As curious as he was, Nero approached the door with caution, even though nothing inside the Vault had been dangerous yet. He approached the slightly ajar door and pulled it open, revealing behind it another small room, as well as the door to a massive vault.
The walls were sleek and metallic, reflecting a cold, sterile light. There were a few things in the room, a table, a cabinet, a chair, but Nero's eyes were attracted to the vault at the end, a silent sentinel of whatever secrets lay hidden behind.
The vault door was circular, fashioned from a dark alloy that gleamed dully in the low light. The centrepiece was a giant wheel that dominated the door's surface, its design unmistakably reminiscent of a ship's helm. Around the wheel, spaced evenly like the points of a compass, were six keyholes shaped remarkably similar to the one Nero used to open this room to begin with.
To the right of the door was a hand scanner, though guessing whose scan was required was not tough. In fact, they were incredibly fortunate that the corpse, formerly known as Carin Johnson, was in such good condition, or else even disabling the security would have been a hassle.
Nero's gaze then focused on the puzzle. It was integrated into the vault door itself, a complex mechanical enigma made up of interlocking gears, dials, and sliding plates. Or perhaps it was not a puzzle, but just the Eldrim version of a number-combination lock. Except that instead of numbers, they used a complex mechanical contraption that would need the exact correct configuration to open.
It made sense that whatever would be hidden behind the vault door would be incredibly valuable, but Nero had a gut feeling that whatever was behind the door was more than just valuable.
Every casual thing inside this Vault had the potential to change how human civilization existed as a whole. Not only were there ways to block off cursed energy, as well as the fog, potentially even in card form, but there was liquid aether that could speed up the growth of all card masters, Sages included, and weapons that could enhance their users.
It had safe ways to store cursed items, and potentially the secret to immortality, at least as far as plants were concerned - Nero wasn't sure being mutated into a monster counted as becoming immortal. This place even held secrets from celestial bodies such as the moon.
Nero had not even begun to consider how valuable the technology itself would be, not to mention the possibility of shedding a light on the history of man, as well as a time when cursed energy may not have even existed at all. There were quite a few impressive things about this place, each of which could define an era.
Yet compared to all of them, Nero got the feeling that whatever secret this vault held it was astronomically more important.
It was an easy assumption to come to considering this was the first thing he had come across that was locked behind a sealed door. Nothing else he had seen had this level of protection, which naturally demonstrated the value and worth of whatever was hidden. But even beyond simple logical deduction, Nero could almost feel that this was a huge opportunity waiting for him.
Time seemed to slow down as countless ideas ran through his head. He thought of everything he had seen in Lumina so far. He thought of all the history he had learned. Nero thought of all the variables at play around him.
There was too much he didn't know, including why someone might want him assassinated to begin with. It seemed like there were many forces conspiring against him and his family, so now it might be time to begin conspiring against the world.
Many ideas fell into place in his mind, but before he did anything he needed to get the full measure of this secret room first.
He looked towards the cabinet and opened its doors, revealing a few items placed haphazardly. The most surprising of them all, perhaps, were a notebook and a small yellow pencil placed together. Of all the things he was expecting to see in the vault, these were not on the list.
Besides those, there was a piece of jewellery, a bottle filled with a light brown liquid, and a loose gear that looked like it was from the puzzle on the vault door.
Nero grabbed the notebook and opened it, surprised to find that the only thing that it contained were some scribbles that looked like someone was trying to solve the puzzle. Or maybe it was the solution written down by someone who had a poor memory.
"Gabe, how much do you trust me?" Nero asked as he flipped the notebook to some empty pages and neatly ripped out two.
He grabbed the pencil and began scribbling on one of the papers.
"I think you know the answer to that," Gabriel answered, looking at Nero seriously. "I can help you when you decide to get revenge on the Dom family, and you can help me by growing stronger and becoming an important partner for me when I try to gain an important position in the Anzem family. Hopefully, down the line, you might even be able to help me become the family head."
At this point in time, Gabriel's claims might sound absurd. How could Nero, a single person, play an important role in influencing a large family that is one of the most prominent in the country? Yet in a world where card masters existed, the power of a single, powerful individual can never be underestimated. It can literally change the history of the world.
Nero was cognizant of that fact, much like he knew that his actions could possibly be altering the trajectory of history right now. He felt a rush as he thought about that he was, alone, influencing how major events would play out from now on - that was only if he was successful though.
"Gabe, we've been dreaming," Nero said as he put down the pencil and began searching for a card in his cardcase. "It's time to wake up. It's not just the Dom family I'm after - I realise that now. You also don't need to care about what the Anzem family thinks. If you're powerful enough, you won't need to go to them. They'll come to you the way they follow Lady Gabriella." .
Nero finally found the card he was searching for, and pulled it out. It was Luminalink, his father's innate card.
"What I'm trying to say is that right now, we have the opportunity to change our lives forever, but it comes with a risk. Are you willing to take that risk?"
Nero paused before doing anything else, and looked towards Gabriel. He needed that redhead to be on his side for this. But he knew that he wouldn't need to pressure Gabriel into this.
True to his expectation, Gabriel's expression became firm after a few moments of contemplation. Although he couldn't be blamed for being unable to defeat berserkers and dark berserkers on his own, he hated the fact that his performance was so much weaker than others.
Sure, he could claim that Arter's innate ability just happened to be compatible with the enemy which is why he was able to beat them, but then what about Nero? At the end of the day, the why didn't matter. All that mattered was the result. If he died, it would not matter if his opponent was a berserker or a Mutt - the outcome was the same.
So irrespective of external variables, he just wanted to become stronger.
"When we exit the Vault, the army is going to thoroughly check everything we have and confiscate everything we've found so far. Of course, they'll give us merits for it, but the point is we won't be able to get them. We're also going to be interrogated in detail so I doubt we'll be able to keep anything secret.
But, not only do we need to keep this vault secret, but we're going to need to get our hands on a few things after the army takes them away from us? Do you think you can pull some strings and make that happen?"
Of course, even though he was asking the question, he had a pretty good idea about how to complete at least one of those objectives. For the other one, he had some ideas as well, but whether or not to go through with them would depend on how much he trusted Vanessa.
Unfortunately, Nero trusted Vanessa very much to act in the best interests of Nova, which was not necessarily in his own best interest. The plan was still coming together in his head, and he was certain that he'd be able to figure something out.
"Well, keeping secrets is not so hard," Gabriel said as he pulled out the Solemn Oath card. "As for recovering items… well that depends on the item."
"I guessed as much," Nero muttered, and then pulled out one more card. "Well, since we can keep secrets, then let's see if we can discover if there's even a secret worth keeping."
The card he pulled out was Mind's Eye, which would allow him to look through obstructions. It might not work, but then again, what if it did? Nero wanted to see if he could peer into the secrets of the vault. Everything else would follow that.