There was one thing that Julius wasn’t sure of. Should he try to tell Kaito what happened? Or should he try to disappear? On one hand, he wasn’t scared of Celestine or her family. But avoiding this kind of drama would be nice.
Oh yeah, speaking of that. He’d remembered why her family name had sounded familiar. It was because he’d gone to school with one of House Cromweld’s daughters. Helen Cromweld had been one of the more outstanding students of his year. Probably the most outstanding, though it was hard to tell for sure because he never had the pleasure of seeing what she could really do. He knew that everyone else in his year believed she was the strongest in their class, but he didn't know. It was possible there were some who were keeping their strength hidden as he'd been.
That being said, even Polux and Joshua believed that she was the strongest. On multiple occasions, they mentioned her talent and said she would undoubtedly be at the top of the school within a year or two.
On the other hand, he was a little surprised that her family was involved with the Conclave. What little he did remember of Helen was honestly pretty positive. She appeared to be a hard worker and a serious person.
Though it was entirely possible that she had nothing to do with all of this and was simply doing her own thing. It was possible that her branch of her family wasn’t interested in working with the Conclave, much like how Selene’s family was.
Ultimately, he decided not to go and sneak into Clan Yoshu for the time being. He didn’t want to reveal himself quite yet and wanted to head over to the Obsidian Vault anyway. He was also hoping that using the pass Kaito had given him might let the man know Julius was alive. He didn’t think anyone other than Kaito knew about the pass. At least hinted that he had full control over such a thing and hadn’t told any other clan members about it.
As much as he wanted to punch Celestine in the face for placing that thing in his chest, he might have to wait for a better time.
As for Selene, she had already contacted her uncle and told him about what happened. Without the looming threat of being killed, she was able to speak up.
According to her, her uncle was already on his way. Julius, on the other hand, wasn’t that interested in staying around. From what she hinted at, her uncle seemed pretty important and was pretty involved in the Verdant Willow Sect.
Maybe once he explored the vault, he would talk with the man. But at the moment, he wanted to keep a safe distance from sect politics. That being said, he might need to talk to her uncle anyway if he wanted to ask about Tezuko Willow and other stuff related to the manual he got.
It took some time, but he finally managed to escape Selene before her uncle arrived. The only thing she made him promise was that he would return at some point in the future, and if they saw each other at the vault, he'd at least wave at her. Though she didn't know if her uncle would allow her to go after finding out what had happened.
The vault was supposedly opening in a few days during the new moon, and so he had some time to explore more of the city. He was a little sad about losing his storage ring, but he also wasn’t too worried. First off, it would be very hard to force open on her own. Secondly, he kept everything of value inside his dimensional space.
A few gold and other random treasures wouldn’t hurt him too badly. Though he might need to go shopping to refill on some of these items. For example, he had stored his portable kitchen inside the ring as well as the shower. Those things he wanted to get a replacement for.
He might need to get a new storage ring, too. It was actually more suspicious if people noticed he didn’t have a storage device at all. Almost everyone had one attached somewhere on their body. Mostly in the form of a ring.
So for the next couple of days, he went around the city and explored the sights. He also made sure to try as many restaurants or food stalls as possible. The food here at Goldmere was fantastic. It was on the same level as Heston, and the variety was really quite nice.
He wasn’t brave enough to try some of the scarier things, though. Something about eating monstrous bugs the size of a large dog didn’t sit well with him. He also took this time to stock up on anything he found tasty.
It wasn’t for another couple of days until the vault was about to open, and during this time exploring, he found an interesting shop where he might be able to get some of the last. It wasn’t a traditional shop by any means. It honestly looked a bit unkept, but it didn’t stop him from appraising some of the items in the window.
Even to his amateur eyes, he could tell the products were well crafted and equally well enchanted. The protective glass prevented him from getting a better look with his mana senses, but he had a good feeling about this shop.
He walked up to the counter and rang the bell. Not long after, he spotted a young man coming out from the back of the shop, a sparkling gold metal rod in his hands. His face was covered in soot and grease, but weirdly enough, his hands were pristine. Clean as a whistle.
The young man fiddled with the rod in one hand and with the other, pressed his spectacles up onto his nose, staring at Julius with a slightly annoyed expression.
“Yes? Can I help you?” he asked with what was the most fake smile Julius had seen in a while.
However, Julius remained undeterred and responded with a smile. “I was hoping to purchase a new storage ring. Would you happen to sell any?”
The man looked completely uninterested and unimpressed. “A storage ring, you say?”
“Yep.”
“You came to my shop to buy a storage ring?” Skepticism radiated off him.
“Why? Is that a bad thing?”
“Why not any of the other dozen shops you must have passed on your way here? Every single one of them sells storage rings,” the young shopowner said with a frown.
Julius scrunched his nose and shrugged. “The other shops were quite busy, and I thought the quality of your items looked pretty good.”
