Chapter 2: ~Hero Complex~

Nathan woke up to the sound of unfamiliar voices bickering. Three women seemed to be having a heated argument over him. It probably wasn't a normal reaction, but Nathan was sort of pleased with the attention.

"Look Lizzy, we know you're a kleptomaniac and all — but a noble... really?" one reprimanded another furiously.

"I think it's funny," a higher pitched voice spoke. "Liz nabbed a cute and chubby boy. How much do you think the ransom will be?"

The upset one sighed audibly and began to complain, "what if he's some big name noble heir?"

By now Nathan was on his feet. Ropes that had restrained him were engulfed in magefire. He slowly, silently made his way towards them.

"Sorry," another chimed in timidly.

"Nothing for it then," the angry one seemed to have reached a conclusion. "We gotta get rid of him and dump the body — is something burning?"

By now Nathan was standing behind them, the ropes that bound his hands and feet — ashes. At the same time all three caught sight of him. Sadly, it didn't help his situation when Nathan did a pirouette.

"Kya!" the smallest yelped. It would seem she didn't appreciate the rarity of a chubby naked guy who could spontaneously combust and spin on one foot.

*cough cough*

"Could I get some clothes?" asked Nathan, meekly.

It took a few moments for the women to come to their senses. The one who just suggested killing him pointed to a wardrobe. Nathan, in all his glory, waltzed right past three shocked women to retrieve some clothing. He could almost feel the tallest woman’s eyes on him the entire time, it was uncomfortable to say the least. Once he was dressed they started speaking again.

A magus was unpredictable — possibly dangerous. They were less ready to deal with him now so Nathan cut in by saying, "ransom would certainly be a bad idea."

"Why's that?" the tallest woman asked, now blushing while averting her gaze.

"My name is big, really big. You'd just be getting all four of us killed," Nathan answered, completely deadpan.

The rowdy one raised an eyebrow in his direction.

"All four of us?" she repeated skeptically.

"Yes," he confirmed. "My parents would prefer me dead. I am Nathaniel Lucas Verasparion Dela'marthus, a pleasure to make your acquaintance ladies."

Color visibly drained from all three women's faces. The taller brunette laughed nervously, the petite one twirled her unusually green hair, and the rowdy blonde girl scowled.

"The big klepto over there is Eliza..." the scowling woman started, "I'm Saori and the little twerp is Sati."

"Can we all agree that ransom is a bad idea?" he asked.

"Yes," Eliza answered quickly. "I'd rather not die just yet."

Something about the way this tall brunette was looking at him felt distinctly… unsavory. Nathan couldn’t shake the feeling that she had some sort of bone to pick with him. Especially from the way she started to huff angrily when he was dressing.

"We can't let you go though," Saori drew a blade. "For obvious reasons."

Nathan held up both of his hands, now on fire. Her blade dropped as she took a step back. By now Eliza was glaring death at Saori.

"How about we make this mutually beneficial," he claimed nervously. "I need information and you want money."

The smallest girl, Sati, looked up at him. Her eyes, blank.

"Terms," she said with finality. "Talk before I flay you alive." The girl was bluffing. She was actually a little scared. The level of control it would take to do what he was doing with fire would be insane. Too bad she didn't know that he's pretty much a one trick pony.

Nathan had a feeling she could do it though, so he spoke quickly.

"I smuggled five hundred gold from my sister's personal account before running away, two hundred fifty could be yours. I just need to know where I can rent a place to stay, preferably near a library..."

"Four hundred two," Sati spoke in a deadly serious tone. "You stay with us until we're ready to leave Radison, and I go with you to the bank."

"I'm afraid that isn't possible," Nathan answered in an apologetic tone. "Smuggled, is the key word here — I used a fake identity. Bringing you with me is asking for trouble."

Saori scowled in that same old malicious manner.

"So we kill him?" she asked, half-serious. Nathan took a step back as she brandished a knife in his direction.

Eliza threw her arms around Nathan, then shot the other two some impressive, watery puppy dog eyes. Nathan steeled his resolve and ignored the attention, he'd almost burned Eliza by accident. Sati and Saori both cursed at Eliza.

