The search party returned after a few hours. There were signs of Lexens departure, but the demon was nowhere to be found. The entire compound had been turned upside down to search for any evidence of foul play but none had been found. Riniox wasn't happy but begrudgingly allowed the compound to return to a state of normalcy. The simple truth was that they just didn't have enough time to go find Lexen, there was royalty coming tomorrow and they needed to be prepared.
The compound was cleaned, one of the largest buildings was emptied of people, and Riniox personally drilled every single mercenary on manners and etiquette. Jack observed this from the sidelines. He was technically exempt from the activities but had wanted to witness the [Royal Ettiquete] skill at work. Riniox was the only person in the compound with the necessary manners as far as Jack could tell, but she was doing her darndest to whip her troops into shape. She also had them run drills, march in orderly ranks, and pull out their uniforms for cleaning. She made Jack think of a general wrangling troops rather than the vicious leader of a ragtag mercenary band.
Jack watched closely as Jeler performed the actions called out by his leader. He had told Jeler to leave his status screen open to watch for a new skill popping up. Jack had made the butterflies to automatically detect if a screen needed to be updated but he hadn't been able to check and see if they worked well yet. Jeler was focusing intently on his actions, trying to match the directions given exactly with proper form. His neat bows, graceful steps, and courteous words were all deliberate and careful. After about an hour, long after Riniox had given up hope for most of her troops, Jeler suddenly stopped and looked at his status sheet in surprise. He excused himself from the training and ran over to where Jack had been spectating.
"Jack look! I got it!" Jack looked at Jeler's screen and saw the [Royal Etiquette] skill, congratulating him on his accomplishment.
It seemed as though the thorough instruction and serious effort Jeler had put in were enough to grant him the skill. He was leaps and bounds better than any of the other troops except Riniox, who was still his superior in terms of overall comprehension. Jeler could accurately and effectively pass for an inexperienced servant in the palace according to Riniox. Jack had been hoping for this development, he had wanted to see someone actively learning a skill and what it looked like the moment they achieved it. The butterfly had done its job, once Jeler had practiced enough and learned enough of the formalities, the skill had been given. If Jack wanted to create skill levels at some point, this was the natural first step. He mentally assigned Jeler's skill a level then observed Riniox again.
If Jeler's skill could be called level one, the Riniox was demonstrating something several levels higher. He didn't have a broad enough scope of information, but hopefully, the royalty would be bringing some servants to demonstrate their skills.
As Jack pondered this, Jeler suddenly frowned at his status screen. "Hey Jack, I think I'm missing a skill?"
Jack spun, quickly moving over to look at the sheet. "Are you sure? What skill?"
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"The [Chess] skill. I used to play it with my grandpa when I was a kid. Haven't thought about it for years until I saw the skill on my screen. Made me think about picking it back up which is the only reason I noticed it missing."
This made Jack concerned for several reasons. A skill vanishing meant that a person couldn't perform that action anymore. He hadn't tested whether the skill could be regained though...He might have to test that with Jeler. Regardless, Jack hadn't designed the system or the butterflies to take away skills. If they were disappearing on their own, what did that mean?
Jack thought for a moment longer before asking a question. "Can you tell me the rules of chess? Do you still know them?"
Jeler laughed. "I forgot those rules years ago. I barely knew them as a kid anyway, I only played to make my grandpa happy."
He...didn't know the rules. A skill he had only used as a child, now gone because the butterflies were updating status screens. Was it possible that they removed unused, unpractised skills? That...wasn't how systems worked. Systems created infinite growth, a never-ending avalanche of progress and power. Jack had a sudden thought, if skills could atrophy and fade, what about stats? A person's natural stats would probably be subject to fluctuation as well. This could change everything he had planned, he would need to think about it some more and plan his next steps carefully.
Jeler was lost in thought, muttering to himself about knights and rooks when Jack suddenly stood up. "I need to experiment!" he declared. Jeler jumped slightly at Jack's enthusiasm. "Jeler, you and I are going to sit down and play some chess! Go find a board and meet me back at the house." Jack then stormed off to go find the bore-bot trio while Jeler went to go bother someone about a board game.
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Riniox watched the strange pair separate from each other and go their separate ways. Jeler wandering off was less than ideal, he was under express orders to stay near Jack at all times. But Riniox was keeping an eye on the strange bore-bot and Jack had given an order, so Jeler hopped to it.
She had been apprehensive about Jack at the beginning. Most priests or representatives of the High Deity she had met were pompous and annoying people that she would love to hit upside the head. Jack though, he was just some person. Ignorant and reckless maybe, but Riniox herself had been that many times herself. He was good for Jeler, the animalus had been growing lazy and complacent recently. Riniox wanted to bring him up through the ranks, he was skilled and crafty, qualities that served a mercenary well. Jack had given him purpose, made him interested in learning and growing. She would have to thank him for inspiring Jeler somehow.
She didn't want to thank Jack for all the extra work he had made for them though. Visiting royalty was bad enough, but the group that had killed the late King Plexion? Riniox had just about killed the lot of them in cold blood. Only her sense of duty had stopped her, she had people to take care of. It was why she was the leader, she could do the work and do it well. No one else in the Battered Bracers could take charge and lead like she could, and she doubted any of them wanted to. People who wanted promotions joined the army, people became mercenaries because it seemed like more fun. Well if she could train Jeler up then she could leave him in charge, then she could go and murder whoever she pleased.
She laughed at the idea. Killing the group who had murdered the late King all by herself? She wouldn't stand a chance, not against a group that could overpower the genius mage Plexion. She idly wondered what would happen to his soul. Hopefully, he would reincarnate as some huge monster and get his own revenge.
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Plexion leaped over Jack's desk, chasing one of the screen butterflies. "I just want to eat something you stupid bug! Come over here and get in my mouth!"