Swoosh.

A sound tore through the air, reaching them in the blink of an eye.

It was an object, faster than light itself. It shot towards the duo.

But Alaric stood composed beside Azrael, waving his palm casually. Like he was just swatting a fly.

The object rebounded, flying back to its source at the same speed.

All of it had happened in a fraction of a second.

Azrael could not even register anything, his head only tilted after everything happened.

"Did you hear that sound?" He asked with furrowed brows.

He had not even caught the object and Alaric’s movement, the only thing he heard was the tearing sound made by the object.

Alaric nodded. ’That sound could have ended your life in moments,’ he thought.

"You went for your assessment pretty fast," the voice came from no visible place, spreading through the air with a calm, soothing tone.

Azrael’s head tilted, looking around for the source of the voice.

"No need to search, Morgana wouldn’t come out," Alaric said from the side calmly. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"How do I get my rewards then?" He asked.

"What is the tier of your core?" Morgana asked.

"Mythic," Alaric responded with a cold, almost dismissive tone.

"So you had a mythic core bottled in you all this while," Morgana said, her smile spreading through the vault with a surreal tenderness.

"As per the rule, you are supposed to spin a wheel to get a random fruit since we can’t waste time looking for a specific one. But luckily, you awakened a mythic tier core." As she spoke, a trolley began to roll out, pulled by no one in particular. It was as if it was being controlled by a magical force.

"The total amount of mythic fruit we have is less than twenty in total."

The trolley stopped at his feet, displaying fruits that glowed with a beautiful purple hue that created glittering motes of light around the tray.

The fruits’ forms were like those of grapes, enough to be thrown into the mouth at once.

But Azrael didn’t dare underestimate them. He knew for sure each of them could start wars that spanned countless decades.

"Why isn’t there a description for them?" Azrael suddenly asked with furrowed brows.

"No one knows the ability the fruit grants unless it was created by them or they use it. But rarely do people who create fruits give them out, so these are fruits harvested around the universe by our warriors," Alaric explained.

Azrael’s eyes twitched. "Then what is the difference from just spinning the roulette?" He asked.

"Be quick, you can at most spend ten minutes here, and you have wasted four already," Morgana’s voice tore through the air again.

Azrael hissed. His hand danced across each of the fruits as he sang a rhyme.

"Basing your future on a song," Alaric teased.

"Not like it is any different from choosing directly," Azrael snapped back, picking one of the fruits as the rhyme concluded.

"Spin them," the words came as two small roulettes, barely the size of his palm, appeared floating in the air like gravity had no hold over them.

The trolley began to withdraw at the same time, rolling back into obscurity.

Azrael’s eyes followed the trolley but he saw nowhere it went. It was as if it suddenly disappeared at one point.

’So creepy,’ he thought.

He held both roulettes simultaneously, spinning them at the same time.

Click. Click.

The only sound that permeated the room was the soft whirl of the roulettes.

Slowly, they began to halt.

The first to stop was the diamond one. The roulette vanished, replaced by a diamond colored berry.

The next was the platinum one. It stopped about twenty seconds after.

It was replaced by a platinum colored berry too.

Azrael looked at his hand with a smile.

"Let’s go," Alaric said, already turning. He walked towards the door that slid open as he neared it.

Azrael did not wait. "Thank you, great elder Morgana," he bowed, running after Alaric.

As Azrael exited and the door closed, Morgana’s voice spread through the vault again.

"So beneath that curse was so much talent."

Outside, Alaric and Azrael walked together, Clara following behind them.

"What’s wrong between you and her?" He asked.

Alaric looked at Azrael with a smile, one he never wore throughout his stay in the vault.

"Just an argument, we might reconcile in a million years or so," he smirked.

Azrael’s head spun. Taking one million years to reconcile, what sort of timeline was that? A million years, that was literally all it took for civilization to bloom on Earth.

"Okay."

"Here, a parting gift," Alaric said, a small ring appearing in Azrael’s free hand.

Before Azrael could talk again, he disappeared.

His eyes opened wide for a moment before he exhaled again.

He looked at the ring, a small ring etched with several runes.

His essence flowed into it calmly. In his mind, an endless space unfolded.

"A spatial ring this big?" He wondered, thanking Alaric in his mind.

He put the fruits into it and wore it on his index finger.

"So, Clara, are you truly going to be my maid?" He asked, tilting his head to Clara who followed behind him.

Clara nodded slowly.

For one, she could not deny the request of a direct heir. But that was not the main reason, as a maid of the direct heir, even the other members of the clan had no control over her, only her master. And she would gain more prestige the farther her master grew.

"Alright then."

Together, they walked towards Azrael’s room. "We will sign the contract with the head butler later tomorrow, I am exhausted now," he said.

"Okay, young master," Clara said with a curt bow.

Soon, Azrael reached his door, entering calmly.

Clara had long gone back to her position. Until she signed the contract, she could not leave there.

After a long, deserved shower, Azrael jumped into his bed.

He had changed from the white suit to a more casual cloth.

His eyelids began to droop, closing slowly until they snapped shut.