Bjorn took the lead in entering the room, making sure there wasn't some mechanical monstrosity waiting for them. His concern was good as it was always great to maintain a state of caution and awareness, but he needn't have bothered. The room was empty of beasts, empty of traps, empty of any threat to their safety and well-being. Even if there wasn't much of anything in this final room, Beth would already be quite happy with their gains. Bringing the whole team along had shown massive benefits, especially in discovering and accessing the hidden floor, where she had made a massive gain.
Beth was initially a little disappointed with the contents of the room, having hoped for piles of gold and diamonds, but that disappointment disappeared rather quickly when they realized what exactly was in the room. There were seven items in the center of the room on a high table, though that table would be a nice height for Bjorn. Beth assumed that at least some of the facility, based on what they had seen, was constructed for giants or titans more on Bjorn's stature versus the stature of the mechanical titans.
Beth examined all seven items, noting that two of the items were crystals of some kind, which turned out to both be skill crystals. Apart from that, the other five items were four pieces of equipment and an artifact. The pieces of equipment were a ring, a sword, a chestplate, and a set of gauntlets. The chestplate and the gauntlets didn't match, at least in terms of style and appearance, though it was still possible they could be part of the same armor set. Beth dismissed that after examining the pieces and finding out that they were not part of any set, though they were quite rare and valuable pieces. The ring and the sword were not parts of any set, either, just very good items that more than one of those present could use. The artifact, meanwhile, was something useful in enchanting, not an inscribing tool exactly, but a tool meant to lay out patterns on work pieces and align multiple different runes together. It wasn't likely to be as valuable as the other items, but it was still something an advanced enchanter would love to get their hands on.
"Should we head back before discussing the loot?" Beth asked.
"Sure. Go ahead and grab them," Val said to Beth.
"You want to smash anything else?" Sera asked Bjorn with a slightly quirked brow.
"Only the upgrade core," he said. "But that would be rather dangerous, so we should probably just leave it. It's just too bad nobody has a storage space big enough to take it."
"Now, hang on a minute," Beth said, after finishing stashing the seven items in her necklace. "What's this about a big enough storage space?"
"If you had a big enough storage space, we could take the upgrade core, which I would prefer to do, especially as I didn't see anything about there being one here," he explained. "Which means it's one of only a couple hidden ones scattered throughout the universe. Likely why the Path put a portal to it on a new world to help inspire exploration."
"I have enough room," Beth said confidently. "As long as I don't have to put it in my storage at that size. It won't fit."
"Well, if it won't fit in your storage at that size, then you don't have room," Bjorn said, scrunching his brow and frowning as he stared down at Beth.
"No, no. I have enough room, but I can't just instantly move it in there," Beth explained.
"Ah, your gate," Bjorn said, face relaxing into an aware look as he came to a realization.
"Yeah. Can we move it piece-by-piece or something?" Beth asked.
"I can put it into a passive mode for five minutes, which will allow us to push everything together," Bjorn said. "But it's really heavy and awkward."
"Bjorn, we have eight people here with four-digit STR stat or more, almost all of us having buff skills. I think we can move something heavy," Beth said.
"You expect me to do manual labor?" Veren asked, his wide eyes conveying shock.
"You can comb your hair or something," Andrea shot at him. "The rest of us will do some work."
"Val. Lend me your help," Bjorn said, striding over to one of the columns. He tapped five places, causing a series of runes to appear. Val traced them before writing six runes next to them, causing a rectangular section to flip over, revealing a screen and a panel on the column. "Let me set this up."
The rest gathered around while Bjorn started typing, entering a huge number of commands into the panel. He hit two buttons and stepped back with a satisfied nod, but frowned when the panel flashed first white then red. He stepped forward again, frowning as he typed away furiously for a minute before tapping two keys and again getting the panel flashing white then red. His frown deepened and he started typing in a different rhythm, moving through different screens as his brow lowered and his eyes squinted.
"Hmm. No, no. This isn't right…" he muttered. "Where's the unseal? Why'd they change the matrix…"
"Having problems?" Beth asked, watching him work.
"Almost all the commands are changed or non-functional," he responded in a growl. "I don't understand what they did to this system."
