'Isn't that ...? The wizard!', Sven shouted at the sight of the dead Elyan.
'But how did you kill him? No, how did you even get close to him?'
"I could have also taken care of it", Julius expressed his opinion on Sven's comment.
'Ha you would walk right into his force field, don't kid yourself you oversized monkey'
"Shut it sewer rat!", he raised his fist as if to intimidate him.
"Hey, is this a game to you!? We are inside enemy territory"
"..."
'...'
Similar to children being scolded by their parents, the two immature adults averted their eyes and proceeded to follow me.
The 3rd floor was a large laboratory with state of the art equipment, that is when considering the slow technological advancements of this world.
The numerous vials containing colorful liquids were scattered throughout the room and the diagrams on molecular modules were hanged on every wall.
The scientific driving force of the entire Kingdom was no doubt the dead Elyan mage.
-I wonder if I killed this world's Oppenheimer...
Upon reaching the 4rth floor we encountered several cages containing all sorts of disfigured creatures with no strand of hair on their body, sitting on fours, and showing their extreme muscle mass.
'Those creatures, t-they are citizens of the Elyan Kingdom!'
'That bastard, to think he would go this far in order to increase the size of his army'
"What do you mean Sven?"
'King Gyorm is responsible for this'
'I was already suspicious of the recent disappearances of the people in the Slums, but to see that they all became test subjects to create an army makes me disgusted'
"Hold on, those things are Elyans!?"
His response was definitely out of my expectations, not because of the cruel nature of the King, but because the chimeras' auras were definitely different from that of an Elyan's, which led me to believe that they were an entirely different species.
-But how can a genetic modification affect one's aura?
Despite being adept at aura manipulation, I still had a lot to learn about the connection of aura to the mind and body.
~Growl!!
The chimeras became agitated as we came closer to them, but I could feel that they were not hostile towards us, just afraid.
-Who knows what kind of experiments they performed on them.
Arriving on the 5th floor, we noticed to our disappointment that there was no connection between the Tower and the King's quarters.
Our surroundings were consisting of glass cases that contained wooden carvings inscribed with strange letters.
-Probably his collection of ancient texts
'Found it!', Sven shouted, and with an excited expression, phased his arm inside one of the exhibits and pulled out its contents.
In his hand was a small transparent eye contact that held little, if no distinguishable aura at all, making it unfit to be considered an artifact.
"What is it?"
'Its a device I discovered when I was younger'
'There supposedly existed an entire civilization called the Lazyr, that specialized in magic engineering'
'This device is what I discovered when I ventured inside a ruin that was said to be the capital of their prosperous kingdom'
'Alas, even their advanced weaponry failed to halt the assault of the dragon race'
"D-dragons? They are here?"
The strongest monsters from human mythology were a force that could probably rival the advanced weaponry of humans.
That is if one excluded the weapons of mass destruction, which were long banned in fear of destroying every life on Earth.
-Even the dragons would be helpless against them...
'They appeared out of nowhere centuries ago and wreaked havoc in the entire world, only to mysteriously disappear one day'
-So they also came from a rift, I wonder how their world looks like
'At least that's what the stories say, most people nowadays think it's only folklore'
'But trust me, a civilization like that of the Lazyrd could only have fallen by them'
"So how does the device function?"
'Although I have no idea about how it actually works, I know for sure that it can identify any skills and artifacts that enter the sight of the user'
'I call it [Eye for Treasures]'
'Here take it', Sven extended his hand and presented me with one of his most prized possessions.
"You are giving it to me?"
Given that I already have a system that analyzes every object I come in contact with, such a thing wouldn't be of any use to me.
-But wait?
"Can it also analyze the skills and artifacts that are already in someone's possession!?", with the hope for my speculation to be true, I quickly grabbed the device in order to try it out.
When artifacts and skill came in contact with a living person, they adapted their aura to that of the user or completely changed the user's aura to match theirs, thus making the process of distinguishing them very difficult.
But if this relic can analyze every strand of energy signature coming from an object, then it would be immensely helpful.
After equipping the eye contact, it started feeding on my magi before finally activating, and, as if to confirm my suspicions, it displayed every skill that Sven and Julius had in a form of text, similar to a VR headset.
