“Oww…oww...ouch!" I yelled out, laying flat on my stomach, “Can’t you be a little bit more gentle, Odelia?” wincing in more pain.

“Please endure, my Lord.” Odelia asked politely, “And stop fidgeting so much, will you?”

“Oww…! Maybe I’m talking nonsense here, but isn’t there a less painful and modern way of tattooing, Odelia? Oww…!” Squeezing my forearms to ease the pain.

“No? Unless there is a new method I do not know about?” She painfully made small cuts into my back with a needle, “Now hold still.” as she then lightly but painfully hammered the Magic Ink directly into them.

“I’m just gonna throw out an idea here—ouch! Think about a magical tool that's made up of tiny needles that can inject the ink into the skin for you—maybe call it a tattoo...mechanism or something.” I knowingly suggested.

"Well if one is invented, I will openly consider trying it." Continuing her traditional way of tattooing.

As I winced in pain again, the others tried to cover their amusement, and I said “Actually forget the idea, I’d rather want to know why everybody’s here watching this! Don’t you guys have anything else better to do?” Questioning Aelthar, Shurtyrr, and Amariina’s unwanted attendance.

“Sorry Lord Eyes, Ael unwillingly dragged me here. I was not even aware of Odelia’s challenge until this morning.” Shurtyrr defended himself, completely sober now—opposed to yesterday’s drunkenness.

“Well, it is not everyday we get to witness history being made, my Lord.” Aelthar smiled, looking the most amused by my pain, “And do not believe what Shur said about being dragged here, he happily came with us after hearing what was happening.”

“True." Amariina added, carefully observing Odelia’s detailed craftsmanship. "And who wouldn’t want to see your Trinity Tattoo being created, my Lord? You are our Head of the House after all.”

“Hmmm...can you at least not laugh and look so amused while you guys watch? This tattoo really hurts, you know?” They all agreed but I could still hear them giggling to themselves—even Odelia giggled a little.

“Do not mind them, Lord Eyes. They are just happy to witness such a momentous occasion.” Verana said, entering the room and bringing me some soothing tea, “And I hope this will soothe you after your sudden collapse in the treasury yesterday."

"Thanks for the tea, Verana, and I told you I was fine. I was just...tired." I assured her and everyone else, "Now what I really need is something to distract me from the pain."

"Oh, if the pain is a problem, allow me to erase it for you.” Verana placed her right hand on the top of my head and a strong white magic emitted from it; then before I knew it, all the pain completely disappeared and a message popped up.

You have been affected by the Status Buff: [Pain Nullification].

“There; you will no longer feel pain for 24 hours, which is plenty of time for Odelia to finish everything she needs to do today.” Verana stated, sitting down with the others and taking a sip of her own tea.

“You're amazing, Verana!" I complimented, "Thank you!”

"My pleasure, my Lord." Verana accepted my thanks.

Now that I felt no pain, only the sensation of something tapping my back, I relaxed and took a look at that Buff.

Pain Nullification: Both a blessing and curse, your body will no longer feel pain whatsoever, giving you the opportunity to break through the physical limits of your body and feeling none of the painful consequences.

Duration: 23 Hours, 59 Minutes, 38 Seconds

"Interesting, that means even if I break an arm I wouldn't feel it, but if I get cut and start bleeding out, I also wouldn't feel it." Thinking "That is a blessing and a curse."

Then suddenly interrupting my thoughts, Amariina said “By the way, Lord Eyes, you entered the treasury yesterday, right?.” Aelthar and Shurtyrr also looking curious about it.

"I did. What of it?" I replied, curious why they were interested.

“Then if we may ask, what was it like?" Amariina inquired eagerly, with Aelthar and Shurtyrr also eager to hear. "Verana never tells us what’s inside, or even lets us see a glimpse of it.”

I looked to Verana for permission to tell them, but she simply nodded a gesture that it’s completely my choice to do so. Not really having an issue myself with revealing what's inside, I openly told them everything I saw inside the treasury yesterday.

A day before…

Before I even entered, I completely suppressed the effect of the Eyes Of Goblinkind, as even receiving the partial benefit blinded me from the bright shine of everything inside. However when I did enter first, I was still kind of blinded by the endless mountains of different coins, jewels, gemstones, and treasures piled up in the large brightly lit square chamber. A chamber where everything was stacked so high that the piles of treasures touched the ceiling, but which left three narrow paths to different arched doorways leading to other unknown chambers—one on the left, one on the right, and one straight ahead.

