"Alright, Levi come forth"
Levi bowed down in front of his Lord, for now, he has a barrier blessing and ancient storage ring in his possession, he needs something to defend himself while protecting others.
"This is the ancient armor which once belonged to the Dark Knight, the protector of this land who fought along with the First Emperor, it will increase your HP and DEF by 50%"
Grizel took out a black set of metallic armor that shines dashingly and gives it to the surprised Levi, this armor is comparable to the Flame Armor worn by the Crown Prince of this Empire, yet his Lord easily bestowed such precious item to him, by a drop of his blood this national treasure will be tied to him like Grizel's dual daggers and Lucy's scythe, but it seems he was too early to be surprised as his Lord took another item from her artifact ring.
"And this is an ancient shield, it will absorb 30% power of each damage directed to you and turned it into yours, your quick recovery ability will increase to the point of rapid regeneration once you get fully awakened"
Levi gulped, even as a tanker, he could easily wipe a squadron of the nation by himself with these items alone, he doesn't understand why but it seems his Lord is preparing to fight against a strong force and she gave all of this to protect him and Tartarus.
"I wish you to continue protecting your family"
"Your wish is my command, My Lord"
Levi replied with beaming eyes feeling grateful as the smiling Grizel caressed his hair, though he was rumored to be a sadistic butler, at least for Grizel he's still such an obedient and good kid who yearns for her motherly affection.
"Alright, it's time for your big sister"
Levi nodded and stepped back while Lucy comes forth and bows down, this is her turn.
Lucy lacks attack patterns, but that is not something that will be solved by items or weapons, all she needs is training.
But there's something that has been bothering Grizel after witnessing how Lucy fights with the stronger opponent head-on, it's Lucy's HP and defense, a Rogue-class awakener having a low HP and Defense is normal since they are proficient in speed and dexterity, the same thing applied to Lucy, even Grizel underwent the same thing when she first awakened her ability as Rogue-class.
A single hit from the fully awakened Emma may damage a quarter of Lucy's total HP, fortunately, Lucy's speed is top-notch, she could flawlessly dodge Emma's magic attack, but it will be a different story if the opponent is someone like Grizel who is above level 50, Lucy might die in one hit without any chance to move an inch.
Grizel took out a beautiful bracelet and necklace from her ring and gives them to Lucy.
"Both of these are the ancient magic items, they will increase your HP and defense, and..."
A ring suddenly appears on Grizel's hand as she handed over it to Lucy.
"This storage ring is full of magic items that are suitable for Rogue-class awakeners"
With her appraisal blessing, it was easy to sort out all of the items she looted up until now, precisely the harvest at the South, that rich region lives up to its name, the treasuries of the corrupted nobles, merchants, and the temple branches were like big fat pigs ready to squeeze out.
"Even though they are not as strong as your legendary equipment, all of these rare items inside the ring can be considered as a treasure for common people, and I trust your judgment on sharing them with your squadron, the Lunar Child"
Grizel writes a simple note on each item to explain the power of each item, the rest is up to Lucy as the supervisor of the intelligence department to share it among her subordinates since no one knows about Lunar Child's abilities more than her.
"Thank you for your generosity, My Lord"
Lucy stares at her Lord with sparkling eyes feeling extremely proud, being part of those who were trained as a tool for assassination, she is aware of how the so-called masters or owners treat them, let alone giving them these kinds of precious items, given a proper meal was considered luxurious, they were nothing but a disposable tool back then, and most of the Lunar Squad members are consist of people with that similar background as slaves.
This act alone is enough to prove that they are counted as the precious members of Tartarus and the Lord truly cares about them, they may have nothing in their possession to show their gratitude towards their Lord, but it doesn't mean they won't do anything.
Blind loyalty is the only way to pay for their Lord's generosity, whether it is an assassination, espionage, theft, kidnapping, torture, conspiracy, manipulation, they will gladly do each dirty work for their Lord, and will never question nor doubt her words no matter what it is.
