Zarek walked to the side and pulled out a blade. It was in a leather sheath as black as night, and it had a heaviness to it that made his arm sink a bit.
The weapon only had a large blade that was about a foot and a half long, and yet it must have been at least 20 pounds or so heavy. It was no wonder Jiade had left it here; it wasn't yet the right time for him to use such a weapon. It would be more of a detriment than not.
Without being an E Warrior at least, this blade would be more likely to lose you your life than to help you. Your swings would be too slow, and if you weren't careful, you just might tear your shoulder out of its socket all on your own.
Zarek took two of them.
Finding such weapons now would be very difficult. Jiade must have gone through a lot of trouble before the Godsfall fell in order to forge this set.
This vault had hundreds of these exact blades, but Zarek didn't get greedy, only taking two and slotting them into his waist with a belt he picked up to the side.
These blades were made of a special alloy, a tempered steel that was actually quite brittle before the Godsfall Apocalypse descended. However, in the presence of Godsfall, its tempering could be completed in a way that fused it with the elasticity it needed to get rid of its greatest weakness.
It was simply known as Godsfall Steel.
This particular Godsfall Steel wasn't near the best. Because it was forged from iron pre-apocalypse, it wasn't even considered to be F-Grade. And yet, right now, it would likely be stronger than most E-Grade Treasures despite being unranked.
Jiade sure knew how to prepare well.
'If he has Godsfall Steel, I bet he…' Zarek's smile brightened, picking out a duo of desert eagles to the side. The barrels were long and heavy, and it was unlikely that Priya would be able to use them in the short term. But Zarek couldn't pass up on these.
Every decision he made had a risk and reward calculation attached to it. These desert eagle guns were even heavier than the machetes, being at least 30 pounds each. Priya would definitely have a hard time holding one up and firing for an extended period of time.
But the value of this gun was too much to leave it behind.
In the end, Zarek would have wanted to take three: two for himself and one for Priya, but he chose to just take two. He would give one to Priya to allow her to get used to it.
Soon enough, though her Strength Growth Potential wasn't the best, she would get used to it.
Zarek went through the rest, but the only obvious things he found of interest after the machetes and the desert eagles were the bullets for the latter and body armor.
Zarek didn't bother with the bullets other than to take a few he could practice replicating. As for the body armor, he was on the fence about it.
They, too, incorporated Godsfall Steel. But that likewise made them pretty heavy. While he could wear something like this, Priya couldn't.
'If only…'
Zarek thought about spatial devices or unlocking the inventory of the system. Unfortunately, there was nothing in his memories that could fulfill either of those two requirements any time soon.
'Let's set that aside for now.'
Zarek's gaze continued to scan the vault. He knew that there had to be something else here, maybe even something hidden in plain sight.
If this was all he could get, that would be fine enough. But he was almost certain that Jiade had hidden something else here.
What he most hoped to find was obvious… just how had Jiade allowed his Heralds to recall their memories from previous lives? Just what sort of Treasure would be capable of such a thing? Was it even a Treasure at all, or was he too ignorant of Jiade's abilities?
Zarek's eyes narrowed and he stopped moving.
He was running out of time.
If there was something that Jiade could take into the Godsfall Tear with him, he would take it. But if there wasn't, then it would definitely be here.
'If my Scouting Skill hasn't picked it out yet, then it's almost certainly something that…'
Zarek suddenly moved.
The vault was designed a lot like a bank vault. The walls were lined with various safety holdings, but there were also racks exposed to the air and cages holding what looked like money and rows of stored Godsfall Droplets. Though, there were no Godsfall Crystals.
The Mutants Crystals had likely been used up by Jiade at the first opportunity.
There were no obvious flaws anywhere, and Zarek had already been able to use his Scouting Skill to look through each and every one of the closed safety boxes.
In that case, there was just one place he hadn't looked yet.
Zarek made it to the thick vault doors. A series of polished brass cylinders and gears made up the mechanism.
Jiade was quite clever. This was probably the one place most people wouldn't think to look, and even if they did think to look… there was no easy way to open it.
Even if they sensed something, at this stage in the apocalypse, there would be no tools strong enough to slice it open, especially not with Godsfall interfering.
Whatever it was Jiade was relying on, it was impossible for him to have gotten his hands on it before the Godsfall descended. That meant that the same restraints Zarek had, he did too.
It was just a matter of…
Zarek grabbed onto one of the cylinders and pulled. It popped out with ease as though it had been greased with the most aggressive of motor oils.
There was nothing inside, but Zarek was unperturbed.
He stuck his arm in, moving his fingers through the gears and mechanisms. It was simply impossible to tell the difference between what was meant to be there and what wasn't. How would you even find anything?
But Zarek did.
He grabbed onto it and pulled.
Out came a slither of glass one could see right through.
Zarek's eyes narrowed.
'An energy fractal… of time? This is her ability.'
A malevolent light reflected in the depths of Zarek's eyes.
He wasn't just going to murder Jiade. He was going to make sure he regretted taking the first breath he ever had.
To target him was one thing.
To target him using Priya's abilities was unforgivable.
There was no doubt. Jiade was related to Priya's last death.