Chapter 54 Leaving The Nest (4)
The Demon King's Armory is a special place in the castle that is used to store every kind of weapons and armors. It is only accessible for the people who has the Demon King's permission, and is guarded by countless of High Grade Golems.
Although the Demon King, Ilschevar, doesn't store his treasured weapons there, the quality of the objects stored inside it is not something you can scoff at. Valeria says that the cheapest weapons there are Yellow Rank.
There are 7 ranks of weapons, which this world's people call Relic: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. Despite the rank, only five of them are accessible to people; the rest are said to be myths.
Unlike the others, Ilschevar as a Demon King, possesses 3 Indigo Rank Relics and 1 Violet Rank Relic. He keeps the Violet Rank one by himself, but he keeps the Indigo Rank ones here, thus the tight security.
The mythical Relics aside, Valeria says that the most expensive Relic an Adventurer can buy through hardwork in their entire life is only Yellow Rank. That just shows what kind of a sacred place the armory is.
On the other hand, even if I equip myself with the worst quality Relic stored in the armory, I will still be able to topple any veteran Adventurers. Of course, that will be the case, if their experience doesn't help them at all.
In any case, no matter what kind of crappy Relic Valeria gives me from the armory, I will still be able to face an Adventurer on my own. I don't know how strong they are, but I am confident that I am not any weaker.
"Here we are."
We have arrived at the armory. Contrary to what I expected it to look like, the armory is not that different compared to the other room inside the castle ... At least, from the outside.
I have expected it to look like the Barrack or the Training Field—a separate building from the castle—but it looks just like an ordinary room. I know however upon opening the giant black door, what will greet me will be different from what I expected.
I am fully aware that in this castle, such a thing is the norm, but I still expected the place that is as sacred as the armory to be more eye-catching.
"You are not as excited as I thought you would be," Valeria comments.
"Well, maybe if you open this door, I might be impressed by what my eyes see." I shrug lightly. "Anyway, where are the Golems? I can't see them anywhere."
"Security measures don't always have to be visible to the eyes. We need the element of surprise to amplify its effectiveness."
"Makes sense." I nod my head in acceptance, and Valeria immediately pushes the door open.
Whoosh!
When the door is opened, I am immediately swept by an overwhelming pressure, which I don't know where it comes from. The pressure is also strange since I am sure it is not a byproduct of Mana.
I can feel some traces of Mana, but there are too many of them—I can't pinpoint which belongs to whom. Since this is the armory however, I believe they all come from the Relics.
"Relics normally won't bother you with the Mana trapped inside them, but since there are too many of them kept in the same place, this happens," Valeria explains.
"I deduce the varieties of Mana inside these Relics means that they have been wielded by many people—am I wrong?"
"No, you are correct. These Relics have been kept here and loaned to Demons for 1000 years, so naturally many different kinds of Mana have been left inside. That being said though, it doesn't lower their quality—do not worry."
Valeria steps inside, and I immediately follow suit. The strange pressure from the Relics become stronger when I enter, but it does nothing other than annoying me.
The room is the complete opposite of what anyone will imagine it looks like judging from its door. Its vastness aside, the grey colour and the setup of the room makes it exceptionally grandiose.
Looking around the room, I can find eight doors that are positioned according to the eight directions of the wind. I try looking for the Golems that Valeria has talked about, but I still don't see where they are.
"Have those Relics ever been stolen in their entire time being kept here?" I ask as I follow Valeria to the door on the west.
"Some of the Relics have been stolen, but not while they were here. Some of the loaners were just too incompetent to keep their lives out there, they ended up dying with the Relics in their hands."
"Oh, so some of the Relics have been taken as a loot before. How did you get them back?"
"It was not that hard; we did it by ransacking some human's villages until we found it. In some rare cases, we encountered the stealer of the Relic and killed them on the spot."
"That was pretty wild." I whistle in astonishment. "The stolen Relics must be pretty high ranked then."
"No. We have mostly lost the Yellow Rank ones to humans." Valeria stops in her track, then pushes the door in front of us. "We didn't actually care that much about them."
The door is opened as I blink my eyes in surprise. "Why did you have to react that violently then? I honestly thought those Relics had been Blue Rank or higher."
"That's the nature of Demons." Valeria shrugs lightly. "They just want to destroy things."
I am honestly not that surprised considering how Demons are depicted on Earth, but to think that such creatures will be the group I will associate myself with for the rest of my life still feels surreal.
Nonetheless, the moment Valeria steps inside to the Relics filled room, I immediately forget the matter entirely. There are too many cool weapons and armors there—I can't bother thinking about what race I have become.
Considering how savage Demons behave, I have half expected the room to be messy and unruly. I have expected all of the Relics were scattered on the ground, so I am pleased when I find they are all kept tidily behind a glass case.
"It feels like entering a museum."
"What is a museum?" Millonia asks.
"Oh, so that kind of place exists now..."
"Yes?"
"A-Ah, nothing. I was just talking to myself."
I look inquisitively at Millonia; the words she muttered before were very suspicious in my opinion. I want to figure her out, but unfortunately she immediately plays it cool by looking ahead, fully ignoring my gaze.
I decide to drop the matter for the time being—I will ask her about it when the time comes—then look at the glass case that Valeria is leading me to. There is a 6 feet long greatsword inside it that looks to heavy to carry.
We stop right in front of the glass case not long after, and I immediately have a bad feeling when Valeria looks encouragingly at me.
"Take it. It's now yours." Valeria motions her hand at the greatsword.
"Uh... I believe I am a dagger user." I put up my hand to refuse politely.
"Take it. It's now yours." Millonia pats my back as she holds her laughter back, then whispers, "Just take whatever Lady Valeria gives you. You SHOULDN'T ever refuse her."
I smile wryly at that, then shake my head bitterly. I can't believe that my months of training with daggers will be wasted that way.
"Layland, I know what you are thinking, but trust me." Valeria looks at me seriously. "This greatsword will help you more out there."
"I believe the opposite unfortunately." I smile apologetically. "This will be my first time using it, so I don't believe I will be able to handle."
"Don't worry. This Blue Rank Relic will help you even though you can only swing it around."
"Oh, that's a fair trade."
I was planning to eventually make Valeria give me a dagger instead of a sword by debating her ceaselessly, but now that I have heard its rank, it will be stupid of me to let this chance slip.
There are three types of great gamers back in my days on Earth: the skilled gamers with top-notch equipments, the mediocre gamers with top-notch equipments, and the skilled gamers with mediocre equipments.
If this world was a game, I would call myself a mediocre gamer. Therefore, to be somewhat exceptional, I need a top-notch equipment—I need the Blue Rank Relic!
Even though I will not be able to master it quickly, I can still topple quite a lot of people with it.
"Very well. You can put your palm on the glass to take your sword."
"Like this?" I put my palm on the glass, and it magically disappears like a cotton candy submerged in water. "Oh? That's interesting ... I can already hear the sword calling me."
I might sound corny, but I genuinely hear the sword calling me ... Actually, it is screaming at me.