The smiling Grizel nodded when she taps on Lucy's shoulder as if saying that she's doing great raising the Lunar Child as the intelligence department of Tartarus.
"Deus, come here"
Deus stepped forward and bowed down in front of the Princess replacing Lucy as his name was called.
"What do you think about your role as the Sniper?"
"I have to admit this position is weighing the heaviest responsibility as the main damage dealer which is not suitable for me right now"
The sole purpose of a sniper is to kill or at least to incapacitate the enemies, and Deus has never harmed anyone directly, even when dealing with his former family, he was patient enough to wait before cunningly escape from them at the right time, his revenge was carried by using others, he didn't cause any harm with his own hands.
"Do you want to quit?"
Grizel asked him, forcing is not her way of gaining talents, just like how she baits him joining Tartarus using the blueprints of revolutionary items, this time the urge to survive and getting stronger have to come from Deus himself as well, the familial environment she built among Tartarus members should be enough to trigger his desire to fight, as well as the other members, they will feel a strong attachment to Tartarus, the sense of belonging.
"No, my Queen. Please grant me another chance to wield this magic rifle and clear the path of yours"
Deus replied in determination, he has decided and chooses to fight along with his family, protecting what he should protect.
"Great! Well said, Deus"
Grizel patted his red hair, the narcissistic man who never cares about anything but himself and his passion for craftsmanship is maturing, growing with such an awful family makes him think that the value of family is rather low, but now he could proudly say that he put Tartarus, his new family above anything.
"This is for you"
"This-"
Deus's jaw dropped as a transparent crystal appears, he knows that his Lord is something else but how can she nonchalantly gives such legendary treasure like giving cheap candy, this is the Stone of God which can trigger war and bloodshed within a nation yet in the hand of this Princess, its nothing but a stone to strengthen her subordinate.
"Deus, do you know why Emma changes her target to you as soon as your first shot?"
He tilted his head with the sudden question, but as the one who shot her, Deus is fully understood why Emma was targeting him.
"Because she felt how dangerous my bullets are"
Grizel nodded, even though Emma was not a talented magician but she fought quite smart, she knows exactly where does the most threat come from, Deus's attacks are the most life-threatening things at the time, in that kind of situation she decided to get rid of him first, and that is the correct decision since Deus doesn't have defense nor speed to protect himself.
Fortunately, Deus didn't fight her on his own, Levi as the tank has done great protecting his members, it was quite a satisfactory teamwork.
"Snipers are only invincible when invisible, they become the most vulnerable when visible"
Grizel warned him, back on Earth snipers are a terrifying existence on the battlefield, hiding far away from their targets and killing without any warning, as long as they remain in the shadow, they are invincible, but...
This world is not Earth, Grizel is aware of some variables that could endanger snipers because the fighting method is different from the snipers on Earth, Deus will die if she uses the same methods for training those snipers on Earth.
This world is full of magic, magician such as Emma could feel Deus's mana and find where he is, warriors can use their extreme physical perception to sense the killing intent, and assassins are good at tracking one's whereabouts, Deus is simply dead meat if he ended up in close combat with warrior or assassin, and he is too slow to dodge magic attack from magician as well, he is basically a damage dealer with full of openings and no defense.
"It's called Stone of Ra, and the blessing is Void"
"Void?"
Deus along with Lucy, Levi, and Mammon repeat the word of Void since they couldn't comprehend the ability of the blessing.
"Stealth, invisibility, illusion, there are a lot of skills to hide oneself but they are not untraceable, the blessing of this stone is on the different levels"
She explained, stealth won't be of any use in front of those who have a sharp sense, invisibility can be traced with perception, and illusion can be crashed by magic, so do the other hiding skills, each of them have a fatal weakness.
"Once you activated the Void blessing, you will turn into a void itself and become Void or nothingness"
"Instead of a hiding skill, it's more like an erasing skill since it will erase your existence temporarily"
Gulped.
Deus gulped thinking about that scary ability, it's indeed on a whole different level, hiding skills use to conceal one's existence but no matter how perfect they hide, it won't change the fact that they still exist, but...
