The old man heard the demand of Lira. His eyes squinted as he was taken aback by this absurd demand.
"Impossible. Forget about it." Lambard stood up as he started leaving.
"Old Man, wait. At least listen to why we need it?"
Gabriel was curious why Lira was calling this person an old man. He looked to be in his early twenties. He didn't look old from any angle, but he was sure there was a reason behind it.
"If you give me what I asked for, I'm willing to give you something worth it in return," Lira commented.
"There is nothing you can have which I need." Lambard rolled his eyes.
"Not even the eye of Osiris?" Lira asked, letting out a subtle smile.
Lambard stopped in his tracks as he heard the words of Lira. He turned around. "You have the Eye of Osiris?!"
He walked back to his throne. "Fine. If you give me the Eye of Osiris, I will give you what you ask for, but only temporarily."
"Give me." He reached out his hand to Lira.
"I don't have it with me right now, but we will get it for you if you give us what I ask."
"So you're trolling me." Lambard sighed in disappointment. "That's not nice, you know?"
"I'm not. The reason we need what I asked for is because I plan to rob the Royal Academy of Elements to get something I want. And I know the Eye of Osiris is there as well. If you can help, we can get the Eye of Osiris as well," Lira told the young-looking man. "We both win in this situation."
So far, everything the two talked about went above Gabriel's head. He didn't understand a single thing about what all this meant. Most of these terms were something he was hearing for the first time.
"You think you can steal something from that place? I've tried before. That place is like a fortress. It's impossible to rob that place." Lambard refused to believe the young lady.
"Yeah, but just because you failed doesn't mean we will fail as well. You don't know that we will fail for sure. I can't afford to fail with this."
"Girl, I've seen more of the world than you can imagine. I know what's possible and what's not. Don't forget how old I am." Lambard spoke in arrogance and pride. "There is nothing I haven't seen! There is nothing I don't know! It's impossible to steal from that place."
" What if I prove you wrong? What if I prove that you haven't seen everything and you don't know everything?"
"Of course, I won't know minor things like the names of people you killed along the way and things like that, but I know all significant things," Lambard smirked.
"And what if I can prove you wrong with that too? There are many things that you probably haven't seen yet that can change the world!" Lira said in an amused tone.
"You're trying to get me to agree, which makes me a bit suspicious, but I'll take your bluff." Lambard smiled as he gazed into the eyes of Lira. "If you can show me something that I don't know which is significant enough that it can have world-changing effects, I'll accept that I don't know everything. I'll also give you the benefit of the doubt in your success at stealing."
"And you'll give me what I asked?" Lira asked.
The man paused for a brief second before he agreed. "Yes. But as I said, it must be a significant thing. If you can't, you'll leave your Grimoire here instead. It would look nice in my collection."
Lira hadn't expected the man to ask for her Grimoire in return, but if it was a bet, it was only fair for her to put something on the line as well. Moreover, she was sure of her victory.
"Deal," Lira agreed. This was exactly the moment she wanted. Lambard had made a bet with her in his arrogance, and this was useful for her. This way, she could get him to fulfill her demand.
"So, what is it that I don't know?" Lambard asked, seemingly amused. He wondered if the young lady could really come up with something. He believed it was impossible.
Lira gazed at Gabriel. "Gabriel, show him your right hand. Let him know how ignorant the old man is about the recent changes of the world."
Lambard tilted his head in confusion. Why was she asking the Mage of Light to show his right hand? What could there be?
Gabriel did as he was asked and took off his right gloves, revealing the mark on his right hand as well.
"You didn't know about the appearance of a Dual Elemental Mage, did you?" Lira observed the expressions of the old man, who appeared to be frozen in place, staring at the mark on Gabriel's right hand.
"Mark of Karyk!" Lambard held Gabriel's hands, staring at the mark as if he was a child who was given his favorite gift.
"Mark of Karyk?" Lira muttered in confusion. The man knew this mark? Wasn't this a new element? How could he know what it was?
"Mark of Karyk?" Gabriel also asked in confusion.
"This Mark... I thought it would never appear... Y-you! You are the First Mage of Necromancy?!" Lambard stood up. His eyes were filled with shock and excitement.
"You know this Mark?" Gabriel asked. "How?"
"I know everything about history since the history of this world is my first love! I've spent my life finding the truth about this world that is hidden in plain sight. The Mark of Karyk has made an appearance? The significance of this… I can't even imagine!"
Lambard turned to Lira, grabbing her shoulders. "Do you know the importance of this?!"
"Calm down, old man. Isn't it just a new Element?" Lira shook her head. "Why are you getting so excited?"
"I-i might've gotten a bit overexcited, but it's wrong. It's not just a new Element... It's the Origin Element!" the man declared.
"Origin Element?!" Gabriel frowned, not understanding the meaning. What did he mean by Origin Element?
Instead, it was Lira who seemed to have understood. "It is? I thought the Element of Light was the Origin Element?"
"You're wrong." Lambard sighed. "Element of Light isn't an Origin Element. It's just considered Origin Element because people don't know better."
"Will anyone tell me what Origin Element is?" Gabriel felt like he was hearing two people talk in a foreign language since he couldn't decipher anything. They were using so many unknown terms.
"You don't know about Origin Element?" Lambard asked incredulously. He couldn't believe there was a mage who didn't know about this.
"Ah, wait. What's your age? When did you awaken your element?"
"I'm eighteen." Gabriel glanced at his left hand's Mark of Light. "I got my first element a few weeks ago."
"Ah, so young? Fascinating. You are probably the youngest mage with the Element of Light as well." The man also observed the Element of Light of Gabriel. "Not only that, you have two elements, one being the Origin Element of Necromancy?! Man, even I'm jealous of your luck, and I'm never jealous of Mages!"
The man rubbed his face to calm down his excitement.
"He was born in a small town, and he stayed there for all his life, so he doesn't know about the outside world other than the basic things," Lira chimed in, explaining the reason behind Gabriel not knowing many things that were basics for people like them. "It's not surprising he doesn't know about the Origin Element."
"Then he doesn't know about the history of the world either? I have so much to tell him, it seems... About the beginning... About the end, and about our world which is also known as the Tomb of Gods."
"He will need this information to understand his Element better." The Man walked back to the throne.
Lira moved closer to Gabriel. She whispered in his ears, "I told you he loves to talk. There he starts."
"You know I can hear you, right?" Lambard squinted his eyes.