Lyla didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, she turned slightly, her hand lifting as the floating blade before her rotated slowly in the air. The enchantment circles around it shifted, layers of runes rearranging themselves in real time as if responding to her thoughts.

Her mana flowed gently throughout the various runes while all of this was happening, and it was only after a few seconds did she decide to finally speak,

"The thing about remaining efficient in enchantment is it isn’t just about the speed of our work," she said calmly before continuing, "It’s about reducing waste. Reducing repetition. And most importantly, standardization."

Jax’s eyes narrowed slightly in interest, "Go on." he said with a nod.

Lyla made a small motion with her fingers.

The blade split, not physically but conceptually. Several faint projections of it appeared beside the original, each one highlighting a different layer of its enchantment structure.

"This," she said, pointing to the layers, "is where we’re losing time."

Jax stepped closer, observing carefully.

"Each enchantment is being built from scratch," Lyla continued, "Every weapon. Every tool. Every device."

Her gaze shifted back to him, "It’s effective in enchanting the weapons, but it’s very inefficient,"

Jax’s smirk returned faintly, seeing where this was going, "...So you want to streamline it."

Lyla nodded, "Yes."

She raised another hand, and behind her, the massive tree responded. Its bark shimmered, and a section of it opened slightly, revealing a series of embedded crystalline structures within.

"My first idea is Enchantment Frameworks." she said, and noticed that Jax raised an eyebrow out of confusion, so she quickly began to explain.

"Instead of crafting every enchantment individually, we create base templates. Pre-constructed enchantment matrices designed for specific purposes."

She gestured toward the floating projections, "The purposes can be anything from elemental affinity, to sharpness, durability, or mana conduction,"

Each concept lit up as she spoke, "We build perfect versions of these once... then replicate and layer them as needed."

Jax’s eyes gleamed, "...Like modular components."

"Exactly."

The projections shifted again, now showing how different enchantments could stack seamlessly.

"This alone would cut our workload by more than half, we just need the infrastructure to get it going," Lyla added.

Jax nodded slowly, "Not bad."

"Second idea," she continued without pause.

The tree behind her pulsed again, and several smaller devices floated outward. They were intricate, small, disk-like constructs etched with rotating runes.

"Enchantment Conduits."

Jax reached out, catching one. The moment his fingers touched it, he felt a self-contained flow of mana.

"This..." he muttered.

Lyla nodded.

"These can be used by lower-tier enchanters to assist in the process. Instead of requiring every individual to have high mastery, the conduits handle part of the workload."

Jax smirked.

"So even less experienced enchanters can keep up while working on their craft," Jax said

"Exactly," She stepped closer, her emerald eyes locking onto his, "We scale our workforce. Plus, this allows the enchanters with the highest skill to spend our time creating personalized enchantments for you and the other Clan Leaders who are the most powerful throughout the Demon Kingdom,"

Jax chuckled softly, "...I like the way you think."

Lyla’s lips curved slightl, —but she wasn’t done yet.

"The third idea..."

This time, there was a brief pause. Her gaze shifted slightly, thoughtful.

"...involves the Faeries."

That got his full attention.

"Oh?"

Lyla turned, gesturing toward the surrounding environment.

"Their Nature Magic is far more refined than ours," she said,

Jax nodded slightly, "Yeah."

She looked back at him.

"If we integrate their magic into our process... we can create Living Enchantments."

The air stilled slightly.

Jax’s eyes sharpened.

"...Explain."

Lyla’s voice lowered slightly, her tone gaining a subtle intensity.

"Enchantments that aren’t static, but can grow over time,"

The mana around them reacted faintly to her words.

"Instead of fixed runes, we create adaptive matrices, structures that evolve based on usage, environment, and mana exposure."

Jax’s smirk slowly widened, "...Weapons that get stronger over time."

Lyla nodded.

"Yes."

"And armor that adapts to damage patterns."

"Yes."

"And tools that optimize themselves based on how they’re used."

"...Yes."

There was a brief silence.

Then—

Jax laughed.

Low.

Satisfied.

"...Yeah. That’s it."

His golden eyes gleamed with excitement.

"That’s exactly the direction we should be going."

Lyla watched him for a moment before speaking again, her tone calmer now.

"With the Faerie alliance, we’ll have access to their techniques. Their energy."

She crossed her arms lightly.

"But implementation will take time. Coordination. Resources."

Jax waved a hand dismissively.

"I’ll handle it."

Lyla blinked.

"...That easily?"

Jax smirked.

"I didn’t make an alliance just to let it sit there looking pretty."

Her lips curved faintly again.

"...Good."

There was a brief pause before she added, more quietly—

"I appreciate that."

Jax glanced at her.

"For what?"

"For actually listening," she said simply. "And acting on it."

Jax shrugged slightly.

"You’re useful. I’d be stupid not to."

Lyla huffed softly at that, though there was no real annoyance behind it.

"...Flattering."

Jax chuckled.

Then—

His expression shifted slightly.

"Speaking of progress..."

Lyla raised an eyebrow.

"...What?"

Jax turned, glancing toward the distance, toward another section of the capital entirely.

The Military District.

A faint smirk formed on his lips.

"Want to see how the army’s doing?"

Lyla followed his gaze.

"...Under Orianna?"

"Yeah. It’s been a while since I visited,"

There was a brief pause. Then, her interest was immediate.

"Yeah, I also pretty much never leave here due to work after all,"

Jax’s smirk widened.

"Figured."

He didn’t wait. Space folded again. A distortion formed beside them, revealing glimpses of another part of the capital,

Jax stepped forward. Lyla followed without hesitation, and in the next moment, the Dark Elf District vanished and they reappeared in the Military District.

The Military District was... different.

Massive training grounds stretched endlessly in every direction. The ground itself was reinforced, layered with dense materials designed to withstand extreme force.

Craters marked various areas. They could sense training exercises going on, weapons clashing and magic exploding constantly.

They could spot various Demon Species walking about in their Military Uniforms, each a different rank.

Jax however, didn’t pay too much attention on this, instead immediately walking alongside Lyla to the main Military administrative building to meet Orianna.