Epic Of The Demonic Sage

"The time with those Stampeding Bulls was a bit difficult, Albus here looked like he was ready to run, and with his gift active, he practically outran us back then." Ariana shook her head, retelling the time where they faced those beasts.

"It wasn't like that! You have to believe me, Lord Asher." Albus protested, red-faced. "It was along the lines of being the target."

"No, you caught yourself back there. And those Rock Bees too." Ariana grinned, now more or relaxed. "We had our armor on but you kept asking Barty to use his Air Vortex."

"This isn't the time to be sharing stories like that." Gellor coughed and interrupted his team. "Apologies, Lord Asher."

While these were the type of stories that mercenaries liked to recall in the tavern after the completion of a mission, he doubted that Asher would enjoy them since it showed a bit of the unprofessionalism of the team members.

"Nonsense. It's amusing to hear them, and it's also good to see that everyone works well together and rely on each other. I doubt Albus here for example would lure any Stampeding Beast by himself if he did not have faith in his team members' capacity to get him away from danger." Lucius said.

"That is true." Albus said.

"Then should we tell about the time we had to take on some other rune beasts? The Four Winged Hawk was difficult, it being an aerial beast and all but…"

"Ah, Lord Asher already knows about that." Gellor said.

"Yes, you wielded that sword well." Lucius remembered it. He had been impressed and told Kiana about it when he saw them.

"It's a bit difficult to wield, so it's really important that it was used by someone with a good estimate." Finch said.

"Everyone helped, don't give all the credit to me." Gellor said.

Lucius mostly listened and gave some reactions from time to time, which encouraged the others to speak more and allowed him to gauge the attitude of the members.

Ariana and Albus seemed to have a friendly rivalry going on and didn't mind teasing each other, while Barty and Finch seemed to be more reclusive and polite but liked everyone in the team and often had insightful things to say when they were giving input on the story.

Nonetheless, it was Gellor who mostly acted as the glue between the team and made them all stick together. The others had unique and versatile gifts, but Gellor with his Muscle Strengthening carried the team and Lucius remembered Kiana's description of the man.

'Someone who trained under Master Frank and consistently ranked at the top five among hundreds of individuals, Kiana included among them. I've previously wondered if he's an unexpected gem, and told myself to weigh it some more, but the answer seems to be giving itself now.'

When the healers finally arrived in the mansion, they quickly took care of Gellor and his mercenaries. And during that time, the meal was also being prepared by the cooks of the Inanis family.

Now the reason why Lucius was going through all of this conversation and engagement was for one thing alone—his personal benefit.

He considered Gellor and his mercenary team as invaluable, and with his intention to take them with him to the Aisse territory, it was more important to assure that they were indeed loyal.

'During the time where I tried Hell Aether on Nexus, Gellor's own Aether inside of his body reacted and he felt like his life was endangered, but that was because I've combined Hell Energy with Aether… and that isn't necessarily a problem with the mark of obedience. I can power it with hell energy only or the Necklace of the Damned.' Lucius thought.

Of course, Lucius had the Soul Scry Spell and the Fireball Spell in his soul space right now and still needed to add the Mark of Obedience spell again, but he could do it later once he was finished with ensuring that they agreed willingly to it.

'I really don't think that there's a chance that Gellor would go against me, even if he by some miracle discovered that I was the source of the 'dangerous' energy he felt before—but even the slightest risk cannot be taken. I had underestimated Mira before and didn't think that she'd hide anything from me.' Lucius said with some distaste.

"Ah, now that all of you are fully healed and recovered. Shall all of you join me in the dining hall?" Lucius stood up smoothly and gestured to the mercenaries.

"Yes, Lord Asher!"

Honored by the Young Lord of the Inanis House, the mercenaries quickly followed him to where they'd be eating.

It was not a common thing for commoners and nobles to share a table or even a meal together. However, Lucius crafted himself to be someone who was approachable.

This was an effective way of gaining people's trust and it had worked for him during his time at the re-education center.

"Thank you once again for inviting us, Lord Asher." Gellor spoke for his team. "We are deeply gratified by all of this."

"Think nothing of it and eat to your heart's content." Lucius said relaxedly. 'How will I make them receive the mark of the obedience? They need to be willing for it to work and they cannot be coerced into it. Hah, it seems like I'll be having to lure them in with promises again.'

In Lucius' eyes, it was rare for people to willingly want to help another person unless there was something to be gained for themselves.

Even those who did it out of kindness did it because they wanted to uphold the identity that they'd crafted for themselves.

"Um, Lord Asher, may we perhaps ask a question as well?" Albus asked. "We were unable to participate in the war against Viscount Drew, but we heard some things about it."

"And what would that be?" Lucius raised a brow.

"There was a special group that came and saved the army, the Masked Legion?"