Chương 60: R&R Ch. 60 — And Away We Go

The rings had saved his life countless times, and the book was the greatest gift he had ever received, even if he had to participate in making it. But moments like these, Nicholas had to admit, the flying swords were his favorite of all the items Jasmine had ever made. There was something exhilarating about flying through the sky, able to do the tricks people always dreamed of doing, not worried that you would fall because you could trust the friction runes at your feet holding you in place.

He could make a word to fly. That was certainly within his ability, and he doubted the word fly would be used for anything else. But he liked the swords, so he had been dragging his feet about making the word proper. Which was not kind of him, so he would remedy it soon after he had a few more words done. He hadn't wanted to make any while his soul was damaged since they're effort intensive but that excuse was mostly gone.

"So is there anything going on that you need to watch or take care of, or are you just going around to fly at this point?" Jasmine asked through their telepathy earrings. She had wanted to make a new version than the headbands ones where they could actually communicate through the speed of thought. They were neat and they could only be turned on when both of them concentrated, while either of them could turn them off.

So perfect for fieldwork, and Nicholas didn't have to worry about changing the studs since he was lazy.

"Nothing to report. I'm mostly just flying around now till it's time to meet everyone." Nicholas said, not bothering to hide. They had packed and put most of their stuff in Jasmine's soul forge since it was easier than loading and unloading every time, so there was nothing to do but make small talk. Nicholas had left at the first opportunity to get the lay of the land and see the train. It had been obvious to everyone what he had been doing.

"Do you think anyone from the wave is actually going to come?" Jasmine asked as Nicholas slowed his flight to see the train properly now that he was at the front from his slow looping path.

"Most of them probably not many of them just wanted to finish the wave and be done, but I think Twister is going to come." Nicholas said, studying the train. It was a mechanical marvel, and every inch was imbued with enough authority that it made his head spin trying to use his power. It would also be his home for the next year as they traveled around the country, only stopping for a week at a time in any place to restock and have people trade places.

Traveling heroes weren't uncommon, but they went against the status quo since part of being a hero was cultivating belief, and it was hard to do that constantly on the move was the general thought. Nicholas wasn't sure he agreed with the common opinion on that. Belief and Karma were both numbers games; every one of the stronger heroes had traveled a bit, and the old guard pinnacles had saved the world. But there was probably a reason for that assumption for more than just the obvious reasons.

Some people didn't want to travel. It was easy for a normal person to say you would travel and save lives constantly. But there was something odd about having to save people outside your home. Nicholas hadn't had that problem; the whole world was going to be under his aegis eventually. He wanted to see how far he could go, for no other reason than he could. And why shouldn't he be the one to aim for the top and to change the world? If they were playing a numbers game, he would have to figure it out.

He had been around two thousand when he had ranked up the first time; he was pretty sure and he was over ten thousand now, and had the ability to ascend. Was it a scaling number or was it something arbitrary that you could ascend when Hero thought you were ready. He already knew that there was an understanding component he had tried to brute force previously using that, and it had almost worked, and you could brute force it. Nicholas had an idea before casting it aside; it just wasn't possible.

The pinnacles weren't good; he couldn't imagine a world where the eleven people and groups controlling the world were fully good guys, but they wouldn't be so bad. Just a few more hours of trying to kill time, then they would actually be on the road. He and Jasmine were on the same schedule as Rend, which made sense, but it would be the first time he could actually work with his mentor. He wasn't sure how he felt about that; Nicholas was certain it was a trap from Rend to try and screw up their teamwork.

Jasmine had said it was because the conductor was in charge and Rend didn't have a choice.

"We're going to have the meeting in an hour and then the mandatory meet and greet. Do you want to chill up there alone or do you want company?" Jasmine asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Why, Jasmine, are you trying to play hookie on your friends?" Nicholas asked, laughing as he flew down to where she would be exiting.

"I am not; I'm hanging out with my boyfriend," Jasmine denied.

"Besides, they are currently unpacking, so it's not like they can hang out either."

"I would love it if you joined me."

"Love?"

"Yeah, turns out I have found I like hanging out with my best friend and literal soulmate." Nicholas said, rolling his eyes as Jasmine shot out of the launch bay astride her own sword, black hair flaring out behind her from the wind.

