Nero paused as he panted for breath, sweat beading his forehead. He knew from experience that if he rested for more than five minutes, it would disappear leaving him smelling no worse for wear. It was merely another feature of the game that allowed it to mirror reality while providing convenience.

He was taking a small break from delivering messages, his most recent customer being an old lady who complained for minutes about not getting enough company before reluctantly handing over his fee. He could see why she didn't have many companions, she struck Nero as a thoroughly unsympathetic character.

Looking to the sky, Nero saw clouds gathering over the sun, providing welcome relief from its harsh glair while also preventing him from getting a good sense of time. He could tell it was approaching midday but more than that he wasn't able to say. It was one of the things he had discovered after a few weeks spent in God's Nature, he had become somewhat adept at keeping time without the use of clocks, using the sun during the day and the moon and stars at night. It was possible to get the exact minute by looking online for the time and doing some mental math to account for the time dilation and time zones. There were, of course, online apps that did it for you, but by the time Nero had discovered them he was skilled enough that it wasn't worth the hassle.

His small break over, Nero took off at a light jog to return to the message center. He ignored the little pop-up message saying he had another point in strength, the first he had gotten in a while despite the harsh pace he set. He wished Jorry was with him, having rarely gone without the small serpent since meeting him, but unfortunately, his sisters had fallen in love with the reptile and had 'snakenapped' him when he had left for work. Jorry didn't really talk much unless the two were alone but Nero hopped a day with his siblings would allow his companion a chance to open up more, even if they couldn't understand him. Although that might no longer be the case soon, Medea had been talking to Octavia about the idea of an item that allowed talking to animals. They seemed to have many ideas, remaining deep in a discussion even as he left for work, only sparring him a muttered 'see you later' before returning to their talk.

While others might have been put off by the casual dismissal, Nero was glad that the twins were getting along with his friend so well. They had had some rough patches over the years. Besides, he got more than enough attention when Claudia had realized he was leaving and had stuck to him like a leach, begging him not to go. It was only the promise of a meeting as soon as he was finished with work and distracting her with Jorry that had allowed him to escape.

Speaking of Claudia, she had been acting weird throughout the night. Nero wasn't talking about the blushing and stammering when he had accidentally made a dirty joke without realizing, the pair always had been easy to tease. He was thinking more about how she was... hyper wasn't the right word, chipper and lively perhaps. Either way, she had been acting out of character from her usual behavior. In real life, Maude was the picture of refinement and decorum. She never talked back, was a hard worker, had a lot of friends, helped him with the housework, and acted very demure in public. She had all the class of a high born woman from Victorian England.

It was understandable in a way, their parents had died when they were relatively young, and they had been raised by both Seneca and then Augustus. Seneca had been a firm believer in manners, not because of some misplaced belief in tradition but because the way style could be used to shape the perception others had of you. He had taught Augustus who had continued the twins' education after his passing. It was general things like sitting up straight, keeping eye contact when talking to somebody, elbows off the table when eating, stuff like that.

Unfortunately, it seemed the teachings had too much of an effect on Maude. Nico had learned alongside her sister but had adapted them into her own. She complemented her manners with a razor-sharp wit and a sarcastic sense of humor. Nico wasn't willing to be anybody's puppet and was a lot more self-assured than most people her age. The same couldn't be said for Maude. She was just as smart as her sister but nowhere near as headstrong. It made raising her more comfortable, but it also worried Augustus that she was too willing to fall in line, that she couldn't stand by herself. With college approaching fast, he had been concerned she would be taken advantage of and swept in somebody else's pace.

The woman who Nero saw last night was anything but meek. Instead of falling into pace with others, Claudia had swept up everybody else into her own, her headstrong sister included. She had been playful and outgoing, more than willing to joke around in ways he had never seen from her before.

Nero didn't know what to attribute it to, possibly the accident had shocked her enough to change her habits, though he doubted it was that. It could have been the proper reunion after months of separation, she could have been having a perfect day, or it could merely be how she acted in Gods' Nature. No matter what the cause was, it gave Nero some hope.

His role wasn't to turn them into some sort of idealized women. As their brother, caretaker, and somebody who loved them, his purpose was to give them the tools to find out who they were and who they wanted to become and them to aid them in achieving whatever they desired out of life.

