[1000 PSs bonus chapter]

Lucius sat across from Sylas, not interrupting his eating. He didn't say anything immediately, but neither did Sylas.

It wasn't that Sylas was so anti-social, it was more so they both knew that it was a bit rude of Lucius to come and interrupt Sylas when he was trying to recover. But it was also clear that Lucius had done this more so out of appreciation for Sylas than anything else.

He simply sat there and sipped at what looked like water, and Sylas inhaled food as though he hadn't eaten in weeks.

Soon, Sylas had finished off the last of his food and looked up. The gazes of the two men met, and there seemed to be a clash of sorts but this was too crude of an explanation.

There was a fire in Sylas' chest that had yet to wane, and because of that, it was hard for Sylas to restrain his usual thoughts. So at the moment, every thought seemed to be reflected into the air, his Charisma, not to mention his Voice of a King Gene Talent, painting a visual that took Lucius aback.

However, Lucius' Will didn't seem to be weak either. He met Sylas' gaze and watched as the green flames in his eyes slowly extinguished.

Inwardly, Lucius couldn't help but shake his head. He had meant every word he said back then. Free Wills like Sylas were too difficult to control. Rather than leaving such variables lying around, it was better to just directly kill them. He couldn't see things the same way Astrid or Malachi did.

However, there was no denying how useful Sylas was to him.

Not only had he brought back the disk he thought had become a lost cause, but now he had brought back Archibald and information about an encampment of another powerful family.

In terms of impact, Sylas had proved himself more useful than his first pick. Though, it would take time for Nathan to display his usefulness.

The disk was a huge boon. Though it was damaged, it would help them to secure the region around Paradise and truly make it their own. This would make it far easier to advance and retreat.

When Portals grew too large, there would also be more area to cover and protect. It would also make it far easier for others to sneak into this region and learn the location of their city.

But now, once the disk had been refined and fixed, they would have perfect control over this.

Of course, this wouldn't last forever. The disk was just a temporary measure and it couldn't stop the Aether Plane from fusing with Earth.

But it would still buy them several months of time, and a lot could be done.

Then there was Archibald. An upgradeable Profession was incredibly rare, but what was far more curious were Archibald's origins. These sorts of secrets were enough to move those in the shadows of the Grimblade family, and if Lucius reported this matter, then he would gain a huge advantage over Malachi and Astrid even if he didn't get to keep Archibald himself.

It could be said that after lagging behind, this one move by Sylas had helped him to pull ahead of his two cousins. Soon, that would be reflected in both resources and his Level.

That left Lucius in a dilemma.

On the one hand, Sylas was simply far too useful.

On the other he was too useful.

"You've done me a great service this time, Sylas. I did not reward you nearly enough for your first helping hand, and before I could get such a chance, you handed me yet another gift.

"This time, I can't make the same mistake as the first time. I am willing to give you any Skill you desire up to the FFF- rank. I can also grant you 10 000 coins and a chance to use our city's Nexus. If there's anything else you need, feel free to let me know now."

Sylas' gaze flashed, and after a moment of thought, he spoke.

"For the FFF- Skill, I would like the highest upgraded form of <Basic Scouting>. And instead of the 10 000 coins and access to the Nexus, I need a method of transportation that's more convenient. Maybe a mount of some sort. Preferably of the Serpentes lineage. But I would take anything with decent Speed and strong stamina."

Lucius' brows raised. The Serpentes? Why is that?

Sylas knew that this might give Lucius more information than he wanted to give, but he also didn't mind it too much.

This gave him a chance. He wanted to see the depths Lucius had. Would he really be capable of this? And if he was capable of it, what did that say about what the Grimblade family was capable of?

The mount was only really a secondary ask, he didn't care about it much. Not having one wouldn't be an issue because it would just give him a chance to strengthen his own stamina.

What he really wanted was the scouting Skill. He had run out of money to trade for a good one before because his priorities were elsewhere. But now that he had an opportunity to shore up that weakness, he would take it.

"Hm. I should be able to do both, but a snake mount is too rare. It will likely have to be a normal F- mount unfortunately."

Lucius was very candid and didn't hide anything.

"Tell you what. I will give you both the mount and a method of holding them. Hopefully, that will make up for this folly. As for your Skill, you can come and pick it up tomorrow."

Lucius gave Sylas a nod and then stood. Soon, he had disappeared.

Sylas watched him leave. The calmer Lucius was, the less time he felt like he had.

As expected, the next moment, he gained exactly what he wanted.

[Master Scouting (FFF-) (Skill)]

[Basic of Beast Holding (F-) (Treasure)] f

Taking these two items, Sylas left the city once more under the guise of continuing his scouting mission.