So the daughter of that annoying little house had stumbled into his presence. The irony of it all was not lost on Lucius. A handful of months prior, he had the unfortunate pleasure of dealing with her father at length. The man was confident that he could purchase Lucius’ knowledge, wishing for one of his children to show promise in the magical arts. Lucius was not interested, there was no reason given to him that he should care about the children. Coin was no object to Lucius; what he needed he could gather or make, or at the very least make something worth enough coin to buy what he needed. The Darkmoon Mage was completely self-reliant, which was made painfully apparent when the Lord of the House of Shadows took offence to the simply disinterested response to his offer. He returned shortly after with a battalion. He left with a unit. Lucius used ‘minor’ magics -at least compared to what he could do- to put on a flashy and lethal show. It was almost commonplace. Anyone watching Lucius as he turned and returned to his home would have seen the passive, almost bored look that hung around Lucius after the wanton slaughter. Killing people with magic was simple, and Lucius was to the point that the simple became trivial.<br/><br/>A thin smile came across his features as Xiu began to panic in front of him. It was an interesting change from the... Formality and urgency that she had been putting forth before this moment, and it had been quite a long time since Lucius had been able to procure entertainment. So why tell her that nothing had been said in the moment interim when both of them thought?<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000">“You have no reason to apologize to me. What I said was for your benefit alone. If you missed it, then it shall only harm you,”</span>Lucius said, an impeccable poker face falling over his features as he continued in stride.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000">“Now, follow me and keep in step. Simply because you believe yourself a ninja does not mean I have many methods of tracking you down, or many safeguards after your father’s most recent visit.”</span>With that, Lucius gestured upwards, causing the basket to come to his hand as he began to walk towards the tree line. Naturally, though he was showing the utmost trust, Lucius had not dismissed the telekinetic spell that he had used on the basket. If Xiu had plans to slip away, the trees would make a nice prison until Lucius could retrieve her.<br/><br/>As the two of them walked onward, Xiu’s training would allow her to begin to notice something about Lucius. His gait was slightly exaggerated, the steps pronounced and made to look as natural as possible. It would work for momentary meetings in the woods, or a day in a town, but prolonged exposure to it would show that it was an act. A very good act, but an act nonetheless. Lucius was floating, if Xiu ever got the angle to look as his feet pretended to hit the ground. As the two of them continued onto the forest, the practicality of it became apparent as Lucius simply moved over the obstacles that crossed their path, flowing over everything with a grace only available by magic. Larger problems, such as fallen trees, were simply picked up by nothing and tossed aside for Xiu’s benefit surely, as Lucius’ magic either allowed him freedom of movement, or some kind of sustained flight. Either was impressive in their own right.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000"> “For saving your life, you shall stay in my care as my ward until I release you,”</span>Lucius stated.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000">“As my ward, you shall do as you are asked or told to and in exchange for doing so, I shall give you what you ask for. Whether or not you wish to explore that dark heritage that consumes your mana is up to you, but I will be doing so in my own time.” </span>It was all overly simple, a blanket remark to test the waters with Xiu during their ‘walk’. Everything Lucius would do would be either an order or a request, and she would be free to do as she liked and have as she liked so long as she remained and continued to fulfill the orders and requests. Lucius saw no problem in this arrangement at all. If anything, the young lady was surely the one benefiting the most, at least in Lucius’ own opinion.