Epic Of The Demonic Sage

Lucius and Kiana were the first to step out of the basement and needed to watch their steps over the slippery ramp. It was made of stone and due to the dampness and water that flowed over it from time to time, had grown moss.

Doyle did not have any problems walking over it since his feet had claws that could easily grip the stone floor below him. In fact, the place where he had stood and pushed the gate open, now had feet marks from it. Such was the force exerted by a Lost.

"I'll take a look around first and see if the way is clear or not." Kiana spoke.

"Yes, do that. I'll wait." Lucius replied.

Kiana nodded and checked both the ends of the alley, going all the way to the start of the street to see if there was anyone outside. On the right of the alley, she found a few guards going about their regular patrol, while on the left she saw a couple of beggars that were sleeping.

She returned to Lucius and informed him of the situation on both ends.

"Let's take the left route, then. Even if beggars see us, they won't really think much with the appearance of Doyle hidden underneath the robe. Besides, no one would believe the words of a beggar if they even saw the true appearance of Doyle easily." Lucius stated.

With the decision made, Lucius and Kiana made it to the left side of the alley before coming out onto the street. A couple of beggars were sleeping at the sides of the buildings with their blankets and clothes all the way up to their heads, preventing as much heat from escaping as they could.

While winter had not started fully yet, autumn was already here, and the temperature had started to fall over the last few weeks. Lucius and Kiana didn't really feel the cold because of the clothes they were wearing, while Doyle could not really feel the cold anyway.

The three of them made their way towards the borders of the city. Lucius had deliberately chosen this location to be on the more outer part of the city and thus it didn't take them long to reach the city wall. 

This wall was something that had been broken and rebuilt multiple times over the years. The last time it had been rebuilt was back in the time of the former Count who would be the Grandfather of Asher and father of Gabriel.

The walls were only rebuilt because the city had expanded and not because it had been attacked. The Inanis city had been relatively safe despite being close to the border of the kingdom and had never been attacked.

Lucius and Kiana stared at the straight-standing wall and looked at Doyle.

"Let's climb up," Lucius spoke, noting to himself that he needed another tunnel made that took them out of the city.

There were actually three such tunnels in existence already, but their locations made it impossible for Lucius to use right now. Two of them were located in the Inanis mansion itself, while the last one was located in one of the city offices where all the administrative staff worked.

It was also the place where both the Count and the Countess often spent their daily time working. Countess Lita was an odd one out among the noblewomen choosing to work despite not really needing to.

Other noblewomen simply relaxed in their mansion while sipping wine and snacking on tiny dishes. Even the ones that were a bit more responsible did only the surface duties that didn't really involve them mingling with the common workers and people that much.

Count Gabriel never minded this as he had always been doing this, plus him being in the army had made him think of people according to their qualities and not just a rank. The countess shared a similar mindset and thus were a perfect couple.

"Let me make this a bit easier for us," Kiana said as she raised her palms.

A metallic layer appeared over them as a metal shard came out of it. Kiana looked at it and manipulated it, turning it back into stone.

"Oh? You can return it to the original state as well?" Lucius asked.

"Yes, I found out it was possible a few days ago. It doesn't take much effort either and the finer size and shape manipulation can still be applied to it." Kiana replied.

"That's excellent." Lucius couldn't help but praise.

'Hmm… so upgraded gifts retain the effects of old gifts. In a way, this is just the same as having multiple gifts, isn't it…' Lucius thought to himself and noted this point down in his mind for now.

~thud~thud~thud~

Kiana waved her hands and sent several stone spikes flying towards the wall. These spikes were embedded at equal intervals in two rows and went all the way to the top of the wall. The wall itself was five meters tall, which was a rather tall height for one to be able to climb over without equipment.

Lucius and Kiana started to climb using the spikes as a ladder while Doyle simply jumped and held onto the wall using his clawed fingers. He easily reached the top in a couple of seconds using his clawed hands and legs, showing the superiority he had over normal humans.

"Let's just use him to get down," Lucius said, seeing that Kiana would not be able to use the same method as before.

They got onto Doyle's shoulders, who then brought them down on the other side. The three of them then headed out towards the woods in the distance, taking about twenty minutes to reach it.

"What are we going to do now?" Kiana questioned.

"Now? Now we see the true capabilities of our new Tools… it's time for them to hunt!" Lucius answered.

"Grrr!" Lucius didn't know if Doyle had understood his intentions, but he seemed to be excited as well.