"Now, now," Nathan chided playfully. "One hundred thirty-four gold each is quite the score. Killing me would be a terrible shame, wouldn't it?"

At this point he could only rely on their greed and Eliza's bizarre attachment to him. After a few minutes they agreed, and let Nathan leave. Thankfully, he had awoken in the morning and that bank wasn't very far away.

Saori looked down at Sati, her demeanor was deadly serious.

"Follow him, Eliza and I are gonna pack some bags. If the guards do something funny..."

*whoosh*

Sati disappeared in the blink of an eye. Saori cursed at the impatient little imp for leaving before she could finish speaking.

Nathan actually didn't have any trouble withdrawing the gold, this bank employee was more than happy to take a five percent bonus fee for his large withdrawal. Having it all sitting there in his enchanted bag was a little unnerving, but a deals a deal. He'd rather not piss off a girl that may be able to flay him alive.

Moments later Nathan was leaving — a smirk ran across his face. He may not have been the most talented magus, but his senses — for other people's mana — were darn good. Nathan could tell the little one was following him. With a wave of his hand he beckoned to her. In all of five seconds the girl descended from a five story building's roof. A spell obviously went off, light gusts had easily broken her fall.

"How did you spot me?" she asked, obviously impressed. The girl was more than happy to walk side by side with him now. Not alerting all those guards must have earned him some points.

"I have this sensor," he claimed as she looked at him expectantly. "Cute girls and beautiful women never escape my notice!"

That upset her more than a little. Nathan paid for it dearly with a penetrating jab to the hind quarters.

"Gold?" she muttered. The simplicity and curtness of her speech was almost endearing. He'd have to be careful not to get a crush on her.

Nathan jingled his little money pouch. She eyed the bag suggestively. Nathan sighed at his own stupidity — her eyes were greedy now.

"The bag is yours," he said painfully in a bout of reluctant resignation.

Sati actually smiled, an enchanted bag capable of holding large amounts of items was easily worth three hundred gold. He probably should've just carried their money in bank bags.

A few minutes later they were back. The place these three called home was on the roof of a four story building. It was a hastily constructed log cabin of sorts. Nothing too impressive, but easily inhabitable. Nathan sighed audibly because he was to spend time here, in this small place, with three attractive women. All of them likely older than himself — not an ideal situation for the young romantic at heart. At least they weren't about to sell him out.

After distributing the gold Nathan made sure to not let it slip that he had plenty left over for himself. The three women seemed happy enough. It was his first time seeing greed up close. For some reason he was having trouble understanding them.

"Why shouldn't we kill you now?" Saori asked maliciously.

"It would be monumentally stupid," Nathan answered with confidence. "My parents may not mind if I die, but killing me would stain their reputation. They'd hunt you down for sport..." he began while looking at them with a lingering gaze, "and a fate worse than death would await you."

They all knew his family's reputation, none were eager to step into that anthill. Some quick deliberation left them with one conclusion, they'd leave the city now — fast. Nathan actually had to stop them from walking out the door on him.

"Please don't leave before answering my very simple request..."

Saori shot back, "you can have this place to yourself. The nearest library is, uhh..." she looked at Eliza.

"Go to the park, head east. The library is a big, pointy, grey obelisk. I doubt you'll miss it. Best library, aside from the royal one, in all of Radison," Eliza explained.

When the brief explanation was done they left him — right after Eliza waltzed back up and pinched his cheeks for a while. He had to politely refuse an invitation to the bedroom, her interest in him was obvious now. Still baffling, but quite clear. Nathan had some childish ideals about how romance should work, and this definitely wasn't it. However, he couldn’t deny that he enjoyed it when she embraced him in a bear hug before leaving.

Once they were gone he quickly looked around the room, then plopped down on a leather mat. Nathan was honestly happy they left. Staying with three women who have seen you full on nude was more than a little embarrassing. Looking down at his new clothing, more rags than anything else, he figured they must have sold his robes and linens. The bank employee obviously guessed he'd gotten into some sort of trouble because of it. The man didn't know how right he was.

