Leaf's point of view

Kite is a good boyfriend, I still see the looks some of the other girls give him... Green treats him better than most other men… I think it is mostly from respect but… There could be some other feelings behind it… Neko made her feelings for Kite very clear… She is so much smaller than a normal woman… I'm still the most worried about her, the ones who show their feelings openly are the ones you need to worry about… I also heard rumors that Kite PROPOSED to Nami… I sometimes see it in others as well… The same look I give to Kite… And that makes me afraid…

I think Kite might be cheating on me. No matter what day it is, he always wakes up before me. Sometimes I lie in bed at night and he gets out and leaves… I don't know what to do about it though… He is a great boyfriend… I shouldn't doubt him but the thoughts still linger in my head… I asked him… Of course he said no… Of course I should believe him… I need to know what he is doing every day at the very least. Why he wakes up so early and leaves during the night.

The next morning Kite wakes me up by kissing me. I angrily hit him as he does so… I'm not a morning person, I get that from my mother. It is one thing I wish I could change about myself. We start his daily process of a morning jog. I can tell he is taking a shorter route because of me. I urge him to take his actual course but after he outruns me completely, we decide on his other route he picked for me. I ask him about his normal routine. In the morning, he runs to Shienta and back 5 times in 1 hour… The distance would take a normal person all day to do.

It will still be another hour before people start waking up. Kite says he is normally preparing food, inspecting and fixing gear, making sure we have enough supplies or preparing for something else if it is planned for that day. Today, we help start breakfast for everyone, soon the chefs will wake up to finish preparing the meals. I didn't realize how much food it takes to run an army this size. He pulled out a few hundred fish, all were gutted and cleaned already, Kite also helps with that sometimes.

The amount of food is incredible, him being able to manage so many things. Cooking dozens of dishes… Preparing separate meals for each race of troops. More meat for the gnolls, less for the kobolds and no meat for the elementalists as it is against their teachings (except Green). Even making a single different meal for Leon. He starts messing with food, even when it comes to cooking, he still loves to experiment. He has me taste it… It is truly terrible! I spit it out before saying.

“Gah! What is this!?”

“I'm trying to find an alternate source for chocolate… Everything I try turns out as bad as this so far.”

He proceeds to eat the disgusting food. No hesitation, something must be wrong with him. I ask him why he is eating the toxic food.

“I'm trying to find any hint I could go off to make it taste more like chocolate. It sucks… It hurts to eat but I need to. It is a reminder of mistakes, what I can do fix it and I hate wasting food as well.”

That is admirable. Even relying on mistakes to push his idea's forwards. I sort of forgot what we were doing until people start trickling in for breakfast. We ate some more food, Kite hadn't eaten much recently so he a huge meal himself. Then we started doing some things I've seen Kite normally doing around while I was training or speaking with some of the animals in the stables.

I have taken a liking to Zergnar's black griffon. I sometimes ride him around, doing a few laps around the fortress to stretch his wings… Or that is the excuse I use to fly through the sky. I don't really do much around here when their isn't a battle to prepare for... It makes me miss doing dungeons, that was one of the best experiences I've had in my life... Once this fighting stops, at least for awhile... I would like to go adventuring with Kite... Just the 2 of us, maybe his pets for protection.

I never realized how much Kite actually does. Our pace of doing things is insanely fast. First we head to watch and guide the few members who have just now started their training regimen. Kite gives a few pointers to his men, most have started practice with throwing knives now. That is the normal troops, Kite says the biggest thing the bulk of the army was missing was any ranged capabilities. Most will stick primarily to swords and other melee weapons, but ranged practice wont hurt the adaptability of the army. Or that is what he says.

Meanwhile the elite troops are focusing a singular intense training in 1 direction, the warriors are having intense battles and lifting weights to build up their muscles. Thieves and ninjas are sprint training with mixed fighting as well. The white mages are different though, it has been over a month since I've seen them… None of the healers resemble who they were.

They all look like veterans of war now. I most likely seen a few of them but assumed they were part of the main assault group... The weak and feeble healers before are now fighting on par with the other elite groups. Instead of helping these troops with explaining things, Kite has brought me here to show off how much stronger the troops have become. It has only been months but the improvements of everyone are obvious.

While we're still outside, we head pass an area that is blocked off so only a few people can see inside. I ask him what that's about.

“Ah, that's a secret to everyone. When it's finished, it will amaze and inspire everyone and I'm trying to keep it a secret… If you really want to see it, I'll show you though.”

I say no for now and we move on. The next hour is spent with Kite visiting the various job areas around the fortress. Each person greeting him, they have a short conversation I try to follow but can't. Kite says something and they look at him amazed. Like he just explained a crucial step in a process they were struggling with. I see him explain a few things to the newer apprentices of each job. Guiding the new gnoll tailors and the demon kin blacksmith. Finally stopping in the mines to speak with Kora.

Kite has started turning the mines into more troop housing. We could double in size and still accommodate everyone easily enough. Kora shows him a map of potential ore locations, pointing each out to Kite as he gets closer to check and mark off weather it is worth digging. He uses his control earth to weaken the area's that will be dug out. Making sure that a nature mage is around the restrengthen the area once it is dug out to avoid collapse.

