After hearing Torne's answer, Vicente poured some of his mana into the device on the stone and closed his eyes.
Then, in the middle of the darkness, he gradually felt a space of about 200 square meters with his mana. At the same time, he felt a miniature version of it appear in his mind.
The details of what was in that small pocket of space didn't take shape right away. What was most powerful there first appeared in this mental 3D image in Vicente's mind, like stars appearing in the sky.
For a moment, that area seemed to have nothing, and then Vicente felt 10 powerful auras appearing.
While he was feeling this, he saw some of the area's surroundings, where there was grass and a small lake, as well as enough atmosphere for the environment to be sustainable.
Noticing the smallest details of the area, Vicente felt small insects, some small animals like birds, trees, and ordinary vegetation incapable of absorbing mana.
Not everything in this world had that ability. Even in a magical world, normal things without this ability were necessary to maintain the balance of things.
"Interesting..." He commented to Torne and Onyx. "There's a sickle-shaped weapon in this place. Why would someone keep that in this place?"
"Oh?" Torne wondered as he put some of his mana into the device to see what it was.
"That... I see. This weapon is special, master." Torne said when he understood what it was. "This is an evil weapon. It has a special will and can do things ordinary weapons cannot do. Even though it's 'only' a 4th-grade item, it's probably a match for ordinary 5th-grade weapons.
If it were stored outside of this space, it would possibly turn this area into a den of ghosts, negative beasts, and other beings that would alert the empire's forces to the presence of this secret location.
So it was stored in this pocket space to not expose the secret altar."
"Oh? And what is it capable of?"
"Because it has a will of its own, this weapon should be able to affect its surroundings, even without the command of its owner or user.
When used directly by someone, it is likely to cause two types of special damage to its targets: energy drain and inability to heal. If you are injured by it, you will quickly lose your mana and be left with a wound that can only be healed by a special type of healing magic.
As for the weapon's wielder, they should receive an aura of protection from the darkness when wielding this weapon. That can be very good during a battle, as it gives the individual an extra layer of defense. Still, in other situations, it can cause problems because of the weapon's aura.
Either way, it's a pretty powerful weapon."
"It really seems to be," Vice commented as he focused on the other items in this space, where there were two special beasts with pentagrams in their essences, while the rest of the seven interesting items there were special gems and magical plants.
Torne saw what Vicente was looking at and said. "Magic Gems are found in nature like this before they are integrated into magicians, master.
When a magician reaches the 4th stage, they have enough mana to use their powers to refine these gems. Once refined, the gems can be stored in places similar to the Awakening Platform, where you awaken your powers.
There are all kinds of gems on Awakening Platforms. But in nature, they are very scattered and usually have very specific affinities. In the case of the gems in this place, they all have a strong affinity with the elements of the Dark Path."
"That makes sense. Your people have awakened the powers of magicians in the past." Vicente muttered.
"You will be able to do the same in the future, master."
Vicente smiled but said nothing before opening his eyes and seeing the surroundings of the spherical area they were in.
"Can I enter a place like this?" He asked Torne out of curiosity.
"I wouldn't advise it," Torne replied. "It's possible for any magician to survive in such a space, as long as they don't destroy its ecosystem. However, something inside that pocket space can't get out independently.
That is to prevent living things from escaping it.
So if you were to go in there, master, you wouldn't be able to come out on your own because only someone on the outside could get you out. But that would be too risky, and you might end up stuck in that place for much longer than you'd like.
But you don't have to. Use the Cataclysm Moon Pendant and connect this device with you. That will give you omniscience over this space and also the ability to have it without attracting attention."
"I can wear something like that?" Vicente looked at the thing, which didn't look like a spatial ring and was rather conspicuous.
"That kind of thing we wear on our wrists, master. It looks flashy now, but that's because it has no recognized user as its owner. The moment you connect your aura to it, you can control the aura it emits and make it look like a simple, unimportant bracelet," Torne explained.
Vicente promptly did what he was supposed to do, wearing the Cataclysm Moon Pendant and easily showing the item that it belonged to the Cataclysm Order and that he would keep it from now on.
High-level artifacts like that couldn't just be taken. If you weren't strong enough to destroy the previous owner's mark or didn't meet other requirements, the best you could do was gain access to a fraction of its properties.
This bracelet belonged to the Catraclysm Order, and even though there were no other magicians' marks on it, only the order's leader could move it.
When Vicente identified himself as such while wearing the necklace, he quickly gained access to the essence of the item, and it didn't take long for him to leave his mark on it and take possession of it.
Then the bracelet floated in the air in front of Vicente, flew to his right wrist, and settled there without Vice having to make any effort.
Feeling his connection to it grow exponentially, Vicente sensed what Torne had said he could do and promptly disguised the item by making its aura disappear.
A smile broke out on his face as he fulfilled his purpose there.
"Old Torne, I don't know if I'll ever be able to revive the Cataclysm Order as you knew it. But I will look for other places like this. The resources of your old organization are interesting."
Torne just smiled. This was a great start!
