meanwhile, his body remained functional and alert, basically running on autopilot.

By the time the Wackos were all back together and moving out, Nero was still blankly staring at Angelton while the man continued his explanation of what he expected they were walking into.

Yet, in the background, another part of his mind was busy absorbing and interpreting the information that Vera and Nick had sent him.

While the pings he was reading from Vera focused on the political ramifications of the rumors surrounding him, the ones from Nick were a great deal more informative.

His friend, the adorable nerd-lord that he was, had sent over multiple summaries of research papers, along with the referenced material, on the subject of planar lords and gods. Each of these had been cross-referenced with Nero’s situation, explaining in detail where there were similarities and highlighting the numerous differences.

With the part of his mind wholly focused on what he was reading, Nero got through a great deal of information before his central consciousness even had a chance to incorporate any of it into his understanding.

When his central consciousness eventually got around to reviewing everything he’d read, Nero could sort of understand how the religious folks had come to believe that he was a planar lord. At times, even Nick seemed to agree with a lot of what was being said by them over the Thought Hub by the ‘experts’ from the religious district. But while Nick remained incensed by their faulty conclusions, Nero was busy incorporating all this new information into what he’d already discovered about himself.

One after another, pieces of information slotted into place, coming together into a unified theory of existence that stretched itself hard to avoid any contradictions with what was considered established fact.

While previously, he’d thought of his soul space as something that existed only inside himself, now he was wondering if, in fact, he had somehow created his own plane by accident.

‘Just because Nick says it’s impossible, doesn’t mean it actually is,’ thought Nero.

If the conclusions he was coming to prove true, then maybe he was like a demigod or something. The term itself doesn’t necessarily matter, as his understanding of what a god ‘was’ was already stretching the bounds of similarity to what he’d believed before he’d arrived here and how the locals viewed their deities.

After all, the translation magic at work created an understanding between two people who were offering their own perspectives, but it was by no means all-encompassing. There was still likely plenty of room for misinterpretation. On more than one occasion that he could remember, he’d missed nuances of what people had been saying.

Those nuances were important. Understanding them would prove pivotal in his efforts to wrap his head around the relationship between gods and their followers, cults and their planar lords, and what exactly those people waiting for him outside the mountain might expect from him.

And, unless he was willing to just sit back and let everyone else dictate how he was going to handle things, he needed to truly adapt to this world’s way of looking at things. He’d recently promised himself to be better about things like this, and he had no intention of forgetting that solemn oath.

With his resolve hardened, he slipped his main consciousness back into the part of his mind that had been running his body. Angelton was still talking, and the Wackos had already moved out. He and the rest of the formation had already begun exiting the tunnels attached to the central corridor leading out of the mountain. Now at the home stretch, all that was left was making their way back to the entrance of the mountain, and getting themselves back out into the fresh air.

Looking around, he could tell that nothing much had changed since the last time he’d been here. The place was still massive, and it still reminded him of the wide-ass highways that used to cut through the mountains back home. Although, the defensive emplacements looked to have been updated slightly. And there were now more shield emplacements glowing like waves of force hovering over bunkers and walls throughout the tunnel.

While interesting, he knew that details like these weren’t what he should be focusing on right now. Even from where they were in the depths of the mountain, he could hear the sound of the people at the end echoing down the tunnel. Luckily, there still seemed to be plenty of time to prepare himself before they reached the exit.

Looking up at Angelton, he interrupted the man’s ongoing discussion on the distribution of their forces and the specifics of their orders to maintain the perimeter. His tone light, Nero asked, “Hey, real quick, you read all the stuff Vera and Nick sent us about me not actually being a planar lord, right?”

Angelton, who was currently walking alongside him, replied, “Yes…”

Nero waited patiently for him to say something more, but was quickly disappointed by the stoic look on the man’s face that he received in response to his silent inquiry.

Uncertain how to broach what he really wanted to ask, Nero scratched his head and asked, “Um… so, what do you think about it?”

Knight Angelton didn’t immediately respond, instead he turned his head to look out over the front of the formation, off toward the exit of the tunnel they were headed toward. Nero could see that the man was taking his time, preparing and choosing his words carefully.

“I don’t have any particular feelings about what they’re saying. I’ve never been much of a believer in the gods, and I’m not one to rely on borrowed power. When I die, I am perfectly happy to allow myself to join the world rather than the upper planes. My soul will live on in another incarnation, and I will become one with our plane. I have no desire to linger on in an afterlife, regardless of how wonderful an experience it might be,” Angelton stated plainly.

Nero frowned, not all that happy with the man’s answer. While informative, that wasn’t what he’d asked him. And now that he’d heard the man’s reply, he couldn’t help but focus on what he’d said.

‘I really don’t have time for this, but I gotta ask. We’ll get to my nonsense after I clarify some things,’ Nero promised himself.