Deciding to end the day's work a bit early to meet up with his sisters sooner, Nero sped up his pace as he returned to the message hall. Tommorrow was Saturday so he didn't work and Sunday he didn't have training at Ground Sheer so maybe they could spend the day together.

****

"You need to be more careful, I'm pretty sure he suspects something."

"Huh?" was the unelegant response.

"I get it, we were excited to see him again, but if you keep acting like you normally do, bro is going to notice, and then he's going to start asking questions. Worse comes to worse, we might be forced to stop playing Gods' Nature. All our plans down the drain because you couldn't control yourself. Is that what you want?" Octavia starred hard into her sister's eyes, trying to impress upon her the seriousness of the situation. The effect was somewhat ruined by her continued petting of the small snake in her hands.

"I get it, I get it." Claudia capitulated. "I was just too excited to see him again. I'll try to control myself better. It's hard though,

I've gotten so used to Gods' Nature that not being 'Claudia' while playing is going to be hard."

"I know it will be," Octavia gave her sister a commiserating look, knowing how much 'Claudia' meant to her. "Just put up with it for another month, once we have the papers in our hands, we can provide bro with enough proof that he should go along with us. Until then just act like 'Maude,' that means no fighting, no swearing, no overly affectionate actions, and try and tone down the jokes."

"Fine, but when he's at work, I want to use the training room. And no golems, I want players or NPCs."

"That fine, we've been focusing too much on our levels lately, we can use the opportunity to train some skills. I know a few training halls that would love for us to take a few of their recruits and beat them into shape. We'll make sure not to use Ground Sheer, but there are some higher level ones that should be able to put up a decent fight."

"Great," Claudia's smile would have unsettled any who saw it, but the only other occupant of the carriage was a small serpent who was too blissed out by the scratching as Claudia joined her sister and managed to hit just the right spot. The smile turned into a slight frown as she tilted her head as if listening to a voice only she could hear. "Also do not invite Steel Mil, the Foundation is using it at the moment to train its high-class members. Hero boy is there as well." Octavia's face matched her sister's grimace when she heard her sister's words.

"Great." She said sarcastically. "I was hoping not to see them for a few hundred more years. If we're lucky, we will not run into them, but knowing our luck, we'll see them pretty soon." Octavia shook herself slightly as if to rid herself of the thought. "Bro should be done work in a few hours, I want to get this out of the way before then."

"I can't believe we told him to treat the game like a vacation and he goes and gets himself another job." Claudia shook her head at the thought. "He does know that he could get some good money from hunting right? His level would rise too, and he could join use much faster."

"From my understanding is that he wants to finish his stint in the training hall before leaving the keep. You know how bro is, he likes to be in control as much as possible. He wouldn't start a fight until he knows he has a chance to win. It's not a bad idea though since Sarra Keep hadn't been discovered we never joined a hall, but I hear it does have some advantages. That's probably what the Foundation is doing, refining their basics and learning the common sense of fighting in this world."

"Should we do the same?" Claudia asked doubtfully.

"No," Octavia denied with a shake of her head. "Not only do we have better things to do, but our way of fighting is entirely different from anything they could train us in. The most they could provide is a chance to practice on other NPCs, and we can accomplish the same with the training room."

"If you say so." Not really caring, Claudia looked out the window of the carriage to see them pass by the row after row of opulent houses. "We should be there in another few minutes, let's deal with this buffoon quickly and get back."

"Claudia!" There was rebuke in her sister's voice that only made Claudia roll her eyes. "Try and control yourself will you, I don't care that he's a moron, he's still the king of the keep. Just put up with him for an hour or so then we can leave."

"Fine, but if anybody looks at me wrong again, I'm not going to stop at a few limbs." Octavia nodded in agreement, not just because she was fed up with other people's wandering eyes but also because Claudia's violent temperament served a purpose. The twins got much more respectful treatment when they were known to physically and psychologically break those who messed with them.

****

Turns out that Nero shouldn't have ended work early. His sisters were occupied with something, and Medea was not responding to his messages, likely busy herself with whatever it was she did when he was delivering messages. So Nero had a few hours to kill.

