“That’s… nice. I guess it helps in maintaining our image too.” Lucius replied to Lita.

“Of course, as the nobles of this land, it is our duty to take care of our people. Those who do not do such a basic duty are not worthy of being a noble.” Lita said with pride.

Lucius nodded his head and found her words to be reasonable. Even if he did not consider himself to be a ‘good’ person, Lucius would not govern the people but taking all their income in taxes or something like that.

He knew the rules of wealth and understood it was better for everyone to prosper together for higher benefits than to rule in a solitary manner while exploiting the people. While exploitation would give him short-term gains, it was not sustainable.

The two women sat down to eat while Lucius was busy with his thoughts. He too joined them but did not speak, choosing to spend his time in his mind. 

The servants soon took away all the empty plates and dishes before cleaning up the table. Lucius stood up from the table before speaking, “you ready for our task?”

“Yes, I feel much better after eating.” Kiana said with a nod, and left with Lucius.

Lita looked at the two with a smile and chuckled while thinking of something. 

***

“Alright, we got a few things to test out before lieutenant John comes.” Lucius spoke.

“John? Why are we waiting for him?” Kiana asked.

“I asked him about our mission, or rather suggested he join it. With his help and guidance, I reckon we would be much safer. Though it all depends on if your gift is impressive enough for him.” Lucius answered.

“You told him about my new gift?” Kiana questioned.

“No, not exactly. I simply told him to observe something interesting.” Lucius answered.

“Alright. John coming with us will only be beneficial since he has actual experience in fighting bandits. Plus, he’s a soldier too so he would be working properly there.” Kiana justified.

“Indeed. Though if he does agree we will also be taking a few more guards with us.” Lucius said to which Kiana responded with a nod.

Kiana got into her position, and they started their practical session.

The very first lesson was to check the range of Kiana’s gift. Depending on the length, the value of the gift would greatly rise. Currently, Kiana was able to easily shoot a target accurately that was over a hundred meters away.

They kept on increasing the distance and eventually stopped at three hundred meters. At that point, the momentum of the needle greatly reduced such that it could not even penetrate the bark. This now showed that they needed to be at a distance of about two hundred meters or fewer in order for the gift to be accurate.

The next test they did was the duration of the effect. They already had a tree that was fully covered in a stony layer by now and all they had to do was wait and see the effect. They decided to give it an hour during which they chose to do other tests.

They then tested the versatility of the projectiles. Kiana had said that she could adjust the shape of the projectile and its size to a certain extent as well. Lucius wanted to see to what limit she could to modify the projectile.

Kiana thus flipped her palm and her usual needle appeared there. The needle then started to increase in size until it reached the maximum size of a golf ball. No matter how much Kiana tried the projectile would stop at that point.

The needle was already the smallest form of the projectile and they now wanted to check the shape of the objects. It took them thirty minutes to come to the conclusion that Kiana could make them into anything that was in her mind.

Though the more complex the shape, the more difficult it got to make and the higher the drain on Kiana was. Eventually an entire hour had passed and they went to check up on the effects of the gift.

“Oh? The petrification is reducing.” Lucius said.

The Grey stony spots all condensed before fading away from the tree. It looked rather surreal to them and they felt amazed. 

“Seems like an hour is a safe limit for it.” Lucius stated.

Kiana nodded her head and then heard a voice calling her from the back.

“Kiana, Asher? What are you two doing here?” John, who had just arrives asked.

“Ah, lieutenant John! Perfect timing. We have the thing we talked about getting ready.” Lucius spoke.

He then looked at Kiana before speaking, “show John what your gift can do.” 

John felt a bit confused at the actions of Asher but did not question them. Kiana though, extended her hand and shot out a flurry of needles. Looking at the needles, John was astounded.

“Such power… only an Epic Ranked Gift can heave such power.” John muttered to himself.

He did not fully believe that it was an Epic ranked gift as he knew Kiana had a rare ranked gift. But when he saw the effect of the needles on the trees, he was absolutely shocked.

“Petrification? Isn’t that ability used by Rock bees?” John asked out loud.

“Indeed senior.” Asher confirmed.

“Bu-but how?” John couldn’t help but ask. “Kiana’s gift was stone shooter which does not have this effect.” 

“Let’s just say I figured out a method to ‘enhance’ the gifts of the people. Though it takes a lot of time and effort.” Lucius answered.

Hearing his words, John nodded his head and understood such kind of a thing would not be cheap. 

“Well then, instructor John, do you reckon it would be possible for us to head on to the mission?” Lucius questioned.

“Yes, with someone like Kiana that has an Epic ranked gift, it should be possible. And if we add more guards to it, things should get easier even more.” John added.

“Perfect,” Lucius replied with a smile.