Lamia an Redrick were sitting on the kitchen table eating dinner. They had tried different experiments to figure out what kind of gift redrick had and what it's restrictions were. They figured out a few things.
Redrick could indeed force beings to do stuff by asking a question. This was quite the rare gift. They had searched through some records and found a few cases where a similar gift was present. There were loads of people who had gifts that worked with certain kinds of animals.
But there wasn't anyone who could control all animals, nor humans as far as they were aware of.
But like Lamia said before, with great power comes great sacrifices. The young man couldn't escape that philosophy. They had found a few limits and restrictions that made the gift a bit less usable.
The first thing was the source of power. Every gift needed a sacrifice or fuel before it could be used. Some needed to meditate for 2 hours to use their gift for a second, others only needed to eat some extra food to be able to use it the whole day.
The more a gift went against the laws of physics and nature, the more fuel was needed. So some people never notice what the requirements are while others would struggle to meet those requirements. Redricks requirment was his will. Exerting your will was tiring wich caused him to feel tired. It was even more tiring when the will of the person you directed to was against it.
They had tested this theory on Lamia, loaf and a jumping spider they found. When Redrick asked a question that Lamia didn't want to do, he instantly noticed that he had trouble staying awake. If he asked her a question that she wanted to answer, he didn't notice anything. With Loaf he did some tasks. When he asked loaf to do something a goose wouldn't do normally, he felt a yawn creeping up. When he asked him to do somthing a goose normally would do, he didn't notice anything. With the jumping spider he didn't notice anything at all.
This experiment made a few things clear. The will of the subjected is important. If the will is against you than it would take will power to overcome it, wich could tire you out completely. If the will of the subjected aligned with yours than it wouldn't cost anything, or maybe a little. If the will of the subjected was stronger in general, it would be almost impossible to make the gift work. Lamia was a strong willed individual so that was the reason why redrick fell asleep. Loaf and the jumping spider were ofcourse not as strong willed as a human, so they were easy targets.
There were also a few other things they found out
Redrick couldn't ask for the impossible. He had asked Lamia to grow wings, this resulted in nothing. It didn't cost him anything and Lamia didn't grow wings.
Redrick could only inflict a subject by sound. If a person didn't hear the question, nothing would happen.
It doesn't matter if the subjected understands what Redick is saying. Animals did do his bindings when he asked, so a language barrier doesnt limit him.
'Well this is quite something' redrick thought. 'What am I suposed to do with this gift."
Lamia was enjoying her food while redrick was thinking about his future.
"You got quite lucky Mister Goldfield, it's a bit of a sinister gift but it is incredibly versatile. You must be quite happy"
The young man looked at the noble in front of him
"Yes I am quite happy, but now I have no clue what to do. With this I could become a detective, a army general, a merchant, there are so many options."
He than took a big breath of air.
"I have been trying to figure out what my gift is for so long that I feel empty"
Lamia nodded
"I understand that feeling, I have had it a few times myself. It will pass, I am sure of it"
The noble than got a big smile on her face.
"You are most certainly welcome to join my ranks in Serpentine. I will restore my city to its former glory so I could use every hand I can get. You don't have to ofcourse".
"It sounds very tempting miss, sadly enough I have to refuse. I stil have some duties here so I cant leave the grain sea yet."
Lamia's smile went back to her normal stoic face.
"That's understandable, everyone has their duties. But if you ever change your mind, my city gates will always be open for you".
Her tone sounded different than it normally did.
Lamia left after finishing her food. Redrick walked her to the door as a propper host and opend the door for her.
"Well good night miss Serpentine, tomorrow the same time as always?"
Lamia walked outside. There was a full moon tonight, it was shining beautifully on the noble woman. Her hair was glittering, but somthing felt a bit off.
"I'll be here at the same time. Have a good rest Mister Goldfield"
She stood still for a bit and than turned her head towards the moon.
"Don't think to much about your future, lots of things are happening in New Bellum wich make me concerned. We have been enjoying peace for a bit but that won't last."
Redrick noticed somthing different in the way she spoke. 'Her tone is completely different now. It's almost like a completely different person is talking to me.
"Did you get any news about the war?"
Redrick yawned while saying that.
"I only heard that most of the northern cities are sending enrolment letters to people of age. That doesn't promise anything good as far as I am aware".
'They are getting an army ready in the North. That could mean that the South is going tobdo the same in the neat future. Well army general would be a good goal to pursue.'
"A thank you for sharing that information miss Serpentine. I will remember that possibility. Than I wish you a goodnight miss."
Lamia turned her head towards Redrick. Her normal stoic and noble face showing itself in full glory.
" goodnight Mister Goldfield."