RD 3 Ch 14 (Patreon)

Chapter 14

Considering where Vincent had finally told me to go for our trip to the vault, I decided to make an entrance. I walked through the gilded double doors into the opulent lobby with a woman on each arm.

Nyx was on my left, and Gloria on my right, both dressed for a party rather than an adventure. Simone trailed faithfully behind me, the woman in her saintly attire, though there was a little extra sparkle to her dress as what little fabric there was in the dress swayed back and forth. 

"Welcome, Bran!" Vincent did a double take. Unlike my ballroom attire, he was in decadent armor. A quick glance told me he was wearing all S and A rank gear.

And he wasn't alone. The room was filled with the most powerful unattached adventurers he could find, each and every one of them equipped to go hunting dangerous monsters.

I smiled at him and looked around the room. Their combat gear was slightly at odds with the marble hall trimmed with gold and the dozen layered chandeliers glittering crystal and scattering light throughout the room. 

"Well, you invited me to an opera hall, I thought we might see a show first," I smiled at Vincent. "Or am I the show?" I pointed at myself, playing the fool. 

Vincent laughed. "I wouldn't go that far. But the number of people I have in attendance requires a certain amount of seats, especially to gather them all at once. Besides, some expect a certain level of status." He gestured around the room. The lobby of the opera hall was packed with high level adventurers. And through the doors that swung open, I could see more in the performance hall itself. "Besides, we were able to move the vault here," Vincent gestured towards the doors.

Many of the attendees were watching my entrance with interest. I couldn't help but flash a smile as soul gaze danced over them. I looked for demons or any other intruders, but found nothing. He had in fact recruited almost entirely humans and avoided all of the clans. I would have thought a demon had snuck in just because they could. They were tricky bastards. 

"Does that mean it's in there?" I pointed through the doors. 

"Right on center stage. The place is rented out for the next year for ‘renovations’." He air-quoted. "I'm unsure how long this will take."

I shook my head. "Who knows? When it comes to mystical realms, all bets are off. For all we know, gravity could be upside down." I shrugged.

Having not heard stories of this particular vault, but having heard stories of the others that existed on Earth, I knew it would consist of several layers of trials filled with treasure to make each and every person stronger. But ultimately, the demons were just trying to make stronger hosts before they took hold of the bodies.

"Well, let's get to it," I smiled, not wasting time. I marched through the doors to the opera hall itself, and walked down the stairs in the stadium seating.

There in the center of the stage, with spotlights dramatically pointed down on it, lay a twenty-sided object. There was probably a technical term for the shape, but that evaded me. Each side was a twelve foot tall pentagon. The side facing the crowd, slightly angled upwards, was clearly different from the rest. There was a distinct seam around it and that face completely lacked any glow. The rest of the relic pulsed with blue magic, glowing inscriptions shimmering over the surface.

It was certainly attention getting.

"Everyone, the main event is starting," Vincent said, loud enough for the words to spread, but not so loud he was shouting. I noticed several people that I immediately marked as his subordinates hurrying back out of the hall into the lobby. 

"How long will this take?" Vincent asked. 

"Once I'm up there, not long at all. I'll need to double-check everything, and then get started. Give me fifteen minutes to double-check, and then another ten to get it open. However, I don't think it's going to stay open for long, perhaps an hour or two." 

Vincent nodded, a grim expression on his face. I wondered if he was hoping it would stay open and remain a treasure trove for him.

Not my problem either way.

Without any more questions from Vincent, I walked right up to the vault and ran my hands along it, my fingers tracing the magical seams.

"So you're just gonna screw around for the next 20 minutes?" Gloria asked, a smirk on her face. No one had followed us to the stage. Instead, they were all milling about in the seats, watching. 

"Quiet now. Don't you know this place has wonderful acoustics?" I smirked at her. "Besides, I'm not screwing around. This is a modestly complex piece of inscription. I already have it figured out. But I want to double check and make sure that when I do it, I do it correctly the first time and don't make anyone impatient."

Even if I was an expert, there was such a thing as measuring twice before cutting.

I walked around the vault, running my hands through the grooves etched in it housed the inscriptions. Bending down, I peered at the lower faces before stepping back to view those up above. Above all, I was making sure I was putting on a good show.

Meanwhile, Nyx and Simone had positioned themselves on the stage to intercept anyone that might jump up to get closer.

Sure enough, an old man with a long beard going all the way down to his navel jumped up with his hands in his sleeves. 

"Just where did a boy as young as you learn inscriptions?" He asked.

I paused and peered around the object. "Excuse me? Who are you calling young? If your vitality was passable, you could look as young as you want," I said, ignoring the old man.

He smacked the vault with his hand. "What's that?”

“A connection between this part and this part," I wondered if he was an idiot. 

"No, that's not a connection.” He insisted, rubbing his beard and peering closer.

Simone gave me a look that asked if she should boot him off the stage, but I shook my head.

“It's a conditional connection. You see here? This describes the condition of time. The vault has a limited amount of times it can be opened.”

“It can be opened more than once?" he asked. 

"It seems so, though I'm unsure if it's been opened before." I squinted at the conditional section before nodding to myself. "It looks like the condition hasn't triggered at all, so I would assume it has not been opened yet.” 

“I have never in my life seen this before. How does a boy like you even know what it looks like to have been opened before?" 

