The atmosphere in the room suddenly became extremely tense, at least for Gabriel and Maximilian. Nero and Arter remained nonchalant, though both for entirely different reasons.
Compared to berserkers, dark berserkers, tentacle monsters and everything else in between, the thing that was least challenging for him to face was humans.
Although defeating Arter and Maximilian without killing them would be a challenge, since when was Nero afraid of a challenge? Which is why a good deal of his focus, instead, was on his dagger. He held it in the forward grip, where the thumb of his hand was on the back of the dagger. Having a forward grip allowed him better control and allowed for more finesse, as well as increased his reach.
But then, Nero suddenly twirled the dagger in his hand, as if he was playing with it, and switched to the reverse grip. This grip allowed him to use more power.
He couldn't decide which grip he wanted to use, since he was equally familiar with both. Compared to his spear, which he honed and treated as a part and extension of himself, he treated the dagger as a toy. But that didn't mean that he was weaker with the dagger. It was just that the mindset allowed for him to display a different kind of prowess with it than anything else.
So while Gabriel took the lead, for once, setting up a confrontation against Arter, who he probably treated as the biggest threat, Nero kept playing with his dagger.
Of course, in Maximilians eyes, Nero's casualness was a display of his extreme confidence. He had already seen Nero's fight so he knew that he was no pushover, though he still had enough confidence in himself. But that did not mean he wanted to start a fight.
After all, he had a bomb on his back!
experience-NovelFire-content
Arter, meanwhile, was completely distracted. Unlike Nero, who was taken aback when he saw the room without fog, Arter felt no confusion - at least about where he was. Instead, he couldn't believe that Jessie had gone in ahead of him!
If his family truly knew about this place, then there is no way they would have passed information about it to one of his underlings instead of him. Which meant only one thing. Jessie... was an imposter!
He should have noticed it earlier. The signs were all there. Heck, in the cathedral, even Nero noticed that she was suspicious, but he himself had failed to notice. Instead, he turned hostile towards Nero.
Not only was this a huge failing on his part, but it also represented the formidable background for whoever Jessie truly was.
"Gabriel, we have a mission to complete," Maximilian said, hinting towards the danger outside the doors, the dark berserkers still trying to break in, and especially the goddamn bomb in his backpack!
"Oh, and we'll definitely complete the mission," Gabriel said. "But I doubt we'll need the bomb anymore. More importantly, completing the mission does not interfere with anything else... we might do in this place."
Arter finally looked towards Gabriel. Despite the fact that they had known each other for so long, Gabriel did not trust him at all. Instead, the fact that he stepped right next to Nero spoke volumes about their relationship.
What exactly was this place?
Arter, too, did not seem bothered by Gabriel's proclamation, and instead made the same oath, only replacing his own name. He then handed it to Maximilian, who hesitated, but then followed through.
Nero took the oath last, and was genuinely surprised to see that all the text on the card was actually blocked out somehow! He could not see the image, read the effect of the card, or even see the quote at the bottom.
All he could see was that the name of the card was Solemn Oath, and the card rank...
Nero's eyes contracted! This wasn't a 0 rank card! Instead, where there should have been a 0, denoting the rank of the card, there was a crescent moon!
This card was actually an unranked card! Unranked cards were rare beyond mention, and could not be reliably produced. Their effects and abilities were beyond even the most powerful and potent rank 3 cards!
Nero had no idea that Neophytes could actually use unranked cards!
But he suppressed his shock and quickly made the oath, solidifying the pact between the three of them.
Now it was finally time for an explanation.
"So would anyone care to explain what's happening?" Maximilian asked, before Nero had a chance.
"This place is not just some random 'highly secure lab' as we first thought. No, this place is known as a Vault, at least by the few who even know of their existence," Gabriel explained looking at Maximilian.
"Just so you understand why exactly I took so many precautions, the reason Emperor Iskunder discovered the Eldrim cards, started a new age for mankind, and became one of the most powerful Sages in recorded history, if not the most powerful one, is thought to be related to a Vault he accidentally discovered."
It was not just Maximilian who was shocked. Nero himself was so startled, he almost messed up the switch between his grips as he played with his dagger.
"This secret is known only to a very few people," Gabriel continued to explain. "But just finding a vault is not enough to suddenly set off on the path to becoming a sage. The truth is, very few people can gain anything from a vault."
"Does it have to do with scanning to confirm our identities?" Nero suddenly asked, turning to look towards the glowing scanner. He had not missed the fact that Arter had been staring at it for so long.
"Yes. You see, only a very few people can get access to the benefits in a vault. Or rather, I should say, only people from a very few specific families can do that."