The secretary led him deeper into the complex.
The corridors narrowed. Security increased. Access points became fewer and more carefully controlled. Several times, the secretary had to stop at reinforced doors and place her credentials against hidden panels. Cameras tracked them quietly from the corners. The walls here were less decorative and much more functional. Even the air itself seemed colder.
Eventually, they arrived at a vault corridor.
Even before entering, Luke could sense faint traces of power in the space. It did not come from a single source, but from many. It felt old, buried, sealed, and restrained. It was the kind of heavy, layered pressure that only existed when highly dangerous things were stored together and forced into obedience.
The secretary turned to him. "As part of your contract package, you are authorized to select one firearm and one artifact."
That brought Luke's full attention back.
A firearm was useful.
An artifact was more than useful. Depending on what he chose, it could easily become a massive advantage.
The inner vault doors opened with a slow, mechanical finality.
Inside, the lighting was softer, but the atmosphere was much more tense. Display chambers lined the large room. Each item was separated by category and security class. Some rested behind clear shielding, while others were housed in sealed cases marked with glowing warning sigils and containment seals. The arrangement was clean and elegant, but the true purpose of the room was obvious.
Accumulated power. Stored wealth. Practical danger disguised as a simple collection.
Some of the artifacts looked beautiful. Some looked completely useless. Others looked old enough to belong in a dusty tomb rather than a high-tech corporate vault.
Weapons occupied one entire section. There were standard sidearms, modified awakened firearms, rifles, compact assault weapons, and specialized models built for elemental use. Some were clearly modern designs. Others featured the strange hybrid engineering common in this world, where advanced technology and ancient awakened materials were perfectly blended together.
Luke stopped in front of the firearms first.
His right hand almost moved by pure instinct toward his waist, reaching for the spot where his old Bureau weapon used to rest.
The motion was small, brief, and empty.
He had surrendered that gun already. On his last day with the Bureau, he had handed over his sidearm, badge, and clearance without a single protest. There had been no point in fighting it.
Luke pushed the memory aside and began examining the weapon selection properly.
He moved slowly and carefully. He let his eyes catalog the small details, just like he had been trained to do years ago. He checked the grip balance, barrel weight, recoil compensation, and magazine systems. He paid close attention to how well each weapon could handle awakened power reinforcement.
He completely ignored anything flashy. Flashy weapons usually only existed to impress fools, and they always seemed to fail at the worst possible moment. What he needed was something practical and reliable. It needed to be fast to draw, easy to maintain, and capable of fighting both ordinary enemies and awakened threats without any warning.
The secretary remained quietly beside him. She neither interrupted nor rushed his process.
After making his notes on the firearms, Luke turned toward the artifact section.
This was where things became much more complicated.
Artifacts in this world were not simple tools. They were solidified power.
Because of this, they came from many different sources.
Some were dug up from the dirt of ancient, blood-soaked battlefields. Some were salvaged from the overgrown ruins of civilizations that no longer existed. Others were deeply personal. They were passed down through strict bloodline inheritances and guarded fiercely by powerful families.
Naturally, society treated these items in very different ways.
A few were just weak curiosities. These harmless trinkets were legally sold at auctions to rich collectors who just wanted something rare to display.
However, other artifacts were absolute nightmares. They were highly dangerous and unpredictable. These items required layered energy containment, armed guards, and strict legal restrictions just to exist inside a city.
Depending on how they worked, artifacts were officially divided into a few different types.
Utility-type artifacts were meant for convenience. They made travel, exploration, or communication easier.
Support-type artifacts were made to keep an Awakened alive. They could store extra soul energy, heal flesh wounds, or provide thick defensive shields.
Offensive-type artifacts were strictly regulated. They were pure weapons meant for killing and destruction.
Then, there were the Cursed-type artifacts. These were forbidden items. They offered the user immense, overwhelming power, but they would slowly corrupt the user's mind and body in exchange.
But not all artifacts were ancient or naturally formed.
There was also a special, highly respected class of artifacts created entirely by humans.
These were crafted by Alchemists.
Alchemists were a unique group of awakened individuals. Instead of fighting, they used their awakened powers specifically for processing, refining, and creating artifacts or potions. It was widely known as the most ancient profession on the planet.
To make these forged artifacts, Alchemists needed rare and dangerous materials.
They harvested bone and scale fragments from dead monsters. They melted down precious treasure ores, mysterious metals, and glowing crystals. Sometimes, they even forged items using fallen meteorites.
To turn these raw materials into working artifacts, an Alchemist had to undergo brutal training.
They trained to perfectly merge their individual soul power with the natural attributes of their awakened abilities. They had to inject their own soul directly into the materials.
Because the processing and refining stages required intense, highly controlled heat, the vast majority of Alchemists were fire attribute users.
An artifact made by a skilled Alchemist was just as valuable as a relic pulled from a lost tomb.
But having a powerful artifact was only half the battle. Knowing how to use it was just as important.
An Awakened could not simply press a button to make an artifact work.