Not the way he imagined his stay in Radison starting. On the bright side he had gotten a free, secluded place to live. The women had been kind enough to return his pocket silver, and Sati had given him her old pouch. Just a minor enchantment, but better than a normal bag. They probably wanted to leave him in a pleased state, less likely to tell on them. Not that he'd have done that anyway.

After shuffling through a wardrobe to find some better clothing, he quickly started throwing things into the fireplace. They had left behind some undergarments, and if he ever had a guest it would be difficult to explain the sheer amount of women's negligee. A few pieces baffled him, little more than strings. The faucet worked, surprisingly. He'd never been one to complain so any water, even if he had to boil it first, was better than no water.

The main reason Nathan had mastered the spell was for his baths. It was easy to keep the temperature just right when you could spontaneously combust with magefire. The fact that helped him out on multiple occasions now was an unintended bonus. After pondering how they had managed to get the plumbing for a faucet up here, on the roof, he left in a cheery mood.

Day light was burning and he loved the prospect of visiting a library. The books he could read in his confinement, in that damn tower, were limited. He'd never had much choice. Most of them were useless stories, things meant to entertain children. Even if he acted stupid for his parents, that didn't change the fact that Nathan's true nature thirsted for knowledge. He'd very nearly cracked on multiple occasions, but begging for books about geography or magic would probably have been a poor idea.

Every step he took, every breath of fresh air, every ray of sun warming his skin did wonders for Nathan. His pale flesh was already regaining some natural color. Nathan couldn't stop himself from smiling, a library where he could read anything he wanted. The only problem would be where to start...

Within his contemplation Nathan nearly missed the obelisk. It had been very eye-catching, but he was immensely distracted. Moments later Nathan was at the entrance and waiting in a small line. It would seem that the library was a popular place. After a brief greeting he was given a nametag, Nasir. That made Nathan chuckle, it would take getting used to — being called by a fake name.

The interior of this obelisk was exactly what he expected — spiraling central stairs, multiple levels, and books lining every wall. Most people seemed to already know their way around, but Nathan looked for an employee. Not seeing one caused him to go up a level, then another.

On the third level he spotted a girl with her dirty blonde hair tied in a bun. The uniform, a solid blue skirt suit, was a dead giveaway.

After peering at her nametag, he greeted, "hello, Elsie. Are you busy right now?"

The petite woman put a few books back in their rightful place. She took a moment to glance in his direction, then descended from her step ladder.

"Not really, what do you need sir?" she asked in a practiced manner.

"Well..." he answered, "it's my first time here. Where can I go and what can I find?"

"That's a bit broad..." she peered at his tag, "Nasir."

After thinking about it for a few moments she began to lay everything out for him. Nathan was listening very carefully, not that it was anything too complicated.

"If you have a membership, all the way up to the tenth level. Without one, you only have access to fiction books — the first five floors. Eleven and up are all employee only. The underground levels are private collections."

Nathan chuckled, he wanted information — not fiction.

"How do I get a membership?" he asked politely.

"Fifty silvers a month for membership," she answered. "If you have the silver on you I can do it now."

Nathan showed her the money and was led further up the obelisk. The fifth level, half of it was sectioned off to make an office. Inside were four desks and multiple cabinets — stuffed full of parchments. After handing over his I.D crystal and signing a form, she gave him a silver card.

"The sixth floor and up have illusionary glyphs, people like to test spells when they do their research. Feel free to give it a go up there. The library is open twenty-four seven," she explained with a slight curtsy.

Nathan hadn't been expecting that, but it certainly made sense. If a student was reading in the library and trying to figure out the mechanics behind manipulating a new spell. May as well let them test it out here. He did cringe at the thought of how powerful that illusionary glyph must be though.

Obviously Nathan didn't intend to be a warrior, magus, or artificer. But each had their own uses. Magus spells were usually very helpful, even in everyday life. Many jobs required a few specific spell structures to be known.

