Dawn Architect

Chapter 15: enhancements

"Well, Lili, whatever happened, I'm happy to be working with you again," I expressed, feeling a deep relief to have her with me from the start. Her affinity for darkness and her presence were invaluable resources that forced me to rethink all my plans from scratch, now considering her critical influence on future strategies.

Despite my statement, something in the atmosphere seemed unsettled. I watched Lili for a moment before asking, "Lili, what's bothering you?"

[Forget it,] she quickly responded.

I was puzzled, not fully understanding her discomfort.

[Forget everything I said before I died,] she added, evidently embarrassed by her last words back then. Remembering those moments, I could understand her reaction; Lili was not one to express her feelings openly, but the proximity of death had broken down her barriers, showing her to be genuine and melancholic. I decided to respect her wish and dispel the uncomfortable air.

"What did you say?""My memories of that time are fuzzy," I lied, offering her an out.

She seemed relieved, though not entirely convinced; but she agreed to move on without pressing the issue.

With that little interruption resolved, I suggested a change of scenery.

"Let's go to the lair to plan our next steps." I'm not sure what to expect from the children I left in Clayton and Eirlys' care, but I trust they handled things well."

Upon arriving at the base, I was greeted by the sight of a group of youngsters diligently practicing the exercises I had set up. These routines formed the basis of a combat art I was teaching, crucial to their development and survival. Unlike skills, which depend on intelligence and mental capacity, the arts require repetitive training and an affinity for the specific element of the art. Most were becoming familiar with the basics of an advanced art, essential to their growth.

I walked around the place, pondering the differences between skills, arts and spells. Each had unique requirements for learning them, particularly elemental affinity. An individual might attempt to learn arts associated with earth, but if their affinity was water, they could never maximize the potential of the art. Spells followed a similar logic; one could memorize countless spells of different elements, but would never succeed in casting them.

At that moment, Lili, who was still hidden from the sight of the others, interrupted my thoughts. ['Hey, Lux, who are those kids?'] Her voice echoed directly in my mind.

'They're my subordinates,' I explained.

'They're the group I led before I was enslaved and others who were also captured with me and I brought them in while I was escaping.' I mentally explained to Lili what I had planned for the children.

['That sounds good. It's true that we can't do it all by ourselves,'] she commented, picking up on the importance of building a strong group.

The children, noticing my presence, stopped and greeted me with respect. Clayton, the most energetic, approached with a smile.

"Chief, you're back! I'm glad you're okay."

"Good job, I see you have followed my instructions to the letter. We'll reconvene for a briefing as soon as everyone gets back. In the meantime, I'll go get some rest," I announced, placing a hand on Clayton's shoulder in approval before heading to my personal space, where I invited Lili to follow me for privacy.

Once in my room, I closed the door and prepared to review my improvements in detail. I activated the status window to evaluate my progress:

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