After returning to the Valois family estate, Carlos waited for his sister Iris to come back. Her silver-white armor was covered in scars, clearly having been through a fierce battle.
"Sister, your injuries..."
Carlos asked with concern.
"Sister isn't hurt. That Blood Snake Princess is no match for me!"
Iris smiled affectionately, removing her somewhat damaged silver-white armor to show that her inner armor was completely intact.
Carlos felt somewhat relieved.
"Did you kill her?"
Iris shook her head somewhat angrily.
"Damn it! She actually got away!
If it wasn't for a group of human traitors showing up at the end, Blood Snake Princess definitely wouldn't have escaped!"
At this, Iris was grateful she'd heeded her brother's warning and stayed sufficiently alert.
"She got away?"
Carlos pondered. This was intelligence that hadn't existed in his past life.
In the original timeline, Blood Snake Princess had easily killed most of the apprentices and accomplished her goal, so naturally the other human traitors wouldn't have needed to come provide support.
Seeing Carlos looking thoughtful, Iris assumed he was still worried.
"Although I didn't kill her, she definitely won't be able to appear again anytime soon. Sister really gave her a beating!
Iris pulled a crimson snake arm from her storage space. Like a living thing, it couldn't move at all under Iris's psionic control.
"Next time, she definitely won't escape!"
With such distinctive characteristics, Carlos immediately recognized it as one of Blood Snake Princess's snake arms.
The two snake arms were the foundation of her core skills. Losing one would weaken Blood Snake Princess's strength by at least a third.
"Sister truly deserves to be a future demigod-level powerhouse. Even at the same level, boss-level Blood Snake Princess was no match for her!"
"Since Blood Snake Princess's threat has temporarily disappeared, I should start 'leveling up' properly!"
Thinking this, Carlos first showed great 'shock,' then his gaze filled with some 'admiration,' which Iris found very satisfying.
"Carlos, what pathway did you enter?
Why do you have power from two pathways?"
Having finished with Blood Snake Princess, Iris finally returned to today's main topic—the awakening.
She'd never seen such a strange aura as her brother's, with both life-representing jungle energy and death-representing Death Herald energy.
These two opposing energies had no conflict whatsoever.
"I actively awakened the Death Herald pathway. The jungle power comes from that mysterious demigod mark."
Carlos pointed to his forehead. Demigods were too distant from the current human era.
Even Iris only knew that demigod marks could ensure awakening.
"So that's it—the demigod mark's influence."
Iris had an 'I knew it' expression.
"Worthy of a demigod's power—not only can it predict danger, but it can also balance life and death."
Carlos nodded in 'agreement.' Previously pushing the Blood Snake Princess warning onto the demigod mark, Iris had believed it without question.
After marveling at the demigod's power, Iris took Carlos's hand.
"Come with me."
"Sister, where are we going?"
Carlos looked at Iris questioningly, honestly following along.
Iris looked mysterious, smiling:
"You'll know when we get there."
They came to the back courtyard, passing servants who bowed along the way, through several magical arrays, finally stopping at the deepest part of the family estate.
There was a bronze door flowing with massive psionic energy, various defensive magical arrays interlaced—clearly a secret location.
Iris placed both hands on the door, murmuring:
"Thirteenth generation family head of the Valois family, Iris Valois, due to successful awakening of direct family line, hereby activating family treasures!"
Light flashed across the door, then Iris gestured for Carlos to place his hand on it too.
"The Valois family vault!"
Joy flashed in Carlos's eyes. He'd been wondering how to get his sister to let him in, never expecting that just awakening would have Iris bring him directly.
Placing his hand on it, light flashed again as Carlos felt his body wrapped in psionic energy.
"Carlos, just walk straight through."
Iris took her brother's hand again, and they actually passed directly through the bronze door as if those defensive arrays didn't exist.
Behind the door was a cave tunnel. At the very bottom, bronze pedestals came into view, each holding a piece of spiritual equipment radiating extraordinary auras.
Spiritual equipment—basically gear that could provide powerful defensive or offensive bonuses. Rarer pieces could even enhance Psionics' skills.
In game terms, that meant skill level +1.
"Carlos, these are precious spiritual artifacts left by our family's generations, representing not only our family's foundation but also symbols of Valois glory.
For example, this Sacred Cis Sword—our grandfather used it to kill the terrifying Control-level monster: Heart-Devouring Rock Demon.
And this one..."
Like old Valois had taught her years ago, Iris seriously explained to her brother while Carlos listened attentively. This was the inheritance of family heritage.
"The Valois family vault provided powerful early-game equipment for many players in my past life! Especially that..."
Carlos followed Iris's explanations while constantly searching his memories, especially when scanning twelve pitch-black great swords, joy flashing in his eyes.
"...Besides spiritual equipment used by family generations of powerhouses, there are also some precious war trophies. Though not used as main weapons like the previous equipment, they're still treasures.
For example, this 'Blessing of the Dead'..."
Speaking, Iris waved her hand, undoing a pedestal's protective array and taking out the spiritual equipment inside, handing it to Carlos.
It was a black crystal earring, with a small skull hollowed out, completely black and crystalline, emanating a strange bone fragrance.
[Blessing of the Dead]
[Quality: Purple]
[Equipment Requirement: Spirituality 1/Death Herald pathway]
[Special Enhancement: Skeleton Revival level +2]
"For Death Heralds, especially for you, nothing could be more suitable."
This purple equipment directly upgraded Carlos's Skeleton Revival skill to level 3, allowing him to revive 3 skeletons from corpses—an effect that would normally require two more spirituality levels.
Purple equipment's special enhancements were very powerful. Carlos wore the crystal pendant on his right ear, sensing the skill symbol representing Skeleton Revival in his soul's depths becoming more complex.
"How is it? Pretty good effect, right?"
"Very suitable. Are there other equipment pieces that enhance Skeleton Revival?"
Carlos unconsciously asked, though in his memory, the Valois family vault seemed to have only this one piece.
Iris scanned around, her brow furrowing, sighing:
"Sorry, little Carlos. You're the first family member in our history to enter the Death Herald pathway.
Our ancestors' powerful equipment isn't suitable for you, and among the other war trophies, there's nothing related to the Death Herald pathway..."
The more powerful the equipment, the more stringent the requirements, especially those used as combat weapons. They not only required meeting spirituality requirements but also had attribute and even pathway restrictions.
Iris was quite troubled. In such a vast treasury, she couldn't find even a few pieces suitable for her brother.