Entering after me, Verana said “This is the Coffer; it is where all the funding for the House is collected and stored, along with being the members’ personal bank if they wish it to be.”

“Th-this place is unbelievable!” I was in complete awe of the ridiculous amount of treasure in this one chamber, “H-how much is this all even worth? Can’t be less than a million, right?” extremely curious about the potential amount.

“Hmmm...let me think.” Verana said, actually thinking about an answer.

While she did so, I ran my hand through the nearest pile of coins and thought “Holy shit they're loaded! I knew they’d have something good in here if they locked it up so tightly, but this is more like a dragon's hoard than a treasury—and this is only the first room!”

Verana finished thinking and calculated, “If we get a decent price for the jewels, gemstones, and treasures; and convert any Platinum, Silver, and Copper to Gold; I estimate everything would total to around 250-275 million Gold.”

It didn’t hit me right away, “Umm, excuse me? What did you say?”

“Well if I am being honest, my Lord; with Shurtyrr’s connections to the black market, and my connections to certain people in the city, the real estimate would probably be nearing 300 million.” Verana corrected herself.

“.........” It took a second to process her words, “What?! 300 million?! 300 MILLION GOLD!?!”

“Yes, though you could also convert it to 3 million Platinum if you would prefer?” Verana suggested.

“Wait, wait, wait. Why the hell does the House have 300 million Gold sitting around here for?”

“I told you, my Lord, we use it to fund the House.”

“Huh? We use 300 million Gold to fund the House?” I reiterated, knowing that's very much not true.

“Well yes, at least a portion of it.” Verana clarified, “We mostly use it to buy daily supplies or hire people to repair something in the House if needed, but when a promising lead about the Descendants comes along, sometimes a little bribe works wonders in loosening lips.”

“That’s it? What about using it for other ways, or maybe personal reasons?”

“As you are now the Head of House Ven’Thyl, you may choose to use the House Fund however you see fit.” Verana kindly smiled, but added “However, I would advise not using it for trivial personal reasons. For centuries of blood and sweat have been spent obtaining such an incredible fortune, and it would be so disappointing to see it all go to waste.” Sounding slightly stern towards me for the very first time.

“Damn it, she’s trying to guilt me into not selfishly using it for myself, and it’s kinda working.” I then asked, “If it’s a fortune collected for centuries, does that make our House the richest in the city?”

“I am not sure about the richest, though I would say we are up there with House Ar’Baste and the Noble Houses.”

“House Ar’Baste? Never heard of them. Are they important or something?”

“Slightly, they do own all the banks in the city after all.”

“Oooh, no wonder they’re rich.”

“But if you only found out about them now, then you must not know that Amariina is engaged to the eldest son of the House, right?” Verana revealed to me.

“Oh no…” Already thinking of ways that could be an issue.

“I see you already understand what that means.”

“I do...” Sighing, “You think they’ll cause trouble if we convince Amariina to break off the engagement or mess up their wedding?”

“Most certainly, my Lord.” Verana grinned, having already come to terms with that possibility. “Though the trouble might become more troublesome if we wait until the wedding, instead of privately dealing with the matter beforehand." Stating, "The embarrassment House Ar’Baste would feel in front of the Noble Houses in attendance would definitely anger them more, especially when it relates to our House.”

I sighed again, thinking “I hope convincing Amariina will be as easy as I think it is, I really don’t want to deal with more trouble than I have to when it comes to this House stuff.”

Moving on to the rest of the treasury, Verana led me to the right chamber first, but when we entered I realized it was just single curved hallway—simply called the Armoury. As the name suggests, it was a place filled with countless pieces and sets of armour and weapons, easily accessible on stands and racks all along the walls. And while we continued to follow the curved hallway, I placed my hand on as many items as I could, and learned that almost everything here was unbelievably ranging from Lv.50-90+ in all rarities except for Legendary—most even had specific Class requirement to use them. However I did eventually come across something that was clearly far better than the rest, and even though I sadly would never be able to use it, I still took the time to admire the glorious armour and matching double-bladed sword.