It wasn't entirely rare for people to be born with the gift for magic, only one in a thousand lacked it. Something he'd convinced his mother he was, a desolate child — one without mana. Sometimes you'd be born with very little potential. Geniuses on the other hand could cast a mighty maelstrom from the get go. It was very unfair, sometimes talent did matter.

The reason he had been able to convince his mother of this was because he had been born with no internal mana. There were two aspects about being a magus, one was how much mana you were born with inside of yourself. Obviously mana was easier to control if it came from within.

The other aspect was your ability to draw ambient mana from the environment and use it for your spells. Confluence, Nathan was a frickin' god at that, but his mother had scorned him as soon as she found out he lacked internal mana. No doubt mother would've taken very good care of him if she knew what he was capable of. That mistake of hers caused him to start testing his parents. It was because of the way she reacted to his desolate status that he first doubted them.

Thanks to his mana manipulation ability he could even tell where someone was at, as long as they had internal mana. Everyone's internal mana seemed to be unique, like a signature. He had yet to encounter two people who felt, or looked the same to him. As a young child he had mistaken internal mana for demons.

Artificers were inventors for the most part, all of them strived to make new, unique devices. Most machines ran on steam, or mana crystals. There was no end to the innovations being made nowadays. Nathan had once gotten his hands on a device that ran using mana crystals, and holy hell did it work. His uncanny ability to draw ambient mana ended up overloading that machine.

Most metals tend to interfere with the users ability to control mana, so almost all desolate ones become artificers or warriors. That meant he'd not be able to sense a good amount of them. Warriors used something only referred to as internal energy, it wasn't like mana. There was a whole bunch of stuff about it that he didn't understand. Something about widening your channels through meditation training. Building a proper base through physical training.

Using that internal energy to power techniques — while Nathan didn't understand the specifics, he did get the gist of it. Those techniques, some of them were pretty frickin' neat. Being able to jump twenty meters into the sky, or sprint at fifty kilometers per hour was very impressive.

As Nathan made his way up he scanned the surroundings. It wasn't until the eighth level that he stopped. Books on geography...

For the next few days Nathan did nothing but absorb public information regarding geography. Locations of cities, territories, known inhabitants, creatures, monsters, interesting history.

Something that bothered him before had suddenly become a boon. He'd noticed his uncanny ability for memorization back in the tower. It had made reading the same story twice incredibly boring. Now however, reading something boring only once was a very welcome thing. Knowing where he should and shouldn't travel could be the difference between life and death one day, so Nathan paid extra special attention.

By the time Nathan had familiarized himself with everything on the continent of Rostma librarians had taken notice of him. Sometimes they'd actually give the studious lad a snack or beverage. It would seem that they highly approved of his thirst for knowledge.

Nathan had a tendency to forget about that sort of thing. Living in the tower naturally caused him to grow accustomed to having meals slide through a steel slot. Actually going out to procure his own supplies was a new, welcome feeling. Now he just had to remember to do it.

It had been nearly fifteen days and on his way home he noticed that the mood around Radison was different. So the next day Nathan asked Elsie, "what's everybody all excited about?"

"Wow," she gasped. "You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"The parade is in about ten minutes," she grinned. "We get to see the queen ride through our city."

"Oh, a what?" he asked. Nathan honestly had no clue what the hell she was talking about.

"You don't know what a parade is?" Elsie was taken aback. "Just go out there and watch."

Nathan wasn't really one to listen to others, but Elsie had been very nice to him during his time in the library. A few minutes later he was outside and standing among a crowd. Nathan wasn't too pleased to be so close with so many people, so he retreated. It took him another minute to find a solution. Thanks to his sense he had noticed four people crouching near a second floor window. Nathan decided to join them.

Halfway up a stairwell he abruptly stopped in his tracks. A voice had sounded out, an intimidating voice.

"Get ready, she's almost here. As soon as the snipers fire we attack, got it?"

The other three quickly responded with affirmation. Nathan couldn't believe what he'd just overheard, they sounded — no, they are assassins. Aiming for the queen's own life no less. He quickly focused on his senses and noticed two men in the distance, both armed with something that had a mana crystal. Likely their rifles.

