The door into the armory is extremely thick, and the door leads to an unassuming hallway that opens into a wide room.
Of course, I was smart enough not to power up this section, so the only defense I need to worry about is the door.
While I think of it, I add another evil mana orb so I don’t become lazy, and when I feel blood dripping from my nose, I send thermal energy through my body to deal with it.
Unsure how to deal with the door, I take thermal energy from my core and concentrate it into a thin laser stream which I focus on the metal surface of the door. Gradually, I increase the quality of that stream as it begins to glow with a brilliant golden light, biting into the metal as the heat spreads through the surface. In an effort to speed the process along I absorb any stray heat and reincorporate it into the main stream, tightening the beam’s focus as I go.
It takes a good minute until I feel it break through and lance into the room as the resistance of the materials gives way, so I start moving it to the side.
After a minute, I pause, an interesting thought taking hold of my mind.
Is my laser cutting through the items inside?
Shouldn’t I have thought of that sooner?
Could I create another evil orb?
Liss is going to be pissed off, isn’t she?
Whatever. I just raise myself into the air and start shooting at an angle, directing my line of fire toward the ground.
After a few seconds, I stop again and sigh. The thin stream of thermal energy disappears, and I send my mana through the thin cut I made and place an anchor inside, which I use to teleport inside before recreating my evil orbs. The crown and my thermal orb, nicely filled, now teleport with me even at the higher cost of mana.
The armory lights up in the golden light of my orb, revealing rows of weapons hanging on the walls. Surprisingly, there aren't that many of them here, only about ten or so.
When I send my senses further, I notice a few dozen more on the other side of the armory, though they tend to be on the lower end of quality. Rare at best, both weapons and armor. The ones surrounding me now are all epic grades.
First, I examine the one that seems to be damaged. A shield with a smooth line carved into it. Around which the metal of the shield seems to have been melted. Almost as if someone...
Oh.
Unlucky.
Frostguard Shield (mid Epic, damaged) - A shield imbued with the essence of eternal ice. When activated, it can project a barrier of freezing cold air that slows down incoming attacks and chills enemies upon contact. This shield can also create a field of icy terrain centered around the user.
Hehe, it’s a shame it wasn’t activated.
Damn it.
What catches my interest is the reference to the essence of eternal ice. I think I remember an item that had been imbued with the essence of eternal wind. I wonder if it’s something I should know about. Maybe I’ll find out sometime in the future.
One after another, I examine these ten items. Three of them are of upper epic rarity, three of mid rarity, one of which is a mysteriously damaged shield, and four of low epic rarity. One after another, I also sell nine of them for close to 7 thousand shards. None of these items are attractive enough for me to even try learning anything from.
Once again I’ve found myself in a place I probably shouldn’t have reached. The system is really sloppy at times.
I spend the next thirty minutes going through the remaining items and examining their effects, searching for new ideas in the variety of weapons I’ve claimed.
For example, in between the epic items I sold, there was:
Basilisk Fang Whip (mid Epic) - A whip crafted from the fang of a basilisk, imbued with its petrifying venom. Strikes from the Basilisk Fang Whip can temporarily turn flesh to stone, immobilizing enemies. It can also be used to create stone barriers by striking the ground.
The item sounded cool. Not that it really fits my fighting style, but it was nice to learn that beings like the Basilisk exist, doubly so given that their venom can apparently turn you into stone.
Then there was another thing that caught my eye:
Void Lantern (upper Epic) - A lantern that contains a fragment of the void, emitting a light that can pierce through illusions and invisibility. The Void Lantern also has the ability to nullify weaker spells cast within its light, making it a powerful tool against magic users.
I had thought about keeping it, but in the end, I decided against it. I have my eyes and I have [Perception] and I wouldn’t want to rely on an item for this. And I have [Resonance] if I need to disrupt the mana in an area.
Of course, I activated it a few times just to look over the effect, but in the end, I felt that it would be incompatible with my skills if not weaker overall. But now I know there is void primordial energy, and seeing this lantern, that energy might be a good means of disrupting and against magic users.
That’s why I go through descriptions of any item I see, even rare and uncommon. Because I’m a curious person and you never know what might be useful to have. It’s just something I like to do.
But in the end, I sell all of the common and uncommon items I’ve found, which nets me another a bit over 4 thousand shards.
Maybe I really shouldn’t be able to reach this place. It can’t be that easy to make shards, right?
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
By the time I leave, my total sits at 153,488
I do have one item that I didn't sell though.
Astral Projection Amulet (upper Epic) - This amulet allows the wearer to project their senses out of their body, exploring the world as an ethereal entity. The projected form is invisible and intangible, perfect for reconnaissance.
----------------------------------------
I jump from room to room and visit a few workshops along the way, and as I do, I sell anything that’s not nailed down.
Some clothes for 1 shard? Sold.
A few mana stones for 5 shards? Sold.
The entire building? Impossible to sell, unfortunately.
My minion would be proud.
When I'm done, I examine a few workshops and pocket a few mana stones inscribed with information and experimental data. Something to play with when I have a bit more time and energy.