"Thank you, Sven", from the bottom of my cold heart I expressed my gratitude for presenting me which such a precious gift.
And seeing how it had merged with my aura, it was safe to assume that I would be able to bring it back with me.
This was part of a theory of mine I had recently thought of.
That the deciding factor responsible for determining whether an object could pass through a rift was its ability to hold magi.
And from my observations, every organic substance, whether dead or not, contained small amounts of magi, while inorganic objects such as minerals lacked the ability to breathe the world's magi the way living things did.
And since clothes were consisting of wool, cotton, and leather, therefore materials which originated from plants and the fur of dead animals, that was the reason as to why they were not rejected by a rift.
While guns on the other hand, built entirely on metal, could not be transferred to the other worlds.
'So now what? The vault is beyond this wall, should I phase through it and go to the vault?'
"No, don't... I have a plan"
Given that the items we had to retrieve were yet unknown to us, sending Sven alone wouldn't be helpful.
And there was also the chance that he would take everything for himself and run away.
-I can't take such a risk
-Not when I haven't used all the tools in my arsenal
With a small army of uncontrollable chimeras and knowledge of the [Lesser Explosion] rune, the path to victory was slowly being carved inside my mind.
"We are gonna blow a hole in the Tower and pass through it"
'Even if we could create such an explosion, wouldn't that beat the whole purpose of climbing the Tower? The guards will hear the explosion and immediately come to the 5th floor'
"They will be busy fighting a horde of chimeras"
'Wait what?'
...
Similar to the witch's method, I used my blood as a catalyst to create the rune patterns and inscribed them in the thick walls the separated the 4th and 5th floor from the castle.
With the combined effort of me, Julius, and Sven in spending our magi to fuel the explosion, I realized how inefficient the spell was.
From the amount of energy we provided, only one-third of it was stored inside the rune, while the remaining was probably absorbed by the spirit as a fee for using its service.
With two bombs ready to go off at our disposal, I proceeded to cover every window on the 4th floor with a cloth, in order to reduce the visibility of the chimeras.
Now, with Sven and Julius patiently waiting for my signal, all that was left was unlocking the cages of the chimeras.
-Since their visibility is hindered and my aura is properly concealed, I should be able to, if timed correctly, direct the rampaging monsters to the inner place.
And so, as if a shadow in the darkness I cut the locks of every cage and shouted at Julius to initiate the explosion.
"DO IT!"
All going according to plan, both Julius and I activated the runes on our respective floors, and shortly afterwards a loud explosion was heard, and the shockwave produced would have no doubt destroyed our eardrums if we hadn't covered them with magi beforehand.
The chimeras on the other hand, unable to block the soundwaves screamed in anguish as their eardrums ruptured.
In the middle of their confusion, I positioned myself on the opposite side of the hole and activated my sword's power while scaring them with my killing intent.
At the sight of the blazing fire and under the influence of fear, the chimeras who had their primal instincts heightened, had no choice but to flee towards the palace, only to be met by numerous guards who blocked off their escape route.
With their sole path to freedom blocked, the appalling creatures went on a rampage and an onslaught followed.
But I had no time to observe the seeds of my effort as I was in a hurry to regroup with the others.
...
"That was a damn good job Jay", Julius congratulated me.
"Needless to say even I can tell by now that you certainly know how to use your brain"
Though his positive comment didn't mean a lot when coming from a musclehead like him, it brought me some joy to see him considering me as a valuable teammate.
As we ran down the long hallway, we reached a 3-meter metallic door, which immediately opened, welcoming us to the wolf's den.
Although no person was nearby, I could feel that someone was watching us from afar and his intentions were definitely not friendly.
"Julius get ready for combat, they are expecting us"
"Now you are speaking my language!", excited by the imminent fight he proceeded to flex his enormous back muscles and ready his fists.
Upon passing the door's threshold, it closed, blocking our escape route and leaving us with no other option than entering one of the two doors in front of us.
But only the left door was open while the right one was sealed tight.
-Definitely a trap
'The vault's door is open, lets go'
"Don't drop your guard"
Upon entering the large vault, riches beyond my craziest imaginations appeared before my eyes.