The queen — her guards had to be warned, but he was just a useless guy. What could he do?

As the seconds ebbed by Nathan remembered all of his favorite stories, all about heroes. He was sure that causing a commotion was the best way to warn her majesty, and the only way to do that in time could get him killed.

Nathan snickered at his own reluctance.

"Oh well," he muttered bitterly. "Fuck it."

A few moments later Nathan was charging through the room like a boar, they noticed him too late to fight back. He had used to surround his entire body in a layer of fire. With both arms spread wide Nathan barreled into two men and out the window. Wooden railing of an extended balcony broke violently as he used every ounce of his strength to charge through. The sensation of falling headfirst was... terrifying and abrupt.

*THUNK*

*splash*

The discomfort caused by a face-full of cold water made his eyes snap open. A single, agonizing jerk of his body revealed that he was restrained, locked in chains. Nathan could now say from personal experience that having your arms raised high with knees barely touching the ground was pretty painful.

A rather grim man dropped one wooden bucket. As it clattered against the stony floor Nathan tried organized his thoughts. Slight pain, rather, a splitting headache made it near impossible to think. He must've used his thick skull to break the fall.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

Nathan vacantly ran his eyes along the walls of a foul smelling and nondescript dungeon. Knowing that lying here would be a very bad idea, he answered, "Nathaniel Lucas Verasparion Dela'marthus."

"Not in the mood to lie," the man spun both of Nathan’s identification crystals around an open hand. "Boring!"

Nathan snickered, causing pain from his restrained limbs.

"Figured it'd be stupid to lie at this point — how's the queen?" he asked, more than a little worried.

"Dead," the man's voice was furious.

Nathan cringed as his body fell limp with resignation.

"Dammit," was all he could muster.

"Before I start making guesses, you should probably tell me your side of the story."

"I was looking for a nice place to watch the parade from when I overheard some men talking about an attempt on the queen's life," Nathan explained. "I used an spell, then charged into them. The last thing I remember is breaking through a widow... no, I remember falling."

The man chuckled and slapped his knee.

"My name is Boris, and you almost landed on me."

Nathan peered at the man and asked, "do you believe me?"

"I do," he answered. "But that isn't the issue here. Every one of those assassins, all eleven of them, are dead. The people are filled with outrage and have begun to riot, they need an outlet."

"You don't mean!?" Nathan gasped sharply.

"Yup," Boris confirmed. "You'll be our martyr. A young noble that happens to be the source of all sorts of nasty little rumors. We intend to have you executed on the 1st of Talomir. It's Velanis 17th, so you've got fourteen days left to live. Nothing personal — you did try to save the queen after all."

Nathan began to laugh, a cold smile appeared on his lips.

"I have never known a more vulgar expression of betrayal and deceit," his voice was smoldering with fury. No good deed goes unpunished, how true.

"Blame fate," Boris scoffed. "Sorry about this kid, I personally respect what you did. Stupid but brave, I'll write it on your tombstone."

Nathan resigned himself and asked, "mind letting me out of these chains. If I'm dying there's no reason to torture me."

"There is," Boris claimed. "We want you looking weary and half dead for the execution. You're being presented as a traitor that worked with the Telmarian Empire's assassins. Can't have you seemingly well fed and clean when we march out there."

Nathan simply fell limp, the light in his eyes slowly faded.

Outside the cell another knight asked Boris, "how did he take it?"

"I expected him to be angry..." Boris started, "kick, scream, curse, beg for mercy. Is that really the Nathaniel Dela'marthus rumored to be a useless child? I almost can't believe it. A shame the king is ordering his death."

"It doesn't sit well with the knights, everyone there saw what happened..."

"If you wanna keep your head," he spoke acidly. "You won't tell anyone what really happened."

The knight quickly straightened his back and saluted Boris.

"I'll be first watch," he said, obviously very attached to his head.

Boris promptly left without saying anything else. Nathan was doomed...

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