"I'm glad you've acknowledged that and sorry we didn't go out on our date," Jasmine said, pulling to a stop beside him. Nicholas was certainly not going to just sit out here standing on the swords, so he started flying around the two of them, racing around on a course only they could see and feel through their bonds.

"I don't mind; we can always wait till the next city. Besides, we both needed the rest," Nicholas said tactfully. He wasn't going to touch the what happened with the party thing with a ten-foot pole, and he had even created a word to stop him from learning the information. Permanent changes were hard, but he could change things from one to another. He had proven that multiple times, even testing that on himself, and it wasn't like the change ended later.

Obviously, he hadn't been comfortable doing that with his mind. But making a word that blanked out the last minute of his memories he had considered acceptable, so he would just use that whenever someone told him. When he had told Jasmine that she hadn't seemed able to decide between hugging him and calling him a moron but Nicholas thought it was a good idea.

"I'm going to miss this place," Jasmine said, gesturing to a nearby stretch of city wall they had been defending only a few days ago.

"You're going to miss the wall we almost died?" Nicholas asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yup." Nicholas thought about it for a moment before nodding. It was a fair thing, and he would always remember this place, which felt like missing it in a way.

"We can always come back once we've finished our journey. Even if Rend doesn't want us on his team anymore, we can get a compound here with our powers building one should be doable," Nicholas said, gaze towards the future.

"You would do that?" Jasmine asked, her own gaze trailing to the past where they had fought together. It wasn't a happy memory in either of their estimations, but it was one she liked.

"Why shouldn't we make our home here? Good as anywhere else, right?" Nicholas asked. The two went back to racing through the sky, just enjoying the company and the view before their phones chirped, reminding them that they needed to be there for the meeting. The meeting was quick, mercifully.

The conductor was a specialized minder who focused on working with teams and maximizing that avenue, a philosophy Nicholas actually wanted to look into, but the meeting had just been the conductor downloading information into everyone's brains. All they had to do was stay for the questions after they got the download.

Most of the questions were in Nicholas's estimation, stupid, but since the time block for the mandatory meeting and the meet and greet were the same time block, every question he mentally thanked the asker. Oddly, he wasn't able to ask, despite having questions he thought would even be reasonable; he couldn't speak. Probably because he didn't actually need to ask the questions; he was sure he knew the answers already.

It was irritating, especially compared to some questions, but he guessed it was fair, and more than one person in the room seemed to be struggling with being mentally muted. But that came to an end, and Nicholas dreaded what came next.

"Since you all will be part of the team for the foreseeable future, it is best if you get to know each other now," the conductor said before vanishing. Nicholas wanted to protest. But he couldn't exactly complain; the telepath had almost certainly gotten to know them during the brain download situation, so what was he supposed to do? Tell them they didn't know them. Especially when Nicholas knew he would not be making an effort to get to know anybody.

He was going to stand near Jasmine, and she would get to know people, and he would learn about people by observing them and through their bond by proxy, and that was going to be enough. Nicholas just had to make it through the next three hours without wanting to stab someone. No, he could want it. He just couldn't lose control and actually do it. Jasmine gave him a look that told him she knew exactly what he was thinking, and he held up his hands in surrender as they walked over to Jasmine's friends.

They were explicitly her friends. They could respect him, and he could do the same, but whether it was because of a difference in leadership styles or they could sense his disinterest in people he didn't think would walk with him far, they made no effort to hang out with him. Nicholas could swear that Constellation had glared at him, though he didn't know why.

"Retort, we missed you at the party," Twister said, throwing her arms around him and hugging him.

"Good to see you too, Twister?" Nicholas said, hugging her back. He was incredibly confused. It wasn't like he and Twister were close. Twister steered him away from Jasmine and Nicholas's first thought was this must be some kind of ambush meant to get him alone so they could kill him. Was that a good or reasonable thought? Probably not, but it was his first thought.

"Why are you doing this?" Nicholas asked in a quiet whisper.

"I figured you could be around people who currently can't decide if they hate you or not." Twister hissed back. Nicholas could deal with that. It just meant he was going to be hiding behind Twister instead of Jasmine, which worked well enough. And the smug satisfaction from their bond told him exactly what Jasmine thought about all of this. Nicholas couldn't get over the feeling that Constellation was watching him, but whenever he looked around, the spatial manipulator was never looking over."

Ping" Nicholas was certain. Constellation was watching him. The question was, why?