THE GENERAL'S DISGRACED HEIR-Chapter 337: REUNIONS AND PREPARATIONS

The guild's lobby settled into an awkward silence after Elara dragged the protesting Yue down the corridor. David leaned against the counter, arms folded across his chest, listening to the gradually fading sounds of alchemical threats and dignified flame-sorceress retorts. The old sweeper had vanished as mysteriously as he'd appeared, leaving only the soft bubbling of unidentifiable substances in glass containers and the occasional mechanical click from the self-operating orrery.

David had just resigned himself to a lengthy wait when footsteps approached from the corridor. Litty emerged, looking slightly frazzled but significantly more composed than when she'd chased her mother moments earlier.

"I've left them to it," she announced, smoothing nonexistent wrinkles from her robes. "Your friend seems to have the situation well in hand. Mother actually sat still when Elara threatened to singe her eyebrows off."

David raised an eyebrow. "Effective threat."

"Surprisingly so." Litty moved to stand beside him at the counter. "I thought it best to leave them alone. Mother needs someone willing to manage her occasionally, and Elara seems uniquely qualified for the task."

"She has practice," David replied with a slight smile. "Her younger sister Mariana is particularly willful. Elara's been managing her since their parents died."

Recognition flickered across Litty's face. "Mariana va Ironblade? The one you gave that impromptu combat lesson to when we were at Lysora?"

David nodded, memory surfacing of the fiery eighteen-year-old who had demanded instruction after being defeated by him for the first time in her life. What had begun as a simple demonstration had evolved into an impromptu tournament involving several adventurers who happened to be passing through.

"She has potential," he commented. "Raw, undisciplined, but genuine."

Litty traced a pattern on the countertop, her finger leaving a faint luminescent trail that faded after several seconds. "Speaking of instruction..." She hesitated, uncharacteristic uncertainty crossing her features. "I've been practicing those techniques you showed us—the footwork patterns and weight distribution principles. They've made a noticeable difference in my dueling form."

David studied her with renewed interest. Unlike her mother, Litty had always been the practical one, focused on tangible results rather than theoretical breakthroughs. Where Yue chased the boundaries of what alchemy could achieve, Litty dedicated herself to perfecting what was already known.

"Have you been testing these improvements against actual opponents?" he asked.

A flush crept up her neck. "Several of the guild apprentices fancy themselves swordsmen. They've been... reluctant to challenge me recently."

"Good. Complacency breeds weakness." David straightened. "But trained opponents are essential for continued growth. You need someone who can push your limits without breaking them."

"Like you did for Mariana?" Litty's question carried an undercurrent of hope that she tried to disguise with casual interest.

David considered this, weighing possibilities and connections. "Actually, I have someone specific in mind. She specializes in a style that would complement your natural precision. Her name is Angelica—one of my associates who should be reporting back soon from an observation mission."

"Angelica," Litty repeated, committing the name to memory. "What kind of fighter is she? Someone like your shadow companion?" She gestured toward the area where Luna had been standing earlier.

"No, Angelica is different," David replied. "She's a pure swordswoman—no elemental affinities or special abilities beyond what she's forged through discipline and practice." His voice carried a hint of pride. "In some ways, that makes her more formidable than those who rely on innate talents."

Gratitude softened Litty's typically reserved expression. "I would appreciate the introduction, when circumstances allow." She paused, her gaze dropping momentarily before meeting his again with renewed determination. "My goals remain unchanged since we last spoke. I need to become strong enough to protect Mother during our search for a cure to her mana glut condition."

Her voice lowered, taking on a quality of rare vulnerability. "And someday, when we find that cure, I want to return home with enough skill and confidence to join the elite guards. To make a difference, like my father did."

"You mean returning to the Elanthrial Woods?" David asked, the question casual but deliberate.

The effect was immediate. Litty froze, her expression shifting from openness to guarded suspicion in an instant. The temperature around her dropped noticeably—a defensive reaction she'd clearly inherited from her mother despite their different magical affinities.

"How do you know that name?" Her words emerged barely above a whisper, tense with controlled alarm. "The location of our homeland is secret from all other races. Even Mother doesn't speak of it outside our private quarters."

David maintained his relaxed posture, though his mind raced through potential explanations that wouldn't reveal his knowledge from the Trials of Valor novels. The slip had been intentional—a calculated risk to gauge Litty's reaction and potentially open a channel to information about Sylindra.

Before he could formulate a suitably cryptic response, the silence was shattered by the returning stomping of Yue, whose voice preceded her physical appearance by several seconds.

"—complete waste of perfectly good research time! My hair was FINE!"

Elara followed close behind, looking simultaneously satisfied and exasperated. "Your definition of 'fine' involves tangles that could house small wildlife. I've seen bird nests with better structural integrity."

Yue emerged into the lobby, her hair now impeccably braided and gleaming with what smelled like jasmine oil. Despite her protests, the improvement was dramatic—transforming her from disheveled researcher to something closer to the respected master alchemist her reputation suggested. This didn't stop her from shooting Elara a glare that promised alchemical retribution at some future date.