The ability of this blessing is frightening, instead of hiding, it's erasing oneself, including his mana, killing intent, his gazes, and every single thing of him comes to nonexistent.
How is it possible to trace a nonexistent thing?
"My Queen, I am happy with your generosity but this ability..."
"I am afraid it will raise suspicion of me"
Deus refused to take the stone, this ability will only cause wariness among his family, with this ability he can commit murder easily without no one noticing, even though he doesn't have any plan for doing that, the other will still fear him unjustly.
"Pfft, hahaha do you think your family members are such narrow-minded people? Or..."
"Do you think the Lord you served is a gullible, Deus?"
"N-no, I was just..."
Grizel won't be as naive as giving a dagger that pointed at her to others, who would do such a thing, unless it's an airheaded Lord who is too trusting, Grizel believes that her subordinates won't betray her but it doesn't mean she will carelessly give them a chance to bite the hand that feeds them.
As the former businesswoman, she is well aware that excessive trust in organizations will lead to the way of destruction, there's a reason why she succeeded in managing the Samael enormous businesses at such a young age back on Earth.
She always has a way to suppress others.
"You don't have to worry about such a thing, I have a grasp of its weakness and if you want I can share it among our family"
"Thank goodness"
Deus seems to worry over nothing, sometimes he forgot that the Lord he served is not an average little girl, she is someone who will have taken precautions before actions.
Grizel shakes her head in helplessness, Deus is still deceived by her appearance of a little girl though she is truthfully the eldest one here.
"If you got shot by an unknown person and managed to survive, what would you do?"
"Find the shooter"
Deus, Levi, Lucy, and Mammon answered in unison, anyone would do the same, but that is the biggest advantage and disadvantages of this stone, Grizel smirked as she explains.
"That's right, you would probably try to find 'the culprit' but what if the culprit becomes a Void and turned into a 'nothingness'? Would you be able to find him?"
All of them knew the answer, searching the culprit means trying to find a nonexistent thing, it's...
Impossible.
"Nothing is impossible"
Grizel said as she looks at their complicated expression, they are trying hard to figure out how to solve this problem.
"Don't look for the culprit, but search for the 'Void' instead"
This world is filled with elements, if they search for the culprit they will find nothing but if they try to sense a spot where there is suspiciously nothing, it would be the place where the culprit is.
It's like you will find nothing if you search for the culprit straightway, yet will easily found him if you take a detour in searching him.
This is why Grizel said this is both an advantage and a disadvantage at the same time if the enemies try to find out where the Deus is, they won't find him as long as the skill was activated, but if they try to find the Void instead, Deus will be seen thoroughly as a blank spot amidst the natural elements.
But...
Only those who know about this Void ability will be able to locate him, that's why Grizel is not worried about the potential for betrayal whatsoever since Grizel could see him clearly with or without the blessing of the stone.
"That's surprisingly simple"
Mammon and Levi nod several times, they are quick-witted as ever, on the other hand, Deus is still thinking trying to comprehend the blessing that soon to be his, but it's better than Lucy who has given up on thinking such complicated thing, someday she might just find it out with her instinct through experience.
"Deus, this is the secret techniques of the ancient Elven race to increase their amount of mana"
Deus shot mana bullets made of his own mana, the moment he runs out of mana he won't be able to attack anymore, this technique is to increase his mana permanently, it won't be a significant amount of mana, but when he is fully awakened by Grizel, his mana will be enormous.
As if not enough, Grizel pull out an ancient magic ring and anklet and handed them to Deus.
"This magic ring will automatically store your mana inside of it gradually, that might come in handy one day, and this anklet will boost your speed temporarily in case you are in danger and need to escape"
Deus is a magician that excels in mana control since controlling mana is the basic requirements for crafting magic items and shooting mana bullets, his attack is terrifying but everyone knows that magicians are slow and have low defense, and the purpose of today's gift is to increase his strength and decrease the weaknesses.