Crimson Dawn Azure Dusk Armour Set

Legendary

Be it the warmth of the dawn or the chill of the dusk, and you will prevail. But be it the horizon of twilight, and you will conquer.

+1000 Strength and Magic

+1000 Agility and Stamina

+500 Vitality, Intelligence, Endurance, and Sense

+50% Total Physical Damage Reduction

+50% Total Magical Damage Reduction

Helmet Effect: Unlocks the Skill ‘Horizon’s Call’.

Chestpiece Effect: Fighting in direct sunlight engulfs you in a shroud of fire, fighting in direct moonlight shields you in a shroud of ice, and fighting in direct twilight envelops you in a shroud of invisibility.

Pauldrons Effect: Reflect 25% of Physical Damage received during the day, reflect 25 % of Magical Damage received during the night, and reflect 50% of All Damage received during twilight.

Gloves Effect: Armour Piercing increases by 25% during the day, Magic Piercing increases by 25% during the night, and Armour and Magic Piercing increases by 50% during twilight.

Chausses Effect: Stamina Regeneration increases by 25% during the day, Mana Regeneration increases by 25% during the night, and Stamina and Mana Regeneration increases by 50% during twilight

Boots Effect: Immune to Fire Damage during the day, immune to Cold Damage during the night, and immune to Fire and Cold Damage during twilight.

Set Bonus: At the start of dawn the armour becomes crimson, increasing Strength by 50%, but decreasing Agility by 25%. At the start of dusk the armour becomes azure, increasing Agility by 50% but decreasing Strength by 25%. At the start of twilight the armour awakens, increasing Strength and Agility by 50%.

Requirements: Any Elven Race, Lv.100 Godly Blademaster, Str 1,000, Mag 1,000, Agi 1,000, Sta 1,000

Can only be worn as a full set.

Dusk Till Dawn

Legendary

The difference was once night and day, until day and night became the difference.

Attack: 4000

+1000 Strength and Magic

+1000 Agility and Stamina

Effect: Damage with the crimson blade ‘Dawn’ increases by 25% during the day, damage with the azure blade ‘Dusk’ increases by 25% during the night, and damage with the double-bladed ‘Dusk Till Dawn’ increases by 50% during twilight

Bonus Effect: Wielding ‘Dawn’ and ‘Dusk’, or ‘Dusk Till Dawn’ while wearing the ‘Crimson Dawn Azure Dusk’ Armour Set doubles the Swords’ Effect.

Requirements: Any Elven Race, Lv.100 Godly Blademaster, Str 1,000, Mag 1,000, Agi 1,000, Sta 1,000

“What absolutely broken items! I love it!” Carefully looking over the Stats of both, “I guess that’s what makes it a Legendary Lv.100 armour and weapon, but the required Class of Godly Blademaster sounds pretty broken too.” I then recalled 13’s Lv.1000 and thought, “But if that’s all a Lv.100 Legendary can amount to, how do the Guides ever expect the Players who want to return to be able to kill them? They actually probably know we can’t, but I’m sure there’ll be dumb enough people to try at least.”

“I wondered if this would catch your eye, my Lord. And seems to have done exactly that.” Verana stood beside me to admire the gear too, “I am sure this is unknown to you, but this armour and sword once belonged to the First Head of House Ven’Thyl.”

“I should’ve guessed it was someone that special, these were the only things I saw that were above a Unique Rarity so far.” I pointed out.

“They are also the only thing that has yet to be passed on since the Founders have long gone,” Verana mentioned, "for no one in the history of the House or the Kingdom have ever been worthy of claiming them for their own."

“Wait, are you saying it’s okay to give them away if someone can use them?”

“Of course, it was the First’s wishes to pass them on in the first place, and so we must respectfully uphold those wishes until they are fulfilled by us, or someone else who comes along.”

“Sounds like a pain, but doesn’t that also sound like the start of a—”

Quest

One Who Is Yet To be Worthy:

To uphold the First Head of House Ven’Thyl’s wishes, you must find someone worthy of claiming ‘Crimson Dawn Azure Dusk’ and ‘Dusk Till Dawn’ as their own.

Reward: ???

Will you accept:

[Yes] or [No]

“Ugh, I just knew it was another one. Well at least this one doesn’t look too bad.” I accepted it right away, but I decided to ignore it for now since it didn’t seem like there was a rush to complete it.