It wasn't too bad though, it gave him the opportunity to try something out that had been on his mind for weeks. Sitting on one of the few benches in the small park he frequented, Nero tried to delve into himself and grasp hold of his Mana or MP. Unlike other players who were trying to learn magic, Nero was trying to create his own personal spell as he doubted the magic association had what he needed. He was also doing this to put the various theories Medea had been teaching him to the test.

Finding and grasping the wellspring of energy within himself was surprisingly easy, likely due to knowing exactly what to look for and the game making things easier for players. Apparently, NPC's had much more difficulty in this aspect than players because magic had always been a part of them, whereas players had an advantage in finding foreign energy in their bodies. Either way now came the hard part of shaping the magic into what he wanted.

Other players might start off learning magic from a spellbook or an instructor. They would find their magic, recite the incantation and voila, instant magic. What Nero was trying to do was much harder, but according to Medea, would be more useful in the long run. He was trying to shape the magic to his purpose with raw belief. He was trying to force the mystical energy to bend to his will.

Naturally, he was unsurprised when his attempt was unsuccessful. What did surprise him was the stinging sensation in his hands when he failed. Shaking his hand to try and rid it of the numbing sensation, Nero checked his status screen. Sure enough, he had lost a few HP points and over twenty of his meager MP. Because of not training in magic before now, as well as not allocating any points to it, Nero's spirit was still at a pitiful 10, leaving him with only 100 MP in total.

This repercussion fitted the warning he had received from Medea. If you weren't careful, your magic could backfire on you. In severe cases, such as more significant spells, it could even lead to death. Thankfully, Nero was too pathetic in magic to even hurt himself too much.

Once his hand was no longer numb, Nero tried to review where something went wrong. After a few minutes of thought, he eventually settled on the belief aspect of things. This was the downside of doing things Medea's way since Nero knew that belief and willpower were the critical elements in forming the spell he subconsciously doubted whether he could actually cast the magic. Nero sighed to himself as he decided to try another way.

Kaesar decided to try and form an aria, a chant that would help self-hypnotize himself into doing the magic. Medea had explained it as a sort of crutch for higher level magic, but one that was useful. Thankfully she had also mentioned that anything could be an aria, so long as it helped put your mind into focus. That meant Nero could make a general purpose aria for all little magic, like what he was attempting right now, that would not give away what he was doing to potential enemies.

He needed a word or a phrase that was short, so it could be said quickly in times of need, but also one that he could attach to the idea of magic. He also needed an image to signify the change, a mental trigger that would force his mind to release its inhibitors against the spell. His friend had mentioned her psychological trigger to be a spark setting the world ablaze. After a few jokes about pyromaniacs, she had also referred to others such as releasing a notched arrow, or the cocking of a gun. The emphasis in the image should be on immediate action, something that only took a second but could have long-lasting consequences.

This part of forming an aria actually came to Nero reasonably quickly. Unbidden, an image of a snake, like Jorry, coiled and ready to spring, rose in his mind. Deciding that the model would work well enough for the moment, Nero tried to think up the words of the aria. It needed to be succinct but also represent what he wanted the magic to do. It was a way to convince himself that he was in an alien world and that standard rules of logic did not apply.

It was not for another five minutes, as he turned various phrases and words over in his head that he stumbled on one he thought would work. Even then, Nero repeated the word to himself dozens of times. He tried to convince himself that by using this phrase he was changing, both the world and himself. By using this phrase and image, he was destroying all blocks on his mind.

And so, after twenty minutes of repetition, Nero decided to put it to the test. Sitting on a park bench, Kaesar grasped the magic once more and directed it to his fingers. Then, with a word that was a part whisper and part declaration, the coiled snake sprung into action.

"Evolve!"

There was no flash of light or magical explosion, but Nero was sure he succeeded. Gone were the customarily rounded tips of his fingers, in their place was the pointed tips of claws.

Spell Created Claws By shaping magic around your fingers, you generate sharp claws. While in use, maximum MP is reduced by 10%. Current LVL: 1 Max LVL: 50

While the spell was a success, Nero still frowned a little. It was close but not really what he was going for. For one, only the tips of his fingers had changed, that would be of little use if the rest of his fingers were quickly broken. Another thing was that this was the first time he had seen a skill with a maximum level. Nero would have to ask Medea about it later. With a sigh, he set about trying to reshape the spell for his intended purpose.

****

"Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it."

Bruce Lee