Treasures.
Treasures everywhere.
Valerio stood in the middle of the blue-violet door frame with his mouth hanging open, his eyes still wide open. The sly look his grandparents were giving him further contributed to his shock. His grandmother was staring at him while sitting on the table and his grandfather was sitting on an opulent chair in a corner, barely opening an eye to see him come in.
Clarity slowly came to Valerio as he slowly put the pieces together.
'So that's what happened.'
Valerio's grandparents were the strongest on the planet, they could've easily been spying on him as he spoke with Lucius or when he was reading in the library. They'd probably heard he was going to cultivate and wanted to gift him a treasure or two to start his journey.
His grandma looked like she was in her early 30s, but he knew she was much older than that, maybe millions of years older. He had never asked explicitly, anytime he did try to surf around the topic, it was quickly shut down by either his grandma or grandpa. Estelle had short black hair that curved inwards at her shoulders, the strands of greys in her hair gave her the mature look a grandmother would have. Her black eyes seemed to contain the void within, and who knew, perhaps they did. Though her eyes could instil fear into the deaths of anyone's heart, she had the warmest smile in the world, as if she would do anything for her little boy.
The silence was almost audible, not that it bothered Valerio or his grandparents but he knew they wanted him to ask, to speak first, so he obliged.
"Grandma, grandpa, have you finally decided to spoil your only grandkid rotten?" Valerio teased while staring at the numerous treasures around the room. Seemingly unable to take his eyes off them.
"You little rascal," his grandma laughed as she finally stood and hugged Valerio as tight as she could without hurting him.
If she had used her full strength, there probably wouldn't be a particle left of him.
"I heard my grandson was going to start cultivating, and I know how your parents are, so keep this between us." Estella spoke, her voice as soothing as a lullaby.
Valerio couldn't help but chuckle. They truly knew their son too well. His father would never ease his path with treasures, instead wanting him to grow on his own and earn them like the rest of the clan. "How many can I pick?" Valerio asked with a slight grin invading his face.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, you can only pick 1." his grandfather cut in, not leaving his chair. He seemed to be falling asleep but Valerio knew better, he was trying to act cool. His grandpa seemed to have an obsession with looking cool, he couldn't help but compare it to his dad. His dad seemed to be equally… cool as his grandpa but it didn't seem as intentional as his grandpa.
The smirk on Valerio's face widened a little at the thought that maybe his grandpa had put more effort into making his act seem believable and that his dad had simply learned everything from that act. He chuckled and shook his head, dismissing whatever ridiculous theory that was about to form.
With a quick wiggle, Valerio broke free of his grandmother and started inspecting the treasures hovering all around him.
There were many artefacts in the room, some on the table, some hanging on the walls and some floating around slowly. They ranged from artefacts to change the colour of your hair, to one-time explosives that could incinerate 1st plane worlds.
Valerio took his sweet time, going through each artifact as noon became night. Valerio asked about various treasures to his grandparents and finally managed to reduce his options to two:
[Void Ring] An artefact capable of storing anything except living entities. Undetectable to 4th plane entities and below.
[Lunar Lubinder] A Lubinder to be used by a Lucrafter, provides an increased absorption of Lu while in use.
A void ring was famous for being more durable than ordinary spatial rings and the ability to store more in it than artefacts of the same rank. Its ability to hide came from Scattering Ore, a light-type ore with the ability to, well… scatter light. A good crafter could easily use its properties to make it seem like the ring didn't exist.
Valerio was struck between the artefacts for two reasons. The [Void Ring] would provide plenty of utility and even let him improve his understanding of the void. But would he need this type of artefact if he was never travelling or if he didn't lack Void type treasures? Probably not, on the other hand, the [Lubinder] would be immensely helpful until he reached the 4th Plane. He was already struggling with the long-term use of his Lu when he undertook crafts at his Plane.
After a conversation with his Grandpa, he settled for the [Void Ring]. His grandpa had spoken of the luxury of a sturdy, undetectable and sizable spatial ring, which was just a void ring. The final nail in the coffin was that he could craft without a new Lubinder, but he couldn't store away anything without a spatial ring. He'd prefer the increase to his quality of life as well as a treasure made for an Augustine rather than a purely assisting tool.
After finding out that the [Void Ring] was a higher ranked artifact than the other, his choice solidified.
He figured he'd be able to use the [Void Ring] for longer with the added bonus of never running out of food.
'Well as long as I restock.'
Valerio took off his current spatial ring and threw it in his [Void Ring]. That was another feature unique to void rings, they could store spatial rings.
The incomparably smooth void ring slid onto Valerio's left index finger. The simple indigo ring became blurry and soon disappeared as Valerio imprinted it with a drop of blood. Valerio waved his hand around and was impressed by the weightlessness of the ring after the imprinting. Imprinting an artefact made it connected to the user, allowing easier use of it, and in this case, a significant reduction in weight.
A deep voice interrupted his thoughts as his grandpa spoke "You'll need to change the imprint to a spiritual one after reaching Tier 7. Blood imprints are easier to sever than spiritual ones." Valerio promptly nodded his head.
After a couple of seconds of looking at Valerio a huge grin appeared on Diego's face "Alright brat get out of here, and don't tell your parents about the ring, they won't sense it unless they have a reason to look for it."
Valerio left after some small talk, his mind swirling with thoughts of cultivation—maybe it wouldn't be too bad.
Diego and Estelle kept watching the door after Valerio left, a small smile on their faces. Their minds were occupied by their own matters.
Diego's hand waved and all the treasure in the room disappeared, appearing back in the treasury of the Augustine family as if they had never left.
As Diego and Estrelle got back to their duties, Valerio made it outside the manor, once again walking in the moonlight.