"I'll increase the Defences of the city," he stated. "Thanks to our dear stupid friend, we might be under attack like last time again. We would be lucky if it's just one Church this time."
In his anger, Lambard had even canceled the lease on the ring that he had given to Gabriel.
The Ring of Disguise was still connected to him. And he decided to take back the ring. It was better to take it back now that Gabriel didn't need it, thanks to his mistakes!
****
"Hmm?" Gabriel had just finished talking about the outside world. He was now ready for his next battle, but as he stood up, he saw the Ring of Apophis leave his finger on its own, flying away.
He reached out his hand to grab the ring, but he couldn't. The ring just disappeared into thin air before he could get a hold of it.
Now he only had one ring in his hand— the Ring of his Grimoire.
"What in the..." Gabriel just stood blankly, looking at the empty space where the ring disappeared.
"It seems you didn't have the ownership of that ring," Cylix commented as he had seen the entire phenomenon. The real owner recalled that ring.
"Lambard? But I still have some time left before my one week is over. Why would the ring leave so soon?" Gabriel was confused.
How was he going to leave the Tower like this? Without his disguise, it was going to be even more problematic for him.
"How could I forget... Words are just words... Even promises don't hold any value in this world. I thought his greed for the Numens was enough to make him keep his word to me, but he's tossing me under the bus now?"
It was one more disappointment for Gabriel. Even though he hadn't trusted Lambard with everything, he still expected him to keep his words for seven days just because of his greed for Numens that he possessed now. However, Lambard was more selfish than greedy
Just like Lambard was angry at Gabriel, Gabriel was also quite upset. He believed that Lambard recalled the ring so that he could give it to the Holy Priestess of Water! So he placed him at risk, only to get more profits for himself.
"He probably knows I finished my mission here, and now he wants to force me to leave faster. At the same time, he wants to give this ring to her. That bastard..."
"You should've bounded that Numen to yourself..." Novius told Gabriel. "That way, you could've kept that ring. Then again, let me guess. You don't know what Numen binding is?"
Gabriel shook his head. He had heard about Numens only a few days ago. How could he know what Numen binding was?
"Sigh, the more I get to know you, the more surprised I get. However, at this point, I'm starting to get you."
"Numen Binding is similar to the contracting process that Summoners do with their Summons. In other words, it's like establishing a connection like you did with the Undead beside you," Novius explained.
"As you should already know, Numens are special. They have a soul of their own. That's what makes them different from human-made false artifacts. You can't bind man-made Artefacts, but you can bind a Numen to your soul."
"Most of the mages during our time used to do that to keep their Numens safe. This way, they could make sure that no one could use their Numens without their permission. There are also some Numens like that ring which disappeared and can also link with the space to get back to their owners whenever they wish."
"So if I have Numens, they can be recalled back? I can't use them?" Gabriel asked, surprised. Didn't that mean that all the Numens that he had were useless?
"Wait a minute. How can I use this sword then?" He called out the sword of Ulien.
Even though he felt some resistance from the sword, there was no restriction on its usage.
"Because that Sword is ownerless," Cylix answered. "In other words, no one has bound this Sword to themselves since its last owner died."
"That's why you can use it even now. But still, I would advise you to bind it to yourself as soon as you can," he further suggested. "It's like a security mechanism. If only you had bounded that ring as well, it wouldn't have disappeared."
"Didn't that ring already have an owner? How could I bind it to myself? What happened to the safety mechanism if anyone can bind anyone's Numen?" Gabriel asked. If it was really that easy to bind, then could it really be called a safety mechanism?"
"That's not how it usually works, but it would've worked for you," Cylix responded. "Let me explain properly."
"There are two types of Numens. The ones who have living owners, and the ones whose last owners are dead. If it's the former type of Numen with living owners, a person can't bind them to their souls unless their soul is way stronger than the soul of the last owner."
" I don't know who the owner of that ring was, but I'm sure that your soul was definitely stronger than their soul since your soul is connected to the Grimoire. That's why you could've broken their binding and bound that ring to yourself."
" And if it's an ownerless Numen, it's much easier to bind it to yourself. That's why most of the Mages chose to bind their Numens. If you bind that Sword to yourself, then as long as you're alive, no one will be able to use that without your permission."
"Moreover, no one will be able to bind it to themselves since their souls just can't be stronger than yours, thanks to your Grimoire."
"If you have any other Numen besides that sword, you should bind that to you as well while you have the opportunity," Novius suggested.
Gabriel instantly agreed to accept his suggestion. As for the question, 'If he had any other Numen?'
