After lunch and a digestive tea as respite, the entourage crossed the street on foot and reached the Lyceum gates. Nero equipped his defensive [Warrior] build before leaving the mansion where nobody could see.

For a change, there were no knights attempting to barge in, no students attempting to enact rightful vengeance upon traitors of the state. Instead, they witnessed a rare facet of professor Holmes as the half-elf, half-lupine gossiped.

"Then the Dean and the guild masters entered the hall and declared they were withdrawing support for the kingdom in this war. I would pay a million Essence to see the face on that leonal!"

They were at the restricted section of the card library. Of the teaching staff, only Holmes and Bezzias came, Tinkwezilsky and Glom were at the lab doing the final touches on the upgraded infusion chamber. Most of the cards on display were mockups, almost-perfect artists' renditions of the real cards but a few were of extreme rarity and value, the real deal. Nero would be drooling if he wasn't too absorbed in paranoia. Was Holmes being sincere in his criticism of the King or was it just bait to see where Altia and he fell on this polarizing debacle?

"Here it is," the senior professor stopped in front of a vault door covered in runes. "Beyond this point is the only unique card on display we know of."

"Professor, wait," Nero called. "Before we go inside, I think it would be better if we stop for a few moments to talk about black-unique cards and what is known about them."

His request was an honest one. Knowing more about these cards might be useful in the future. Holmes honored the student's thirst for knowledge and spoke for more than an hour about the cards, with all the fervor one would expect of someone that dedicated his life to the study of the subject. It gave Nero a good baseline to discern when the half-elf was being sincere or not.

What he said confirmed the knowledge Serena shared. Unique cards were exactly that. Only one copy of each card existed at any given time. But if a copy was destroyed before activation or a hundred years after the last owner's death elapsed, it could spawn again. The first person to touch a black card was its owner, period. Only those that could equip a unique card could read them, regardless of the card was bound to them or not. They all demanded a nigh-impossible feat to drop but if the above conditions were met, it would drop one hundred percent of the time. From the internal codes the Arbitrium assigned to the cards, it was believed there were between one to five hundred black cards on each category. While that might seem many, the conditions to drop, the return of the bearer to the world and the subsequent disclosure of its existence all conspired to keep them as rare as a Dungeon boss that gave affectionate hugs without damage.

After that they crossed the vault door, only to find another vault door. Once the first closed, the second could be opened. An octagonal room with orange cards in glass displays along the walls and a single pedestal in the middle was illuminated by soft Essence lanterns. Nero approached the blue-background black-border card in the middle of the room with reverence.

It had an illustration, just like his [Jester] Class. It showed a glade not unlike the one at Rafflesia's but with verdant grass instead of flowers. A charming wooden hut sat in the middle of the grass, surrounded by impassable trees at the edge of the glade and a bright blue sky with wispy clouds above.

[Idyllic Shelter] - black Skill. Requires black/unique Class. Willpower ???. Intellect ???. Charisma ???. Perception ????. Bound to ?????

Acquisition condition: Kill 5 different Dungeons bosses in 24 hours from the first kill regardless of time elapsed inside or outside the Dungeons.

All Attributes ?????.

"Rest for the wicked, repose for the restless. As recognition for upstanding service in stemming the tides of evil, a shelter for you."

Special: This Skill does not require a Skill slot.

Special: Whenever the shelter is active, the user must pay Willpower mana [....]

Special: To open the gateway to the shelter inside a Dungeon, an amount of Essence equal to 1,000*[Rank ^ (3/2)] must be paid. [...]

Effect: Spend Willpower mana to create a pocket dimension [...]

Effect: Spend 10 mana to open a portal [...]

He couldn't read everything, the letters were too small. Nero just skimmed over the entries and quickly averted his gaze. He could read the card. With glee, he went around the room reading the orange cards in an attempt to mask his discovery. In his minds' eye, the memory of the black card remained. Especially the fact it didn't use up a slot. Nero knew he had to obtain that. It was made for him. The orange and purple cards, tiers III, IV, and V didn't seem so enticing.

"So, Nero," Holmes approached him. "Did you see something you like?"

"I'm a level zero, professor. All of these cards only show me how hard my life will be, their power forever out of my reach."

Nero walked around the glass cases while they talked, looking at the cards. Some of these Skills could destroy cities. The number of people that could use them could be counted on one's fingers though. The tone of his voice drew the attention of Bezzias and Altia. She hurried to her husband's side.

Holmes smirked. "All of them? Out of your reach? Are you sure you can't use any of these?"

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure, professor. There's no card here that will ever be useful for me," Nero said with a straight face.

The senior professor, faced with the rather obvious lie Nero said let his temper slide out of control momentarily. He challenged Nero, "I saw the way your eyes moved when you looked at the black card. You little lia--"

"Is 'miss Chrysopae' okay, professor? We saw you talking to her after the attack on the dorm," Altia asked out of the blue. She used an extra sweet voice when she addressed the half-nereid girl.

Bezzias also joined the group. Holmes studied the faces of each one of the trio and composed himself, erasing the traces of his previous outburst. Bezzias seemed to just remember something. The bat-kin knew the student they were talking about.

"Isn't that your cousin twice removed, professor? She is a half-elf, half-nereid, isn't she?"

Nero was sure Holmes knew about Serena. The professor took a half-step backward. It seemed he was going to attack them but he just pressed the open palm over his heart.

