The black spire loomed over the half-built base, silent but ever present. Kairo stood with the faint glow of the Command Nexus hovering above his head, its shifting panels only visible to him. He rubbed his chin as he scrolled through the new menu.
Behind him, the naga, Shiri, stretched his long serpentine body. His tail coiled and uncoiled as he worked the stiffness out of his muscles.
"It's been too long since I worked a forge," Shiri muttered, cracking his neck. "My hands are itching. If I could craft something worthwhile—something that could fire me up again—I'd almost forget my injuries."
Kairo smirked but didn't answer right away. The ghouls had begun testing their new bodies after the upgrade—sparring, shoving, and even play-wrestling like oversized children. Their green eyes glowed as they grunted and clashed, breaking into roughhousing fits that made the place look more like a training yard than a base.
Kairo watched for a while, arms folded. (So the upgrade gave them more than strength. A bit of personality too. Almost like they're rediscovering themselves… childlike in a way.)
He turned back to the Command Nexus. The glowing interface shifted before him.
[Blueprint Function – Available Options]
Tier 1 Weapons: Club (Wood) Dagger (Stone) Spear (Wood + Stone) Tier 1 Shields: Wooden Shield Tier 1 Structures: Basic Wall (Wood) Primitive Gate (Wood)
[Note: Higher tiers are locked. To unlock, Lord must ascend in Tier.]
Kairo sighed. "Not much to choose from. Clubs and wooden shields. Tier one basics."
He flicked through the options, shaking his head. Nothing flashy. Just simple tools of survival.
Behind him, Shiri slithered closer, his golden eyes narrowing as he watched Kairo staring blankly at air again. He tilted his head but didn't say anything yet.
Kairo tapped his finger against his arm. "If I let Shiri craft freely, he'd probably come up with something ten times better than this. But…" He glanced at the pile of dwindling resources in the corner—just a modest stack of wood, stone, and scraps of metal scavenged from the ruins. "We don't have much to spare."
His eyes returned to the menu.
"Fine. Clubs and wooden shields it is. Simple, easy, effective."
[Do you wish to share blueprints with allies?]
[Y / N]
Kairo selected "Yes." The panel shimmered.
Shiri froze mid-stretch. His body stiffened as a flood of knowledge burned into his mind. In an instant, diagrams unfolded before his inner vision—perfectly measured clubs, shields detailed down to the grain of wood, construction steps as clear as if he had drawn them himself.
His jaw fell open. "What… what did you just do?"
Kairo raised a brow. "You got them?"
Shiri turned toward him, eyes wide. "Got them? These—blueprints—" He clutched his head with one clawed hand. "Every measurement, every step, even the order of carving and binding… it's clearer than anything I've ever drawn myself. This is incredible, even if I already knew exactly how to build them already!"
Kairo rubbed the back of his neck, trying to look casual. "Huh. So it works on you too."
Shiri narrowed his eyes. "Too? You mean this is one of your powers, isn't it? No lord should be able to imprint knowledge like this."
Kairo gave him a shrug and a half-grin. "Don't worry about the details. Just think of it as… an easier way for us to work together."
Shiri hissed softly under his breath. "You make it sound so simple. Do you have any idea how impossible this should be? A lord handing off knowledge as if it were an item…" He stopped himself, his tail thudding the ground in agitation. Then he studied Kairo in silence for a long moment. "You're not normal, that much is certain."
Kairo chuckled. "I'll take that as a compliment."
Just then, the ghouls who had been roughhousing suddenly froze. Their green eyes flickered, and without needing instruction, they turned and marched toward the pile of wood. Some began breaking it into manageable pieces, others searching the ruins for anything usable. They moved with new coordination, each one seemingly aware of the steps needed.
Shiri blinked. "They know it too?"
Kairo nodded. "Looks like it."
Shiri stared at the ghouls now hammering together rough wood planks and testing shapes against each other. "Unbelievable. They're not craftsmen, yet they move like apprentices who've done this before." His gaze flicked back to Kairo, suspicion and amazement mingling. "Just what kind of lord are you?"
Kairo smirked. "One who doesn't want to starve to death swinging sticks."
Shiri let out a surprised laugh—short and harsh, but a laugh nonetheless. "Fair enough."
The Command Nexus shimmered again, though Kairo kept its glow hidden.
[Blueprints Shared Successfully]
Wooden Club (Tier 1) Wooden Shield (Tier 1)
All assigned units and allies may now craft.
Kairo dismissed the panel with a flick of thought. He turned back toward Shiri. "Well? You're the blacksmith. Let's see if these basics can get us somewhere."
Shiri crossed his arms, tail coiling behind him. "Clubs and shields are as simple as it gets. Any apprentice could make them. But…" He glanced at the ghouls already hacking wood with sharpened stones, and the perfect images still glowing in his head. "With blueprints this clear, I can't deny it'll save me time."
"Good." Kairo smirked. "Think of it as practice. Get your hands warm again."
Shiri snorted, but there was a faint curve of his mouth. "Don't tell me what to do, Lord."
The two of them exchanged a brief look, something unspoken passing between them. Kairo didn't press—he simply turned back to oversee the ghouls dragging logs into rough piles.
"Alright, let's get to it," Kairo said. "Weapons and shields. One step at a time."
The naga exhaled, shook out his arms, and slithered closer to the materials. His claws traced along a wooden log, his instincts already at work. "Very well, Lord. Let's begin."
For the first time since meeting, there was no sharpness in his voice—only the tone of a craftsman about to get to work.
And so the day in the half-built base shifted.
The ghouls hummed and growled as they labored, the naga began preparing to shape the first prototypes, and Kairo stood at the center—watching, planning, and wondering just how far this strange power of his could really take them.