“Look, I don’t know who sent you over, but I’m not interested in anything you’re selling, so please leave,” the man said with a dismissive wave.
Julius opened his mouth, then closed it, feeling very confused. “I’m not selling anything. I’m the one who is supposed to be buying something…” he said, trailing off toward the end. He had a feeling that there was a misunderstanding somewhere.
Luckily, he spotted another person coming out from the back. It was a young woman around the same age as the man. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and a stern expression on her face.
“What is going on, Wexley?” she asked.
The man shook his head. “Nothing, honey. Just another one of them.”
She examined Julius, looking him up and down. “Are you sure? He seems awfully young to be with those people,” she noted.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m not with anyone. I just want to buy some things.”
“He said he wanted to buy a storage ring.”
“He does,” Julius said with a roll of his eyes.
“A storage ring?” the woman asked, confusedly.
“Right? Suspicious, isn’t it? He could at least find a better excuse than that,” the man said with a roll of his eyes.
The woman, however, looked at the man Julius assumed was her husband and then looked back at Julius.
“What kind of storage ring were you hoping to get?” she asked him suddenly.
“Sorry?”
“I mean, what kind of storage ring are you looking for? Do you care more about security or space? If you want space, then how much do you want? Do you care about other things, such as preservation enchantments? Or are you looking for something that lets you remove items faster and more easily? For example, many warriors carry weapons like rings that let them instantly remove their weapon from the ring. Then there is the question of cost. What kind of budget do you have?” The woman fired questions at Julius rapidly.
“Wait, honey, you’re not really believing—”
“Calm down, you’ve been too paranoid lately. You already scared away that last couple. He’s just a kid, and if he wants a storage ring, then there is no reason why we shouldn’t sell him one,” she glared at her husband for a few long seconds before turning toward Julius with a little more friendly expression on her face.
“Sorry about him. We’ve been having issues with some other parties, and it’s been a huge distraction and annoyance,” she apologized to him.
Julius shook his head. Compared to Hayden, Wexley seemed downright pleasant.
“No worries. I understand.”
“Thank you, now what can I get for you?”
“Umm, I guess I want a ring that is large enough to hold around the space of a small room. Security is important, but if it interferes with how large it can be or the other enchantments, then it's not as big a priority. As for enchantments, I would like a preservation enchantment and one that allows me to take items out quickly and in an orderly manner. To be honest, I just want a really good ring,” he explained.
She looked at him a little more closely. “A ring of that size will cost you a significant sum alone. Are you sure you want something that large?”
“How much?”
“Depends on the exact ring, but something like this would cost you at least a couple of hundred gold. And that’s without the other enchantments added onto it.”
He hid a wince. Even with his distorted sense of money, he knew that was a lot. He didn’t get the sense she was lying to him either. He wondered if that ring he’d taken from that Tier 5 was truly that expensive. If so, then Emil letting him keep it was even more generous than he initially thought. He had that ring he'd gotten from that other Tier 5 he just killed, but he wanted to keep that hidden for now. Plus, he wanted to open it later if possible. There might be some clues inside there about the Conclave.
“Is there a way to see any of them? Or are they made to order?” he asked her.
“A lot of our stuff is made to order, but we have several rings that are already made,” she said and reached down to pull a box out from inside the cabinet. When she opened it, he was greeted by ten rings all organized inside a red velvet interior. Each of them sparkled as if they had been freshly polished.
“These are our more expensive ones, but I wouldn’t recommend them. You’re a Tier 4, so something like this would be overkill. I suggest one of these,” she said while taking out another box. This one wasn’t as nice, and the rings were clearly less valuable than the other ones.
Julius made a move to pick up one of the rings, looking over at her. “May I?” he asked.
“Sure, go ahead. Just warning you, if you try to run off with them, you won’t make it past the first shelf.”
He laughed. “Gotcha.” He had already felt the multitude of powerful enchantments the moment he stepped inside. He was inclined to believe her.
He sent some of his senses into the ring and was surprised to see that he could access it. Though he also recognized there was some kind of enchantment preventing him from taking ownership. This must have been something shop owners added as a safety measure.
The ring he had in his hand was one of the cheaper ones, and while he knew it was cheaper, he was still disappointed by the size inside of it. It was basically a large chest’s worth of space. It was still good, but not what he was looking for.
He put it down and picked up one of the more expensive ones. He noticed that both of the shop owners tensed up when he did this. But they didn’t stop him.
When he placed his senses inside the ring, he was immediately impressed by the size. While it wasn’t quite the size of a small room, it was significantly larger than the other one. Not only that, but he could feel distinct areas of organization within the space that connected with his mind.
He grinned a bit as he rolled the ring into his hand. He had a feeling that he was about to spend a lot of money. Though what was the point of having money if you didn’t spend it?