The Silver family vault was underground, and took up nearly as much space as the manor above it.
The vault held all of the wealth the family had gained over the many, many years, and as a security measure was divided into several smaller vaults.
Nickel and Kalvin entered the central hall. To their left were two rooms.
One contained more coins than most small nations had in their treasuries. The other was filled with rare crafting materials: ores, gemstones, and monster parts gathered through several millenia.
To their right was the armoury, which housed weapon and armor artifacts, as well as utility artifacts.
Nickel walked up to the armoury door and placed his hand onto a scanner. After a few seconds, it beeped, and the sound of the armoury door's locking mechanism releasing rang out.
He pulled the door open and stepped inside, Kalvin following after him.
The butler stepped up to a small console, the interface lighting up as he approached.
He looked to Nickel. "What sort of armor are you looking for, Master Nicholas?"
Nickel thought for a moment.
Artifacts were rated with a dual grading system. At the macro level, they were rated the same way Pathfinders were. First Circle, Second Circle, Third Circle, and so on.
Artifacts were then further sub-rated with a star system, from one to seven, with seven being the highest.
As a newly awakened, Nickel wouldn't be able to properly utilize anything higher than a First Circle artifact. Might as well hear about the best of those, then.
"How many 1-5, 1-6, and 1-7 Artifacts do we have?" Nickel said.
Kalvin tapped at the interface console. "Four, sir."
"Show them to me."
With another tap from Kalvin on the console, a circular tube popped out from the wall. The top half, made of transparent glass, slide back into the metal of the tube, leaving four small orbs resting on a plush cloth.
These were storage orbs, designed to house a single Artifact.
The first Nickel was shown was a Five Star set of silver plate armor.
Before Kalvin could even explain it's effects, Nickel had already dismissed it.
"Next."
Kalvin brought out a new armor set. It was slimmer than the previous, though not by much. And just like the previous, it was silver.
"This is a Six Star armor. It has both an impact dispersal and a kinetic absorption enchantment. There is also a small subspace storage contained within the breastplate." Kalvin paused. "It was last worn by your great-great grandmother when she first started as an adventurer."
Nickel examined the armor, considering it.
'I don't need the subspace,' he thought, 'and the impact dispersal isn't high enough to matter… anything that the armor would actually disperse, I can take anyway. Anything I can't would overload the enchantment…'
Nickel looked at Kalvin and shook his head.
"Not this one."
Kalvin nodded and returned the armor to it's storage, before bringing out the next one.
This time, he brought out a set of black leather armor. It was more Nickel's style, at least.
"This armor is also Six Star, and was last worn by…," Kalvin paused to check his card, "your great-great-great-great-grandfather. The majority of the enchantments on it are focused towards increasing the durability and strength of the armor, as well as one to generally increase stealth capabilities."
"What do you think?" Nickel sought his butler's advice.
Kalvin's lips drew into a thin line.
"Honestly, I don't think it suits you, sir," he answered. "The durability and strength enchantments are there to bring it on par with more typical manasteel armors, in order to facilitate stealth."
He looked Nickel in the eye.
"You are not particularly stealthy, Master Nicholas."
Nickel chuckled. "No, I guess I'm not. Show me the last one."
Kalvin smiled briefly. "Of course, Sir."
Even before hearing Kalvin's description of the last armor brought out, Nickel had decided on it.
He felt something within him respond to the armor. It took him a moment to realize that it was [Devour].
The armor was forged of a metallic black material, constructed of sleek interlocking plates. Kalvin carried a black cloak with it, to be attached to the clasps on the armor's breastplate.
"This one." Nickel said immediately, his eyes glued to the armor.
Kalvin smiled fondly at him.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Alright, go ahead. Bond with it."
Nickel quickly stepped in front of the armor. Not wasting a single second, he placed his hand on the breastplate, and began pouring his mana into it.
To his surprise, instead of the several minutes it usually took to bond an artifact, the process completed in a few seconds.
He blinked several times, and looked to Kalvin for answers.
"That armor was worn by your father, and before him, by your grandfather." Kalvin explained. "It must have recognized you in some way. Go on, check it's features."
Wasting no time, Nickel pulled up his status' Artifact tab.
[Artifacts]
[Miscellaneous]: None
[Weapons]: None
[Armor]: [Void Scales]
He focused on the [Void Scales], bringing up it's description.
[Void Scales]
[Armor forged from the Scales of a Destroyer, passed to his children's children's children.]
[Replaceable Scales: Sections of this armor can be unsummoned and resummoned separately]
[Draconic Amplifier: The wearer's Dragonforce and Mindfire regenerate faster. The wearer's Dragonfire has greater efficiency.]
At the bottom of the screen, Nickel found something he didn't expect.
[Requirements met. Hidden features unlocked]
[Devouring Armor: This armor can serve as a conduit for the wearer's [Devour]. By devouring more powerful armor artifacts, the [Void Scales] will grow stronger.]
'This is definitely the right choice.' Nickel thought. 'As much as I'd like to test this right now, I don't have enough control of [Devour]. And it's not like I could wear a more powerful armor anyway.'
Nickel's eyes refocused, landing on Kalvin, who was watching him with a smile.
Nickel took a deep breath, then exhaled.
"Alright, we can go now. It's time to test out my Aspect Ability."