Chapter Twelve: Two Hours in a Vault

"Let's see…. Conquest of Frenen…. War for Kalern…Yes! Chronicles of the Age of Nobles" Luthen said after about an hour as he picked up a dusty scroll. "Can you read this, Sophia? The language is ancient."

"Ok then. Let's see what it says."

"In ... the ... beginning, the ... world ... was ... ruled ... by–"

"Can you read any faster? We have a lot to cover!" He complained

"I am trying! This isn't a piece of cake!" She defended herself

"In ... the ... beginning, the ... world ... was ... ruled ... by ... gods ... who ... controlled ... the ... seven ... types ... of ... magic. So basically the Shards and their Seven Aspects" She continued

"I thought there were six?" Luthen asked

"The world thinks there are six because nobody has had an Ability with the Null Aspect. Except its Shard." She said.

Wait…How did I know that?

"Is that Kane's Aspect? That would make the Null Aspect, not Soul, to be the rarest Aspect then." Luthen said touching his chin

"No two Shards use the same Aspect." She shook her head

"Oh....Good. Continue."

"It ... was ... a ... time ... of ... peace ... and ... great ... prosperity ... till ... a ... great ... evil ... emerged. ... The ... gods ... fought ... amongst ... themselves ... and ... dragged ... humans ... into ... it. ... The ... war ... and ... destruction ... waged ... till ... the ... Benevolent ... Goddess ... and ... her ... allied ... gods ... defeated ... that ... evil. ... The ... victorious ... gods ... repentant ... for ... the ... destruction ... they ... caused ... voted ... to ... let ... humans ... rule ... themselves. ... The ... Goddess ... chose ... the ... First ... Seven ... Nobles ... and ... empowered ... them ... to ... lead ... humankind. ... So ... began ... the ... Age ... of ... the ... Nobles."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah… Pretty much." She put the scroll back to its original position.

"What next?" He asked

"We need to find out what privileges the Great Nobles can grant. Voyne wanted to present his request before the High Council. We need to know what he could ask for." She said.

They spent about another 50 minutes inside the vault.

"No clue. The Great Nobles do have a lot of privileges to grant" He said. They were both exhausted.

"Our time would soon be over." She looked at the timer. Almost 2 hours and nothing yet.

An earthquake shook the vault. That was unexpected. Earthquakes did not usually occur in Rhyne.

"You said those gods from earlier were Shards, right?"

"Gods? Yeah. Most likely."

"Let's see if we can find anything on them. If there is no relevant information to catching Voyne, then maybe we can find something that would make us stronger."

That was their best lead for now. Their time would soon run out and it would be risky to break in again.

"Fine. Look for anything on the Benevolent Goddess. And quickly."

Another 7 minutes later, She found a book Legend of the Goddess Benevolent. It wasn't as dusty as the others. She picked it up.

"Sophia? Anything? Time's running out!"

"Luthen, I have found something."

"Great. Let's go. We have less than a minute till the security protocols kick in."

He teleported Sophia and himself out of the vault to just out of the tour group's range. It was very convenient that with Spatial World, he did not need to touch anyone to teleport them. They may have been caught then.

Sophia quickly joined up with the group and tried to fit in.

Luthen first recognized her. He had only seen her on TV before. The Archduchess Klare. He quickly hid before she discovered him. He tried warning Sophia.

Archduchess Klare got to her first. He had to leave.

"Duchess Sophia, it is a pleasant surprise to see you. How are you?"

"Huh?... I'm fine. How do you do, Archduchess?" Sophia quickly overcame her surprise.

"Oh please. Drop the formality" Klare rolled her eyes. Despite their differences in position, Klare was not older than Sophia. They used to actually play together as children.

"I have seen better days. How's Rhyne? I am truly sorry for that incident with the Shard."

"Uhm. It is okay, Archduch–Klare."

"What are you doing here though?

"Oh that. Uhmm.. I came for the tour."

"A tour?" Klare laughed and asked surprisingly.

"Yes. I have never actually been here before"

"Okay. Next time you want to come here though, just write to me and I'll show you some extra exhibits." Klare winked at Sophia.

"Thank you Klare. I do need to go now." Sophia said.

"Oh yes. Do take your leave. I'll see you later" Klare said and turned to leave.

She paused after a few seconds

Wait! Klare thought. The tour isn't over. She turned to face the tour group.

Sophie wasn't there.

*******

Sophia left the building. In an instant, Luthen appeared by her side.

"That was close!"

"I knew why I insisted on registering and following the tour group, instead of just teleporting in with you. If anyone wants to check the records, there would be evidence that I came for the tour."

Good reasoning. Thought Luthen

He on the other hand did not need a complicated alibi. He was already accused of being a mass murderer so if he was caught – seen actually because it was nigh impossible to catch a teleporting Shard – it would be like the least of his accused crimes.

"Did you get it?"

"Yes I did."

Luthen breathed with relief "Let's head back."

*******

For the first time since this tournament, Kane just tasted his own blood. That last blow made his head spin. The force of it could have taken out 3 of these fighters, who were operating above normal human fitness level, cleanly. His ear buzzed.

Kane was not the only person surprised though. His opponent, looked at him with surprise.

"Y-You stood up?"