Neta didn't know what had come over Asher today, but the words he spoke did arouse his interest.

Being stronger was something that everyone wanted. Sure their definition of 'strong' would vary but they did want to be strong. Some wanted to be strong physically, some wanted to be strong mentally, some wanted to be strong in knowledge, some wanted to be strong financially and there were also some that wanted to be strong in love.

​​

With thousands of definitions of strength, Neta could pick anyone and it wouldn't matter to Lucius, after all, he knew where all paths led to…

Lucius saw that he had pulled Neta's attention and he had an interest in it now.

"Tell me Neta, what if I told you there was a way you didn't need to have the common ranked gift that you have right now? What if it could be better?" Lucius spoke, much to the shock of Neta.

"B-but how can that be possible, my lord?" Neta said, his voice close to stuttering.

"Oh, it is possible Neta. And I… can give it to you?" Lucius tempted.

"You… Y-you can?" Neta said finding it to be unbelievable.

"Yes indeed. And all you need to do is support me… support your lord." Lucius replied.

"Of course you have my support. Young Lord Asher is the future lord of Etara and thus will always have my support and I think all servants think the same." Neta said with determination.

"Perfect…" Lucius said with a smile, that made Neta tremble.

Lucius extended his hand to Neta and spoke, "so you agree to support me?"

"Yes, my lord." Neta said as he held Lucius's hand.

"So mote it be…" Lucius whispered.

In the next moment, Lucius's eyes glowed in a red light and Neta felt them to be piercing. He couldn't help but flinch as his heart ached for a moment. But in the next instant, it all faded away as if nothing had happened.

"W-what was that?" Neta said upon opening his eyes.

He saw that Lucius was looking through a drawer in his study table and pulled out a small box.

"Just some assurance… don't worry about it. Now it's time for me to fulfill my end of the bargain." Lucius said as he opened the box that he had just pulled out.

Neta then saw Lucius take out six Aether crystals from that box. Seeing this Neta was surprised and wondered what Lucius was going to do with it.

"Now then, let's get to it…" Lucius said with a smile as he looked at Neta and used Nexus.

While he had already known the requirements of his gift, he still needed to know the method to upgrade it. The strange thing about it was that, unlike the other data, it did not show up as a screen in front of him.

Rather it was directly imprinted into his memories. Lucius did not know the reason for it as of now, but did realize that this was a much better method than giving text. The memories were like experiences themselves and thus allowed him a better grasp of the process.

With text, there was a greater chance of mistake, whereas the memories gave him practical instructions. Neta watched as Lucius arranged the Aether crystals in a specific pattern.

"Come here," Lucius called.

"Y-yes my lord." Neta said feeling a bit hesitant.

But in the next moment, he saw Lucius grab his hand and pricked it with a letter opener.

"Ah!" Neta said in pain and tried to withdraw it, but Lucius' grip was far stronger than he had expected.

A drop of blood was squeezed out from his palm and dripped into the Aether crystal that was kept in the center of five other Aether crystals.

~shua~

The moment this happened, all of the Aether crystal lit up and a bright light filled the bedroom. Neta closed his eyes in protest and felt a lot of energy filling him all at once. He could tell that this was nothing but Aether but it had reached a level that he had never felt before.

~Lub~dub~lub~dub~

He could hear his heart throbbing in his head as it only got faster. The amount of Aether in his body reached the peak of what it could contain, but it did not stop.

"Aah! No more!" Neta cried in pain.

He felt as if his body would swell up like a balloon and explode. The Aether continued pouring in his body and putting force on it. Veins popped up on his body as he collapsed on the ground. Neta's eyes turned bloodshot as he started to spasm on the ground.

But just when he felt like he was about to explode, it suddenly became comfortable. If before there was a wall that prevented him from having any more Aether, that wall had now collapsed and his body could contain far more Aether than before.

But that was not all as new information started to appear in his mind. The more information appeared, the more shocked Neta got.

'This… how can this be possible…' Neta thought.

The process lasted for about five minutes, after which Neta woke up. Lucius had been observing him from the start and was now sitting down on the chair. The moment Neta woke up, a string of words appeared in front of Lucius's eyes.

Gift Name: Slimy Touch

Description: The user can produce an adhesive slime from his hands that can stick to surfaces and anything that touches it can get stuck to it. The Strength and quantity of the adhesiveness depend on the quantity of Aether used.

Rank: Uncommon

Type: Emission

Evolution: Possible

Evolution Requirements: 10x Aether crystals, 5x Glue Snail Rune Crystal

Seeing the updated information that had just appeared in front of him Lucius smiled. He had just learned another thing about his gift.

'So the people whose gifts are upgraded with the information provided by Nexus don't need any more Aether to scan.' Lucius understood.