From the balcony of the southern library, Achilles watched the estate like a hawk behind glass.
Courtyard drills. Merchant carts. Garden conversations between ladies of status. The rhythm of noble life—polished and elegant—played out before him like a simulation.
He wasn't just watching for beauty.
He was watching for vulnerabilities.
> >>> New module loaded: Observation_Layer()
>>> Target: Verentis Estate (Level 1 analysis)
>>> Parsing structures… politics… economic flow…
He frowned slightly.
> Something's off.
---
🏰 House Verentis: Outwardly Strong
To the public, House Verentis was a paragon.
Their soldiers were cleanly uniformed, their servants well-fed, their crops untouched by plague. Lords from smaller lands still visited for trade advice.
But the Observation Layer painted a different picture.
> Land Holdings: Medium (sustainable)
Wealth Reserves: Decent (but declining)
Political Influence: Low-to-moderate
Royal Ties: Passive (not favored, not threatened)
Noble Alliances: Weakening
They weren't sinking.
But they weren't rising either.
In the hacker world, Achilles had seen this kind of profile before.
> Verentis is stable—but static.
And static houses attract predators.
---
🦊 The Quiet Threats
The reports in the family archive helped fill in the gaps.
House Kraven, a rising military family to the east, had recently bought three mines.
House Durell, once bankrupt, now "sponsored" several royal mages.
House Fen, notorious for corruption, had been pardoned twice by the Crown this year alone.
Meanwhile, Verentis remained ethical. Honorable.
And isolated.
Achilles tapped his fingers against the desk, reviewing a trade route chart.
> "We've made no new alliances in four years," he muttered.
"That's not peace. That's stagnation."
---
⚙️ Strategic Overlay
He activated a deeper module.
> >>> Overlay Enabled: Geopolitical Simulation
>>> Forecasting potential aggression vectors...
[Eastern Trade Collapse: 32% likelihood]
[Political Marriage Proposal from House Kraven: 67%—high manipulation risk]
[Royal Draft Proposal (Border War): pending]
> The kingdom is shifting, he thought. And Father hasn't seen how fast.
The Verentis name still carried weight—but in the halls of the capital, weight didn't matter.
Leverage did.
---
🔥 The Need for Power
He glanced at his hand.
At the faint system glyph only he could see.
> I can't let our house fall behind.
Not through war.
Not through marriage.
Not through greed.
If the world ran on spells and secrets, then Achilles would bring them something it had never seen:
> Compiled power.
Custom code.
Magic that no one could predict—because no one else could read it.
---
📜 A Letter From the Capital
That evening, a messenger arrived.
A letter, sealed with gold.
A formal invitation:
> "To the Young Lord Achilles Verentis,
You are hereby invited to participate in the Noble Youth Combat Exchange.
Hosted at House Aldren's Northern Estate.
Attendance is encouraged by order of the Crown."
His father called it an honor.
Achilles knew better.
It was a probe.
Someone, somewhere, had started to watch.