"You know what clones are? Impressive." Lara smiled, and her pupils widened a bit.
Afterwards, she said, "I'm weak compared to other Illusionists, as I only started practicing a year ago, but you're right about one thing, Clayton. I can help you."
"Good," He nodded, and silently expected her to give him an example of what else she was capable of.
Lara picked up on that, so she turned around, pointed at the chapel for some unknown reason, and told him to look at it.
There wasn't much to look at, really. The chapel was burned to the ground. Only ashes remained, and there was a massive stream of black smoke coming out of it, along with the rest of the buildings that the Followers of Thaleena used to sleep in. The entirety of the sanctuary was gone, and it was sad, but this was not why Lara told him to look at the chapel.
Clayton was wise enough to expect some grand illusion, one that would help Lara to portray her abilities better, but ten seconds in, and nothing was going on. Everything remained the same, relatively speaking, so he didn't know what exactly he was supposed to be looking at.
"Your abilities appear to be slow, Lara," He expressed, and finally heaved out, as he had been holding his breath in anticipation. "I assume you need to practice more."
Lara looked at him, and smiled. She was quiet once more, which was frustrating, because he thought that they had already worked past that problem, but a moment later, he finally understood why she was quiet.
An earthquake suddenly occurred, one strong enough to knock him off his feet right away!
Clayton landed on his back, crushing a couple of brittle skeletons as a result. Rufus experienced the same thing, but as for Lara, she remained on her feet as if she wasn't grounded to the same ground that knocked the two of them down.
The earthquake stopped seconds later. It was as short as one would expect it to be.
Clayton stood up, and asked, "Did you do that? Did you make us think that there was an earthquake?"
Lara looked back, pointed at Clayton's undead slaves, and then she said, "I made everyone here believe that there was an earthquake, most of your brainless puppets included."
She seemed proud of herself. There was a smirk on her face that did not fit the same woman who he assumed to be shy and awkward just a few minutes ago, no, she was confident, and based on her performance, she had plenty of reasons to be confident.
Clayton began to like her. Not only was she infinitely useful in battle, as she could scare the everliving shit out of whole armies, but she also had an attitude quite similar to his own! She was strong, and she knew she was strong, at least compared to common folk, common Mages who could only shoot fireballs or something of that equivalent.
"I figured that you were using your abilities," He said, "Can't surprise me twice in a row, kid, you have a huge tell. You're quiet when you cast illusions."
"That's one of the side effects, I suppose," She admitted, "I'm hoping it'll go away as I improve, because if I run into someone who won't be as patient as you guys, I'll be cut down before I can do anything about it."
"Don't cut yourself short, you're plenty good already." He walked over, and patted her on the shoulder. "I'll give you all the space you need to progress, but if you have any other weaknesses, you have to let me know, so I can figure out how to protect you."
Lara pointed at the crowd of undead slaves, and said, "I don't know if you saw, but some of your puppets weren't as shocked by that little, fake earthquake. I'm assuming they used to be Heroes… my illusions don't work on Heroes, and you can likely guess how I figured that out."
"Yes," He nodded, "Don't worry, you'll be fine as long as you stick close to me, or close to my puppets, as you call them."
After getting well acquainted with this fine lady, and a fine addition to the team, he then looked at Rufus, and asked him a barrel of similar questions.
The weaknesses of Necromancers were easier to predict. They were not Combat Mages, for one thing, and unlike Lara, they didn't have any tricks up their sleeve that would help them evade danger. They were vulnerable to anyone who could hold a sword, and so, as Rufus had admitted himself, he spent a lot of his time running, either from the law, or from random people who wanted him dead as soon as they figured out what his branch of magic was.
Rufus wasn't shy about those facts either. He let them know that he was basically vulnerable to everything, and despite his tall build, he couldn't swing a sword to save his life!
However, he then walked towards Clayton's undead slaves, and gave the small team of three an example of what he could offer.
He placed his hands on the head of a slave, chanted a few spells that would put most priests on fight or flight mode, and moments later, they saw the targeted slave improve. Buff up!
The slave grew extra chunks of meat, a comfortable looking layer of flesh, and as its rib cage got sealed up, Clayton could've sworn that he saw its 'undead' heart beating!
"Impressive!" He exclaimed, "I thought all Necromancers did was rob graves."
"Usually, yes," Rufus admitted, "But since you already raised the undead, it's quite easy for me to 'improve' what you started. I can make your slaves look human again, almost human, and I can guarantee that they won't rot away for another week."
Clayton was more than impressed. He had spent all these years despising Necromancers, simply because he had been mistaken as one, but now that he got the chance to see one's work in real time, he could imagine several instances where Rufus' abilities could come in handy! He served their Path of Doom.
The undead slave he buffed up, almost looked human. Its skin shifted from blue, to pale, which hinted that there was blood flowing within its veins! It was alive, kind of, but he figured that this particular slave would crumble as soon as its artificial organs gave out. It was hard to flawlessly recreate life, after all.
"I need you to revive a Princess, Rufus," He then said, "Can you make sure she 'lives' as long as possible? I have plans for her."