Artifacts did not run on electricity or standard batteries. They ran on soul power.
To activate an artifact, a power user had to physically touch it and channel their own internal soul power into the object.
In this process, the artifact acted like a highly advanced engine, and the user's soul power was the fuel.
Once the raw soul power entered the artifact, the item would convert that energy into its specific function. If it was a defensive artifact, the soul power would instantly transform into a barrier. If it was an offensive one, the soul power would turn into a lethal attack.
For standard items, this connection was quick and temporary. Anyone with enough energy could pick them up and use them.
However, high-level artifacts were much more demanding.
To use a high-tier artifact, an Awakened often had to "bind" the item to themselves. This usually required dripping a drop of their own blood onto the artifact and meditating with it. This created a mental link between the user and the item. Once bound, no one else could easily steal it and use it against them.
There were also strict physical limits to using artifacts.
A power user could not just grab any legendary item they found and become a god. Artifacts were hungry. The stronger the artifact, the more soul power it drained from the user.
If a low-level Awakened tried to activate an artifact that was far above their rank, the results were disastrous.
The artifact would instantly drain them dry. It would consume all of their soul power in a single second. If they were lucky, they would simply pass out. If they were unlucky, the extreme energy drain could shatter their energy core, permanently cripple them, or even kill them on the spot.
Compatibility also mattered.
If a fire-attribute user channeled their power into a fire-based artifact, the effect would be much stronger and cost less energy. But if that same fire user tried to activate a water-based artifact, the conflicting energies would make the item incredibly hard to control.
Because of these rules, a smart Awakened didn't just look for the strongest artifact.
They looked for the one that perfectly matched their rank, their attribute, and their maximum soul power.
The secretary guided him toward a specific aisle.
"These are the artifacts cleared for your access tier," she explained. "Most are utility-type, defense-type, or support-type items. Offensive artifacts above a certain power threshold require further corporate approval."
Luke wasn't disappointed by this restriction at all. A useful support artifact often saved a life much more effectively than raw firepower.
He moved from case to case, reading the brief descriptions and studying each item.
[Gale-Step Anklet]
Attribute: Wind / Agility.
Use: Grants sudden bursts of movement speed and makes the user's body feel as light as a feather.
Duration: Up to 3 minutes of continuous use.
Limitation: Requires a 12-hour cooldown period to absorb natural wind energy before it can be used again.
Side Effect: Causes severe muscle cramping in the calves and thighs after the effect wears off.
[Obsidian Mind-Veil Pendant]
Attribute: Psychic / Defence.
Use: Blocks low-level psychic attacks, minor illusions, and basic mind-reading attempts.
Duration: Passive protection is constant; active shielding against a direct attack lasts for 10 minutes.
Limitation: It is highly fragile. The pendant will instantly shatter if it is hit by a mid-tier or higher psychic attack.
Side Effect: Dulls the user's own emotions and causes temporary numbness to physical touch while active.
[Goliath Bone Bracer]
Attribute: Earth / Physical Enhancement.
Use: Hardens the user's skin to the density of steel, allowing them to block physical strikes and minor elemental blasts.
Duration: 30 seconds per activation.
Limitation: Can only be activated twice a day. The user becomes extremely heavy and cannot run or jump while the power is active.
Side Effect: If hit with a heavy blunt force while active, the shockwave bypasses the skin and causes painful micro-fractures in the user's arm bones.
[Hollowed Mana Quartz]
Attribute: Neutral / Energy Storage.
Use: Absorbs and stores external elemental energy. It can release this energy as a raw concussive blast or act as a backup battery to refill the user's exhausted soul power.
Duration: Instant release. It holds its charge indefinitely until used.
Limitation: It can only hold a very small amount of power (equal to a low-tier Awakened's reserves). It takes a full hour of meditation to charge it completely.
Side Effect: Constantly leaks trace amounts of mana radiation. Keeping it close to the body for more than a few hours causes mild nausea and headaches.
[Crimson Sap Vial]
Attribute: Life / Plant.
Use: Accelerates the body's natural healing process. It immediately stops bleeding and closes shallow cuts or stab wounds.
Duration: The healing effect lasts for 5 minutes after opening the vial and breathing in the vapor.
Limitation: It cannot regenerate lost limbs, fix shattered bones, or heal major internal organ damage. This specific vial only has enough sap for exactly three uses.
Side Effect: It forces the body to heal itself by burning massive amounts of calories. The user will experience extreme starvation and physical exhaustion immediately afterward.
[Shadow-Weave Cloak Pin]
Attribute: Shadow / Illusion.
Use: Bends light around the user, making them nearly invisible in dimly lit areas while perfectly silencing their footsteps.
Duration: Up to 15 minutes per use.
Limitation: The invisibility drops instantly if the user attacks, channels offensive soul power, or steps into direct sunlight.
Side Effect: The shadow magic slowly drains the user's body heat. Using it past the 15-minute limit risks severe hypothermia.
Luke kept moving.