The metal door flashed and disappeared, and I led the way inside, with the others crowding close behind. Like Velexis’s vault, the large space extended pretty far, but the outer walls were indeed blocked by shimmering energy barriers.

  “Aw,” Steve groaned when he saw the barriers. “No access to the good stuff again.”

  “Let’s see what we can see first,” Jane said, pushing past him into the room.

  Unlike Velexis’s cluttered, disorganized vault, Tydrion’s vault was laid out with exacting precision. A sign hanging from golden chains attached to the the high ceiling hung near the door. “Welcome to the Vault of the Glorious Hunt.”

  “That’s new,” Tomas said, nodding at the sign.

  “He did fancy himself a great hunter.”

  To our immediate left stood several large bins. The first was full of tier-4 mana crystals, the second about a third full, and the next 3 were empty.

  A final bin was about half full of an assortment of glittering gemstones. Overall, it was a pretty nice pile, but only a fraction of what Velexis’s vault contained. A poor count indeed.

  Racks of weapons and armor lined the right side, while 3 rows of orderly shelves ran down the middle. Farther to the left were a couple of filing cabinets and an ornately carved map table next to a rack of rolled maps.

  Beyond that were arranged enough fancy furniture to outfit my entire castle, including a heavy dining table with 10 thronelike chairs, 4 couches made out of some kind of sea creature leather, and 8 overstuffed recliners. Long open wardrobes along the back were stuffed with all types of clothing, from colorful festive apparel to leather and armored base layers.

  “Not bad,” Ruby said, pausing next to the bin of jewels as Lana lifted huge handfuls and let them dribble back down, sparkling in the light.

  Steve and Andy headed for the racks of weapons and armor. From what I could see, the weapons included a lot of the nymph court’s preferred tridents and harpoons, but I spotted a few blades and heavier weapons that might prove useful. The armor might be good, maybe something for Andy or Lana at least.

  I moved down the central shelves with Jane, while Nigel proceeded to jump from one piece of furniture to the next in search of the perfect napping spot. Some shelves contained what looked like household items he’d probably acquired from ancestors. One entire rack held dozens of portraits of noblemen and women in elegant costumes. Their name plates declared them all members of house Blacktide, so probably those ancestors who owned the household items.

  Other things proved more interesting. One shelf held a beautiful spyglass fashioned from a piece of delicate green coral.

  “Marenor’s Coral Glass. Epic. This enchanted spyglass magnifies distant objects, while detecting subtle illusions or magical fluctuations that might suggest a concealed enemy or monster.”

  I bet that was a prized possession for a monster hunter. Beyond it was a large, ornately carved ring with a swirling aquamarine gem inset into the top.

  “Royal Signet of Isalyn the Lost. Legendary. The tragic tale of Countess Isalyn, the greatest female explorer of the Abyssal Trench is still sung to this day. This ring, her greatest treasure, is one of the few relics of the grand days of early trench exploration that still retains the power to unlock the ancient Sea Gates, allowing fast travel across vast distances. If one is willing to dare the dangers of the Trench to venture into the shadowed waters, danger and wealth await in equal measure.”

  Huh. That was pretty cool. The description made me want to visit their planet, assuming I could evolve to a high enough tier, and go explore the famed Trench with its dangerous monsters and fast travel to exotic locations of legendary treasure. Maybe someone from Tydrion’s world would want the artifacts. I’d probably sell them through Sythrak eventually.

  In the center of the room stood tables piled with charts and papers and maps of the undersea reaches of his world, particularly parts of the Abyssal Trench. It was like the Mariana Trench, only 10 times deeper and 50 times longer. One massive tome occupied half of a sturdy, wooden table.

  “The Leviathan Codex. Unique. Filled with a lifetime’s research into the deadliest monsters of the Abyssal Trench, this codex is perhaps Count Tydrion’s greatest legacy. Any competitive hunter would pay a vast treasure to acquire this wealth of knowledge.”

  Wow. I might have to ask Sythrak to list it. I skimmed some of the pages, all of which were crammed with anatomical sketches of hundreds of sea monsters, complete with exhaustive lists of weaknesses, mana signatures, territories, and behavioral studies, personally annotated by Tydrion.

  The detail was stunning, covering monsters not included in the Monster Dictionary I’d gotten from Joseph way back on day 1. I scanned the index of monsters at the back and put my high Intelligence stat’s perfect recall to good use. If I ran into any of the listed monsters, I might gain valuable insights from the book to help us take it down. It was unlikely, but what if Marisara had pet monsters as aces in the hole?

  The next row made me smile. It held a bunch of rich clothing, obviously for parties, along with items definitely designed to stoke Tydrion’s massive ego.

  “Harp of Heroic Memory. Rare. A self-playing harp enchanted to recount Tydrion’s exploits in dramatic, overly romanticized ballads. It may conveniently forget any defeats or humiliations, but is guaranteed to bore you to literal tears in record time.”

  As soon as I drew closer, the harp started playing and an overly cheesy voice began singing a ballad detailing Tydrion’s mighty conquest of a deep-sea crustacean monster. I moved on quickly.

