"Dragon? No one said anything about dragons," Kaede said, shifting uneasily.

  Ari scoffed. "That annoying lizard should feel lucky I even sider him a dragon."

  Aurina, overhearing the versation, stepped forward. "Master, I believe she's referring to Lord Veldora."

  Kaede paused, her expression thoughtful. "So, the lizard you were talking about was Veldora. He's quite different from what I imagined."

  Ari nodded, and Kaede pced a hand on her , her mind rag. 'We’ll have to deal with Veldora eventually.'

  Shaking the thought aside, Kaede refocused. "Alright, we’ll hahat ter. For now, let’s trate oing the looms and threads sorted out."

  She turned her attention back to the queens. "Weaving spiders will be a good start for the threads. Their silk is strong, flexible, and perfect for clothing. Once we secure the silk, we’ll begin making the looms. You three return to your ies for now, but be back at dawn tomorrow with a tally of your numbers."

  The three queens heir t forms vanishing in a fsh of bck light.

  Kaede paused, blinking in surprise before turning to Ari. "Since when they do that?"

  Ari sighed. "They used a skill called [Shadow Movement]. It allows them to travel through shadows. However, they also have a more advanced skill called [Spatial Pt] that lets them instantly appear o any member of their y."

  Kaede tilted her head, frowning slightly. "Then why didn’t they just use that?"

  Ari hesitated, her tone dry when she finally answered. "Because Shadow Movement looks cooler."

  Kaede blinked, staring at her. "Oh."

  Ari nodded solemnly. "Yes."

  Kaede let out a small sigh, ping the bridge of her nose as she mulled over Ari’s expnation. "So, they’d rather waste energy to show off. Typical," she muttered, more to herself than anyone else.

  Ari gave a slight shrug, her sharp eyes gleaming with amusement. "I'll tact Pitht now."

  "Hmmmm?" Kaede blinked, snapping out of her mind and nodding to Ari. "Y-Yes I'll start drawing up the blueprints for the houses and the looms."

  ////

  Kaede sat cross-legged in her designated chambers, the soft hum of her bck box resonating faintly iill air. Holographic blueprints hovered above it, shifting and rotating in respoestures.

  Acer y sprawled across her p, her head resting fortably ohigh. Her hand absentmindedly stroked the soft leaves on her hair as she worked, her eyes fixed oricate designs before her.

  The holograms dispyed three distinct projects: a weaving loom, modur housing for the ant ies, and a tralized processing station. Kaede’s fingers moved deftly, pulling at the edges of the blueprints te ses or swiping to adjust pos.

  "Alright," she muttered, fog on the loom first. "If I anchor the silk tensioners here and add an adjustable frame, it should work for multiple thread types. But what about..." She paused, her fiwisting in the air to rotate the model. "The gear alig? Why would it need...? Oh, to avoid it seizing uress."

  Acer let out a soft hum, purring at her mother's movements. (Overthinking again, Mother?)

  Kaede gnced down at her, smiling faintly. (I call it thh pnning.)

  (You call it that. I call it unnecessary stress.)

  She chuckled softly, giving her head a ge. "Maybe you’re right. But, without Artificia online, I have to think through the details."

  Her attention shifted to the housing blueprint. With a swipe, the hologram expanded, showing a series of modur frames that could interlock like puzzle pieces. Kaede pihe image, pulling it closer to examihe material position. "The resin from Hachi's y should work well here. Lightweight, durable... but we’ll need a way to reinforce it without promising flexibility."

  Her gaze shifted to the first image of the weaving loom, her fingers h mid-gesture. "I wonder..." She murmured, pulling a strand of light from the loom blueprint and iing it into the housing design. The hologram adjusted instantly, the frames now lined with spider silk threads for added support. "I 't believe that worked!" She pumped a fist iement.

  Acer jerked from the sudden movement, before notig her mother's smile and the hologram. (You do anything mother.)

  Satisfied, Kaede saved the designs ahem fade, leaving only the processing station’s hologram behind. She hesitated, staring at the intricate meisms and pulleys. It was a long-term project, far more plex thahers, but it was necessary.

  She gestured to expand the power core se, repg the resin gears with alloyed metal. Resin might have been suffit for the smaller projects, but this one needed durability and precision. A lightweight alloy refined from the ores created by Ari's passive skill would suffice. With precise movements, she recalibrated the torque distribution, shifting the gear pt to reduce wear over time.

  Despite her focus, Kaede kept her pace steady. The station wasn’t an urgent need, it was a foundation for the future. Artificia’s absence had forced her to think more critically, to pn for a world where not everything could be created with a snap of her fingers. This station would allow others to work and create without her stant involvement.

  Kaede leaned back slightly, her hand still idly stroking Acer’s head. She saved the updates, the bck box glowing softly as it stored the data. For now, the station would remaiical, a blueprint waiting for the right moment to e to life.

  The room grew quieter as the hologram dimmed. Kaede exhaled softly, her gaze shifting to the ceiling and its blue themed ambiance. "I should check up on Shifu." She murmured. Creating a link to Ari, she called. (Hey Ari, I'm gonna go che Shifu for a while, be ba a few hours.)

  Acer, already hearing the mental versation, chimed in. (Mother?)

  Kaede pinched her cheeks. "I'll be back soon. You don't o follow me everywhere. Stay and have a nap or something okay."

  Acer relutly nodded. (Yes mother.)

  "Yosh!" Kaede jumped to her feet. (Hey Shifu, I'm dropping by.)

  (Huh? What are you talking abou...?)