"We're wasting daylight," Yue announced, deliberately turning her back on Elara to address David and Litty. "The preparations are complete, and we have a narrow window before the morning shift arrives."

The tension between David and Litty dissolved, immediately replaced by the more pressing concerns that had brought them to the guild in the first place. Whatever questions Litty had about David's knowledge of her homeland would have to wait.

"Lead the way," David instructed, gesturing for Yue to proceed.

The alchemist needed no further encouragement, marching toward a different doorway than the one she'd emerged from earlier. This entrance was partially concealed behind a bookcase, its existence revealed only by Yue's confident approach. She pressed her palm against an unremarkable section of wall, causing a soft blue glow to emanate from beneath her fingers.

"Authorization: Master Alchemist Yue, project designation Dimensional Equilibrium," she stated clearly. The door slid open with a soft hiss, revealing a curved staircase descending into soft emerald illumination.

As they proceeded downward, the staircase opened into a wide corridor with transparent walls that offered glimpses into various workspaces. Unlike the deserted lobby, these laboratories buzzed with activity. Alchemists of various ages worked at stations filled with equipment both recognizable and utterly foreign.

In one chamber, a woman with six mechanical golem arms attached to a harness on her back carefully manipulated different colored substances that changed state from liquid to gas to solid and back again in a continuous cycle. In another, a man floated several inches above the floor while dictating notes to a quill that wrote by itself, the pages periodically bursting into flame and reforming without losing a single word.

"Guild members with active projects have twenty-four-hour access," Yue explained, noticing David's interest. "The truly valuable research happens during night shifts when administrative oversight is minimal."

"You mean when there's no one to stop you from ignoring safety protocols," Litty corrected with the weariness of someone who had cleaned up the aftermath of such experimentation many times.

Yue waved dismissively. "Innovation requires risk."

"Innovation doesn't require rebuilding the east wing three times in two weeks," Litty countered.

They continued deeper into the guild complex, eventually reaching a sealed door at the end of a quieter corridor. Unlike the other laboratories they had passed, this one bore no identification markings or observation windows.

"My private workspace," Yue explained, pressing her palm against the door. "One of the benefits of being a founding contributor to the guild's research archives."

The door recognized her touch, swinging inward to reveal a space that defied the apparent dimensions of the corridor. The laboratory appeared far larger inside than should have been physically possible, its circular design reminiscent of an amphitheater with a central workspace surrounded by tiered shelving containing thousands of ingredients, tools, and texts.

Golem constructs resembling spiders moved independently along ceiling tracks, retrieving or replacing items according to some unseen organizational system. A massive table dominated the center, its surface inscribed with overlapping alchemical circles that occasionally pulsed with inner light. Various apparatus—distillation equipment, crystalline structures, and devices that defied easy categorization—occupied the surrounding space in what appeared to be chaotic arrangement but was likely meticulously planned.

"Impressive," Elara admitted, professional appreciation temporarily overriding her annoyance with Yue.

Yue acknowledged the compliment with a slight nod before retrieving a crystalline sphere from a nearby pedestal. "Before we begin, privacy measures are essential."

Without warning, she smashed the sphere against the floor. Instead of shattering into fragments, the crystal dissolved into a fine mist that rapidly expanded to fill the entire laboratory before being absorbed into the walls, ceiling, and floor. The air shimmered briefly, then settled.

"Soundproofing mist," Yue explained. "Also disrupts scrying and magical surveillance. We have approximately twelve hours before it dissipates."

David turned to Luna, who had remained a silent shadow throughout their journey through the guild. "Secure the perimeter. No one enters this corridor without our knowledge."

Luna nodded once, her form already beginning to lose definition as she merged with the shadows near the doorway. "As you command." Her voice echoed slightly as her physical presence dissolved completely, dark tendrils extending outward to connect with every shadow in the vicinity. Through this network, she would sense any approach long before it reached them.

With Luna established as their early warning system and Yue's privacy measures in place, David turned his attention to the central table where Yue was already arranging equipment with practiced efficiency.

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"Now," the diminutive alchemist said, her earlier childish behavior completely absent as she transformed into the legendary researcher whose work had revolutionized several alchemical fields, "let's discuss your dimensional fractures."

David froze, his expression shifting from composed to genuinely startled. "How did you—" he began, then stopped, eyes narrowing as he reassessed everything about their interactions. "I never told you about the fractures."

A small, satisfied smile played across Yue's features—the expression of a chess master who had just revealed an unexpected advantage. "You didn't have to. The dimensional distortions around you have been visible to me since our last meeting. Did you think someone with my expertise wouldn't notice reality itself bending around you?"

Elara and Litty exchanged concerned glances, while Luna's shadows by the door seemed to darken with tension.

"It seems," David said carefully, "that we have even more to discuss than I anticipated."