"So, it's not supposed to be like that?" Beth asked.
"No. Many of our old technologies were made to be portable, or able to be torn down and set up again somewhere else. I should be able to put this machine into a travel mode and then get it to collapse, but none of the commands are working," he explained, frustration in his voice as he continued typing.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"Is it because it has energy in it?" Beth asked.
"No, no. That's not the problem. That's why we could only pack it away for five to ten minutes, but it should still shutdown and collapse," he answered.
"So, what if we try draining it?" Beth asked.
"Pointless," he said. "This would have been seeded with very concentrated, pure energy. We couldn't even pay an arm and a leg to buy something like that these days. Not in the Milky Way. And then it has gathered and concentrated energy for thousands or tens of thousands of years. If we just shunt all the energy away, it makes the whole thing worthless. Unless you don't mind waiting fifteen or twenty thousand years for it to have even a moderate charge?"
"Okay, point taken," Beth said, holding up her hands briefly in a calming gesture.
"Looks like we aren't getting this," he said with a grunt. "I could try to reprogram it, but that would take days, and I don't know if I could get it to repack even then."
"Well, we know where it is," Val said. "Unless you're telling us it will move or self-destruct or something?"
"No, it will stay here. It will keep slowly gathering energy forever, or until it breaks down, but these things were built to last to just shy of forever," he said.
"That means we can still bring people here and use it, right?" Val asked.
"That's right," Bjorn said. "I can't destroy it either, not right now. As long as the teleportation array stays where it is and functional, people can continue to get here."
"I've marked the spatial coordinates, as well," Val said. "I'll send them to you all."
"Could be useful," Andrea commented as Val sent them all a data packet on their communicators.
"So, we're done here, then? No more secrets, Val?" Beth asked the group, looking at the tall, pale woman in particular.
"No more secrets," Val said with a shake of her head.
"Okay, cool. Next question; how do we get out of here?" Beth asked, thinking of the long shaft back to the twelfth floor.
"Elevator," Bjorn grunted, leading the way back out of the room with the energy core to the initial room. The others joined him, standing around him as he accessed something on his communicator. It wasn't long after that that a platform formed under their feet, or perhaps had always been there, rising up into the shaft they had fallen down at a rapid pace. It might have been too much for a normal person, but both the acceleration and speed were nothing to this group.
Once back up on floor twelve, they started their climb back out of the facility. Val told them, and Bjorn confirmed, that there were no other teleporters or doors in or out of the place apart from the one on floor one. They had to hoof it back up to the top the manual way, though Val said she could likely get the elevators working if given just a bit of time. It wasn't really worth it, as the group could move very fast, and waiting for Val to tinker with the elevators for possibly an hour or two would be even slower than just running up the stairs. Besides, they didn't have to deal with any enemies along the way and Bjorn had done all the smashing he could handle, so their progress was extremely quick.
The teleporter, thankfully, worked just as it always had, delivering the group back into the depths of the kobold area south of the CRA Hall. Getting out of that area took their team just a few minutes, and they all returned to the Hall and Beth's suite. They found Neph sitting within the suite, reviewing some kind of materials on alchemy, but she instantly ditched those and was all over the group when they entered, asking a million questions. Andrea and Kris sat her down, almost having to sit on her, and slowly explained what happened during their little adventure. They had one more thing to take care of, which Beth wanted to get done before they got too distracted, so she dumped the items on the center table in the living room.
"Loot," she said, looking around at the group. "What are we thinking?"
"I have no interest in the sword," Veren stated. "I only have interest in the ring."
"Okay, Veren wants the ring," Beth said. "Who else?"
"I do as well," said Andrea.
"I could use it," said Sera.
"Not interested," said Bjorn.
"No," said Kris.
"I could use it, too," said Beth with a frown. "It would be useful for quite a few of us."
"We could both use it as well," Val said, pointing to herself and Blood. Beth took a look at the ring before they continued.
Ring of Rapid Storms
{Ring imbued with the power of the storm. Every attack becomes swift as the wind and powerful as the lightning.
25% increased STR
75% increased DEX
Minimum level 200.
