As she finished speaking, they arrived at the biggest building, which served as a hangout for the village. Anyone was welcome to come in, train, eat, and hang out with the others. As Cale strolled in, his chilling aura demanded the eyes of everyone present. His bloodied, black clothes were an outlier among the village outfits. His marred hair and downcast gaze compelled the others to look around cautiously. They all were in the war in the past, and just as Aeila and the rest were to Cale, Cale was to them at one point. Despite his menacing image, they all stood up to welcome him back from the War. "It's been a while, Caley." A burly man with one arm spoke, approaching him first. Despite being aged, his body was still lively, as if the rest of his body took in the energy from his missing arm. "Hey, Uncle Ross. Nice to see you again." Cale spoke as he wrapped his arms around the broad shoulders of Ross, patting his back.
After a few minutes of greetings and hugs, Cale finally sat down with Kassandra, Ross, and his eldest brother, Kayden.
"So," Cale spoke aloud, unsure of how to make conversation. Kayden turned his gaze to his younger brother. Cale avoided his gaze and mustered out some words, "How has being a field engineer been?" Cale was no good with conversation; Words would come out cluttered, or he'd trip over his own mouth and get flustered. Conversation was never his thing, and he could only speak so clearly during the war.
"It's been..." Kayden paused, thinking about his words. He didn't want to gloat on his own festivities, as to be honest, being a field engineer was fun for him. He was not a fighter by any means, but possessed a brilliant mind. Therefore, instead of being on the frontlines, he was developing artifacts and gear that could contribute to those who were there. He didn't want to call his job fun in front of Cale, who truly had it the worst. "I'm content with it. Kinda irks me knowing you're out there fighting with your life on the line while I'm sitting in a lab hours away from you working on gadgets." Kayden spoke with a half-truth and half-lie. He wasn't just content; He loved his job. However, it truly did rub him the wrong way. He had no way to know if Cale was safe or not, and the fact that Kayden, as the older brother whom Cale was supposed to look up to, is sitting in a lab while his younger brother fights for his life nearly every day. "I know the same could be said for you, not knowing whether your family is fine or not. But..." The change of tone in his last words caused everyone around him to focus entirely on Kayden. "We're working on a... Protection and Teleportation Gadget. It'll be the first of its kind." Cale's eyes regained some of their light as the words flowed into his ears.
Kayden re-adjusted himself in his chair, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "So, here's how it works. Let's say, there are four of us," He paused and pointed his finger at everyone listening in. "Now let's say... Uncle Ross is in danger." He said with his thumb raised at the armless man. "Now, for these to work, you have to link the mana together, and to do so, you get all the pendants together. First, you inject YOUR," He said with extra emphasis, making sure everyone knows to use their own mana. "Mana into it, then, the next person slips a string into it, and starts flowing their own mana, albeit with a tiny shred of the previous person's mana. Doing so creates a link of sorts, and once one person injects mana past the capacity limit, it'll set off an alarm in everyone else's pendant." The new tech sounded amazing, especially to Cale. One thing that annoyed him was that if he were on the battlefield, there's no way he'd arrive fast enough to stop whatever predicament that could be occurring. However, he kept his hopes high in anticipation of the 'teleportation' attribute of it to make up for it.
"Once this alarm triggers, the person with the designated Teleport Pendant will immediately be transported to the person. Now, this comes with its own cons. What if that person is doing something important? Or... Caught in a bad moment... If y'know." He let out a light cough. "Either way, it has its own cons, but it is leaning more to the positive things of it." He finished speaking and leaned back, rubbing his hands together.
The entire explanation was a godsend for Cale; there was nothing more important than everyone in this village. If he could teleport at a moment's notice of danger, he could guarantee everyone's safety.
"And, for you, Cale." Kayden resumed conversation, leaning forward again with his eyes aimed at him. "I designed the same amulet, except that it can cast a sphere of mana to act as a shield. Now, usually, we're making these to trigger when a powerful attack, which varies depending on your power, is detected. And now, a powerful attack from someone the same Pillar as you wouldn't be a big deal at all, a Pillar higher... Maybe, if they have the jump on you. But I know 2 Pillars' past you is your limit. So, this one I've designed especially for you. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a thin-stringed necklace with a sharp-edged amulet embedded with a dull blue gem in the middle. "Now, you can't do anything with it today. The other prototypes are arriving tomorrow, enough for a good quarter of the people in the village." Kayden told Cale, who nodded with a smile in response. "This is... A burden off my mind." Cale spoke softly out loud, raising his head to his brother. "Thank you." Kayden smiled and reached his arms forward, hugging his little brother. "No worries. It also helps me know that everyone will be safe with you around."
Kassandra, observing the brotherly moment, beamed with glee, and Ross chuckled and patted Cale on the back. "In the meantime-" Ross was abruptly cut off as a guard entered the building with haste. "Sir! There is a group of beasts making their way over." Ross sighed and rubbed his temple, blatantly annoyed. "This is getting out of hand, really."
"Isn't this the third time this week alone? They've seriously become a lot more active." Cale's head subconsciously turned as he heard this. He withdrew from Kayden's hug and turned his gaze over to Ross. "Third time this week?" He affirmed. Ross nodded and puffed his lips. "Yeah, they've been active recently."
Cale's eyes peered at the floor below him as he fell into thought. 'Why would they be this much of a nuisance? There could be a few reasons... Maybe a turf war? But three times is too much... Unless there's something else at play.' A more sinister side of Cale surfaced and his mind became cold and filled with murderous intent. 'Who'd be so foolish to attack my own home.'