"Do you mean for the day? I-I don't understand?" Shavtil asked, before moving closer to Lucius.
"No, I mean for good," Lucius replied dismissively, before turning back to Zhayen. He was interested in what sort of training Zhayen and the others had been receiving before this, if even at all.
"The old warriors didn't really let us train. Before they left, we weren't even allowed in this room," Zhayen explained, side-eying Shavtil who looked like he would blow a fuse at any moment.
Lucius however paid him no attention and continued questioning Zhayen about his training history. He had to get a sense of their current level before he could create a plan of action
After all, it would be easier to train someone who already had a regimen, than a complete beginner. However, strength and stamina aside, he was also interested in the kind of discipline they had cultivated. He was well aware that one of the main issues with training young people was their lack of discipline.
And sadly these young children were this den's last hope. He was almost completely certain that the older warriors who had left the den were already dead, it was a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless.
"What then? Are you saying that I won't be a warrior?" Shavtil asked, anger souring his voice.
"I didn't say you won't become a warrior. You can find someone else to train you, just not me," Lucius replied without so much as looking at him, before instructing Zhayen on how his training would go from now on.
Since Zhayen was frailer than all the others, he would have to take things slower. So Lucius instructed him to run a few laps every morning, and every night to get his stamina up. After a few days, he would increase the intensity and variety of training. But for now, he wanted to test whether Zhayen was disciplined enough to complete his task without being watched.
"Just who do you think you are?" Shavtil whispered angrily from behind Lucius before coming even closer.
Seeing this, Lucius decided to turn around. He would've liked it if the kid had just run away and cried to his father. But it seemed that he had some spunk in him.
"Shavtil, what exactly are you trying to do," Lucius asked. It was a bit of an odd sight as Chames were a generally larger species than Lucius, so even as an adolescent, Shavtil had to look down to meet Lucius's eyes.
"You're just an outsider. What say do you have in who becomes a warrior or not?" Shavtil shouted as he balled his fists.
"And what are you going to do? Hit me?" Lucius asked with a cold smile. In that instant, it felt as if the entire room had been filled with ice. The vacant look in Lucius's eyes was now more apparent, it was as if his eyes were made of glass.
For a moment his mask slipped away. The mask he had created for the sake of playing the role of 'Saviour'. The same one he used to bottle up the negative emotions he had accumulated during the past few events.
"I- My father will hear about this," Shavtil stuttered after a brief moment of shock. A little embarrassed, he looked at Zhayen for a moment before storming out of the training area.
"Will it really be okay to let him go?" Zhayen asked, staring as Shavtil left. To which Lucius just sighed in response.
~This place is tiring.~
After all the others finished their punishment as well, Lucius began taking down their respective levels of training. Although these kids were spoiled, Lucius couldn't say they weren't serious about becoming warriors.
Some of them had apparently been training during their own free time. As most of them had older brothers already in the main warrior clan they had been receiving a few pointers.
After considering their respective levels of training, he began prescribing regimens for each of them. At most, it was a short run around the den before sleep, with additional workouts such as push-ups and pull-ups -which he demonstrated accordingly.
Once the class was over, he headed towards the main encampment where the common folk of the den lived. He had a plan which demanded he at least have a rough idea of the den's tunnel networks.
The problem was finding a suitable method to accomplish this. Relying on his memory wasn't exactly the most optimal practice.
So as a result, he smashed a large piece of earth from one of the walls, before using brute force to shape it into a sort of stone tablet.
After this, he used his tail to hold it out as he marked out the area from the start of the underground river, towards the rest of the camp.
"Havon?" an elderly voice called out as he was working. It was an old Chames wearing a decorated leather cloak. The two exchanged greetings as Luicus pondered on what section of governance the old man was from. After all, the cloak was very different from the type used by the high council members.
"I am Sherlin, one of the King's pundits. We met just a few days ago," the old Chames explained, before gesturing towards his tail.
It took Luicus a moment to realize what he was asking for.
"Ah, this? I'm marking out the territory. It's called a map where I'm from," he explained, before inviting the old man to walk with him.
"A map? I assume this is used to find your way in case you get lost?" Sherlin asked in a thoughtful tone. From the way he was inspecting the rock, Lucius could tell that he had a hunger for knowledge.
"That's partially true. But rather I use it for planning. It helps to have a rough idea of the environment you plan on working in," Lucius explained, as he marked another one of the branch tunnels within the den.
"Hmm, I remember you spoke of something similar the last time we met. Although I cannot say I fully understood what you were talking about, I think I may have something that can assist you," Sherlin said in a musing tone.
Although Lucius didn't have much faith in what the old man was saying, he decided to follow the man as he needed a break anyway. The old man led him to one of the deeper branches of the den, before entering a small cave area.
"These are my living quarters," Sherlin explained, before walking towards a pile at the corner of the room. It was a whole mess of different miscellaneous items, among them were; boar horns, a few odd-looking bones, and several herbs of different kinds.
After scrummaging through it for some time, he came back with what seemed like a thin piece of tea-brown leather.
"And what does this do?" Lucius asked, as Sherlin handed over the odd leather.
"Try scratching it," Sherlin replied expectantly. As Lucius trailed his claw on the piece of leather, careful not to slice it in half, a blue line appeared on the parts he had applied pressure to.
~Is this.. paper?~ Lucius thought excitedly. He had once considered inventing paper whilst he was setting up his commune, however, he hadn't expected to find something this convenient already here.
"Have you guys recorded anything using this?" he asked. It would've been a lot of help if they had old records about the legends of Havon, even more, if they had anything on magic as well.
"Recorded?" Sherlin asked in a thoughtful tone.
~Of course,~ Lucius realized with a sigh. There was no way that a third-tier society had a form of written language. At best, he could expect a few caves drawing from them, but from the clear lack of them in the den, it was clear they didn't even have that much.
~Hmm, perhaps...~ Lucius realized suddenly, before opening his system window and calling on the [Language Encylopedia].
After studying the list of languages it had recorded for a short time, he decided to select the 'Reptilian Tongue' option as it was the only one that fit the description of the language these creatures spoke.
A moment later a system notification came up.
[Creation of Advanced Language base will require [50,000 evo points]. Proceed?]
50 000 evo points was the equivalent of 5 million helios, which was nearly half the helios he had accumulated thus far. After thinking it over, he decided that he would just cultivate them again once he reunited with his commune. He had to make use of any advantage he had at his dispense -who knew if he would be able to use them later?
[5,000,000 Helios has been depleted,]
The transaction left him with just above 4 million helios. However, on the upside, he now had a documented encyclopedia of the Reprilian tongue. For now, the only information it had pertained to its basic alphabet. However, there was also something interesting alongside that information.
[Absolute Language Base: 5/100]
