After creating several small wagons with the help of Hannibal, Alpha, and Pagan, Lucius went to check up on the Internal Security Department. He wanted to have a quick session before sending everyone out on their missions.
"Ah, sparring," he whispered to himself as he noticed that the group was currently watching the arena.
"Captain," one of the members whispered, noticing Lucius's presence, and just like that everyone bowed before turning their attention back to the fight that was about to begin.
~I Need to teach them the salute or something, because this bowing stuff...~ he thought to himself, before making his way closer to the arena.
~Oh, this is interesting,~ he thought to himself, noticing who was currently fighting. It was Ghost, facing off against the entire Internal Security management team.
"Begin!" a 'referee' shouted.
In that instant, Ghost's entire body flashed with a radiant light, and just as fast she closed the distance between her and her opponents.
~A bit hasty,~ Lucius thought to himself as Eleanor gave her men commands, surrounding Ghost just as fast as she came towards them.
Copying the same tactic they had once used against him whilst they were still leaflings, they ran at her from all angles.
~How will you deal with this?~ he wondered, and a moment later he was answered. Her spider legs bent, glowing brighter than the rest of her body, and for a moment his earth sense picked up a large accumulation of power.
The next moment she was in the air, mimicking a somersault she had once seen Lucius do during one of his morning training sessions.
~How long were you practicing that?~ he wondered to himself. Although it was a good move on her end, Elenor reacted quickly enough, running to catch Ghost before she could land. The group moved as if they were a single organism, sending each other messages with intention alone.
~The benefits of being raised and trained as a unit,~ he thought as two of the members grabbed Ghost's spider legs, dragging her down.
Up in the air, she had no leverage to use her strength, so she ended up being pulled towards the ground where four members were waiting to pummel her. However, despite all that, she still had a smirk on her face.
~What is she up to?~
Just as she was about to smash into the ground, Eleanor and her men released a flurry of punches at her, ending the match.
Or so it should've gone... instead they hit thin air.
Their confusion was palpable... however they were the only ones unaware of what had happened.
Ghost had created a mirage, and from the angle that Eleanor and the others were, they couldn't see Ghost hiding behind it.
The shouts from their teammates who were holding on to Ghost's legs came a moment too late, and just like that, Ghost rammed into Elenor sending her flying out of the arena.
~Take out the leader huh? Smart,~ Lucius thought to himself. It would seem that Ghost was a natural at combat, something that he hadn't expected.
Though the remaining members were still able to move well enough without a leader, they missed decisive opportunities to take Ghost down. And with her radiant index, even their numbers stood no chance.
"Well done... all of you," Lucius announced once the match was over, calling out his crux as he jumped into the arena.
~Spacial cleanse,~ he chanted, easing his crux to increase its range.
"Everyone head over to the center dome, we'll be having a session soon," he announced.
As everyone was leaving he called Ghost to walk with him.
"When did you change from solar to radiant?" he asked. Because the last time he checked she was still using the solar index.
"This morning when you were waking everyone else up. Alpha showed it to me and explained some of the techniques. I find this one way more... fitting than the solar index," she tried explaining, unsure how to word it.
"I see," Lucius thought to himself. Though it was still odd. It had taken Alpha and Hannibal quite a bit of time to become accustomed to the radiant index. And even then her mirage was at a level that the others couldn't replicate.
"And that thing you did with your spider legs... you concentrated radiant energy in specific areas. Alpha and Hannibal don't know how to do that yet," he asked.
He had never taught it to them because it wasn't something one could just explain. The only reason he could do it was due to his encounter with the 'furry-folk' during the shri'killian mission forcing him to learn it.
"That... that sort of just happened. If you can cover your whole body in it, you can focus it more on specific areas right?" she answered, staring towards her spider legs. They were limp, exhausted from the high concentration of energy.
"Interesting... but don't grow accustomed to it. In your line of work, it's important to not overexert yourself. You never know when the next fight will be," he explained, though he was still thoroughly impressed.
~Another prodigy?~ he thought as he opened up her stats tab.
┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓
─────⋅☾ Player Details ☽⋅─────•
[Ghost Elwood ]
[Level 1: 0/100]
[Leaf-Arachnid [healthy-hybrid] lvl.7- [30/700]]
─────⋅☾ Stats ☽⋅─────•
[Agility: 180]
[Strength: 110 ]
[Stamina: 94]
┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛
"How long have you been sparring?" he asked, his earth sense telling him that she seemed 'drained'.
"I've been fighting against every member of the security department," she explained, still trying to catch her breath.
"And how would you say they're doing?"
"Well, I copied some of the moves I saw you do... the 'kicks' you called them. They were really useful. They on the other hand have nothing, so I can't really say anything that will sound fair," she replied after some thought.
"The kicks you saw were useful?" Lucius asked in surprise.
Flashy moves like spin kicks were nice to look at, but to a person with no combat experience, knowing moves like those usually do more harm than good.
Most warriors or soldiers barely use flashy moves like that in combat, because frankly even the most trained professional can slip or do some other mistake that might cost them the match... or their life.
Besides, even if Ghost saw him do the moves, it should've been unlikely that she could mimic them simply from memory, much less know when to use them efficiently.
"Perhaps we should spar later as well," he decided finally. He had to see this for himself.
"S-Sure," she stuttered.
~I'll show Alpha a few basic moves to teach the others while I'm gone. But for now, live combat will be a faster means of getting them battle-ready,~ he thought to himself as they entered the photosynthesis dome.
"Pagan, you may begin," Lucius said, taking a seat at the front.
"Let us all open our minds to his light, so that we too may someday shine," Pagan announced, after calling out his crux.
"Let us begin," he said finally, before beginning the process.
*
The photosynthesis session only went on for a few minutes, so as to not exhaust everyone, and ensure that Pagan and Hannibal didn't accidentally evolve.
Once everyone was informed of their roles and duties, they set off.
Lucius ordered Ghost to go stealth mode and follow him and the others as they went to the dummy camp, before going to call on the chieftains.
"Ch-chosen One," the chieftains stuttered as they saw him approach them. It would seem they had been talking about the Radiant Tree before he arrived.
"You've rested well I believe," he said, noticing the question on their faces.
"I-Indeed. Th-though there is something that bothers us," one of them said, the others looking towards it expectantly.
"Is it about joining the commune officially?" he asked, before gesturing for them to follow him.
"Y-Yes. Have you decided?"
"You will join," he answered, to which they breathed sighs of relief.
"Though under a few conditions. Firstly all of you will be working under me as personal assistants, the same will go for every member of your clans. They will be assigned to premi... the chieftains of my clan for a period before they are allowed to join," he explained, to which the chieftains nodded in understanding.
"Second of all, everyone one of your clan members will have to join a... unit in the commune. THey have specific jobs, Hannibal will explain this stuff in better detail," he continued.
"W-we understand, we shall inform the others," one of the chieftains said in excitement.
"By the way, I have something to ask of you. My people aren't originally poison users, I'd like you to teach me all your techniques," Lucius said. He had used 'all' on purpose, he wanted to see what reaction he would get... whether or not they would be against teaching him their secrets.
