After opening the ironwood chest, Queen Millicent stepped aside and let Jude and Iris approach. When the two looked into the chest, they found two sets of what looked like harnesses. Each of them picked one up, and as soon as they did, a message from the system popped up.
[Equipment upgrade item acquired.]
[Assimilation available.]
They looked at each other then, wondering how they could trigger the upgrade, but no other messages popped up. Jude, who was used to harnesses for both climbing and skydiving, said, “Let’s just put them on, over the chrysalides. Maybe it’ll trigger something.”
Iris agreed, but she waited for him to put his harness on first, not because she was afraid of what would happen but because she had never worn a harness before.
As soon as Jude tightened the harness across his torso, another message popped up in his mind.
[Assimilation complete.]
[Adapted Fae Chrysalis (Unique F->D)]
[New Skill Acquired: Fly lvl. 1]
[Status Updated]
Jude had gained all of that from a single upgrade of his equipment. He had finally gained a new skill, and one at level 1, which meant he would be able to level up from now on. With all that information rushing into his head, Jude had not noticed the physical changes from the upgrade. However, Queen Millicent and Iris had.
They watched Jude finish tightening the harness across his body and saw it disappear into his garb, but as it did, his clothes changed. The harness turned black and was assimilated into the fabric, but that was not the most absurd thing. After a few seconds, a pair of dark spectral wings jotted out from where the harness had covered his scapulae. They appeared and disappeared in a flash, but they were large, about as long as his entire body.
“Woah!” Iris exclaimed.
“I gained a new skill!” Jude replied, still in a daze.
“You gained way more than that. For a second there you had wings!”
“What?! Oh! Wait, let me try something.”
Suddenly, the spectral wings reappeared jutting out from Jude’s back. A minute later, they were gone again.
“What was that?” Iris asked.
“My new skill! Fly! It only lasts for a minute though, and there’s a 15-second cooldown before I can reuse it, but that’s plenty to let me stay up indefinitely. Although, it does use mana.”
“You can fly now?! Here, help me with mine! I wanna fly too!”
Jude helped Iris with her harness, and a whole new set of system messages rang in her mind.
[Assimilation Complete]
[Adapted Fae Chrysalis (Unique F->D)]
[New Skill Acquired: Shadowstep lvl. 1]
[Status Updated]
Iris’ harness went through the same process on her body, but instead of creating wings, her chrysalis started dispensing white smoke from her back. Iris, who had known what would happen because of Jude, didn’t wait at all for his response. She immediately activated her new skill.
Jude, who had been watching attentively, saw Iris suddenly disappear in a trail of white smoke and reappear a few feet away. He thought that was an unusual skill for a Healer to acquire.
“Did you just bamf?” he asked.
“It’s called shadowstep here, but… Yeah! I don’t get to fly though.”
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“Honestly, I thought it was weird for a Healer to get something like that, but it could get you out of trouble quickly, so I’m glad you have it!”
“I’ll need practice with it. Don’t wanna slam myself against a wall, you know.”
“I bet that’d hurt. Good thing you can heal yourself.”
“Ha-ha,” she replied monotone.
“You have acquired great gifts,” the queen interjected suddenly. Honestly, both of them had completely forgotten she was there in their excitement.
“Thank you for this!” Jude replied in a hurry.
“There’s something else We wish to bestow upon you,” Queen Millicent said.
Jude was surprised by that. He had assumed that all they would be gaining would be the upgrades to their equipment, but the queen had other plans in mind.
Iris’ eyes widened when she heard they would be receiving another boon. Her excitement was overflowing at that moment, and Jude smiled at her giddiness.
After that moment of elation, they recomposed themselves and followed the queen again. They went even deeper into the vault this time, passing pedestals and more pedestals of junk. It took a long time for them to arrive at their destination this time, and Jude felt that they had walked to the very edge of the vault.
Suddenly, all of the items surrounding them disappeared, and another portal appeared before the three. This time, however, the portal was swirling green.
“Please, enter,” Queen Millicent said, and Jude and Iris both stepped forward tentatively.
They had no idea what they would find inside the portal, but taking in consideration how deeply hidden it was, it was bound to be something of absurd value.
When they reappeared on the other side, Jude and Iris saw that the green portal had taken them to a small clearing. In the center of that clearing, they saw two wooden pedestals, and atop each of those pedestals, there was an orb of shimmering white light.
“These are Moonlight Orbs. Substantial, but malleable,” the queen announced. “They will become what you need. Please, take them.”
Jude and Iris looked at each other then. Even Jude, who had little knowledge of mana at that point, could feel how powerful those two orbs were. They didn’t protest the gift, however, understanding that they would need everything and anything they could get their hands on to go against The Devourer.
They each stepped up to a pedestal and touched a shimmering orb, and both received announcements from the system.
The orb on Jude’s hand liquefied before attaching itself to his hands, turning into a pair of black gloves with black orb inlays on the back of his hands.
[Item Acquired]
[Gloves of the Lunar Eclipse - (Unique-F)]
[Description: Significantly increases the strength of the user and the power of spells cast by the user. Can be used with other weapons. May trigger weapon bonuses.]
The orb Iris touched also liquefied, but it did not assimilate with her body. Instead, it reshaped itself into a pair of short, curved, glittering white daggers. The pommel of each dagger had a pure white orb at the end of it.
[Item Acquired]
[Shards of the Full Moon - (Unique-F)]
[Description: Significantly increases dexterity of the user and the power of spells cast by the user. Possible to store excess mana into each dagger.]
“Congratulations!” Queen Millicent exclaimed. “Moonlight Orbs choose their wielders and adapt to each wielder differently. Mythrini studied them endlessly, but they never chose him. They came with Our ancestors in their exodus and had never chosen any of our people.”
Jude and Iris looked at each other. They were now wielding treasures and the history of the Fae. There was a solemn understanding of the duty they would have to perform. The Fae queen, even in her most weakened and desperate, was giving them so much that there was no way they would not fight after that.
“Thank you, Your Majesty. We’ll use these well,” Jude replied. The sense of frustration from his lack of growth had completely washed away from him. All he wanted to do was return to his nest so that he could inspect both his status and everything it would relay to him about his new skill and items. There was something else too. Jude was curious about Iris’ new daggers. Why had the Moonlight Orb not changed into a staff, or something more appropriate for a Healer.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt the Fae items were trying to push Iris into an unexpected direction. They were items from the Healer Fae, so maybe they knew something he didn’t. In any case, they had a lot of studying to do.
“Let us return,” the queen finally said, and they both nodded in acquiescence.
Queen Millicent felt that nothing else in that vault, now that they had been chosen by the Moonlight Orbs, would serve any use. In fact, she had not expected the Moonlight Orbs to choose them. It had been a complete gamble, and she had prepared beforehand a list of items she would bestow upon them once they had been denied by the orbs. So, when both orbs chose their wielders, she was just as stunned as them. Her congratulations to them had sounded just a bit more enthusiastic than she had intended, but they seemed not to notice. After witnessing the unexpected, Queen Millicent could no longer contain the sense of renewed hope within herself. She had seen what they had accomplished the last few days: saving her, saving the birds, gaining new skills, information, etc., but in all that time, she had feared that they would be unable to go against The Devourer. Things were different now, however. She renewed her vow to help them in any way she could, and stepped forward to lead them out of the vault with renewed vigor.