Lastly, I lock myself in the safest-looking place. Something akin to a panic room with thick walls made of laminated plates of various materials. Surprisingly, there is still some food available which seems like it was made to last. It’s a bit weird tasting, as one might expect of the calorie-dense bars that I still eat regardless, and drinking plenty of water to wash them down. I even store some for later.
Then, once I’ve locked myself inside, I pull out the amulet and activate it.
My mind separates from my body as It slips into some kind of invisible ghost-like form. The world loses some of its color, and I can feel the ways my senses are restricted now. I can only see and hear. Even so, it’s amazing, and I look at the body of the man resting against the wall with crumbs of food soiling his shirt.
Damn, that poor guy might need some sleep.
I move closer and try to slap him, but my hand passes through, so instead, I fly through the walls. It’s an unnerving feeling, but I’ll just have to get used to it.
Firstly, I start moving in a direction, seeking the exact center of the pyramid. A place whose location I found in the core of the living quarters.
My movement is quick, and no heat or monster will stop me, as I fly directly through the walls.
When I reach it, it’s a huge room supported by dozens of pillars. Even though there are so many of them, they seem dwarfed by the space between them. Most of the floor is covered in molten metal, continuing to bubble and shine like an exposed lava bed.
There is no center to it. No special location. The entire place seems more like the core of a planet, its pillars and walls covered in metal that constantly melts and reforms, creating simple inscriptions.
All of the heat is directed and absorbed here. To the center of a monolith, erected in the caldera of a long dead volcano whose heat was once harnessed in the form of mana by a Champion.
And there is something else.
A being swimming in the molten metal and sending ripples through as it passes by.
I can't sense more in this state, but I already have a suspicion about what awaits me beyond that being. Somewhere deep below the surface.
Sending the projection away, I head straight towards the top of the pyramid, moving at the highest speed possible.
Let's see what cockroach is getting up to. She is surprisingly quiet lately. Part of me expected her to pull me out of the pyramid by my ear.
As I exit the pyramid, the projection becomes weaker, and the quality of the image begins to suffer, but not much later, I locate the top.
The tip of the pyramid is hollow, like a building unto itself. There are even trees planted in the dirt that probably had to be brought here and meticulously watered. Flying in, I find luxurious rooms with vibrant carpets on the floors, paintings on the walls, and a lot of gold. It’s so unfitting, it’s crazy.
I also find the man who declared himself a Champion, Zey I believe his name was. Near him lie five more bodies, probably his disciples. All of them are fairly well dead.
A bit further, I find Lissandra and Myrra. Both of them are sitting in a small room that seems to be exactly in the middle of the hollow tip of the Veil Ignition Station known as Cinder.
On a small stand is the head of a man. It doesn’t seem to be from any of the natives killed outside. The head’s eyes are wide open, both orange in color, while his hair is red and curly.
“It’s the Champion with whom they built this station. They built it here, right over the biggest active volcano they could find. I don’t know the Champion´s name, but he used to be second in rank after their Absolute.”
“Lady Lissandra?” Myrra asks, confused.
“I’m not talking to you, little kitten. The head was what I was after here, a lot of it can be used. I have no need for his body, so play with whatever remains of it. Well, if you can.”
Lissandra then turns around, looking directly into my eyes, “You made your decision, and I will respect it but after I deal with things up here, I will come to see you.”
The meaning of that message comes through loud and clear.
After that, the connection cuts off abruptly, and I find myself back in my body with a throbbing headache.
There is a long crack across the entire surface of the amulet, and its description has been appended with a new word, “damaged.”
Do you really want to sell the following item for 390 shards?
Astral Projection Amulet (upper epic, damaged)
Yes/No
I confirm and then stand up. Once I’ve gotten the door open again I exit the panic room and start heading for the core, not having to deal with all the heat I subconsciously try to create a fourth evil orb, and finally, a notification rings out.
[Mana Manipulation - lvl 49 > Mana Manipulation - lvl 50]
Disappointingly, there is no additional notification. No change. No boost, unlock, or addition to the skill. It just levels up. A system giving notice of a threshold crossed.
For me, it feels weird for such a breakthrough to happen without the life and death struggle of combat. But in the end, it’s one of the many things Lissandra has said that I agree with, even though it seems more boring.
When I reach the core, I take all of the mana out of it, the lights dying off one after another until the place is dark. The only light coming from my thermal orb as I continue to feed it energy. I use [Tether] and place an anchor that should last me a week at least.
Then I grab the ax, the voidsteel blade, and a bag with a bit of food and water, and leave the rest here.
I reach the tunnel serving as an exit from the living quarters and unlock it after resting for a moment.
Passing by and closing the door, the living quarters disappear from my view, and the harsh heat of the pyramid attacks me once again. Accompanied by the presence of a group of monsters sneaking ever closer.
I recall the layout in my memory and then head towards the center of the pyramid. The place with molten metal pool and being just under the surface.
There are preparations I need to make to welcome someone very hard to kill.