Adds minor lightning to physical strikes.}
"Let's just put this up as highly contested for now," Beth said with a sigh. "Veren already said he doesn't want the sword. Does anybody else apart from me even use swords?"
"Maces," grunted Bjorn.
"Claws," said Blood and Val in unison.
"Fists," said Andrea.
"Spear," said Sera.
"Casting focus," Kris said quietly with a small shrug.
"Well, I guess I can claim the sword, for now," Beth said with a chuckle, pulling the blade to her.
Storm King's Edge
{The blade forged from the lightning of an ancient battle world. A Grandmaster forged this blade to rule over other blades. Has the capacity to grow stronger if fed the pure heart of a lightning sovereign. Enchanted with sharpness, repair, and mass transformation.
100% increased STR
50% increased DEX
25% increased END
25% increased INT
Minimum level 250.
In the hands of an Expert or beyond, can throw lightning-enhanced sword waves.}
"Okay, sword done, ring is up for grabs. Gauntlets?" Beth asked.
Thunder Fists
{Gauntlets forged with the power to break the skies. A rolling sound of thunder breaking quakes the heavens. Enchanted with fit, repair, and mass transformation.
75% increased STR
25% increased DEX
25% increased END
Minimum level 250.
Adds concussive shocks to punches.}
"I want. Me, me, me," said Andrea, leaning forward and grabbing at them, though she didn't actually touch them.
"Anybody else interested?" Beth asked, looking around the room. When the entire rest of the group shook their heads, Beth tossed the gauntlets to Andrea. "I was the only other person who wanted them and I'm happy with the sword."
"Next, chestplate," Beth said.
Cuirass of Storms
{The power of the great storm defends the wearer. Forged to channel the power of lightning and wind to protect the user. Enchanted with fit, repair, and elemental protection.
25% increased STR
25% increased DEX
75% increased END
Minimum level 200.
Provides additional defense against wind and lightning.}
"I think we all want it," Sera said.
"I do not," Veren replied. "My armor is still better."
"Holy fuck! How good is your set?" Beth asked.
"Masterwork, level uncapped, Sage-forged," Veren replied calmly.
"Fuck off," Val grumbled, throwing a couch pillow at him, which he deflected by using his index finger and middle finger like a sword.
"I got the gauntlets, I won't join in," Andrea said.
"Sword's good enough for me. Veren doesn't want it. All five of you want it?" Beth asked.
"I don't need it," Bjorn said.
"Okay, Blood, Val, Kris, and Sera," Beth said.
"I want the enchanting tool," Val said, pulling that towards her.
"Okay, Blood, Kris, and Sera," Beth said.
"Eh, I don't really need it," said Sera.
"Blood can have it," Kris said.
"Don't mind if I do," Blood said, pulling the chestplate to herself.
"So, Veren ring, me sword, Blood armor, Andrea gloves, Val tools. That leaves these two crystals," Beth said. "For now, at least. We can talk about it after we have everything assigned."
"They're both skill crystals," Bjorn said.
"Multi-use?" Beth asked.
"No."
"Oh."
"One's a spell and one's a defensive skill," Bjorn said.
"So, this won't work out totally even," Beth said with a frown. "If they're one-time use, we basically have seven treasures for eight people."
"I don't need anything," Kris said quietly.
"No, it's fine, I got the data and some other things," Bjorn said. "I don't need either of the skills or any of this stuff."
"If you're sure?" Kris asked hesitantly.
"Take it," Bjorn said.
World of Lightning
{This skill creates a massive field of lightning centered around the caster. The lightning can be controlled and directed anywhere within a certain radius based on the skill of the caster and level of this skill.}
Body of Heavenly Thunder
{This skill passively imbues the user with a body of heavenly thunder, greatly increasing their resistance to impacts and lightning while massively boosting their endurance. Actively using the skill will allow the wielder to strike with the force of thunder from the heavens.}
Beth scanned the crystals before they were used. Kris took the World of Lightning skill, which was an insanely powerful, AOE lightning skill, while Sera used Body of Heavenly Thunder, which would massively reinforce her toughness. They were both incredibly good skills, and with the new skill, Sera would be so much harder to injure that it was kind of scary.
