As soon as the door opened, a soft light immediately spread, covering the space. The magic stones mounted on the ceiling automatically activated upon sensing our presence, exactly like the infrared sensor lighting systems I used to install in smart home projects in my past life.
I stepped inside and paused for a moment. Calling this a vault was truly an insult to its owner's aesthetic mindset. Instead of stacked wooden crates or weapons tossed haphazardly, before my eyes was a veritable exhibition hall.
Everything here was arranged in a frighteningly perfect order. From daggers and short swords to battle axes, long spears, broadswords... all were categorized by size, type, and even the shade of the metal's color. They were hung on the walls, placed on exquisite ebony stands, or displayed neatly on tables, not a millimeter out of place.
If an outsider looked in, they would definitely mistake Ender for a military man bearing iron discipline. This layout exuded a regular and formal appearance to an extreme degree. However, I clearly understood the truth behind this ostentatious, militaristic facade.
"Still the same old habit, huh?" I murmured softly, narrowing my eyes at a row of daggers arranged with absolute symmetry.
The truth was that this monkey had never served a single day in the military in our past life, simply because his myopia exceeded the regulatory limit of the recruitment board. This tidiness was not the result of military training, but the lingering effects of OCD following him from one life to the next. It seemed that even after reincarnating into a world full of magic, Ender still couldn't escape the burning desire to put everything in its exact right place and angle.
I turned to look at Fraud standing beside me, the corner of my mouth lifting slightly, and dropped a suggestion:
"What do you think if we mess things up a bit in here?"
Fraud turned to me, speaking in a joking tone:
"If you do that, you better lock your door carefully tonight, because there will be a monkey holding a knife standing outside your room."
I could only shake my head and smile wryly at that comparison, then continued scanning Ender's weapon collection. Amidst a row of perfectly symmetrical daggers, a rather beautiful knife caught my eye. The blade was raven-black, glossy, and exquisitely forged into a strong, sharp curve, reminiscent of the shape of a hunting dragon's claw. The contrast came from the bright red handle, standing out brilliantly among a collection dominated by cold metallic tones. At the handguard, a small, intricate dark red heart symbol was deeply engraved, giving the knife a beauty that was both seductive and ruthless.
Unable to resist, I decided to pick it up. The weight of the knife was very balanced, the smooth red handle feeling firm in my palm. With a decisive motion, I tossed it into the air and caught it neatly in my palm in a combat-ready stance, the handle pointing forward, the blade hidden beneath my arm, ready for a close-quarters stab. I smoothly recreated a few technical movements I had been trained in.
Fraud, who was busy admiring a spear, heard the swishing sound of the wind and turned around, his eyes full of astonishment. He stared at me and the red-and-black knife in my hand.
"Chill, you know how to use a melee knife?" Fraud asked with his usual joking tone, but his eyes were a bit more serious.
I twirled the knife slightly, a faint smile appearing on my lips. "Did you forget I used to be a conscript?"
Fraud seemed to freeze for a moment, then scratched his head. "Oh right, it's been so long though."
Fraud's words caused memories of the time before I got isekai'd to suddenly flood back, so clearly that I felt as if I could smell the sweat and hear the commander's shouts on the training ground.
That was the time right after I received my bachelor's degree. Instead of applying to large tech corporations like my peers, I made a decision that surprised many: I submitted an application to volunteer for military enlistment.
I went through 3 challenging months as a recruit in an infantry unit, where I learned the most basic lessons about iron discipline, regulations and demeanor, and team spirit. After excellently completing the recruit training course, I registered and was selected to attend the squad leader training course. Another 3 months of training in leadership skills and tactics, before I was officially transferred to a special reconnaissance unit.
It seemed that among my close friends, only Zus and I had served in the military. Zus, after completing his training, was transferred to a commando unit. Both of us had been true soldiers.
I was still fiddling with the knife in my hand, reminiscing about close-quarters combat exercises, when Fraud suddenly approached, staring curiously at the blade.
"By the way, do you know how to use Aura for weapons?"
I raised an eyebrow, repeating the word as a natural reflex when encountering new terminology. "Aura?"
