Chapter 221: Drawing Them In

Having heard of the entire discussion, the other two masked men, Carlyle and Cohen, seemed a bit confused. Unlike Arius, they didn't know much about gifts and especially not about mythic ranked gifts.

Lucius though, was quite pleased with it all.

"You know it very well… then you must also know why I said you three would be part of something much bigger than yourselves and even this kingdom." Lucius said with a smile.

Hearing this, it finally struck Arius.

"You mean to say… You have a Mythic ranked gift?" Arius questioned with great doubt.

"Indeed. I've even had it appraised and guess what… the appraisal hall failed to even determine its rank." Lucius answered.

Heading Lucius's words, Arius found it hard to believe, but at the same time, he could judge that the man in front of him was not lying at all. Lucius observed the man in front of him and knew that he had captured his attention and all that was left was to reel him in.

'I only need one… the others will follow.' Lucius thought to himself.

"You only need to think… what rank would you place a gift that can increase the rank of other gifts?" Lucius placed a question in front of the three men.

He looked all three of them in the eyes, presenting the question to them. While Arius was the only one who had been involved in it mostly, that would not be enough. He also wanted Carlyle and Cohen to participate.

The two men went silent and thought to themselves. Then a minute later, Cohen was the first to speak.

"The Mythic ranked…" He said.

"I think mythic ranked too." Carlyle added.

"And what do the writings of Etara say… Arius?" Lucius questioned the man.

"… when a Mythic ranked gift appears, it is as a direction from the divines. Its purpose is bigger than just an individual and it's meant to help with a calamity…" Arius recited.

Everyone in the room including Kiana, heard these words. Kiana was feeling a bit proud since she knew this was something to be expected. She had long since known that Lucius' gift could not be anything weak or common.

Besides, even if his ability to upgrade gifts was not directly related to his own gift, it was not something that could be fully confirmed otherwise either. So far, his gift had shown multiple abilities and she wouldn't be surprised if Lucius's increased intelligence was part of the gift as well.

The only difference would be that it presented itself earlier and didn't really show the usual signs of what would appear from a gift like that. Now that Kiana thought of it, she couldn't classify Lucius's gift into the usual types of gifts.

It fell under emission, since it could send out those strings of energy. It fell under enhancement since it could enhance the bodies of others, including their gifts. It could also fall under manipulation and control types of gifts since Lucius could control others, too.

Then there were the marks that he had made which Kiana couldn't even tell which category they belonged to. But she knew one thing — the higher the rank of the gifts went, the more categories they could fall under.

And seeing the myriad ways Lucius's gift could be used, Kiana was now sure that it was a mythic ranked gift. She would have directly thought of it being a divine ranked gift, had it not been for the fact she knew those could only exist for the gods.

Lucius observed the three men and saw the different levels of acceptance in their eyes and body posture. Arius was the most accepting, then Cohen, and finally Carlyle.

"Well then… what do you three gentlemen say? Will you allow me to demonstrate my gift and let one of your gifts be elevated to a new level?" Lucius tempted.

~gulp~

The three men secretly gulped their saliva. Everyone in the world wished that they had a high ranked gift and that it was something strong. Even if it was someone really old, they always desired to grow stronger.

Even those with epic ranked gifts wished their gifts were better and at the legendary rank. There was always envy for things that one did not own. From this, it was safe to assume that even if someone had a legendary ranked gift, they would desire more… perhaps even a Mythic ranked gift.

"If I do agree to this… what will you be doing?" Arius finally asked.

"Well first of all, I would use my gift on you and see what are the peculiarities of your gift. Then I'll figure out how it can be upgraded." Lucius stated.

"Figure out? You mean to say you can't just upgrade the gift directly?" Carlyle questioned, his doubts resurfacing.

"Of course not. Creating something out of nothing is something only the divines themselves can do. A gift requires Aether to function as you must all know and my gift is the same it needs Aether.

But depending on the kind of gift that is to be upgraded, it would require different amounts of course. And I think you three should be able to guess that the amount of Aether needed must not be small." Lucius replied.

"That… does seem reasonable," Arius muttered.

"I guess that can be it. But we won't believe it full unless you show us the demonstration." Carlyle added.

"Of course, I won't force you to believe it without proof. I'll let you judge for yourselves." Lucius assured.

"Alright then… I'll agree." Arius spoke.

Lucius smiled under his mask and extended his hand.

"Well then do you, Arius Negan, willing choose out of your own free will to follow my words and allow me to do as I said?" Lucius asked, carefully choosing his words.

Seeing the extended hand, Arius felt a bit compelled to oblige and extended his hand to meet it as well.

"I do." The man replied.

"Then… the agreement is made," Lucius said, as a red light shone on his hand passing onto Arius.