358 A Request For Appraisal
“What is it, mother and father?” Lucius asked.
He knew that they were curious about the revelation of his gift and wanted to know more, but he allowed them the opportunity to ask all the same.
“We do not know the full extent of your gift, Asher. But more importantly, we do not know the exact rank of your gift.” Count Gabriel said.
“However, we do understand that you wish to keep your a gift secret from others. In fact, we think it’s a good idea, don’t we, Gabriel?” Countess Lita turned to her husband.
“Of course, the hidden blade is the most useful one. But in order to understand it better, we would still like to know the rank. Even if others do not know of it, it would be good to check on it, yes?”
Kiana didn’t say anything about them having already checked it beforehand and simply allowed Asher to tell what details he wanted to his parents.
It was how she was impressed and how Asher inspired her confidence in him more.
“Yes, I agree that it is a good idea.” Lucius said.
Kiana’s eyes widened momentarily, but she figured that Asher would like to show his parents the ceremony in person. The price of the rune crystals to have a private one was something that they could easily pay for their own so it wasn’t an issue to repeat the ceremony.
‘I’m sure that Asher simply cannot wait but reveal it again. It’s better to see it in person after all to understand how unique it is.’ Kiana thought silently.
“Well then, how soon is the next gift appraisal ceremony?” Countess Lita asked.
“I’d prefer it to be done in private, mother. We can afford it by ourselves, and it’s how I’ll remain giftless in the eyes of others.” Lucius reminded her.
“Of course. Kiana, I’ll be making a letter addressed to a Priest of Etara. Allow me a couple of minutes and then have it sent to them. We would like to have it checked at the most available time, today if possible.” Count Gabriel said as he pulled out a piece of parchment from his desk.
Kiana waited patiently as the Count worked on the letter, a pleased smile on her face. She was completely unaware of the thoughts and reasons behind why Lucius agreed in the first place.
‘Once the Count and Countess see the appraisal results, they will come to realize that their son Asher holds a unique gift. They have mostly been lenient, but there’s still a lot of protectiveness over them that restricts me from doing whatever I wish without their permission.’ Lucius thought.
That wasn’t the only reason why he was here though.
‘Priest Maleck is the one most likely to come over. He had insisted on sharing the unique results of my gift to the Grand Repository of Etara so that I may gain access to it before, but I am unwilling to let everybody know. This will be our second encounter, and this time, I’ll make sure to inspire great faith in me.’
“I will be preparing a little for the Priest’s arrival.” Lucius suddenly declared. He had mostly used up his Soul Space to fit for fewer spells now, but he had to add another addition in time for the Priest of Etara’s arrival.
“Oh, then please do so.” Count Lita smiled, then turned to Count Gabriel. “Actually, our son has just arrived and we’re immediately forcing him to take a gift appraisal test. Reword your letter, Gabriel. Allow him some time to recuperate and get some rest. We can do it tomorrow.”
“Hmm, we can do it tonight, mother. I will be able to rest a little by then.” Lucius reassured the woman.
As much as he’d like to leave things for tomorrow, this was actually something that Lucius wanted to do right away.
“Are you sure, Asher?” Countess Lita asked.
“We don’t have to rush this today at all. We’re all deeply curious, but your health takes precedence first.”
“Thank you, I appreciate your concern for me, mother. But I will be fine.” Lucius said again.
He knew that it’d be completely impossible to remove a parent’s worry and concern over their child… at least for Asher and other more normal families, but he was fine.
Born from lowly servants in the Great Barrom Clan, Lucius had been simply one out of many and did not experience such preferential love as the Count and Countess provided Asher.
There was a chance to luxuriate in it, to become a trash son of the Count’s family if he wanted to and had everything provided for him easily, but Lucius was not someone so willing to settle for just that kind of living.
Lucius’s aspirations and ambitions stretched far more than just being a noble son of a Count.
He wanted more, to have this entire world in his palms. And perhaps even that wouldn’t be enough to stave his ambition.
Lucius had seen countless worlds before, each one unique and different from the last one. Beings with so much power, colossal and enormous as well that they filled his entire vision and allowed him to understand how the universe worked.
‘Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.’ Lucius thought. There was so much work that had to be done and he was barely at the cusp of it all.
“Well then, we will see you later, Asher. It appears that it’s better to invite Priest Maleck for dinner as well and prepare a carriage for him so that he could get here quickly.”
“Thank you, mother.” Lucius said and then took his leave. All of his items and belongings were taken care of by Kiana so he hadn’t need to bring anything with him.
Instead, Lucius focused on getting to his bed and sat down to meditate. The Soul Space opened up before him and he weighed the heaviness of the spell and checked for room.
“It’s time to relearn another Spell.”