"Yes, she is my cousin. I was checking if she was safe after the attack. What is your interest in her? Most faculty have a relative or other on scholarships in the campus. Even Bezzias does."

"Yes, my nephew's son just enrolled," Bezzias confirmed.

Altia moved to the side so she was partially covering Nero. "Professor Holmes, before we go forward with the research, you must disclose. Do you have any conflict of interest regarding us?"

Bezzias straightened up, curious as to what the senior researcher would say. Nero had a faint grin, more a 'dare you' face, challenging the elder. He didn't answer Altia's question. Holmes was breathing heavily, collecting his thoughts. Nero decided to tease him a bit.

"Sail into ruin," he whispered.

In the silence of the vault and the high Perception of the professors, it was the same a shouting. Holmes ground his teeth, a snarl that showed his lupine canines crisscrossing. His eyes were those of a predator.

"Did you meet her?" Holmes asked, eyes locked between him and Nero, neither man conceding an inch. But they could read each other's faces. Holmes was sure Nero was hiding some secret, and the minnid knew the man was unstable. He triggered [Stoneskin] silently, bringing his total Vigor to twenty-nine since he wasn't wearing his armor.

"You are going to make me look bad in front of my wife, professor," Nero replied, speaking each word slowly. "I am not someone to go around meeting random women. Please be more specific," Nero taunted.

Holmes clenched a fist and punched the display case next to him. They could feel and hear the impact but whatever material it was, didn't break. "Serena, dammit! Is she okay?"

Right when the professor spoke the second syllable of the princess's name, Nero closed his eyes and lowered his head, pulling Altia so she would turn around. He couldn't let Holmes see any of their faces. He didn't see the punch coming and didn't dodge. The ape-kin flew across the room, hitting his back on another display case and crumbling on the ground. His chest was in pain and he might have some bruised ribs but he was conscious.

"The princess! If you hurt her, I promise you'll regret!"

Nero spat blood at the same time a pink mist washed over him. One of the best batches of healing potion Altia had. It didn't count as Dungeon loot, at least not enough to trigger the truth-finder.

"Sail into ruin," Nero replied. "Ring any bell?"

He looked up. Holmes' face had despair written across it. Bezzias was holding him back. Nero stood up, supported by Altia.

"I'm sorry my love. I can't use another potion on you, you have to rest," She told him.

"I'm fine. So, professor. Does it ring any bell? 'Lull yourself in the embrace of music, and sail to your ruin.'"

"You met her. Tell me, are you working for the damn lions?"

Nero shook his head. "Now, now, professor. Don't go calling beast-kin by the common animal ancestor. You know as well as any of us how bad that is. Bat, ape, wolf. We are no such thing even though we came from a common root with these animals. The Royal family are leonals, and they are all assholes."

Holmes took a step back. Bezzias still stood between the two. The half-elf-lupine mumbled to himself. "He knows the Skills' text. They spent probably months inside since they got out a minute before midnight. They brought no loot...."

The senior professor laughed, progressing into a maniacal cackling. "Of course! You left all the loot with her! It is obvious! There's no way a level zero with a Vigor around twenty-five would lose to a level twelve sub-boss. All your Attributes should be around twenty now. Your story is completely fake!"

Nero was amazed. Did he measure his Vigor with an error of only four points with that punch?

"Professor Holmes, you assaulted a faculty member!" Bezzias protested. "Please show some decorum! You know we can get evidence of your unprovoked attack with Nero's combat log."

Holmes relaxed his stance. "You are correct. Please mediate this for us, Bezzias my friend."

The bat-kin let a sharp, almost inaudible shriek escape with a sigh. "Fine. Let me figure things out. This has something to do with the Dungeon they delved yesterday. I thought it was odd that you showed this much interest in them. Also, there is some unknown lady related to them, that they may or may not have met in the Dungeon. A Dungeon that nobody goes. A Dungeon perfect to hide some runaway princess."

"That's all correct, professor Bezzias," Altia said. "We met and befriended princess Serena in the Dungeon. We spent three months of relative time in there, living and hunting together. She felt she was abandoned by her supporters out there. When it was time to leave, we left her there with a month of food, about fifteen million Essence, all the loot we obtained, and a well-hidden shelter deep inside the Dungeon."

"We also found a powerful pet card and had her summon it. With her healing magic and other Skills, she won't have any problem living there," Nero added. "She can last for months if she rations her cards and eats the plentiful fruit and nuts from the forest."

Holmes beat on his chest. He lowered his head. "I'm sorry for attacking you. My [Submission Blow] never deals with lethal damage and allows me to gauge my target's Vigor. I knew you would be fine."

"You're still an asshole. Professor," Nero spat more blood. "You could've asked nicely. Like, inserted the first part of her Skills' text in the conversation. You have a half-nereid cousin."

Bezzias was now looking at the spotless floor of the vault stained by blood and phlegm. Nero ejected the [Warrior] and inserted his utility [Mage]. He pointed at his spit and said the Skill name out loud.

"[Cleanse]. [Cleanse]. Sorry, professor Bezzias."

He swapped back to his [Warrior] build. He felt he needed more VIgor if high-leveled people got this habit of turning him into a punching bag.

"No worries," the bat-kin replied. "Holmes already knew of your black Class."

"So, what happens now? We hug each other and go to a tavern drink until we get wasted and the war is over?" Nero asked. "Or we work together to achieve a common goal and rescue a princess?"