The Broken Halo

Chapter 1032 - 1031: The Myriad Vault

Simon stood beside the Daemoness who had escorted him from the Council Hall.

Ahead of them, silver sand filled a tall archway and none of it fell.

The grains hung in a smooth sheet between two black stone pillars, shifting whenever an inscription passed through them. Beyond the entrance stood a round, windowless building that looked too small to contain much of a treasury.

Simon studied the sand without reaching toward it.

The guard stopped beside the left pillar.

She had ash-grey skin and dark hair. A deep-violet coat covered fitted black armour, its split hem leaving her legs free. Silver embroidery edged the collar, while a narrow sword hung at her waist.

”Before you enter, there are rules you need to understand.”

Simon turned toward her.

”I’m listening.”

”The council has authorised you to select five items. You have twenty-four hours to choose them and leave. Your time begins when you cross the entrance.”

”What if I’ve not picked my five items in twenty four hours?”

”You’ll be forcibly teleported out of the Myriad Vault.”

He glanced at the building again.

A full day seemed to be more than enough for him to pick five items, though he doubted she would give that warning without a reason.

”You may inspect the displays,” she continued, ”but do not recklessly activate or use weapons or artifacts in there. Do not also break the seals, or interfere with the formations. Read the accompanying descriptions before handling anything unfamiliar.”

”What about books and scrolls?”

”The descriptions will tell you what they contain. The actual techniques are sealed. You are not permitted to bypass those seals or copy the contents of anything you haven’t selected.”

Simon nodded.

”Bring your choices to the exit for registration. Do not put them into your spatial ring beforehand. Concealing additional items, removing parts of them, or consuming stored materials counts as theft.”

She gave him a moment to absorb that.

”And anything you damage becomes one of your five selections.”

”Even by accident?”

”Yes. Whether you still want it or not.”

”Then I’ll try not to touch anything fragile.”

”That would be wise.”

Her tone remained professional, but a small smile briefly softened her expression.

Simon looked back at the entrance.

”Anything else?”

”Nothing that’s of utmost importance.”

The guard reached inside her coat and produced a paper talisman.

The paper was dark red, with black characters arranged around a small silver circle. She held it between two fingers and pressed it against the suspended sand.

It caught fire.

A narrow flame travelled from the silver circle to the edges. The paper curled inward, broke apart, and scattered as grey ash before it could fall from her hand.

The inscriptions within the barrier stopped moving.

Then the sand divided.

It slid toward the pillars in two smooth sheets, uncovering a broad stone landing and a brightness that had been completely hidden a moment earlier.

The guard stepped aside.

”You may enter, Blackmoon.”

”Thank you.”

Simon crossed the threshold.

His next step became a pause.

The building outside could not have contained even the landing on which he stood.

An enormous circular hall opened before him, with wide terraces running around its walls. Some rose far above the entrance. Others descended toward a floor so distant that the display cases below looked like small boxes.

Stone ramps connected the levels, broad enough for several people to walk abreast.

At the centre, a column of pale light rose through the entire vault. Thin horizontal rings turned around it at different heights, casting light beneath the overhanging terraces.

Simon looked upward.

More galleries waited beyond the ones he had first noticed.

The air was cool and dry. Behind him, the sand barrier closed with a soft hiss, leaving him alone on the landing.

He understood the twenty-four-hour warning now.

He could spend most of that time simply looking around.

The terrace ahead divided into several broad aisles. Weapons occupied the nearest section, each placed on its own stand or suspended within a transparent enclosure.

A black bow hung without a string. Farther along, a silver spear rested above a bed of dark sand, its tip shedding tiny sparks that vanished before reaching the glass.

Armour stood on frames behind them. Some suits were shaped for bodies with more than two arms, while others had long openings down their backs to accommodate wings.

Simon leaned slightly to see past a pillar.

Books and scrolls filled an adjoining gallery. Individual volumes rested beneath clear covers, with small plaques describing their contents. Rolled scrolls occupied narrow stone drawers, each marked with its own inscription.

Across the landing, larger shelves held beast materials.

There were fangs as long as swords, bundles of curved claws, and folded hides that still carried the outlines of enormous scales. Smaller pieces lay in shallow trays, separated by type and grade.

Beyond those stood cabinets of sealed bottles, herbs preserved within glass vessels, and ores resting on stone blocks.

Nothing in the main displays had been left without a place.

Simon let his gaze travel across them.

Five items.

He was beginning to appreciate Golden Tyrant’s proposal much more.

The weapons he could see were powerful but because of the Chaos Wraps and Chaos Blade, weapons were useless to him. However, a useful technique might be worth more to him than another blade. There were also materials he might struggle to find anywhere else.

He turned toward the books.

[Go down.]

Simon’s foot had barely lifted.

[What?]

[Take the ramp on your left,] Lilith said.

He looked toward it, then back at the carefully arranged displays.

[Did you sense anything?]

[Yeah. Something that should be beneficial to you.]

Simon’s brows rose.

[You found something already?]

[Would you prefer that I waited until your time was almost over?]

Simon lowered his foot and changed direction.

He would have liked to inspect the books first, but Lilith rarely directed him toward something without a reason. Her knowledge had already helped him recognise treasures he would otherwise have overlooked.

That didn’t mean he enjoyed being given half an answer.

[You could tell me what it is.]

[Let me see it properly first so that I’ll know I didn’t sense wrong.]

That was reasonable enough.

He followed the ramp.

The displays changed as he descended. Large containers occupied the next terrace, some secured by chains etched with runes. A curved horn rested on three supports, its broken base was wider than Simon’s chest.

He passed it reluctantly.

[Keep going.]

[I haven’t stopped.]

[You slowed down.]

There was no point denying that.

He continued past a row of dark cabinets and followed Lilith’s directions through a narrower passage between two galleries.

The central light no longer reached directly into this part of the vault. Lamps along the wall provided a dull yellow glow.

Simon stopped at the passage’s end.

The room beyond looked nothing like the displays he had passed.

Crates crowded the floor. Broken weapon shafts leaned against a wall beside a stack of chipped tablets. A bronze frame lay on its side, half-covered by a stiff, folded hide.

Dust filled the spaces between objects.

There were labels, but several had faded, and some hung from cords that had slipped beneath the things they were meant to identify.

Someone had made an effort to sort the contents once, but they hadn’t maintained it.

Simon stepped around a shallow box of black fragments.

[Did you bring me to their rubbish pile?]

[To your right. Beside the broken bronze stand.]

He looked to his right.

A large black object rested against the wall.

At first, he took it for a piece of stone.

It stood nearly as high as his waist and was too broad for him to put his arms around. Its surface was dry and uneven, covered in cracks that spread across it like the bed of an emptied pond.

One side had sunk slightly inward. Dust collected along the deeper fissures, making them look almost grey.

Simon moved closer without touching it.

The object had a roughly oval shape, though the damaged surface made that difficult to judge from the passage. There was no shine, no obvious inscription, and nothing about it resembled the treasures displayed outside.

He crouched beside it.

A loose chip lay near its base.

Remembering the guard’s warning, he left it alone.

[This?]

[Yes.]

Simon examined it for another moment.

He couldn’t feel any vitality from it. Whatever Lilith had noticed, it wasn’t announcing itself to him.

His expression became doubtful.

[What exactly is it?]

[A dragon’s egg.]

Simon stared at the cracked black object with slightly wide eyes.

Lilith added, [A dead dragon’s egg, to be exact.]