“OK, so tell me if I’m understanding this right… When people die, their souls are sucked into the reincarnation cycle, but their minds are incorporated into the ether of the world. However, if they are followers of a faith, then their minds are preserved in their god’s plane as a reward for their devotion. But, either way, the souls themselves are wiped clean and then reborn, right?” Nero asked, trying to simplify the explanation of the process in his head.

Nodding, Angelton replied, “Yes, that’s basically how it works as far as I know. The essence transfer between gods and their followers has been well documented.”

While Nero paused in thought, Angelton’s tone dropped. Cautiously, he asked, “Do you intend to request your followers to pledge their afterlives to you as well?”

Surprised, Nero whipped his head around to stare up at the man. “You mean like the planar lords did? I thought we already established that I’m not one of them.”

Angelton, not reacting to Nero’s denial, replied, “I never said you were. However, I believe you are something different. What that is, I don’t claim to know. However, what you can do, no one else can. It’s not unreasonable to assume that you could possibly figure out a way to create a plane of your own.”

Confused, Nero could only stare at the man in shock.

Continuing in a tone filled with what sounded like discomfort or possibly uncertainty, Angelton said, “I did read through the material provided by Lord Verena, and he posits that in the future your soul might develop a plane of your own. While I didn’t necessarily understand everything that he’d said, I believe I’ve understood enough. You have an overly powerful soul, one that interacts with our plane in its own unique way. Whether or not you meet the technical requirements for a planar lord is immaterial to your potential. In many ways, you’ve already begun to create your own religion. You have a guiding principle, an ethos… Adventure. Rather than follow your material desires, many of House Walker’s followers are already dedicating themselves to your beliefs. And if and when you figure out how to create your own plane, I can see you becoming the first god who can physically interact with the one we all live on.”

Somewhat shocked, Nero took a moment to gauge how Angelton’s essence field was doing. But, from what he could tell, the man felt resigned and sturdy, much like he always did.

Awkwardly, Nero said, “You know, you’re like really smart for a huge armor-clad badass. I’m still trying to understand half of what Nick figured out, and here you are making it sound so simple.”

Shrugging as if it weren’t that big of a deal, Angelton replied, “All I did was read the summaries. Lord Verena’s claims were relatively straightforward. From there, all it took was comparing how your followers have been acting to how I recall the clerics of the faiths acting when I worked with them. The similarities are obvious when you look for them.”

“You really think I can be some kind of god or something?” Nero asked, sounding both somewhat proud and incredulous.

“I’ve seen you do much more inconceivable things. Gods exist. They’ve existed for eons. The process of their creation is well documented and understood. But if you recall, you rebuilt your body from raw essence with nothing but the will of your soul. I’ve never heard of anything like that. And compared to that, what’s one more incomprehensible achievement?” Angelton asked ruefully.

Unfortunately, their conversation was being forced to come to an end by circumstance, as they were nearing the exit of the tunnel. The sound echoing off the walls was becoming too loud for them to ignore. Not to mention the both proverbial and literal light at the end of the tunnel which was approaching, and with it the crowd that was waiting for them.

“Keep close, my lord. And remember, don’t engage with anyone. Say nothing. Don’t even wave… it will only embolden them,” Angelton advised, his tone full of warning.

The formation, which had been making its way in a winding line between the various defensive emplacements, began to herd together. When they got to the edge of the entrance, they arranged themselves in a defensive pattern with the shield bearers circling around them.

Feeling a ‘tap’ on the forgotten part of his mind which had been maintaining his connection to the command line, Nero allowed his attention to turn to what was being said over it.

“... gether! Watch out for one another! Do not allow yourselves to be interviewed or pulled away from the formation. Regardless of what anyone promises you, I don’t want to see anyone abandoning the formation. You are the Wackos of House Walker! Not some household guards whose loyalty can be bought!” Angelton’s voice shouted over the command line.

Turning his head to look up at the knight, Nero could see the tension around Angelton’s eyes. The man looked more worried now than he had when they’d been facing the hordes of kobalds who’d been trying to kill them.

When they finally moved out, Nero found out why.

The expansive area in front of the entrance to the mountain looked entirely different than what he’d remembered when they’d went in. Gone were the open areas where soldiers and teams could muster. Even the few buildings that were still there were overrun. The entire area was filled to the brim with cheering and shouting people being held back by parallel lines three deep of soldiers.

To the left and the right, everywhere he looked he could see the people of Dorchester jumping up and down like they were at a Taylor Swift concert. It was absolutely ridiculous.

What was even more ridiculous was what was happening in the ether. It was like an all consuming cloud of positivity that was reinforcing itself. Everyone was connected, feeding their excitement into the greater whole, and reveling in the experience of its backlash. Unsurprisingly, even a few soldiers were beginning to be affected.

Nero couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of fellow soldiers holding them back and snapping them out of their haze with a slap to the back of the head.

Among the crowd, he could see multiple flags of House Walker being held up, along with children on people shoulders holding up what looked like wooden plaques carrying his house’s sigil. Cheers and thanks were shouted in equal measure along with pledges of service and promises of dedication and prayer.

