Chapter 38: Inanis

Lucius now wanted to see how the gift would truly work.

"Could you demonstrate it for me, father?" Lucius asked.

"Of course," Gabriel said before looking towards the knight who was carrying the sword before.

The knight understood the gesture and came to stand behind Lucius and held out his shield. The distance between Lucius and the Shield was about ten inches. Then suddenly, Gabriel moved like a blur and punched Lucius.

Lucius's eyes went wide and he almost instinctively tensed his body about to dodge before holding back forcefully. He knew that Gabriel wouldn't hurt him and was just demonstrating the gift.

~DENG~

Gabriel's hand passed through Lucius's body as if it was air and hit the shield that was behind held behind his back. He pulled back his hand and Lucius turned around to take a look at the shield which now had a faint dent on it.

"Indeed… quite powerful," Lucius muttered.

"Does this apply to the weapons you use too, father?" Lucius asked, without turning back.

"Yes, it does. This gift is the reason why we are feared on the battlefield, for no shield or defense is useful in front of us." Gabriel said in a prideful tone.

He took out the dagger he had on his waist and stabbed it through the armrest of the throne he was sitting on previously. The blade passed through the armrest as if it was butter and when he pulled it out, no cut could be seen on the armrest.

Lucius nodded his head at this, ideas appearing in his head. He could already imagine tens of different methods of using his gift. He could tell how much of an advantage this gift would be in war, even if there was a small squad of people with it.

They could be almost undefeatable, for no attack would be able to hurt them while no defense would stop them.

'Hmm… no, there must be some restrictions. If only a gift like this is epic ranked then the ones in legendary and above would be terrifying.' Lucius thought before looking at his father.

He slightly squinted his eyes, and a string of words appeared in front of him. He poured all of the Aether he had in his body and only stopped when there was nothing left. Lucius almost trembled due to the sudden depletion of Aether, but held on.

Gift Name: Phasing Strike

Description: Allows the owner to ignore solid objects and pass through them.

Type: Physical

Rank: Epic

Evolution: Possible

'Hmm… just as I had expected. It took more Aether just to show the same amount of information since the gift is higher ranked. But the description is still lacking, it doesn't say what Gabriel said, that he can apply it to other objects as well. I've already seen it too, and it does work like that, so what's the issue here.' Lucius wondered.

Lucius also didn't forget to notice the fact that the gift was able to evolve. Though this gave rise to the question, how? There were no specific instructions given, and Lucius couldn't figure them out on his own either.

'Either I am lacking sufficient Aether to use the gift properly or this is just the limitation of the gift.' Lucius concluded.

While he was busy thinking, Lita spoke up.

"Come on now, we shouldn't ready. The guests will start to arrive any moment now." Lita said.

"Ah, yes. I'll go change my clothes quickly and be back for the celebration." Gabriel said before leaving.

Lucius watched him leave and sat down at the table, waiting for the guests. He had learned a bit more about his gift, but he knew this was nowhere close to enough.

'I need to do more tests, and check the gifts of other people. I'll have to use it on someone that has a common ranked gift and see how much information it gives.' Lucius thought to himself.

The rest of the evening passed rather quickly as the guests arrived and the common banter started. Lucius mixed in with them and got to know a few of the nobles that were part of his family's circle. He got to know that there were five noble families in the city along with his, but the Inanis family was the highest ranked among them at the Count rank.

Two of the families were of Baron ranked and the rest of the three were unranked minor noble families who just ran some businesses. The man he met yesterday, Cambrian was part of one of these unranked noble families too, but was surprisingly the richest among them. Apparently, he used to be a merchant and then bought the rank of a noble.

A rich person could buy the most basic rank of a noble, but they won't be able to buy the rest, at least not directly. They would have to do contributions to the kingdom if they wanted to increase their rank.

The Inanis family took seven generations before it was able to reach the rank of a Count from an unknown family. According to the history Lucius learned from Gabriel, the Inanis family was started by a man called Arthur who was the first to awaken the gift called Phasing strike.

This happened about a thousand years ago when the Grantz Kingdom was still in its developing stage. That time was strife with wars and conflict. People died all the time and men were recruited to fight in the war effort.

Arthur joined the army and made name for himself, quickly moving up in the ranks. His gift attracted the attention of the king and he praised him too. Eventually, a time came when he was injured in an assassination attempt and became weakened.

Unable to fight anymore, his son took his place instead. To the surprise of everyone, he awakened the same gift as his father. The king was informed of this as a gift that was epic ranked and even inheritable was quite valuable.

He thus bestowed Arthur and his family with an official name: Inanis.