Chapter 541: Who Might You Be?
Tala found herself rather enjoying the campfire that the unit had made outside the cell’s antechamber. Several hefty sections of wood had been skillfully arranged into a hot, long-burning fire.
It occasionally crackled and popped, but Tala saw that more as a feature to be enjoyed than as something to be avoided. Additionally, with her enhancements, when the smoke came her way, she felt no need to move aside.
The fire wasn’t needed, of course. Everyone present was at least Refined, it was still just late afternoon, and it was summer. Regardless, it was enjoyable.
There was a quality to the heat from fire that was just nicer than many other heat sources.
It was dry and clean.
Perfect.
But the enjoyment of the fire was ancillary to her purpose, there in the wilderness with a bunch of strangers. She was along on this little excursion to close a cell for a Defender unit.
This unit was sharing food, joking, and chatting, among other things. They’d offered Tala some food, but she’d declined.
As to conversation, initially on the expedited trek through the wilds, they’d engaged Tala occasionally, but while she’d answered without hesitation or difficulty, she hadn’t gone out of her way to extend the conversations, causing them to fall off in frequency until they essentially ended.