Kite had taken some time to practice with creating new gear as well. We entered a room filled with experimental weapons and armor. A few sets of new weapons and armor are being made for his generals that will be completed soon. Each being made with legendary or higher enchants… Kite's enchanting group has grown to the point where most of the regular rare gear can be upgraded. But it is better to just make new suits with new materials Kite said.

He charged his arm with power for just this process… Needing both his hands to test some new device he was tinkering with the past few weeks. Not wanting to rely on it too much might be a problem later on… I hope he realizes it before I have to tell him.

An explosion happens and Kite had me standing far enough away that I wasn't hit by anything. Debris scatter and Kite has miraculously avoided any damage from the explosion that happened right in front of him as well. I was scared until he said it was a normal everyday occurrence… I start to feel relieved for a second until I realize he deals with explosions like this one on a daily basis.

At no point in the day has Kite had a break from people bringing problems to him. There was a collapse in the mines earlier that someone came and told him about. Thankfully no one died but 3 people were injured. Kite takes me to the medical bay to see if there isn't anything he can do to help. All 3 are fine and resting in bed but Kite still comforts them for a few minutes. Breaking off a few pieces of his last remaining chocolate bar and giving it to them for comfort.

1 of the gnolls who handles the buying and selling of produces came by to work out what Kite wanted to sell next. Kite gave him some tips on how to get more people to buy products and sent the merchant on his way. Most of the money we make is from this merchant but each battle we win or new unique thing Kite has created also bumps up the amount of money the army makes. With Kite just recently starting the payment of his troops. He still has an entire year of back pay he plans on giving everyone.

Finally wrapping up the rest of the sunlight by checking on the pirates and seeing if they needed anything while also checking on a few other side projects of his. We enter a freezing cold room and I see plants being grown in here. Some have died though… I ask him what exactly is this room.

“I'm growing plants that we can use to make freeze bombs. For monsters like dragons, they will be a tremendous asset. If I can make enough, it would be good to arm a few archers with several freeze arrows as well… The process for keeping them alive is quite difficult though. They freeze any water that they come in contact with. So some of the plants have died from dehydration… Trying to recreate the environment they came from. I found that they absorb snow through the leaves of the plant… Which is an odd process… Snow is just water frozen differently than ice so I can't quite figure out why the plant absorbs this type of water while changing plain water to ice…”

I didn't notice that most of the fortress was fitted with plants until I seen his herb growing rooms. He had another one for growing alchemy ingredients set up right beside it. After asking him, I found that he was the 1 who added the plants and they serve the purpose of keeping the fortress cave oxygenated… Otherwise people would be dying from the lack of it… I hadn't realized how much work goes into this base. Without it, we would have eventually used up more air than was entering the cave and some of us might have died. Kite seen a problem that no one else saw and dealt with it before it was a problem.

We head back to his room. He said since today was a slow day, he would write a few more parts of the books he's writing… Today was a slow day! I have more fatigue than a normal person and I'm getting close to falling over from exhaustion. Yet Kite does this every day. We head back to his room… Even though he lets all his pets sleep in here, it is surprisingly clean. He's started living with me but he most likely keeps his own room clean. On the only desk in the room is books scattered over his desk. With a small pile of books on both sides of the desk… I read a few covers of each book while he updates some of the ones he is working on.

“Eternal forge enchants and the heating techniques and the process of using monsters as a heat source. Instructions on cold forging cold iron.”

“Rare alchemy recipes and the process of making alchemy pills. The adaptation of alchemy pills and potions, how to use both together, more effectively.”

“Blue mage tailoring, using spider silk and poison to create heavy thread silk. Process stitching to cover weaker areas with stronger material.”

"The combination of enchanting and deconstruction. How to be a better enchanter. Making an enchanting table to help speed up the process of enchanting."

“Advanced boss monster tactics for tier 3, 4 and 5 dungeons.”

“Feeding an army. Cultivation techniques to help grow crops bigger and faster.”

“Weapons creation, new and unique spins on basic weapons and armor.”

“Kite style unarmed fighting. Use surprise and unorthodox fighting tactics to throw your enemy off guard.”

“The creation of art. Tips and tricks to making art more beautiful on a technical level. The 5 qualities to judge art by.”

I only read a few pages of each book… These books are on the category of master… Each taking a new spin on a subject or explaining new processes that will redefine the way a job is looked at. With at least a dozen books created already, he is working on a dozen more books all at the same time. Writing down ideas and notes he thinks of during the day. Jumping from book to book and using his finished books as resource material or updating the finished books. I ask him why, why does he write books in his free time?

“The biggest problem with this world is lack of information. I just figure things out more quickly than most people would. Me not writing books seems… Almost evil if I really think about it… I think saving the information for myself instead of sharing it would be a huge mistake. Information that could save lives, make everyone in the worlds lives easier… The information can help guide people towards a better future. I still have so much work to do… So much more to learn, I feel like a novice and these books will be changed hundreds of times in my life as I learn more… This is all I can do for now.”

This is the Kite I know and love… No matter how much he thinks he knows, he is still striving for more. The feelings of him cheating on me start to dissipate… He honestly wouldn't have time to… I giggle and kiss him on the forehead before heading to bed. I need to keep getting stronger and smarter myself. I want Kite to be able to rely on me… I go to sleep with a big smile on my face that night.