Primordial Villain With A Slave Harem

- PoV: Quinlan -

story source mvle-mp|y|r

I simply strolled into the warehouse without anyone even attempting to halt me.

The absence of guards here was no big surprise- they're all out there, fighting the monsters, leaving this place undefended. It makes sense; who would bother protecting a stash of common army trash?

Because that's what this is, a simple warehouse holding everyday army items.

I push through another crate of mundane supplies- swords, spears, and shields. It's all the kind of low-tier gear that wouldn't fetch more than a few coins in any market.

[Steel Sword]

[Rarity: Common]

[Skills: Empty]

The items I find are basically replicas of the arms I looted from the hobgoblins back then. They are useless to me because I can't carry all these to level up my Thief class anyways as due to their low value they would barely provide any experience points.

I throw the last of the junk aside, wiping sweat from my brow as I glance around the warehouse. I'm here for the [Geimroot], the rare magical herb that's supposed to be hidden in this outpost, but there's absolutely no sign of it anywhere, just crates filled with worthless crap. If It's not here, it's probably in the cavern system, a place I really don't wish to explore.

What's more, Ayame and Blossom are facing grave danger just because of my stupid obsession with becoming a spell caster, which makes me feel physically sick with myself. "You are a complete fucking idiot, Quinlan…" I curse under my breath.

I can't hold my anger in as I lash out, kicking one of the crates hard enough to send it skidding across the floor. The wood splinters, the contents spilling out in a mess of metal and fabric. I kick another crate, then another, venting my anger on the worthless wooden constructs. But as one of the crates topples over, something catches my eye.

What is that something? I have no clue- all I can observe seems to be completely ordinary, but my instincts are telling me that something is definitely out of place here. My mother always told me that in cases such as these I should go with my gut feeling.

I crouch low and begin feeling things out on the floor, but I don't observe anything strange, just the coolness of the concrete foundation the warehouse building is sitting on top of.

I then decide to activate my Primordial Eyes, hoping to find a solution to this strange phenomenon. The world shifts, colors intensifying as my vision expands beyond the normal spectrum. Through this heightened sight, I see a flow of energy beneath the warehouse, intricate patterns of magic lacing the air.

And would you look at that… I mutter inwardly with a victorious smirk erupting onto my features. Ayame was right when she said each of us has things we should focus on, as likely only I could've found this with such a haphazard method…

Jackpot.

[Veiled Trapdoor]

[Material: Adamantite]

My eyes spy an entrance that leads to a portion of the outpost that's hidden behind an overwhelmingly potent illusion magic- or something along those lines- and a door that's reinforced by the strongest metal known to men in this world. If I wasn't a primordial with such amazing eyes I probably wouldn't have ever noticed it.

Even when I touched the floor with my fingers nothing gave it away, so this illusion machination goes beyond obstructing one's sight.

An illusion that isn't dispelled by physical obstruction… Now that sounds way too broken. It seems illusion magic is a lot more mighty than I gave it credit in my mind- I will have to pay great attention if I ever find myself facing an illusionist.

I can't help but marvel at the craftsmanship. The outpost above might be mundane, but this hidden trapdoor screams of importance. Chances are that there's something down there, something beyond my wildest imaginations, and I intend to find out what that is.

With the illusion dispersed, the trapdoor becomes tangible, the handle now fully interactable. I grab it and pull, the heavy door swinging upwards with a smooth motion, revealing a dark staircase leading deep underground.

The air from below is cool, almost damp, and every few feet, cheap-looking, glowing artifacts of the [Junk] rarity are embedded into the walls, providing just enough light to see where I'm stepping.

The staircase seems to stretch on forever, a winding descent into the unknown. Time is of the essence, so I begin rushing down, taking the steps three at a time.

After what feels like an eternity- at least a mile of descending towards the planet's core- I finally reach the bottom of the stairs, and when my eyes lock onto the object waiting for me, I completely freeze in my tracks, utterly captivated by the sight before me.

[Veil of Aetherius]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Spell: Eternal Shroud]

[Eternal Shroud: projects an invisible barrier over a designated area, rendering everything within completely undetectable by any means. The obscuration effect is absolute: no form of magical or mundane detection can penetrate the veil.

It bends light, muffles sound, and even masks the presence of magical auras, making the protected area appear as nothing more than an empty, unremarkable stretch of land to the outside world.]

My breath catches in my throat as I stare at the artifact. This... this really is beyond anything I could have ever hoped to find. I've not even seen an Epic item yet, and this one is straight up Legendary, the elusive rarity above Epic that can only be heard of in bard's tales.

What would such an artifact even be worth?

Ayame said that her dimensional ring which could house an inn room's worth of items in its storage space was valued at 900 gold coins, then this must be in the thousands easily- rather, it simply has no coin worth equivalent.

I'm sure of it. This is the artifact that made it possible for the kingdom to hide the [Geimroot]'s location and the outpost guarding it for hundreds of years without anyone even knowing about it, thus it should be safe to say that it's on the level of a national treasure, and such items are beyond the acceptable value provided by manmade currency.