The last Vampire with the Hero summoner system: I get 5x their powers-Chapter 82: Ascension [3]
It was worse than a homeless shelter.
The dull, pale brown colours, creaking, old-style sofas that you’d find in your grandma’s house and tiles stained yellow.
Suge walked up to a small reception desk, which was covered with old newspapers.
Behind the desk sat an old woman with deep wrinkles and a small body. She was busy with a book in her hands, but glanced at Suge from over the book with the corner of her eye.
I had watched enough movies to know what would happen. But seeing Alya’s dumbfounded curiosity couldn’t have been funnier.
At another look, I realised the towering book shelves all around, book covers in the shelves as old as everything else, matching the aesthetic.
It was probably a library. From so many sofas and books, I could presume.
"I would like to borrow tales of Luna. These three: Stranger Shadow, Jaded Beast, and The Necromancer." Suge said seriously, leaning over the small table that barely reached his waist.
It was happening! They were speaking codes!
I tried to make sense of their meaning, but they were too odd. Maybe they were using the content of the books to communicate?
I had to check out those books if that was the case!
The grandma looked at Suge for a long minute before sighing deeply, "Don’t do anything too reckless, lad."
She muttered as she rang a golden bell on her table two times instantly, then one time after a pause.
Just as I was pondering what the grandma meant, my vision blurred.
My pulse quickened as the space around me cracked, opened its jaw, and swallowed me. My body felt weightless, floating, formless for what felt like a few minutes before I could finally open my eyes.
Countless bright lights filled my sight, blinding me momentarily as I adjusted to the sudden brightness.
The ground below was cold, smooth and hard like glass. Stepping on it felt very satisfying and rejuvenating.
It was all purple. Jewel-like purple. The floor below me was a smooth and clear purple surface as well.
The material had been used to make everything, from the towering pillars that supported the structure to the countless tables and staircases spread all around, with the place bustling with beast kins.
I realised I was standing in the centre of a spherical border made with the same purple glass-like material. Alya and Subaru were also marvelling at the otherworldly sight before we heard Suge shout.
"Leave the portal, you’re blocking others’ path!" He had already left the border.
As we followed his instruction, the sphere border shone an ominous purple light before another figure, a slender blonde-haired girl with beast ears, manifested out of thin air.
She merely spared us an annoyed glance before passing us.
"It’s beautiful," I said, marvelling at the ceilings that were hundreds of meters high, and the hall-like area spread as far as my eyes could observe. Mind you, they could see really, really far.
Now, this felt like the secret headquarters of a badass, shadowy organisation.
"Much better than I expected," Alya agreed. "But that library was even worse than what I was imagining from the outside." She added.
"It’s to blend in!" Suge replied with a grumpy face. Alya just chuckled.
Subaru crouched, touching the smooth purple floor, "Not too bad... Looks rather expensive. How much Arcana Stone was even needed for that? Why burn so much money?"
This instantly piqued my curiosity. Arcana Stone? So that’s why making contact with it felt so comforting.
"Don’t know. At least a few million tons. It has existed for a few centuries, so it’s not like we burned anything.
And with the deep mines the hell palace has, this much does not cost too much. Ancestors probably just invested in a good mining team." He replied with a cold, proud chuckle, taking personal offence at Subaru’s comments.
"Makes sense," Subaru said nothing more. Much less heated and clearly not in the mood to beef with Suge.
At my burning curiosity, Alya leaned closer to me and explained, "Arcana stones are just solid, condensed arcana. They are said to be born from the planet’s natural Arcana.
Also, most C-ranked or higher monsters drop a kilogram or two of that at their death."
"Thank you, wife." I tilted my head towards her, and that’s all I needed to peck lightly on her cheek. Her face flushed red instantly.
"St-Stop it! We are in public!" She whispered in the loudest scream if that was possible.
God! So adorable!
"Okay, okay!" I gave in, not wanting to embarrass her. Still grabbed her hand, the softness and warmth enveloping every part of me as her fingers tightened around my hand.
Her cheeks reddened.
Hard to believe this was the same girl screaming "HARDER! HARDER!" the whole night.
I chuckled, tightening my grip around her gentle hands, too. My hands were bigger than hers, hiding her’s completely in my grip.
But, her’s was much delicate to touch, plushy and soft. After just a second of holding it.
I wanted to hold and squeeze forever, and feared hurting it by holding it too hard. Even after knowing her [STR] was probably higher than mine.
She deliberately avoided eye contact as we followed Suge, making a few turns, descending quite a lot of stairs, reaching a square wooden gate settled in one corner of a long wall made of the now very familiar Arcana stone.
The door looked like a tree house’s entrance, but bigger, not by a lot though.
For the entirety of forty minutes it took to reach here, I hadn’t let go of her hand as she hadn’t tried pulling it.
Her comforting to press and hold, soft hand was now oozing with warmth, both our palms sweaty and sticky as they clung tighter than ever before.
"Rather confusing and inefficient architect this base has," Subaru remarked with a deep, tired sigh. His legs were shaking, and from one look of [Eye of Sanguine], I could see his muscles twirling and twitching like they were alive worms.