Golden coins, diamond jewelry, emerald vases, and other objects that would make any materialistic person feel like he is in heaven, were scattered throughout the room's corners.
In the middle of the room was a large area where a tall Elyan wearing a golden crown and red mantle made from fur, was sitting on top of a golden chair with the naked body of an Elyan female, which had several bruises and signs of abuse, lying on the ground next to him.
Suddenly I sensed a large fast-moving enemy about to attack us from our blind spot.
"Julius behind you!"
Without further notice, Julius turned his body, twisted his shoulder, and winded up for a destructive punch that landed perfectly in the face of the creature, halting its advance and sending its heavy body flying 2 meters away.
After observing it from a close distance, the 2-meter tall monstrosity before us was no doubt a chimera created from the body of a challenger from Earth, whose skin had hardened and turned pale white, the majority of his dark hair had fallen, and a large wide mouth with numerous rows of shark teeth had covered his entire face.
The unstable purple aura that was covering him was a sign that the human had lost all his sanity and had now become a killing machine.
"Julius you handle the chimera, we will take care of the King Gyorm"
'So worthless scum like you dare to think they can defeat me!? I may be past my prime, but I would never lose to the likes of you', the king's heavy voice echoed on the walls of the large room.
The King rose up from his seat and took off his coat, displaying his muscular physique, which compared to his grey fur and wrinkly face was brimming with life.
On his waist were two long straight swords radiating strong auras.
Using my [Eye for Treasures] I glanced at his swords, which both were high-grade artifacts.
[Sun Sword (Rank C)]
A sword wielded by a strong and righteous knight who praised the Sun as his one and only God.
Effect: The blade's unique dark metal captures sunlight and releases it in the form of heat that enables the dull blade's edge to cut even the most durable metals.
[Sword of Opportunity (Rank D)]
The sword of a renowned swordmaster who practiced the art of cutting his opponents moments before their attack landed, ending the fight in one powerful slash.
Alas, due to a miscalculation he was crippled and lost the ability to swing a sword again.
Despair and regret clouded his judgment and resulted in him taking his own life with the sword, which in turn imbued it with his lifelong desire to aim for the perfect opportunity to attack.
Effect: The sword's attacks do not materialize immediately and only take form at the perfect moment to strike the opponent.
...
-The Sun Sword's effect is rather straightforward but what is the deal with the effect of the Sword of Opportunity?
'You must be the Ghost Thief, or should I refer to you by your real name, Carlston, son of Timur the traitor'
'You bastard, my father did not betray the kingdom! You used him as a scapegoat and framed him for your heinous war crimes'
With the sudden revelation about his past, Sven was now only 10 meters away from the man who destroyed his family.
His killing intent emerged and his animal instincts kicked in.
Despite my lack of empathy towards others, I couldn't help but see myself in Sven's eyes, with both our lives having been derailed in the span of a single moment.
'As the judge with the highest degree of authority, the punishment for your crimes of murder, theft, and harboring an enemy of the state, will be the execution of all your known associates and the eradication of your bloodline!'
Grabbing the woman's head, he raised in the air, drew his sword, and placed it near her neck.
'L-LAURA! N-no p-please, I will surrender, PLEASE LET MY SISTER GO!!'
Sven's face turned pale at the sight of his sister and his agitated pleas for her life caused a sinister smile on the king's face.
'I don't negotiate with terrorists'
~Slash
Blood gushed from the neck of Sven's sister and her lifeless body collapsed on the cold floor.
His brain seized to function properly, his eyes dilated, and his claws emerged before he lunged like a panther towards the killer of his sister.
'RAAAHHH'
The king amusingly pulled out both swords and pointed the Sword of Opportunity towards the raging Sven.
-What am I missing? What is the ability of that sword?
-Wait... if the only means of attacking with it is by materializing a previous sword slash then....
"Sven!!! Activate your sk.."
~Slash
Suddenly, a diagonal slashing attack materialized out of thin air and decapitated Sven's head, causing his mutilated corpse to be dragged by his previous momentum and land next to his sister's body.
-... Fuck
....