“Your mind doesn’t seem on your studies, Elzio. Penny for your thoughts?”

Elzio looked up at his Magics Professor as she leaned over his desk, fixing him with pale, grey eyes. Her brow wrinkled, but not with displeasure. Professor Syrene had been his tutor since he was twelve. She knew him well enough to know he rarely let his thoughts wander.

“I’m thinking…” he started, letting the words draw out as he constructed the sentence in his head. “Or, perhaps, wondering when we’ll next see battle. With Loreth being three times the strength of any echo, it should be easy. All four of us could be debuffed and injured, and it would still be no challenge.”

He liked Syrene. She’d always taken him seriously, even as a child, and that respect had only grown as they’d gotten older. There had always been little doubt in Elzio’s mind that she was personally invested in the success of her charges, but now he had to be cautious. This letter had cast a shadow on who he thought he could trust.

Syrene’s eyes narrowed, contemplating his words, and he could already tell she was weighing her response. Her eyes shifted to blue, a telltale sign that she was thinking. It was also a telltale sign that she didn’t have as tight a control on her magic as some of her students, but as a teacher, that was to be expected. She didn’t need to hide. In fact, Elzio thought it made her a rather effective teacher, to wear so plainly the effects magic had on her body. In Syrene’s case, being a powerful multiclassing mage meant her eyes didn’t just stick to one color, as most specced mages did.

“Sir Thomas told us that we should prepare you to go out in the next month.” Syrene smiled, eyes snapping back to grey. “He plans on issuing the challenge within the week, so mind your studies. This isn’t the time to get sloppy.”

It wasn’t the development Elzio had expected, but it was a development. He nodded, thanked her for the update, and expressed his gratitude at once again being allowed the chance to test himself in an arena.

He spent the rest of his lesson listening to her rattle on about magical theory, since testing anything too much against his powerful instructor might risk a level up. The Pyrthet Nexus had 1500 points of terrain, structure, and minion buffs, all meticulously planned by Elzio and their Professor of Environment, the ancient Master Riylers. With these environmental mods and buffs—along with two level 6 heroes, a level 7, and a level 8, all volunteers—the Nexus had a total of 2850 of its 3000 points used up. A level up on the part of any hero push it dangerously close to its max. It was wise to keep a hundred or so points of slack, in case something unexpected occurred. It had taken four weeks for them to craft the environment of the arena, so no one wanted to make any changes as the battle grew close.

And apparently it had grown rather close. Elzio wondered, as he meandered to the dining hall, when anyone had expected to inform them of the new timeline. In fact, he wondered if any of his teammates had been told either.

“A week?” Kia’s eyebrows shot skyward. “A month? We can’t prepare in a month. I have so much to do. Who told you?”

They had, apparently, not been.

Elzio looked up from his goblet at the panicking Armorsmith. “Syrene. I think the news is rather, well, new. They likely planned on telling us this evening. I think you’re overreacting a little bit, though. A month is plenty of time.”

She scoffed. “Maybe for you. For—” she looked up at Nance, who was chewing her way through a piece of bread, eyes thoughtful. Then Kia’s eyes turned to Bereth, who had a big grin on his face. “For all of you, then. Some of us actually have to prepare for these things. I need to formulate my recipes, prepare my crafting, set up my—”

“With all due respect,” Bereth started, and even Elzio bristled at his tone, “we don’t need you. That isn’t to say you aren’t a valuable member of the team, of course. But against an echo? Nance and I could take it, no sweat. That’s even if the echo manages to summon a team.”

Elzio watched as Nance swallowed her bread finally. “Elzio could take it too,” she said. “Summon some wolves or a stone minion to occupy a level 2 fighter?”

He didn’t respond to this, but he did smile at the vote of confidence. Nance wasn’t wrong, he could easily take on an echo by himself, but it wasn’t just because he could summon constructs. Elzio could, of course, but he liked to keep his true specialty, summoning doppelgangers, under wraps. It was a devastatingly useful tool when used against an unwitting opponent, and the fewer people who knew about it, the more likely it would be a total surprise to a real opponent. Thus far, he’d only summoned little minions, and he’d keep it that way until they hit their first true nexus.

So instead of correcting Nance, he pushed away from the table. “Focus on leveling, Kia,” he said. “Craft whatever gives you the most experience. We only have two more echos after this before we can fight true nexi, and that’s when your skills go from ‘nice to have’ to absolute essentials.”

She responded to this with a grumpy smile, but seemed appeased. Kia wasn’t wrong to be annoyed, though. A lot of mages and fighters looked down on support heroes like her, turning their noses up at the invisible help they provided. Armorsmiths had it hard, spending so much time in the base crafting while the fighters and mages they equipped stole the glory.

Come an actual fight, though, Kia would produce more than just Bereth’s arrows. She’d provide armor for the whole team once they battled against a real nexus. Death timers climbed high as a battle stretched on, forcing the heroes to fight with increasing ferocity and, eventually, desperation. It wasn’t just the nexus at stake once you engaged in real battle. Each hero had a chance of permanently dying.

It was one reason Elzio was hesitant about moving to bigger fights. He wanted to honor Pyrthet, but he didn’t have any real enmity towards the heroes he would have to kill in order to do so. Were enemy cities or kingdoms more aggressive or hostile, maybe he’d have that fire a bit more, but Elzio mostly lacked the burning loyalty that his teammates had.

His real passion lay in the art of the combat—the intricate, multifaceted game that was a nexus battle. He wanted to see the games grow more complex, prove himself, get better, fight against sharper minds. Maxing out his level early was a nice ego boost, but he needed more. In another life, he might have been one of the heroes who reincarnated into a nexus. A great war tactician. One of the shrewdest minds of his time. Perhaps the shrewdest.

