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--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.
In front of personal interests, any relationship can be overlooked, yet he still trusted Nero so much.
"What do you propose?" Arter said. "We need to resolve this situation quickly. I have just realised that 'Jessie' is an infiltrator. She came in ahead of us, so who knows what kind of damage she can cause."
Nero did not change his expression, but found it funny. Now, everyone would suddenly be hostile towards Vanessa, but Nero still trusted her more than Arter and Maximilian.
It was not that he knew her well. Obviously there were many secrets she had kept. But he understood her better than she could have expected.
She was extremely well trained, but had little to no experience. She trained in dagger, stealth and assassination techniques but had the temperament of a girl who had been spoiled all her life, though never allowed to actually become spoiled.
She hated Nero for seeing through her and being immune to her skills, but never genuinely harboured any malicious intent towards him. Even when she became extremely angry at him for suppressing her, she only cursed at him.
It was actually kind of cute. Nero had somewhat come to enjoy teasing her. How entertaining would it be if he could figure out what she wanted in this place, and got it before her?
A spark of interest flickered in his eyes, but he did nothing. Since Gabriel had taken the lead, it would be rude to undermine him in front of his other friend.
Gabriel opened his card case and pulled out a card. Though Nero didn't get a chance to read what the card said, he could immediately tell it was no ordinary level 0 card. Much like the cards his parents had given him surpassed every other card he had in quality, power and application, this card looked like it was of the highest quality.
"This is an Oath card," Gabriel explained. "Each of us will take an Oath on our lives that within Lumina we will not attack each other, directly or indirectly, and will keep each other's gains secret, not revealing it to anyone."
"That suits me fine," Arter said. "You go first."
Gabriel nodded, and activated the card.
"I, Gabriel Anzem, swear on my very life that so long as they too take this oath, I will not harm Nero, Arter or Maximilian directly or indirectly within Lumina, and nor will I reveal what benefits each of them gain in this place to any."
The card in his hand suddenly shone, and Nero saw the light encompass Gabriel's body, before seeping into it somehow.
"Now you. Take the exact same oath as me. Don't change the words," he said, and handed the card to Arter.
"Just out of curiosity," Maximilian said as he watched Gabriel pass the card, "what would happen if someone did not want to make this oath?"
"Then without hesitation, Nero and I will kill that person," Gabriel answered nonchalantly. Nero showed no reaction whatsoever, as if he knew of this all along, though he was barely able to hold back his curiosity.
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."