"Me first! Me first!" Melody raised her hand, a wide grin on her face.

"Alright," Lukas smiled.

Melody stepped forward, holding out her forearm, showing it off. Fitted on it was a bracer made of polished bronze.

It was fitted snugly from her wrist to just below her elbow, with a pattern worked into the surface that caught the blue torchlight.

"Beautiful, right? It’s called the [Chameleon Bracer]," she said, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice. "Watch this."

She stood in place, and the next second, her skin shifted. Her clothes also shifted with it.

The color drained from her, replaced by the exact shade and texture of the stone wall behind her.

Her outline was still there if one concentrated but only just. If she hadn’t been standing right in front of them, Lukas wasn’t sure he would have known where to look.

She took a step to the side and the effect rippled slightly, adjusting.

She reappeared, grinning.

"It’s not invisibility," she said. "But if I stay still, I’m basically gone. And even moving, most people won’t catch it until it’s too late."

She turned the bracer over on her arm, admiring it. "I can get close without being seen. Or use it in the middle of a fight to break someone’s focus right before I hit them."

"Now I’m scared," Lukas said. "I can already tell you’re planning a lot of mischief with that. It’ll be fun. But probably not for your opponents."

Melody’s grin widened. "I know."

With that, they turned to Akira. "What about you?"

She didn’t say anything at first. She simply gestured to the mannequin standing to her left. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The armor on it was dark, almost black, with gold worked into the edges and joints in thin lines.

It had a cuirass, pauldron, gorget, cuisse, and greaves, each piece fitting together in a way that made it all look like one piece. The only thing missing was a helm, leaving the head uncovered.

"While I’m happy with my offensively focused fighting style, I can’t keep ignoring defense," Akira said. "While I have a special skillset geared towards killing enemies as fast as I can, I can say that I’ve been lucky to always have a healer in my team."

"But now, I don’t have that luxury anymore. If I’m fighting and something slips by my offense, I have nothing to protect me. But with my armor, I can go all out without worry." She grinned, folding her hands under her huge bosom.

"The best part is that it adds a few stat points to my agility. That’s my worst stat, so there’s that."

"That makes sense," Lukas said. "Good choice."

Akira shrugged like it was obvious.

Morgana had been watching quietly. Now she spoke. "Are these your final choices?"

The three of them looked at each other.

"Yes," Lukas said.

Morgana nodded. "Then we’re done here. Let’s go."

She turned and walked to the door, leading them back into the narrow corridor. They filed out one by one, Baldwin stepping out last. Behind him, the vault door swung shut on its own with a click.

The walk back up was longer than Lukas remembered. The stone walls gave way to plaster again as they climbed, the air warming with each floor.

By the time they walked out into a corridor he didn’t recognize, the cold of the vault was gone.

Morgana stopped and turned to face them.

"The affairs of today are settled," she said. "Or is there anything else to take care of?"

Lukas shook his head. The contract was straightforward. They’d already received their signing fee and Adept ranked [Items]. Not to mention their apartment. Everything had been taken care of.

"Good." Morgana gave them a nod. "This is where we part."

She turned to look at each of them. "Rest for the next three days. Karrakas will come to you. Then your adventures on the Second Floor will begin."

At that moment, something occurred to Lukas. "Wait a minute. I have one more thing," he said.

Morgana had an almost imperceptible frown on her face as she stared at him.

"If we need to reach you urgently, do we come here?" He asked. "Or do you have a primary residence we can go to?"

Anything could happen, and if there was an emergency, he wanted to know where he should go. After all, the Le Fays had way too many mansions. What if Melody didn’t like staying in this Lotus hall?

"I see," Morgana tilted her head. "Although I signed your contracts, I did so as a representative of the Le Fay family."

"I am not your direct contractor. That is the family itself. That means our interactions going forward will be limited." She held his gaze. "If something urgent comes up and you need to reach me specifically, pass the message to Karrakas. He’ll make sure it gets to me."

Lukas nodded. "Understood."

She looked at the three of them once more, before giving a short nod.

"Baldwin? See them off."

Then she walked away down the corridor without another word.

Baldwin cleared his throat. "This way."

He led them through parts of the mansion they hadn’t seen before, and a few minutes later, they came out through a side door and stepped into the open air.

A black sedan car sat waiting on the path outside. It was long and low, with dark windows that made sure no one could see anything going on inside.

"Lady Morgana arranged for the car to take you to your new address," Baldwin said.

"Tell her we’re grateful," Lukas said.

Baldwin gave a single nod of acknowledgement.

The driver stepped out and pulled the rear door open, gesturing for them to enter.

Akira went first, ducking inside without hesitation. Melody followed. Lukas climbed in last and pulled the door shut.

He wasn’t surprised to see how the interior looked. In fact, he’d been expecting it.

The seats were soft dark leather, arranged so that two faced forward and two faced back, like a private booth.

There was a panel built into the center console, and small lights ran along the base of the seats, giving the cabin a low warm glow.

The dark windows gave them a tinted view of the world outside the car. Everything about it was built for comfort and privacy.

Akira ran her hand along the seat beside her. "I’ve changed my mind," she said. "I don’t want those two seater cars anymore. I want one of these."

"You just said that because you’re sitting in it," Melody said.

"Of course," Akira agreed. "It’s basically a second lounge. And it can fit all of us."

The driver’s door closed. A moment later, the car pulled smoothly forward, following the path towards the gate.

Lukas leaned back in his seat and watched the mansion grounds pass through the window.

The gate opened ahead of them. The car rolled through, turned onto the avenue, and joined the quiet street beyond.

They had three days before their first actual trip into the Second Floor. And time was already counting down.

Lukas smiled to himself. "So much to do and so little time."