A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor-Chapter 844: Building Back - Part 3

"Of course, you are right, and I think you have been doing that," Verdant said. "You evaluate our progress on this here battlefield in conventional strategic terms, and I do believe that the enemy will do the same."

"Speak, Verdant. Your frequent pauses are not good for my heart," Oliver said. "You dangle something in front of me, and I feel like a dog chasing after it."

"That sword at your hip," Verdant said, nodding towards it. Oliver gripped its hilt instinctively as it was mentioned. "The man that wielded that, your father, he had an obsession with the idea of progress. That is what you once said to me."

"If I was harsh enough to call it an obsession, I would be lacking eloquence. Dominus' pursuit of progress was a beautiful thing. Healthy, and unhealthful at once. He drove himself half mad with it, but it imbued his life with a meaning that others lacked. He was a great example of a man, and a great example as a teacher," Oliver said.

"He taught you much of what he learned in those teachings, then?" Verdant asked.

"He attempted to, but he continually cautioned me towards my own path, and in the end, I followed that advice strongly," Oliver said. "The fundamentals still remain, however. The world as a river, the lapping waves of the sea of progress, gently breaking down the obstacles that stand in our way. The philosophy necessary to overcome a lacking progression, or even steps backwards.

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The trust necessary for that."

Oliver was unaware of the genuine and peaceful smile that arose to his face as he spoke of those days with Dominus, and all that he had learned. That time had been one of immense struggle as he lived it, but in memory, those days were filled with an immense beauty that he could never forget.

"He was a scholar of such matters, Dominus Patrick," Verdant said. "I believe that firmly now, after listening to you speak of him. Would you be in agreement if I were to say that of all the people in the world, no one understood progress more than he?"

"Perhaps… Perhaps I would. After all, he was the only man to achieve the Sixth Boundary, and he proclaimed that he did not do so with talent in his corner," Oliver said. "Where do you wish to go with this, Verdant?"

"What I mean to say, my Lord Patrick, is that we must use matters outside of our enemy's understanding in order to best him. We must use all that you are – or at least, we must attempt to. You are a ball of change, of the likes that I cannot grasp, but there is an effect that you have, that I am only recently beginning to see.

It is an effect that even the best strategist can not hope to predict, for it is a matter that transcends the school of strategy," Verdant said.

Oliver narrowed his eyes. Claudia's intrigue was evident. Her studious nature sought out conversations like these. Her interest pulled Oliver towards Verdant's answer, just as strongly as Oliver's own interest did. "What is it?"

"What you do instinctively, is positively brilliant, my Lord," Verdant said. "There is one aspect that you have thoroughly neglected, when you consider the matters of the battlefield in terms of strategy, and that is the effect that you yourself are having on your men."

The young Commander paused, not understanding. "I do not believe that to be the case. The soldiers that Greeves has procured me have improved, I have incorporated their improvement into my predictions and projections, but they do not do much to upset the scale in our favour."

"That is true, at the very least," Verdant said. "But have you incorporated their growth into your projections?"

Oliver's eyes widened. "W-wait! How could I dare to..?" He thought back to Nila, and the strength of Claudia's Sparks that had surrounded her. She was right on the precipice of progress.

Verdant's voice hardened, and he almost shouted. "How could you dare not to?" He slammed his fist down on the table. "You place those same expectations on yourself, do you not?

You do not know whether you are currently capable of defeating the enemy General, if he is indeed a man of the Fourth Boundary, and yet you bet on your own progression, believing that you should be able to squeeze a drop more out of yourself. How could you leave others out of that?"

"The… what's required, I could never ask of another man," Oliver said, shaking his head fervently. The weight of the moment required to endure a Boundary Break, that was something else altogether. He could never judge himself so highly as to ask another man to go through that.

"How could you not? I asked you earlier, if you were to remove the threat of risks to your men, how would you change how you ordered them – what of now?" Verdant said.

Oliver gulped. It was frightening. Too frightening. This was the realm of Gods, not men. Man should have no place in predicting progress. To attempt to predict one's own progress was one thing, but to truly force progress out of another, in Claudia's realm, it bordered on sacrilege.

It was too close a touching of souls. He shook his head.

"Nila Felder," Verdant said, a touch of accusation in his voice. "You believe something to be in her. When I found you, you were looking at her as if in awe. How can you tell how close she is?"

"I…" Oliver could not find the words.

"You need not answer. The fact that you attempt to confirms it all the same. You see what others cannot. Hod believed in that fact. There are many realms that a man can progress in. The ability to guide the progression of others, that is progression in itself," Verdant said.

"Verdant, you don't understand… That's too much weight," Oliver said.

"You're right, my Lord, I do not understand. I do not know how this is different than teaching. Is this not merely teaching at its highest level?" Verdant said. "You've proven yourself to be a willing teacher."

"No… This is… more than that. I could not. A man's path is his own to walk. I can not attempt to interfere with destiny," Oliver said.