**Hey guys, I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for sticking around. I have long since made more than one announcement in the discord, but I will fill in those of you who don't know here.
*For the last two months, I have been MIA, and the series was on hiatus because I had yet another death in the family, this one happening the day of IRL Brance's wedding, and this time it was the Aunt who raised us growing up.
*With back-to-back deaths in my family (Uncle in FEB, now Aunt in JULY, partnered with IRL Brance's wedding, my head was all over the place, along with my mental state. However, We are back in business, and it's time to get back on the grind, especially since our second Anniversary is rapidly approaching.
*So once again, thank you all, from the bottom of my little decrepit black heart, for sticking around, and now, without further ado, lets goo.**
---
Sitting up and hopping to his feet, Cynrik quickly dusted himself off and fought a wave of nausea his new vision brought about. If the only thing he faced was restructuring his eyes, then it wouldn't have been that disorienting.
However, subconsciously, and through a habit he had formed over the past few years, Cynrik had automatically activated his newly improved [Mana Sight], in turn causing his vision to swim about for a moment as the once hazy yet colorful clouds dotting his sight representing the Ambient Mana had undergone a drastic and radical change.
Before, his ocular skill allowed him to view the world in 480p; now, everything he saw was in a crisp 4k resolution, turning the once vibrant particle clouds into distinct colored orbs of pure energy.
Due to the high levels of focus required to undergo the combination lock cracking, Cynrik hadn't been affected upon increasing the Tier of his [Mana Sight]. However, now that he was in a calm state of rest, the images his brain received were overwhelming enough to cause him almost to hurl.
Grunting in annoyance and swiftly deactivating the skill, Cynrik caught himself from falling and shook his head a few times to clear the dizziness.
"That's gonna take some getting used to..." He grumbled before patting the dainty hand which had caught his shoulder to balance him.
"Let me guess, you instinctively activated [Mana sight] and almost ate shit?" Rolling her eyes and stepping up beside Cynrik, Selene teased.
"Tsk, me? Make such a mistake? Never, anyway, let's get this big ass door opened." With a dismissive snort, Cynrik moved away from Selene and gingerly walked toward the massive Vault door.
"So...what's next? I assume shouting Open Sesame won't work since there isn't any power." Looking toward the top of the large door, Selene watched out of the corner of her eye as Cynrik calmly reached forward, caught hold of the protruding handle, and pulled.
RUMMMBLE
With little effort on Cynrik's behalf, the door easily slid open a quarter of a meter before he stopped and tossed a cocky smile over his shoulder toward Selene.
"Easy work is easy work, Ma Petite." He stated matter of factly before pulling the door open wide enough to release a gust of pressurized air.
Stepping backward and pulling the door open, Cynrik created a space large enough for them to slip into the vault before releasing the handle and walking to the far right of the room, where the newly created entrance existed.
Less than a minute later, the married couple stood in the center of the large vault room and glanced around, with Cynrik having a pensive expression plastered across his face, while Selene was the spitting image of a kid on Christmas morning.
Contrary to what Selene had expected to see, what she was observing wasn't a standard bank vault or even what she had seen in movies; instead, she and Cynrik stood in what could only be described as a cross between a jewelry store and a department store.
The walls of the Vault room were lined with a multitude of glass cases, ranging from long ones to tall ones, and the open space in the center was filled with large racks like a department store.
"Woah..." Selene couldn't help but mutter as she quickly ran to the nearest glass-case before pressing her face on the surface and observing its contents.
Meanwhile, Cynrik mosied around the vault, his hands clasped behind his back, taking a mental inventory of his new wares. In doing so, he constantly gathered a wealth of information on each item that he didn't instantly recognize by way of his [Inspect] skill, which was already at Tier-4 and thus would give him all the fine details of every item he inspected.
'Trash, trash, flashy material, trash skill books, lame weapons, sigh, when I saw the dense Mana Particles on everything in the room from within the Shadow Realm, I expected this shit to be a good haul.' He thought while heaving an annoyed sigh.
'At best, this crap can only be used by the kids; not even Brance would touch any of this garbage. Since we are far too overpowered, half this shit would be broken the moment we used it.' Pushing aside his apparent disappointment, Cynrik moved deeper into the vault before coming to an abrupt halt upon hearing a loud...
CRASH!
"Hehehehehe, one for me, one for hubby, one for me..." But once he heard the greedy giggles that accompanied the smashing sound, Cynrik merely shook his head and continued searching for the cluster of items that initially drew his attention from below.
Unfortunately, due to his hesitation in using [Mana Sight], Cynrik's task became boring and tedious as he found it necessary to go through each item one by one until finally, after around thirty minutes, he came upon a shelf housing several what could only be described as treasure chests made of valuable and shiny metals.
'Sigh, if they aren't inside these boxes, then I guess this whole endeavor has wasted my time.' He thought, then, with a flick of his wrist, his right hidden blade extended, allowing him to pick the lock on the first of five chests.
Within three breaths, a soft yet distinct "CLICK" was audible, and Cynrik flipped open the top of the chest, revealing its contents to the world.
"Oh ho ho, now what is this..." Slightly surprised, Cynrik reached in and withdrew three identical-sized glowing stones; one had a metallic silver sheen, the second a golden metallic luster, and the final one, a dull bronze, which somehow still came off as shiny.
Holding the three stones in his hand, Cynrik couldn't help but break into a wide grin as he shuffled them around in a circle in his palm in a juggling manner.
"Oh? Whatcha got there...hold up...are those what I think they are?" Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, Selene jumped toward Cynrik's hand and brought her face down to examine the three shiny stones swirling around his palm. n(-0velb1n
"Yep, it's exactly what you think, three Metal Affinity Orbs... Silver, Gold, and Bronze, kuekuekue, time to turn Brancie into a money printing machine kuekuekue." Releasing a creepy laugh with eyes filled with greed, Cynrik confirmed Selene's thoughts as she also began giggling in a strange accompaniment.
--PPPST, JOIN US, JOIN US IN THE DISCORD, https://discord.gg/dcxKNJEMwg--