This would have to do.

With the new information about their upcoming battle with the forest echo, Elzio departed, leaving to talk about their plan—Elzio’s plan—and discuss their potential responses to hypothetical situations. Elzio had more important things to do than mentally rehearsing a battle he’d already mentally simulated a thousand times.

Sir Thomas Kerien took lunch later in the afternoon. He spent the normal lunch period scheduling meetings and other arrangements with people who usually claimed their schedules were unavoidably full. Sir Thomas—who lived in the central citadel along with the rest of the councilors, the heroes, their trainers, and a hundred other bureaucrats—knew everyone’s daily better than anyone. He knew that Lady Sayrpen, who coordinated the logistics of parties venturing to and from the city, took lunch in her study. He knew that the Sayrpen usually waited to eat until the kitchens had produced their third and final lunch. He knew that, on the fourth day of the week, she took a slightly later, slightly elongated lunch because she received weekly letters from her daughter and enjoyed reading them.

Elzio knew all this too. Sir Thomas, tasked with issuing the nexus challenge, would need to speak with Lady Sayrpen. Lady Sayrpen, an older, weary woman, would avoid his meetings, claiming a busy schedule. Sir Thomas, knowing her schedule, would take advantage of her unobstructed lunchtime, and spring a surprise meeting on her.

And Elzio would take advantage of his absence to slip into the man’s study and engage in a small bit of espionage.

Sir Thomas hadn’t realized his study had been broken into the day before. No new locks had been installed, nothing had been changed or replaced. Elzio slipped in as if the room were his own. Much of it was how he’d left it, with a few things noticeably changed. Perfect. It would be too easy, finding what had changed. In the past twenty-four hours, Sir Thomas had gone from receiving threats to expediting the nexus battle to having actually done so. Perhaps he’d written I/I a response. Perhaps someone else had reached out to him. All Elzio needed was a scrap of information, the scent of a plot, something to figure out why the director had refused so long to have them face the echo, why someone had sent him such a mysterious letter, urging him to move forward, and why he’d finally acted

There were, disappointingly though not surprisingly, no new letters for Elzio to read. Little of interest had changed in the past day. Sir Thomas had apparently conducted some research on Deluuth, the most powerful country on the continent, as a book on Deluuth’s capital was open. Sir Thomas had read two chapters on A History of Kira’s Adventures. He’d started three mugs of coffee but only finished one. He had also taken the most recent edition of Ystrain’s Greatest Heroes off the shelf, bookmarking one page.

Elzio slid his finger into the marked spot, idly wondering why the director had been looking up so much history of the continent and whether this had anything to do with his battle.

The book opened to Irona Peerse, and Elzio skimmed the chapter, half his attention on the book, half his attention listening for any sounds outside.

Irona had been queen of Deluuth over a century ago, expanding Deluuth beyond its original city to a nation that encompassed the northern half of the continent. When she died, rule passed to her daughter Irela. Then to Irela’s daughters, Ishe and Ivrena. One ruled the city, the other managed the city’s nexus, the reincarnated soul of Queen Irona, commonly known as Nexus Deluuth.

Elzio’s hands went cold as his brain raced ahead, neurons forming connections before he even had the chance to realize each newfound revelation.

Nexus Deluuth. ND.

Iverna and Ishe. I/I.

Maybe he was being paranoid. Why would a foreign power want the Pyrthet Nexus to grow in power? The two nexi would grow to become rivals once the Pyrthet Nexus reached level 5.

But would they really be rivals? Nexus Deluuth was level 15. The power gap between the two was so enormous that Nexus Deluuth would have to sacrifice over half their points to force a level 5 into combat. She would be better off battling a level 10 or 11 nexus.

It didn’t make sense.

A chiming sound made him leap, not expecting the sudden noise. Somehow it was two in the afternoon. Sir Thomas was certainly concluded with his meeting and would be returning soon.

Elzio sprang from the room hurried down the corridor, keeping himself inconspicuous and pressed to the shadows, envying Nance, whose tiny form let her slip around the castle however she liked. At least Elzio knew how to keep his head down. Normally, between his dark, unassuming clothing and quiet footsteps, he could find himself slipping past most guards. Today, however, Elzio’s wandering thoughts battled with his careful movements, and it was almost impossible to focus on keeping his steps light and mind on the hallway ahead.

His thoughts were so occupied as he passed the library and rounded the corner that he didn’t even notice he was on direct collision course with someone until he’d walked into until the older man, who gave a startled, if good-natured laugh.

“Oh! Elzio my boy. Eyes up when walking at such a pace I think.”

Elzio looked into the warm brown eyes of Sir Thomas. Said eyes were topped by large, silver eyebrows, which matched the majestic sweep of hair. Sir Thomas knew how to cut a striking image without appearing overly concerned or fussy. He very much looked the part of the head of councilors, stately and wise while also being approachable enough that people could openly question him. Have a conversation. Question his judgment.

Right now Elzio wanted to question his judgment. Right now, looking into those surprised but amused eyes, Elzio wanted to ask the old man what he was planning. Because, as he looked into those eyes, he realized what he’d missed.

Nexus Deluuth couldn’t challenge Loreth to a duel without losing a significant amount of points, but Nexus Deluuth wouldn’t be the one to issue the challenge. With Loreth, like many nexi, barely concerned with the goings on of his citizens, Sir Thomas held all of the cards. He issued the challenges.

ND grows hungry.

Sir Thomas was conspiring with Irona and Ishe to feed the Pyrthet Nexus and its heroes to Nexus Deluuth.