"Why do I have to explain anything to you? You clearly barely understand the fundamentals of inscriptions." I decided to speed up my inspection process because I wasn't exactly happy to be getting the questions from this other so-called inscriptionist. He barely knew what he was talking about.

Though, I had a guess as to his identity. He was likely the master inscriptionist that Vincent had previously had working on this project. Only now he was up here to harry me about my own work. I understood now why Vincent went looking for someone new.

"Alright, I think I'm done with that." I stepped back up to the front and reached into my spatial ring, pulling out a bowl that was mostly my blood, but dyed slightly with ash so it wasn't perfectly obvious. This color looked more in line with what people expected with an inscription material. I had also sprinkled just a tad of glitter. People loved sparkles, and Vincent’s type always expected a little theatrics. 

I dipped my finger in it and started painting on the door.

"Your finger?" The ‘master’ inscriptionist gasped. "There is no way you have even practiced inscription to use your finger, such an inaccurate tool." 

Pausing partway, I turned to stare at him. "Can you please shut up? I am concentrating here, and if I make a mistake it's not because my finger isn't accurate, it's because you are jabbering in my ear. Step aside and watch if you must, but do not bother me." 

I scribbled all over the door, at times the lines bleeding over the lip and connecting to other parts of the inscription for the vault.

The old man watched me from the side, silently stroking his beard into a sharp white sword with every pass.

I felt a vein in my forehead pulse as he grunted occasionally, as if commenting on my skill. When we were inside the vault, I was absolutely going to kill this man for his arrogance of judging my inscriptions. 

Though I picked up the pace, my finger drew blood ink all over the door before I finished and wiped my finger off on a handkerchief. I turned, looking for Vincent, only to see the stadium seating of the opera house was nearly filled. 

"I'm done. All I need to do is activate my work." I instructed 

Vincent clapped his hands as he started walking down the center aisle. "Wonderful! Wonderful! Now, everyone, if you can line up based on the number on your card, I would like us to file in in a neat and orderly fashion. There's no reason to push or make a fuss. The time this door will be open is limited, and we must be efficient. Who knows what treasure lies within?" 

Vincent had a giant, greedy smile on his face, and I lifted an eyebrow. "What number do I get?" 

"You get to test it, boy.” The master inscription said from the side. “Who knows, with the accuracy of your finger, perhaps you made a mistake that will destroy you the second you step through there. I think it's best if you test it for everyone else." 

Vincent gave me a weak smile but didn't disagree.

Not that I cared. Going in first would always have its advantages. I shrugged, tapping my inscription as my blood set on fire before the fire turned blue and connected all of the other inscriptions on the vault. The doorway melted away, vanishing before my eyes, and a bright light poured out like it was beckoning us to enter. 

"Well then, off we go. Head in," I said to Gloria. 

My ladies knew what to do and quickly jumped through the entrance without an ounce of hesitation. Their bodies faded quickly, becoming nothing but shadows through the bright light before disappearing entirely. I didn't waste a second, stepping up just behind them and entering the vault.

***

The master inscriptionist nodded. "I think it's worked," he said to Vincent, and jumped in as well. 

Vincent couldn't keep the smile off his face. 

Suddenly one after the other, powerful initiates launched themselves out of their seats and shot into the door. There was no orderly line being formed. Instead, most of them could cross the distance in the blink of an eye and took advantage of that speed. 

Many of the initiates had a combined stat pool of at least 6,000, some of them climbing all the way up to 10, though Vincent couldn't guess where Bran's strength lied.

But given everything he'd seen, he would guess Bran was somewhere between 6,000 to 8,000 total stats. The only thing holding him back was his apparent youth, especially the way he seemed to be gathering women quite quickly. That was definitely a sign of youth. 

Vincent chuckled. As the hall quickly cleared out, leaving only him and his subordinates. He turned to the eight men, each of them over level 100. "Seal this place, guard it, and ensure no one bothers this. Is that understood?" 

"Yes, sir." They clicked their heels together and bowed. 

Vincent straightened his armor and walked into the light, only to disappear like the rest.

It was less than a few seconds after Vincent’s exit that the eight men exploded as a gust of wind filled the room and Circe Heros blew the doors to the hall off their hinges. Marching in behind her were a stream of women that Bran would easily recognize. After all, he'd asked that they'd come. Jenny and Amanda were present, as well as two dozen other of the Mul Branova and his three servants. Several of Circe's elites were there as well. 

"All of you, do you have what I've given you?" Several of the Mul Branova pulled out the talismans. 

According to Bran, they were instructed to use the talismans as soon as they entered. Then they had several others they could use if the first burned up.

Bran had said there were demons inside, so the Mul Branova all marched down the center aisle of the opera house with grim expressions. They weren't here for treasure. They were here to kill demons and practice the soul absorption art that Lord Bran had given them all. 

Circe watched over them with an unreadable expression. The small squad of troops marched through the portal like soldiers going to war. 

Circe sighed and shook her head as one after another, they disappeared. 

"They seemed so much weaker than the other initiated going in there," she muttered. "But Bran knew that as he formed his plan." 

She took out a different talisman that Bran had given her and slapped it to the side of the object. It glowed brightly before the entrance disappeared, the door resealing itself. 

"Now I just have to take this." Circe lifted the vault up and used the wind to carry her and the artifact into the air. 

"He said, anyone that leaves has to be detained until he can inspect them," Circe muttered. "I didn't think I was going to be babysitting this thing."