  A fancy trident, forged from fire coral and coated with gems stood not far away. Useless for battle, it gave huge bonuses to Charisma when addressing other nobles. Since I still hadn’t unlocked Charisma, it would be useless to me.

  Nearby, a glass case held a remarkable replica of the Deep Tide Seal of Conquest. I leaned closer to study it, and clearly sensed the powerful mana emanating off of it.

  “Neap Tide Seal of Second Place. Unique. The product of tireless toil from an overconfident count blessed with absolutely none of the requisite skills to replicate one of the most powerful artifacts ever produced on his world. This failed replica of a legendary artifact is a testament to the universal truth that if a person tries hard enough and believes in themself to the point of hubris meltdown, they can unlock a truly unique power.”

  “When worn by someone with absolute and totally unjustified confidence in their abilities, it will twist the very laws of nature and truth to virtually guarantee the person finishes at best a distant second.”

  I laughed so hard, everyone gathered to see what I was looking at. “Story of Tydrion’s life.”

  “That’s kind of sad,” Ruby said.

  “Nothing sad about the giant crab he turned into in order to smash me flat.”

  “Look at this,” Jane said from the opposite side of the aisle. She stood in front of what honestly looked like a super fancy version of a double-layer chess board, carved from crystals and coral in breathtaking shades of soft colors. The pieces on both levels looked different than Earth designs, and the board was a lot larger, but the similarity was striking.

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  “Game of Tides. Ancient. This collectors-edition game set was played by none other than the Deep Tide Tyrant himself and is considered one of the very best treasures of house Blacktide. Popular with nobility and common merfolk alike, the Game of Tides tests players’ abilities to command their forces both above and under the water. To boost the house’s chances of winning the annual High Tide Tournament, this particular set has been secretly enchanted to passively sharpen the mind during play. Improve enough, and permanent boosts to Intelligence and Wisdom are possible.”

  “That is nice,” I agreed. Tydrion might have run his house fortunes into the ground, but it was becoming clear that he descended from a house that had once stood at the pinnacle of their society.

  One long shelf contained a series of unique musical instruments that would have thrilled my mother to study, and probably made any bard enthusiast weep with envy. While Ruby and Jane fiddled with silver strings and blew into shells with sweeping, graceful lines, producing a medley of discordant sounds, I moved on to another long shelf full of more games.

  One large board game was shaped like a whirlpool, with pieces representing various sea creatures. As soon as I looked at it, illusions blossomed around each piece, showcasing their abilities. I got the sense that the game, called the Leviathan’s Gambit was a multi-player strategy game kind of like RISK.

  The Siren’s Call was a deck of cards with images of various shells that each played a different tune. Apparently it was some kind of magical, musical Charade game. That could be a lot of fun if we knew anything about alien music.

  Another, the Pillars of the Depths was a competitive Jenga-like tower-stacking game with some pieces having subtle enhancements to alter gravity or shoot jets of water to disrupt opponents’ towers. That could be fun to bring along next time we did a movie experience. We could play during that last hour in the fancy lounge.

  The Abyssal Dice game looked fun too. Eight varying-sized dice, all engraved in tiny runes, would score different sets of points, depending on which runes ended up on top. Different combinations could unlock random buffs or debuffs to affect the next throw. Steve would love it.

  I stopped the longest in front of a many-faceted crystal ball the size of a bowling ball. When I touched the soft yellow shell, the crystal lit up on the inside, and the description flashed.

  “Master of the Tidal Threads. Uncommon. A staple of every noble house, this game is as simple as it is ingenious. Everyone from toddlers to grand masters of mana control play this addictive game. Every level presents ever-more complex patterns the player must construct by manipulating strands of water using only their mana control ability. Advance from the basic levels to mind-twisting challenges that only the most talented mana users have ever unlocked. Be the first to complete level 1000 and win the ultimate prize sought by players across countless worlds.”

  Intrigued, I picked up the crystal and focused. My conscious thoughts were sucked inside, leaving me hovering in a bright, yellow light above an ocean of perfectly still water. In front of me formed the illusion of a simple circle, the size of my head.

  “Level 1. Circle.”

  With a thought, I focused my tier-1 Mana Control and my tier-0 Mana String abilities, while activating Spellseer’s Gaze. The glowing interior of the crystal deepened and came alive as the dense water mana surrounding me became visible. It swirled and looped in every direction, pulsing and flowing with the crystal’s power.

  Instantly, my mind linked to the dense mana and with a simple thought, strands of it drew streamers of water from the still ocean below to cover the illusory line, forming an unbroken circle.

  “Level 1 complete!”

  The circle disappeared, replaced by a square. In seconds, I completed it, followed by increasingly complex simple shapes. At level 10, the challenge illusions expanded into simple 3D objects. I lost myself in level after level as I manipulated the water mana to pull more and more strands of water into the air and fashion them into the required shapes.

  “Lucas!”

  The distant voice of Ruby snapped me out of my reverie just after I completed level 50, a complex shape formed by 12 interlocking stars. The softly glowing world of the crystal disappeared as I returned to myself with a rush of my other senses.

