"I feel the same," Stronghold Leader Zogar added. "I can sense my gift reacting, but I won't know the extent of the changes until tomorrow, as Seraphina mentioned."

"Tch!" Stronghold Leader Seth hissed fiercely, turning abruptly and leaving the room.

Orion and the others exchanged glances, sighing. They understood Seth's frustration and couldn't fault him for his reaction.

"Alright, get some rest. We'll check on you tomorrow," Orion said.

Fifi and Stronghold Leader Zogar nodded in acknowledgement. They watched as some Healers' Association members walked in and assisted them, guiding them towards the rooms where they would stay until they recovered.

After they were taken to their rooms, the remaining key leaders stayed behind to ask the Healer Association leaders questions about the procedure. They wanted to be prepared for when their own members underwent the same process.

Meanwhile, Orion exited the room with Seraphina, who escorted him out of the building.

"Did anything unusual happen during the procedure?" Orion asked, glancing at Seraphina.

"Not really. Aside from the painful assimilation of the Vylkr Fusion Armlet to their very being, everything went surprisingly well," Seraphina responded enthusiastically. She had been surprised by how smoothly the procedure had gone, which confirmed her belief that the Vylkr warriors were the ideal wielders for the Vylkr Fusion Armlet.

This success meant they could be more confident about future procedures.

Orion's expression scrunched up thoughtfully briefly before he nodded in understanding. He decided to let the matter rest, mainly since the results supported Seraphina's confidence.

"Former Village Chief Brane informed me that you asked him to gather all the scrap metal and wires they possess. Isadora told me the same thing and mentioned that you want her to teach you how they work. I'm curious why you asked for such a thing," Orion said, looking at her in confusion.

After the festival, when he had brought Tala home, he heard about Seraphina's request from Isadora the next day. Later that evening, the former Village Chief told him the same thing. Naturally, he wanted to understand why Seraphina needed all those materials.

"I knew you'd find out sooner or later," Seraphina responded with a sigh.

'I had told them to keep it a secret until I could reveal it to you,' she thought.

"The day before yesterday, while the festival was going on, I encountered a group of young Four-eared elves testing their strength on a pole with a strange screen. Every time they struck the pole with their fist, strange characters appeared on the screen. I approached them and stopped them from running away, and that's when I learned that the screen was detailing the extent of their strength. It was amazing because I never knew something like that was possible. Even if the Prismerons have a method to test their strength, it's primitive compared to this."

"So, I decided to buy it from them and contacted Isadora to gather everything for me, so I could buy it from them. Then, I learned they even had one that told the time on a strange screen and various strange components. Some of these, although different, I recognized from our race's 'Ancient Codex,' and some mechanizations seemed similar to parts of the Devourer's Bracelet's internal components."

"When I brought them back home, you can imagine my surprise when Fifi informed me that the Village possessed similar scraps and components, though in lesser qualities. So, I immediately sent a message to the former Village Chief, insisting on buying all of them for study. That pole gave me an idea for something I want to create that would greatly aid us in reconnecting with the outside world at an early stage," Seraphina explained.

"But I've only gotten so far because of my knowledge from the Devourer's Bracelet. I'm nowhere close to figuring out the concept behind it, so I can't tell you exactly what I'm working on right now."

Orion nodded in understanding after listening to all of Seraphina's explanations.

"If that's the case, you don't have to pay for them. As the new Village Chief, I'll take care of it. As for the Four-eared elves, you can use the family's treasury to settle the cost. If what you're planning works and proves helpful during our reconnection with the outside world, it might help the Four-eared elves integrate into the territory faster and demonstrate their usefulness, especially with the reconstruction of Orion's Cities still ongoing," Orion responded, his mind racing as he tried to figure out what Seraphina was attempting to create.

'Does this have something to do with the hierarchy of power indicators?' he thought.

Despite his familiarity with various mechanisms, he couldn't discern her exact plan. He decided to let it be a surprise, trusting that whatever she had in mind would be worth the wait.

"If you're okay with it, then I see no problem rejecting your offer, Chief," Seraphina responded.

Once they arrived outside, she halted and leaned in to kiss him. "I'll see you at home later, husband." With that, she turned and disappeared back into the building.

Orion took a moment to gather after all he had learned before leaping into the air to meet with Isadora and handle some Border City matters.

It had been three days since the festival. Anara had called to check their progress in regrowing the floating island's vegetation, so afterwards, he planned to inspect it before heading to meet with Gorg and Grim to see how far they had progressed in forming their next Vylkr containers, especially since Tala had already crossed the threshold and was ready to create her own Vylkr containers.

.....

The next day

Second Border City

In a specially designed training area for warriors, Fifi and Stronghold Leader Zogar stood apart on a stage, the tension discernible between them. Surrounding them were the Healers' Association leaders, Orion, and the rest of the Key leaders, all watching intently with a mix of interest and curiosity.

Now that Stronghold Leader Zogar and Fifi had recovered from their procedure, they were about to test their enhanced abilities against each other to see how far they had progressed.