Weirdly, Nero could feel his center being bombarded by the essence in the air like it was trying to worm its way inside him.

Keeping his head down, he rushed along the small open area the soldiers had prepared for them, the formation keeping tight around him. Oddly, he could feel the ironclad resolve of the Wackos, their intense desire to stay together and to remain strong in the face of what they were facing. Their combined essence field was like a bulwark, one which both reassured him and pressed down on him in equal measure.

As a result, Nero could feel his Wackos' expectations and beliefs attempting to influence him. It wasn’t so much a conscious decision on their part, but it was more like their peer pressure taken to its spiritual extreme.

‘Once again, this world takes a bullshit metaphor and makes it a reality. It almost makes me wonder what would happen if I allowed myself to believe I could live up to their expectations. Maybe I’d get a god buff or something,’ he thought to himself with a chuckle.

Trying his best to focus on his footing, he was forced to abandon his efforts to catch up on his reading over the link. It simply took too much of his focus to remain centered while all of this was going on around him. Yet, with his mind completely unified, his center felt like a bunker in the middle of a storm. No matter how much essence blasted away at its exterior, the core of who he was remained inviolate.

Luckily, they eventually made it to the building they were being guided toward without issue. And within its walls, he felt the pressure he’d been under lighten.

When he and the rest of the Wackos finally came to a stop, Nero could hear them congratulating each other on having endured the spiritual assault. He could feel their satisfaction with themselves in the ether, resonating with one other. The feeling of brotherhood and combined success filled the room like a cloud of skunk weed calming everyone down.

Feeling a pat on his shoulder, Nero looked over to see the smiling face of Blackwood grinning down at him.

“That was really something, huh?” he asked sarcastically.

Nero couldn’t help but think, ‘How in the hell was that more frightening than a cavern full of man-eating bipedal lizards with weapons?’

Over the command link, he heard Cathleen’s voice call out, “Alright everyone! Break into your teams and get ready to make your way through astra-teleporter! Team leaders, wait for your name to be called and prepare.”

Looking around, Nero tried to locate Cathleen. It took him spreading out his senses with his perception field before he finally found her. Near the front of the formation, she was standing next to the astra-platform, already ushering teams through the teleporter.

Referring to the room they were in as ‘big’ would be an understatement. With his senses spread out, he could see that it was more than large enough to serve as a mustering area for soldiers who were coming through the teleporter before heading into the mountain.

‘This must be how they move their army around the city,’ he thought to himself.

“Are you ready to go home, my lord?” asked Angelton, his voice loud enough to overcome the excited conversations going on all around them.

Nero looked up at the man, still seeing the shadow of the conversation about his possible divinity behind the man’s eyes. Unsure what exactly was bothering him, he could at least empathize with how uncomfortable it made him. If he were honest, it freaked him out as well.

“Yeah. I could use a shower and a good long nap before dealing with this shit,” Nero replied wearily.

Behind him, Nero heard Blackwood say, “Never fear, my lord. We’re with you! The Wackos of House Walker will be the core of your faithful if you wish us to be.”

Suppressing the wince he felt all the way down in his center, Nero turned to the man and replied, “Uh… thanks, I guess.”

Based on the historical knowledge he’d gained over his long life from the internet and web novels, Nero’s opinion of religions was at best… guarded. He knew that zealots had been responsible for most of the big atrocities Earth had suffered over the years, but he also was aware that there were economic and cultural factors behind each and every one of those horrific times of madness that had truly been responsible. As such, he knew that he needed to remember to keep his objectivity in mind.

Also, religions here weren’t the same as they were back home. And even more, the transactional nature of faith and its reward here made any comparison to what he might expect inherently flawed. Could there even be the kind of faith-driven zealotry he feared when the people knew what they were getting when they went to their churches?

Recalling the down to earth and non-crazy cleric and the other few religious people he’d met out in the wilds, Nero did his best to focus on the positives.

‘Well, if I do turn out to be some type of demigod, hopefully I’ll get some really good tax breaks or something… maybe I could institute a tithe and retire,’ he thought to himself as he followed Angelton up onto the astra-platform.

Feeling the teleporter activate, Nero’s last thoughts were about what Jennings was going to have to say about this nonsense. Likely, it wouldn’t be anything he’d enjoy hearing.

*Chapter 310 - Consequences of Awesomeness.

*Spoiler - I almost wanted to name this chapter 'the power of misunderstanding'.  Religion is always a touchy subject, and fantasy novels always try to make some kind of social equivalency between themselves and reality.  But, I've never agreed with that route.  Comparing faith on earth to 'faith' from clerics and paladins who can actually talk to their gods are two entirely different things.  Fantasy religions are their own thing.  I do however enjoy having the opportunity to take the spiritual concepts and apply them ruthlessly into my fantastical reality.  Making metaphors nonmetaphorical is fun as hell.  Anyway, enjoy...