"There will be a time when we can't just always protect you." added Aunt Extalia.
Angus and Jayna didn't respond and only gave a silent nod. After another few minutes of waiting, they finally reached the reception desk.
"Welcome to the Altras Ancient Vault. How may I help you?" asked the blue-colored woman.
"We would like to access the Royal Heart's Vault." replied Aunt Extalia.
Novel Top1.OR G
"Certainly. Did you bring the proof of identification and the key?" asked the woman.
N0 v el Next. CoM
"Yes. We have." said Aunt Extalia shortly.
"Then, please fill out this form first. Did you need help to fill the form?" said the woman while giving some paper.
"No need." replied Aunt Extalia as she received the form.
Aunt Extalia began filling out the form like she was already getting used to this. After filling out the form, the woman checks the form once in case the Duchess misses something before processing the document.
"Duchess Amberblaze, isn't it? According to your form, only three people will enter the Vault. I assume it will be three of you, correct?" asked the woman.
"Correct." replied the Duchess.
"I am sorry, Duchess Amberblaze. It seems we detected another key and proof of identification from this man. Based on our data, the vault owner no longer exists and this man could have accessed the vault according to the contract." said the woman while pointing at Angus.
"Did you also want to access the vault?" asked the woman.
The three of them immediately surprise at this statement and look at Angus. According to Aunt Extalia's knowledge, the Ancient Vault will seize everything inside the personal Vault when the owner of the Vault is dead without pointing to a legacy.
N0 v el Next. CoM
The Ancient Vault will only keep personal vaults if the owner is an extraordinary figure. It means Angus has something on him that is connected with an extraordinary figure.
"Umm… May I know whose Vault I have access to?" asked Angus, but he already had a guess in his mind.
"The vault owner goes by the name of Archmage Bern." said the woman.
"Urg… Troublesome!! Truly trouble!!" cursed Angus while looking at the ring on his finger.
This is the same ring he accidentally got after reading the fictional story of Archmage Bern during his academy days. The worst thing for Angus is the ring made of unknown material and bound to him.
Even if he cuts his finger or his whole arm, it will appear on his finger after he regenerates the cutting part. Among Angus's equipment, he only has three items with unknown origins. Two of them are the wooden bracelet and mysterious box covered with a swirl pattern of God Rune.
The last one is the bounded Archmage Bern's legacy ring on his finger. Unlike the wooden bracelet protected by God Rune, the ring is made of unknown material and can't be taken off.
While Angus worked at the Research Center, he found many of Archmage Bern's ancient notes or books. However, none of them mention his legacy or this ring. They only mention his personal life or experiment during his younger days.
Novel Top1.OR G
Although the notes help Angus cast many different elemental spells, it is still pale to the legend where the Archmage Bern could use any element like it is his natural affinity.
Angus knows a few places where the archmage leaves his legacy. However, he ignores it because it will only attract too much trouble.
Seeing Angus cursing the unknown ring on his finger, "Brat, where did you get the ring?" asked Aunt Extalia.
"Umm… Excuse me, what if I decide to not visit this Archmage Bern's vault?" asked Angus, ignoring Aunt Extalia's question.
"That's…" replied the blue-colored woman, staying silent for a moment.
"I am sorry. It seems that you are obligated to visit the vault. According to the contracts, any person with Archmage Bern's key vault has the right to access and needs to enter the vault." explained the blue-colored woman.
"Since the contract didn't state how we should handle the situation in case you refuse to enter it, we may need to take drastic measures." said the woman.
"Drastic measures??" asked Angus back.
"We may need to forcefully confiscate the key. Since the key is already bound to you, we will forcefully sever the connection from your soul. Will you be fine with this process?" asked the blue-colored woman casually.
"Severing it from my soul?? Nope, I am not fine with it. Not at all!!" said Angus in a hurry.
Angus may not be an expert at souls like Soul Keeper or Millie. But he also researches many things about souls since he wants to know about his mysterious reincarnation and the soul point in his system.
He may still be unable to unravel the mystery behind his system or reincarnation. Still, he is quite knowledgeable about the soul. One thing he notices about the soul is to never mess with it, especially your own soul.
Unlike clay, the soul can't be modified, divided, or added without huge consequences. One wrong mistake during the process will not only kill the person, but the person itself will cease to exist.
There is no way Angus will let another mess with his soul just because he refuses to enter a personal vault that already belongs to him.
"Then, I assume you will also visit the vault. Please fill this form first." asked the blue woman while giving a similar form to Angus.
With a heavy sigh, Angus received the form. He fills the form after getting a deathly glare from Aunt Extalia and small laughter from Jayna.
"Brat, you better explain to me later!!" grumbled Aunt Extalia while helping Angus fill out the form.
The form is not too different from what Aunt Extalia gets, except only Angus can enter the vault since it is a personal vault, not Kingdom's vault-like Royal Heart Vault. After finishing all the necessary processes, another blue-colored woman appeared out of thin air and guided them.
Angus and the others decide to visit the Royal Heart Vault first. Guided by the blue-colored women, they feel like walking for a long time and passing through many complex pathways, stairs, and corners. They even passed a hidden path through the wall.
Surprisingly, they only find a few minutes passing by despite it feeling like hours of walking. After a while, they reach the door with the Heart Kingdom's emblem on it while the surrounding area is enclosed by the wall.
"Please use the key to open the door." said the blue-colored woman.
Then, Aunt Extalia takes a heart-shaped key from her storage device and places it in the small hidden hole in the door. Suddenly, the door shines dimly as countless tiny runes move around. A moment later, the door slowly opens and reveals the inside.
They find a large room filled with many things. Aunt Extalia begins to enter the room, followed by Angus and Jayna. They observe the Royal Heart Vault interior while the blue-colored woman stays outside.
"Is this the Heart Kingdom's Ancient Vault?" asked Angus in confusion.
"It seems to be lacking." chimed Jayna.
Although the Vault is enormous, it is still not like Angus and Jayna's expectations. They didn't even find a piece of gold but just many magical tools and unknown artifacts. It seems to be lacking compared to the royal treasury in their kingdom.
"Hmm?? Did you think we will use this place to store something like gold or rare material?" asked Aunt Extalia.
Angus and Jayna didn't reply, only gave the nod.
"Let me remind you. This vault is only to keep things and is rarely visited by someone from our side. Material like gold, ingredients, or other stuff used in an emergency will not be stored here. Just the retrieving process itself is already taking too much time." explained Aunt Extalia.
"I see… Basically, the thing in here is too dangerous or too precious to be used, right?" said Angus.
"You could also say that." said Aunt Extalia while looking at a few things in the vault room.
"Anyway, you should pick an artifact now." said Aunt Extalia.
"Sure." replied Angus shortly without asking more.
Angus and Jayna notice a vault like this must contain something that only the King or their trusted men know. It means things here may be involved with the dark side of the kingdom.
Although they rise in the high noble society, Angus and Jayna also know about the Heart Kingdom's dark side and history. Angus also knows a lot of problems with their current government system, much less the one in the past where people were trying to eat each other.
Before Leon rose as the current king, Heart Kingdom was a chaotic land filled with uncertainty and conflict. Each month there will be a rebellion or huge conflict between noble and commoner. The noble tries to suppress the commoner while the commoner rebels.
Each day, humans from the commoner class will die from suppression while the noble class gets an assassination attempt. Civil war often erupted because of public dissatisfaction.
It is not until King Leon uses his iron fist to end this gruesome conflict that has already been for hundreds of years.
During this time, many strong people mysteriously disappear. It is easy to guess there will be some concrete evidence related to the incident in this vault.