Chapter 187: Special Equipment

Lucius looked at the large glass tank with flickering eyes.

"So Master Kain finally managed to get this one out, huh…" Lucius said.

"Indeed. Master Kain did say that it took him a lot of effort to convince his superiors to sell this tank to us. And even then the price was almost the same as that of a newly made one." Kiana said with a helpless expression.

"That's fine, we'll be able to recoup the cost of this in a few uses anyway. Besides, this looks to be in a good condition." Lucius said as he looked at the sides of the glass tank, inspecting all its edges for any flaws and cracks.

Kiana watched as Lucius observed the glass tank with an almost obsessed expression.

"Umm… I know this is used by the artificers guild, but what is this Asher? It looks like a simple glass tank to me. I've seen some nobles keeping fishes in these." Kiana questioned.

"Ahahaha! An aquarium you mean… yes, it is quite similar to that. Except you don't keep fishes in these… you keep artifact frames and rune crystals in these." Lucius answered.

"Artifact frames and rune crystals? You mean… this is how artifacts are made?" Kiana asked, feeling a bit stunned.

"Well yes. But there are other ways to make them of course. This one is just used to make the more complex artifacts." Lucius replied.

"Oh, I didn't know that. But how can something like this be used to make artifacts? This doesn't seem… that special?" Kiana asked.

"Yes, that's true. It does seem quite mundane, but it truly is one of the invaluable tools needed in the creation of artifacts." Lucius assured.

"As for how its use… I'll show that to you later," Lucius said before looking towards the doors of the room, or more accurately, beyond them into the corridor. "For now, we have our 'subjects' to tame." He added.

Kiana turned to see where Asher was looking at and saw that the guards were coming here with two prisoners in tow. Both of them were gagged and bound, along with having a black cloth bag over their head. 

This was all according to the specific directives Lucius had given them whenever they were to transport or escort any kind of prisoner or criminal. Even petty criminals were not spared from this armament and it was equal for or.

This ensured that there was as little interaction between different prisoners and they didn't get any information about the location they were in. The less they knew, the fewer the chances of them escaping.

Lucius walked closer to the prisoners and quickly scanned them from top to the bottom, finding everything normal.

"So these are the ones?" Lucius questioned.

"Yes, my lord." The guards responded respectfully.

"Keep this one here, and put the other one in the solitary there." Lucius ordered.

"As you wish." The guards said before doing their jobs.

One of the prisoners was taken to the wall where a metal cabinet had been built. Its walls were also an inch thick and the cabinet itself was only three feet wide on each side. Plus, along with that, there were fixtures inside that would allow one to attach the shackles to them.

~DENG~

The prisoner heard another metal door opening and got a bit startled. In the next moment, he felt himself getting shoved into a narrow space. He tried to struggle, but the grip of the guard was strong.

These were no normal guards either and had the gift Muscle strengthening as well, which was enough to restrain them and prevent them from struggling.

~clack~

The shackles were attached to the fixtures inside the metal cabinet, and the prisoner was secured. 

~DENG~

Once that was done, the metal door of the cabinet was shut and locked from the outside, preventing any movement of the prisoner. The entire time, Lucius did not even spend a second seeing them and was instead preparing the table in front of him.

Kiana on the other hand, felt quite unconformable at seeing the man being shoved inside the metal cabinet. But she just took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts out of her mind. To her, only Lucius mattered and everything else was invalid.

'I'll do my best…' Kiana thought to herself.

"Do you need any help?" Kiana asked Lucius, seeing as he was doing everything himself.

"No, I'm nearly done," Lucius replied as he finished setting up the table.

Even this table was rather unique and had two flat and long extensions on the sides of it that were movable. They could be lowered or raised as needed and they even had extra restraints on them.

"Bring that man here and lay him down," Lucius ordered.

"Yes, my lord." The other guard said as he pushed the man and forcefully made him lay down on the metal table. 

The clinging and sound of metal scratching against metal could be heard as Lucius started attaching all the restraints on the prisoner, who was trying to struggle his way out. If it were not for the mouth gags Lucius had asked there to be put on all of them, all of this would have definitely been quite loud and involved a lot of expletives.

Thankfully, Lucius's foresight was coming in handy here and had made the entire process smoother. Even the guards here were handpicked and were perfect for restraining the guards. Muscle strengthening and muscle amplification were quickly becoming Lucius's favorite gifts.

They were very simple and straightforward gifts, but even then their uses were quite varied. This had increased the value of the people with these gifts in Lucius's eyes. 

"And, done. Look at him, so perfectly aligned and snugly fit." Lucius said with a smile as he gazed at the prisoner, who was now attached to the table in a 'T' shape.

"You guys did well. You two can wait on the floor above, we'll call for you when your presence is needed." Lucius said, waving his hand.