"My Queen, I will work for you for the rest of my life"
Deus declared as he was carried away by the atmosphere, he seems to forget how much workloads have been given to him recently.
"That's what I want to hear, a lot of works are waiting for you, Son"
Grizel teased him as she patted the terrified Deus, once again he made a grave mistake today.
"Alright, Mammon come here"
Mammon stepped forward and bowed in hesitation, something has been troubling him since the fight against Emma.
"I think you know your condition better than me"
Grizel said as she glances at the dispirited Mammon, the brilliant manager who emits confidence never been this gloomy before.
"Yes, Your Highness. I am fully aware that I don't belong to the frontline, I can't fight with my siblings"
Except for Grizel, the others seem confused, how could they not, even if Levi is the MVP of the fight today, Mammon was the one who caused the fatal damage to Emma, if it wasn't for his cunning trick to make her lose an excessive amount of blood without anyone noticing, they will be doomed.
But their feelings are different from his, Mammon clenched his fists as he was aware of his liability, today's achievement doesn't come from his ability to fight but his quick-witted brain instead, it was sheer luck for Emma to fall into his trick but this is useless in fighting with those in higher levels, if that happened, he won't be any help for his teammates and become nothing but luggage.
Better to admit it than endanger his new family, a coward thief won't be a fighter.
"I appreciate your courage to admit it but I don't recall saying you can't fight along with your siblings..."
"They need a Strategist, with that cunning brain of yours, no one is more suitable than you for this position"
"..."
He couldn't say a word due to confusion, talking about cunning, isn't the Princess is the most cunning one here?
"You don't have to worry about additional workload, the role of tactician will still be carried by me, you just have to act as their brain from behind"
Grizel said as she pointed to the 3 main fighters in Tartarus.
"With all due respect, why would they need a strate-Ahhh... I see"
Mammon facepalmed as he comes to realization, seems like his brain catches the problem even before he finished his line when he sees his dumbfounded siblings.
The inexperienced Deus who never harm anyone, the innocent Levi who is full of the thought of protecting his family, and the beast Lucy who fights instinctively without her brain, no matter how you look at it, these helpless siblings couldn't be left alone.
They are worrisome.
Grizel doesn't doubt their skills but as a Princess, sometimes she might fight separately from them, as their Lord as well as a mother who raised them, leaving these 3 without any guide present, is kind of concerning.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. I will make sure to watch and support my siblings from their back"
Satisfied with his answer, Grizel pulled out the gift for him.
"This is the Stone of Janus and the blessing is 'Gate', as the representative of Fortuna Merchant guild, this will make your work more effective and efficient"
Mammon's main duties are related to business and financial affairs, as a businessman, he needs to travel to various towns for business trips which take weeks in one go, time is money, with this basic principle she decided to give this stone to him to increase his mobility, he can create a gate to a place where he had visited before.
At first, Grizel wanted to absorb the stone for herself since the blessing is quite useful but she gives it to Mammon instead, with the blessing, he will make money faster than he did in his former merchant guild, Mammon worked for Baron Goldway for 4 years and he successfully made the guild to be the wealthiest one, now he has full support from Grizel, the achievements will eventually surpass it.
"Don't hesitate, take it as my investment on you, also take these since your defense and HP as low as Lucy's"
Gizel handed over the same bracelet and necklace with the ones she bestowed upon Lucy, since they are the same Rogue-Class Awakener they have similar weaknesses.
"And take these, for self-defense"
2 magic guns are given to him, even though the power is not as strong as Deus's magic rifle, this newly made weapon is enough to kill people, Mammon might not fight in the frontline but he needs a weapon to protect himself, and the bullets don't need too much mana since these dual guns were created for a quick-attack with small amount of mana unlike the sniper as damage-dealer.
"Thank you, Your Highness"
Now everyone will grow significantly when they got fully awakened.
"Alright, that's it for today, Mammon and Deus will accompany me to the audience with the Emperor tomorrow, dismiss"
To be continued...
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