Epic Of The Demonic Sage

"… and this gift of mine has allowed me the ability to evolve the gift of others. Elevating them from one rank into another, higher and higher than what anyone could dream of possible for their lifetime." Lucius said.

At those words, the already shocked people in Gellor's team became stunned and unable to say anything at first. Even those who assumed that Lord Asher actually had an Epic Rank gift like Count Inanis still found themselves unable to wrap their heads around what Lucius had just said.

Evolve… gifts?

That was something completely unheard of for ordinary people, and even to those who belonged to the Church of Alana and many others.

However, Lord Asher Inanis said that he had a gift that allowed him to do so? It must be greater than Epic Rank… it felt to them that it was Legendary, Mythic or even Divine Rank!

"Of course, the reason why I am sharing this secret of mine with all of you today is because I intend to use this very gift of mine to evolve yours. What I have done for others, I also intend to do the same for all of you." Lucius said and watched their stunned faces change once again.

All of them had been shocked already to hear Lord Asher's gift, but their shock quickly turned to incredulity and utter amazement once he declared those words.

It seemed like some kind of whimsical dream or pure fantasy. This was them receiving the most delicious of waters when all of them were dehydrated and dying of thirst.

"Of course, it is not something that I can do instantly for all of you. In fact, the missions that I have sent all of you was my first way of measuring if all of you are suitable to become part of my special class of warriors, as well as to gather the materials needed to evolve gifts." Lucius explained.

This explanation of Lucius reinforced Gellor and his mercenary group's beliefs in him once again. This was an extraordinary opportunity and something that they couldn't simply just hear without doing anything about it.

"Lord Asher, if you truly give us this opportunity to raise the rank of our gifts, then we will serve you to the utmost of our ability! We will follow your orders and head to whichever direction you may point us to, be it to war, to rune beasts and any other danger—we will heed your word and swear our unfaltering service to you. We will be what you need us to be!" Gellor and his mercenary group made a great oath to Lucius right here and right now.

Why wouldn't Gellor and his people not do it?

Everyone knew what having an epic ranked gift meant. It was something so completely rare than what any other people could receive in their entire lifetime.

'My powers are already strong as it is right now at my rank… but what could it be like once it becomes an Epic Rank?' Albus thought. 'I can't even imagine what that would be like.'

'I've been a mistress to Sir Cambrian, someone who became a noble by purchasing it for himself through his wealth… but if my gift becomes an Epic Rank? It's not impossible that I myself could become a noble myself.' Finch thought.

'The chance to become greater than others? Most people would use Lord Asher's gift for their own personal gain but he is giving us a chance to elevate our ranks? He is giving us a chance to rise through our current stations!'

Gellor and everyone in his group knew that Lord Asher was incredible for being so willing to let them climb the ladder of success.

'Actually, now that I think about it… the reason why Lord Asher called it his special order of warriors is probably because he will be having people with gifts that had been evolved by himself.' Gellor realized.

'Did Lord Asher even just say that it could evolve to Epic Rank? He said he could evolve gifts and didn't even mention ranks. What if it's possible for us to become Legendary rank? We would be completely above everyone else.'

It became clear to Gellor and his mercenary group that they who were already stronger than normal people, they could also continue to grow even stronger than ever.

"I am most grateful for your oaths, everyone," Lucius said, breaking everyone out of their reverie. "And know that once this current mission of ours is finished, I will finally look into evolving your gifts one by one."

"We are most grateful, Lord Asher." Gellor bowed his head and was completely humbled, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Even Gellor couldn't help but become swept up by the sweet revelation of Lord Asher's great gift that he almost forgotten that they still had a mission that needed to be done.

Lucius knew that from watching all of their reactions. It was like he had given them the sweetest of temptations, and thus he needed to remind them that this delightful evolving of gifts would only be given if they performed their services.

It was something akin to offering a carrot and then once again using the stick as a reality check.

"Alright, now that I've shared my gift with all of you, I will now be briefing you of the contents of the mission that all of you will be taking." Lucius said. "While all of you had been preoccupied with getting the Mist Veil Beasts' rune crystals, a certain incident occurred in the city of Inanis, particularly of my household, an attempted assassination on me."

Gellor and his mercenary group reacted sharply to those words. They were surprised that Lord Asher didn't actually start with this incident first because it seemed like the most important thing.

It was an attempt at someone's life, and this would have shaken up anyone. Now that they saw that Lord Asher was still calm even while speaking about this, their respect for him only grew as they paid attentively to his words.