Chapter 116 Born Without A Gift

"Could you just continue with what you were saying?" He questioned, not wanting to steer away from what she had been saying.

Lumina nodded her head, she had managed to get out some of the uneasiness she feels when speaking about the past.

"He had always sent letters to us at home, telling us of the training they all got while trying to harness their full potential," She paused laughing at how stupid and naive she and her mother were then.

"What gift or magic did he possess?" Nix interjected, curious to know to what extent siblings having gifts or magic could vary.

"He possessed a gift," she said as she looked at her palms watching as tiny currents crawled on them, rising and giving off a faint humming sound.

"He had lightning!" She said, closing her palm on the lightning that rose a few inches above her palm.

"How is that possible?" Nix blurted out, confused about the rarity of their special gifts.

Lumina had a smirk on her lips at his words. She could remember when she had told Fae the very same thing, it wasn't surprising he would react the same.

"I never had my gift in the first place." She laughed off what she had just said.

p Nix had a frown at how little she was taking what she was saying.

'Is it even possible not to be born with a gift but possess it later on?' He studied her, unsure if he were to believe what she had just said.

Shrugging, Lumina shook her head, accurately guessing what Nix was thinking with the way he had given her a quick body scan.

"No, if one isn't born with a gift, then they are just like the majority of the citizens of Arkai." She clicked her tongue.

'Arkai, it still shares the same name of the world I had given my characters to live in.' He nodded his head to the new information he had gotten.

Preoccupied with the troubles of this world, he had forgotten to ask Mune about the name of the city.

"You were born without any, so how could you get not just any random one, but one of the four rare gifts?!" He raised a brow at her, not buying her words.

Lumina bopped her head in confirmation, "you see, the thing about having a relative having a gift is it can be transferred at will upon one's death."

Nix froze at her words, his telepathic field deactivated with a shatter-like sound.

An uneasy feeling rocked his mental balance. With a mind trailing back to when he was facing that creature in his home.

'Mother had died then?' His hand dug through his hair, shaking his head to the revelation that dawned on him.

The thoughts of the possibility of him having just a few minutes he could have gotten to still save his mother if not for the distraction caused by the creature.

The thought of how the gift had saved him from his inescapable death at the time.

He could only see it as his mother protecting him with her last strength as the only surviving child at the time.

"Nix?" Lumina called out, concerned about his actions, his eyes darted everywhere in rapid glances.

His behavior was strange, even when she had realized the truth about her sudden acquisition of a similar gift, she had not carried out such an expression at the time as she was still in self-denial.

'I just developed a similar gift like my brother.' She would think to herself then.

Whatever was going on with Nix only reminded her of the time he had an outburst when she had spoken about the rarity of the other gifts.

Concerned that whatever she had said that day had triggered something.

"What's wrong?" She took his hand in hers, sharing a faint current through him.

Gasp!

Nix let out, his eyes wide and brimming with tears. "Why? Why?" He repeated.

Lumina stared, unsure of how to answer that ambiguous question. "You have so many secrets and burdens, how am I meant to know which one you are referring to?" She questioned, downhearted by her inability to help.

Wiping his face before the tears could trail down his cheeks, "tell me how this thing works."

Lumina blinked a few times at his calm demeanor after the weird scene that had played out again.

"Umm... I'm not sure I should continue for now." She looked upwards, uninterested in continuing after what she had seen.

Inhaling and exhaling, Nix realized she had merely said those words because of him zoning out and haunted by his guilt like a psycho.

"I assure you, I'm fine." He forced a smile, holding onto her hand, not wanting to let go.

Shaking her head, she refused to believe what he said. Something was bothering him and she was determined to know what it was, just as he was curious to know hers.

"You can tell me what's bothering you, we could scale it together." She offered with a smile.

'Can I trust her to that extent?' He wondered, reluctant to speak of his complicated life since he had gotten into this world.

Resorting to a subtle approach, he decided to go with the general and nonsuspicious start.

"I lost my family to an attack I couldn't prevent." He went straight to the point. His head dropped down in despair.

"I was too weak to protect them." He mumbled his words.

Lumina's heart ached to what he had said, the pain she had experienced from her brother's death and her mother's degrading mental health, it could never be comparable to what he could have felt.

"No... don't say that." She scolded him. He wasn't to blame for what had happened to his family.

Thinking about the attitude Nix had displayed towards anyone who tried to get close to him, she could only see it as a defense mechanism he had acquired to protect himself from any hurt.