"Yeah, that thing," Fraud waved his hands to describe it. "It kind of makes the blade glow, and then increases damage, increases the hardness of the sword, stuff like that. Exactly like stat buffs in games."
Instead of making baseless guesses, I immediately turned to seek the most reliable database in the room right now.
"Lady Kanade, do you know anything about the term Aura he just mentioned?"
Kanade nodded lightly, her coral-orange tail swaying gently. She stepped forward, her tone measured, presenting clearly exactly like giving a lecture.
"Sir Zero. Basically, what people call 'Aura' is divided into two main types of application."
Kanade held up one finger. "The first type is Spirit Domain, or killing intent formed from being tempered on the battlefield. It is a form of emitting mana into the surrounding environment to overwhelm the spirit, creating physical and psychological pressure on the opponent. This type of Aura is only possessed when its master has gone through countless life-or-death battles."
She held up a second finger. "The second type, just as Sir Fraud mentioned, is Mana Enhancement applied to weapons and the body. Knights and melee warriors do not release mana outward to create magical phenomena like mages do. Instead, they force that mana stream to flow along their own weapons, forming an enclosing film. This significantly increases the sharpness and durability of the weapon."
Kanade continued explaining. "This type of enhancement Aura also has its own tier ranking system, similar to the ranking system of magic. Those who reach high levels don't merely coat their weapons with mana; they can also shape it, creating Sword Skills or incredibly powerful specific attack forms."
I smiled politely, nodding to the demi-human lady. "Thank you, Lady Kanade, this information is truly very useful."
Immediately, an idea flashed in my head. If "Aura" is merely channeling a certain amount of mana to coat a weapon, then why not try applying it right now?
I gripped the knife handle tightly. The only problem was that my current mana core wasn't truly abundant enough to maintain a large amount of mana for a long time.
If the input signal is weak, one simply needs to use an amplifier.
Reapplying the signal amplification principle I used when casting magic, I began to coordinate a narrow but highly concentrated mana stream, then used a magic algorithm to clone and amplify it before transmitting it into the blade.
Almost instantly, a dense charcoal-purple mana film began to form, coating along the raven-black curve of the blade. The purple light emitted a soft hissing sound, causing friction with the surrounding air. It seemed that recreating the Aura was a success.
Fraud stared wide-eyed at the charcoal-purple mana layer coating the knife, nodding in praise. "You're pretty GENIUS too! Applying it pretty fast."
But my smugness lasted less than 3.6 seconds.
Amidst the soothing hissing sound of the mana stream, my trained hearing suddenly caught an anomalous sound. A very small crack, as fragile as the sound of a hair snapping.
Right after, I clearly felt the smoothly circulating mana stream suddenly encounter an abrupt resistance, exactly like a short-circuited segment. The signal interruption occurred in a split second, leading to an energy backlash phenomenon.
Bang!
A small explosion rang out accompanied by a flashing spark. The beautiful blade, designed from high-end materials, could not withstand the structural imbalance caused by the severed mana, immediately cracking and snapping in two. The top half of the blade clattered onto the floor.
I stood dumbfounded, looking at the scorched knife handle still resting neatly in my hand, a thin wisp of acrid purple smoke rising.
I slowly turned my head to look at Fraud and Kanade. Striking my eyes were two stiff faces and eyes full of utter shock.
Kanade swallowed lightly, her Feline ears standing up while her coral-orange tail behind her puffed up as if she had just been electrocuted. Meanwhile, Fraud's jaw dropped, his eyes bulging as he stared blankly at the sharp shard lying upside down on the carpeted floor. The air in the room seemed to freeze before the disaster that had just occurred.
Knowing full well the impending wrath of a monkey when his perfect collection is broken, I sighed softly. Trying to keep my demeanor as calm as possible, I shrugged and dropped an exclamation in a language only my brothers from my past life would understand:
"Oops, looks like we are cooked."
Fraud blinked several times continuously to drag his soul back to his body. He took a half-step back, his facial muscles contorting, gave a sharp nod, and replied in a tone full of despair:
"Yep, we are really cooked."
Lady Kanade tilted her head, blinking her lemon-green eyes in total confusion mixed with bewilderment upon hearing us spout a string of strange language.
"Pardon? What is 'Cook'?"
End of Chapter 28.