  Ruby stood before me, and in that momentary overload of all my senses, her familiar teasing smile glowed brighter than the interior of the crystal. I nearly lost myself in another trance studying the contours of her face and the endless depths of her gold-speckled eyes.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, shaking me out of the odd reverie.

  I blinked a couple of times, regaining my composure. “Uh, sorry. Yeah. I guess I got distracted for a minute.”

  “More like 5,” Steve said. He and the others had gathered around me while I was lost in the crystal. “I haven’t seen you that mesmerized since Ruby kissed you upstairs. Huh, I guess you do get distracted a lot.”

  Most of the team chuckled. Ruby just pulled a potion bottle from her inventory and chucked it. The bottle shattered against Steve’s chest, spraying him with bright, red liquid.

  “Hey!” he objected before backflipping away. He tumbled head over heels almost all the way back to the vault door, but with his enhanced agility, he turned it into an acrobatic series of flips and spins. He stuck the final triple backflip with a flourish.

  “Incorrigible,” Ruby said through a smile as Steve trotted back over.

  “What is that potion?” Jane asked.

  Ruby held up another crimson potion. “Tumbleweed.” Got it from Anna the potion maiden. Could come in handy.”

  “I like it,” Jane said, and Ruby handed her one.

  “Speaking of Anna, try one of these,” I told Ruby, handing her one of my Doppleganger Decoys. After explaining the description, I asked, “Can you replicate it?”

  “I’ll definitely add it to the list.”

  “See anything you like?” I asked the group as I tossed the Master of Tidal Threads crystal into my inventory. I planned to practice with it whenever I got the chance. It sounded like an ideal mana manipulation training tool. On a hunch, I checked my notifications and grinned at the new one.

  “Congratulations, Lucas! For actually putting your mana abilities to focused use and proving they’re not a waste of time, Mana Strings has reached level 16.”

  I wanted to practice more with mana manipulation and runesmithing, but life was just so busy. I’d gotten insane extra levels in that bulk upgrade, but that game helped me lock the new levels into my mind. Somehow they felt more real, and I sensed that if I pushed myself to practice more, I could unlock a ton of extra power.

  “Can I have this sword?” Andy asked, hefting a heavy broadsword. “It can actually boost my enchanter abilities when I forge.”

  “Sure.”

  He grinned. “Thanks, boss. This’ll help a ton.”

  Steve said, “Mind if I borrow some of these suits of armor for my clones?”

  “Not at all.”

  Jane ended up taking one of the fantasy musical instruments, a stringed thing that looked like a cross between a harp and a guitar. Lana took a set of plate armor that would fit over her leathers, along with some exploding coral bolts that fit her crossbow, and Tomas ended up taking a bunch of the common weapons to add to his constructs.

  I did a circuit of the rest of the vault as everyone spread out, browsing the rest of the aisles. Tydrion had some pretty cool stuff. I’d probably sell most of it, or maybe someone from his home world would buy me out. I bet the title and holdings alone would be worth a mint.

  I left the furniture alone, but did stop at the map table. The map I found of his current holdings was disappointingly small. It looked like he, well me now, owned a group of islands in the middle of a shallow sea, not far from a deeper ocean.

  It seemed I now controlled a small underwater community with a primary manor house, along with another aboveground manor overlooking a larger community, surrounded by cultivated hills.

  “Cyrus, is it possible for me to communicate back with my holdings?”

  Thankfully the AI answered. “Great question.” He sighed and added, “I’ve been missing those.”

  “Maybe you should re-think your self-imposed exile.” I didn’t want the AI getting mopey or bored. What might he do to spice up the entertainment?

  “I can respond when you ask a direct question.”

  “I’ll remember that. I had thought you wanted me to ask questions less often.”

  “Not if they’re good questions.”

  “Okay. So how do I communicate with my holdings on other worlds?”

  “Short answer: you don’t until you leave Arasha. And from Earth it will be tough until the entire world is inducted.”

  Not surprising, but disappointing. “Can I get messages through the System Store?”

  “Possibly. I don’t control their policies.” He sounded a bit annoyed by that.

  Was he having a turf dispute with the System Store? Hopefully they figured it out without messing with my sweet setup with Sythrak. I’d ask the Krysanthimus about options for maybe listing my holdings for sale. I had no doubt he would gleefully act as my broker. For a fee.

  The filing cabinet had tons of paperwork I didn’t want to take time to read. I also found stacks of bills of sale for a whole lot more of his property. He’d leveraged himself to the hilt and really had been on the verge of going under.

  Overall, I was pleased with the items I’d perused so far. Who knew, I might find some other useful treasures, although the best loot was clearly stuck behind those barriers.

  I approached the glowing barrier blocking me from the rear half of the vault and peered at the items beyond. The wall was covered in row after row of mounted trophies from Tydrion’s kills, ranging from heads or even full-body mounts of some of the smaller monsters, to racks of fangs or claws, to artist rendering of monsters. Some looked enormous.

  He really had been an active undersea hunter, and quite skilled from all the evidence. Too bad for him that he’d forgotten hunting fighters was way different than hunting monsters.

  Some racks of weapons and armor and a full rack of potions teased me with their potential. Then I got an idea and grinned.

  “Time for an experiment.”