Chapter 251: A show of ability

"Can those who believe that they're the most skilled, please step forward," Lucius added after a moment of thought.

After some hesitation within the crowd, three older-looking furtong, two prairie-dog, and three beaver people stepped forward.

Those who found themselves in this small group of 'the most skilled' looked at each other with dismissive expressions. It was clear to see that each of them regarded the others of their species as phoneys.

"Thank you for your cooperation. You guys can continue with what you were doing before I disturbed," he announced, before gesturing for his small group to follow him.

He led them towards the altar room so that they could have some privacy.

"Lighted One," the bear-men on guard whispered before bowing, as Lucius and his entourage walked past them.

The bear-men stared at Lucius's new tail in confusion for a moment, before quickly turning their attention to the group behind him, however, they did not dare ask any questions.

"Are any of you guys involved in any important projects?" Lucius asked, as he sat atop the altar, looking down at his entourage.

Two furtong raised their hands at this. Which didn't really come as a surprise, as they were the main labour force when it came to tunnel creation.

~Speaking of which, I need to create a map of these tunnel systems. Though I wonder where I can find that parchment paper Sherlin showed me,~ he thought to himself.

This served to remind him about the Chame's den. It had been a while since he had left them with his ultimatum, he wondered if Shavak had actually gotten down from the throne, and whether Shaviki had been put into power.

Honestly, that was the only way he could see himself working with the Chame people. That or he could kill off a few of the council members and take control by force, however, it wouldn't be worth the risk of giving them power only for them to later rebel against him for those crimes.

"Okay, from today on all of you are pardoned of those tasks," Lucius said after a moment of silence.

"You will be helping me with a top-secret mission, which means that you cannot share the details of this with anyone," he added.

Even if they were all going to be part of the same commune, it would be safer to keep the existence of magic weapons privy to a small group of people.

Their loyalty was not what he was questioning. As a soldier, he had seen even the toughest of men give in to torture techniques. And with their next enemy being the council, he did not put it above them to use such tactics.

"The beav... I mean- what are your people called?" Lucius asked, regarding one of the beaverpeople.

"We are the Castor," one of the beaver-people in the group replied.

"Ah, for now I'll be putting all the castors, and the furtong in the group to work. I need you guys to name the strongest materials you are able to work with, and where to find them. We'll be hosting a mission to gather those materials in a few hours," he announced.

"I can tell you guys don't like each other, but you'll have to discuss and agree on something. I will not take failure lightly," he added.

This was a very important project, and although he wasn't usually so forceful in his ways, it just felt somewhat easier to do it to these guys.

Perhaps it was because they were not as close to his heart as his children were, or because of the obvious changes to his psyche due to his torture. However if it would help things move faster, he was willing to push them just a little out of their comfort zones.

The furtong and castors in the group stared at Lucius for a moment before looking to their fellowmen.

There was only a moment of hesitation before they began their discussions.

~Hmm, I've seen these creatures often, however, I've never actually seen what they're particularly good at. Perhaps building burrows? ~ Lucius thought to himself, before laughing.

The creatures in the room turned to look at him in surprise, perhaps shocked that a creature like him was capable of such a thing.

"Sorry, never mind me," Lucius said in between laughs.

It had just occurred to him that assuming prairie-dogs were good at building burrows was somewhat speciesist. Which in itself was an even funnier topic as concepts like these were probably only considered by humans.

"It's been a while since I've had a good laugh," he said in between laughs, before turning his attention to one of the prairie-dog people, his tired mood somewhat lifted.

"And what are your people called?" he asked.

"We are the Cynomys," one of them replied meekly.

"The cynomys. And what is your people's speciality," Lucius asked thoughtfully.

"If I may, Lighted One," the oldest-looking of them asked, to which Lucius gestured for it to proceed.

Although Lucius assumed it to be the oldest, he was using a human basis for this; such as white hair, and the firmness of muscle. It was very likely that the animals aged differently from those on earth.

The older cynomys walked towards one of the walls of the altar room before placing its palm on it.

One of the bear-men on guard instantly moved to stop it, however with a simple gesture from Lucius, the bear-man took a step back and let it happen.

From its facial expression, Lucius could tell it was somewhat worried.

"If Pagan asked what happened, tell him that it was of high importance to one of the commune's most important missions," Lucius said with a smile.

At this, the bear-man seemed somewhat more relaxed, though it was clear it was still bothered by the cynomys touching the wall.

~Well, this is basically holy ground after all. Perhaps I should find a new place to hold my meetings,~ Lucius thought to himself, as the cynomys closed its eyes.

A moment later, the wall it was touching changed texture, making it seem like it had been polished by some machine.

"Hmm, that's interesting," Lucius commented after some thought. He could still hear the other creatures discussing next to him.

"We can also imitate the skill of the furtong to some extent," the cynomys creature said, before creating a small burrow in the wall it had been touching.

"However, we are nowhere as skilled as they are," it finished off.

It was clear to see that they had evolved to create relatively small burrows, and using them for such a task would be a poor use of skills.

Though judging from the rough texture of most of the walls in the camp, it was clear to see that Hannibal had been using them as borrowers much like the furtong.

~Knowing Hannibal, he isn't one to try and make things look pretty. He probably thought it would be more efficient to have them do what little they could towards advancing the scale of the camp,~ Lucius thought to himself.

But then again, Lucius had to admit that Hannibal had been right for doing so. Until now, there wasn't really much -besides aesthetic purposes- that their skills could be used for.

"For now, I'll need you guys to try and teach me how your abilities work," he said out loud, after some thought.

At this, another wave of surprised faces washed over the room.