  [Cover Move]

  ////

  Kaede's arrival was as sudden as it was silent. One moment, the dense forest echoed with the sound of rustling leaves and distant chatter; the , she stood there, a faint ripple of magic dispersing arouhe air crackled faintly, drawing the attention of Shifu and his hunting party.

  Shifu, standing over the corpse of a retly felled beast, turned with a sharp look. His skin was stained with blood, his body tense, but the annoyan his expression softened upon seeing Kaede. "You could warn me ime, Master," he muttered, his voice low but carrying a hint of exasperation.

  Kaede smirked faintly, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Where’s the fun in that? Besides, you’re the one leading people out of the forest. I thought I’d che." Her eyes swept over the se, the freshly sin mohe small group of hunters nearby, and the distant outlines of vilgers moving cautiously through the trees.

  An Antari stepped forward, his head bowing as he dropped to a knee. "Lady Kaede... You're finally awake."

  Kaede raised an eyebrow, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Yes, and I decided to stretch my legs. What is your name?"

  The Antari answered. "This one is Eran." Kaede nodded before turning to the other two Antari.

  The two Antari, their chitin glistening faintly in the dappled sunlight, immediately dropped to their knees. "This one is called Degg." "This one was given the name Pegg."

  Shifu sighed, sheathing his bde as he stepped closer to Kaede. "We’re making goress. Five days, give or take, and we’ll be clear of the forest. The monsters haven’t been too much trouble, but feeding this many people..." He gestured to the carcass behind him. "Hunting is taking up most of our time."

  Kaede nodded, her gaze lingering on the vilgers in the distance. "I see. You’re doing well, Shifu. Leading this many people isn’t easy, but you’re keeping them together."

  His ears twitched at the pliment, though he tried to mask the hint of pride that flickered across his face. "It’s not without challenges. Eran’s been a big help, and the Antari..." He g the two silent figures. "They’re effit, I’ll give them that. They'll need ons though. Thoughts for ter I guess."

  Kaede straighteurning back to the group. "I’ll stick around for a bit. Help you out with the hunt. It’ll be faster if we work together."

  Eran immediately protested. "My dy , you shouldn't o get your hands dirty! Not for our sake."

  Kaede smirked, rolling her shoulders as a faint ripple of energy pulsed around her. "sider it fieldwork. Besides, I he exercise."

  Without waiting for a response, she stepped into the underbrush, Shifu exged a look with Eran before sighing and motioning for the group to follow.

  For the few hours, Kaede moved with the hunting party, her presence a mix of silent observation and precise a. When a pack of wolves ambushed from the shadows, she stepped in, a flick of her shield stunning the creatures long enough for Shifu and the others to finish them off.

  By the time the sun began to dip below the horizon, the group had gathered enough food to sustain the vilgers for several days. Kaede stood on the edge of the clearing, her gaze thoughtful as she watched Shifu and the others prepare the meat for transport.

  "You’ve got this under trol," she said, her voice quiet but certain.

  Shifu gnced up, his expression tired but determined. "We’ll manage."

  Kaede nodded, a faint smile on her lips. "Good. I’ll che again soon. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need me."

  With that, she vanished as quickly as she had appeared, the forest once agailing into its natural rhythm.

  ////

  Kaede reappeared in her chambers with a faint shimmer. The room’s serene blue ambiance washed over her, soothing the tension from the day. Acer stirred slightly from her er, half-buried in a mound of pillows. She blinked sleepily, her leafy hair rustling as she stretched.

  (You’re back, Mother,) Acer murmured, her voice carrying a warm, teone.

  Kaede smiled faintly, running a hand through her hair as she moved to the low table in the ter of the room. "I didn’t want to be gooo long. Shifu’s group is holding up well, though they’ve got their hands full."

  (And you?) Acer’s eyes followed her as she sat, a steaming cup of tea waiting oable.

  Kaede exhaled softly, the aroma of the tea calming her nerves. "I’m fine, just mentally exhausted. A lot of work ahead, as always." She sipped slowly, sav the warmth as it spread through her. Her firaced the edge of the cup absently, her mind already drifting to the steps, housing pns, resources, logistics. She really needed Artificia right about now, but the AI was unresponsive.

  The tea gave her just enough of a moment to pause. Setting the cup down, she leaned back, her gaze lifting to the ceiling. "It’s funny," she murmured, more to herself than anyone else. "Everything still feels so surreal. Unnatural. ing from me that's saying something, I mean, I led Maple Tree. A."

  Acer tilted her head, curiosity flickering in her soft, glowing eyes. (Nothing is too unnatural for you, Mother.)

  Kaede chuckled, the sound low and warm. "You see I know that's a pliment, but I 't help but hear my friends saying that to tease me."

  Before Acer could respond, a soft knock echoed at the chamber door, followed by the familiar weight of Ari’s presence pressily against Kaede’s awareness.

  (You have a visitor,) Aoted, a teasing lilt to her voice.

  "e in, Ari." Kaede called, setting her cup aside.

  Ari entered with her usual measured grace, her sharp eyes immediately log onto Kaede. "Mother," she begaone formal but with an undercurrent of satisfa, "Pito has returned."

  Kaede arched an eyebrow, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Already? That was quicker than I expected."

  Kaede rose smoothly, her fatigue momentarily fotten. She turo Acer, who had already perked up with i. "Want to e?"

  Aodded eagerly, leaping to her feet. (Always.)

  "Good." Kaede gnced back at Ari. "Let’s go meet our new recruits."

  SaberGlory