We walked through the rest of the Armoury, but there wasn’t anything else that could compare to the Crimson Azure gear. Though Verana did let me know I was allowed to do as I see fit with the rest of armour and weapons in this place, as they too also could be passed on to others, but lucky for me there wasn’t a Quest to find all of them new owners. Then surprisingly, when we reached the end of the hallway, we ended back on the opposite side of the Coffer chamber, as the Armoury seemed to be one big loop around the whole Treasury.

Leading me to the last chamber, Verana informed me “This is the Vault; and it is where we keep the scrolls, tomes, potions, accessories, relics, and artifacts our House has found or created.” gesturing to the many shelves of items in the large round chamber, “And yes you can take stuff from here too if you would like—I can already hear you wondering, my Lord.”

“Oh, then don’t mind if I do.” Picking up a very useful scroll I spotted on the nearest shelf.

“Anyway, please come and sign your name in the Founders’ Registry first, Lord Eyes.” Verana politely asked, walking to a stone pedestal directly in the center of the chamber where a large blackened book and quill floated in place. “When you do so, the runes on the treasury door will allow you to open them on your own.”

“That’s it? This isn’t some trick where I sign my soul away, right?” Nervously walking up to the pedestal.

“That would not be possible, as I would clearly require some of your blood if I wanted to do that.” Verana jokingly smiled, giving me a wink and handing me the quill.

Realizing she was clearly teasing me, I relaxed and grabbed the quill from her; then as I placed my hand on the book, the Stats for it popped up.

Founders’ Registry

Legendary

Originally written during the Primordial Dark Age, the Names recorded within its pages are those who banded together in assisting the First Elven King and the young talented Prince in prevailing against the Primordial God who once ruled and presided over the Land Of Trees.

“Strange, a Legendary item that doesn’t seem to do anything…” While I pondered if I was missing something, I glanced at the seemingly endless number of elven names written inside, and couldn’t believe they were all Heads of the House or from this ‘Primordial Dark Age’; so I questioned “Verana, why are there so many names in here? I thought only the Head of the House was allowed inside the House Treasury?”

“Well my Lord, that was not always the case.” Verana elaborated, “The simple explanation for it is that there was a time when every member was allowed inside the treasury; but after a Mind Control incident 500 or so years ago, when almost everything inside got stolen, the new rule was implemented so only the Head of the House could enter the House Treasury.”

“That doesn’t sound good. Can that happen to us? Or anyone else in the House for that matter?” I asked, slightly worried at the thought of any of the House turning against me.

“As a requirement to control another’s mind, one must be more powerful than the one they are controlling; meaning it would be very unlikely for Odelia, Aelthar, or I to be controlled; however you, Shurtyrr, and Amariina would likely be susceptible to the control.” She then tried to assure me, “Though worry not, my Lord. Mind Control is an extremely rare Skill to have, one that I can easily dispel if needed to.”

“That’s good to know.” Feeling relieved, I signed my name ‘Eyes Thalion Ven’Thyl’ directly under Verana’s, and a surprising surge of magic erupted from the book's pages.

Traveling down through the pedestal, the magic struck the chamber floor and scattered in all directions. The entire place began to shake, igniting runes that were hidden all along the walls, ground, and ceiling. Shortly after, the magic came back, gathering at the base of pedestal and rising back into the book. The shaking seemed to have completely stopped, and I watched my name be solidified with magic in the pages of the book.

You have gained the Title: [Historic Archaeologist] Historic Archaeologist: Discovering an ancient artifact directly related to the time of the Primordial Dark Age of Novus, your mind begins to develop a deep desire to discover more about that time and truth it holds about the world. +100 Intelligence.

“What the—” My head began to spin, and my thoughts were filled with questions I had no answer to, "What was the Primordial Dark Age? When was the Primordial Dark Age? Where can I find more information about the Primordial Dark Age? Why is the Primordial Dark Age important? What truth can the Primordial Dark Age hold about the world? Who was that Primordial God in the Primordial Dark Age? How did the Primordial Dark Age end?"

“It is done, my Lord. The Founders’ Registry will now forever remember your name in its storied pages.” Verana had the happiest expression on her beautiful aged face, but it quickly faded away as she suddenly turned sideways in my eyes, and saw my body uncontrollably collapse to the floor. "Lord Eyes! Lord Eyes....! Lord..."