79 Chapter 79
Lelin also felt slightly uneasy, but he kept his calm. He didn't let his unease show on his face.
All the students were finally inside the Museum of Elements. The first layer of the Museum contained the relics of the past. They were slightly less important than the core treasures at the Academy, but they were still an essential part of the history.
The group of first-year students that was accompanying Noel stopped behind him. There was a concrete stand before them. On the stand, a rusted helmet could be seen, which was covered in magically reinforced glass.
"Any guesses who this helmet belonged to?" Noel asked, smirking. "This was worn by a really special person in their battle... By someone who changed the world in his own way."
"The King's Crown!" Both Caen and Princess Elia spoke at the same time.
Even though Caen had been away from the Royal City for a long time, they were still part of the nobles once upon a time. He knew what this helmet was, based on the symbol that was carved on the helmet. He also recognized the number.
Princess Elia also recognized the crown since it was part of her family history.
"It is the crown that was worn by the First King of the Lumen Empire on his crusade to unite the Empire," she stated.
Noel nodded in satisfaction. However, he wasn't surprised. It would've been more surprising if these two hadn't known.
"That's right. It's the war helmet of King Ignia. He was the First Ruler of the United Lumen Empire and the founding father of the Empire you are standing inside."
"The man is known to be one of the greatest Kings in the history. He wasn't a Mage like us. In fact, he was as ordinary as a human could be. Despite that, he wrote his own destiny and became the Emperor of one of the Strongest Emperors in the world."
"If, as a human, he could achieve all this and create a peaceful Empire, ending wars, then imagine what you all can do with your holy power. All you need is proper convictions, and that's one of the things you'll be taught in the Academy!"
After briefly describing the helmet, Noel started walking away, only to stop as if he had remembered something more.
"I forgot to mention the most important thing. Even though you're here, you aren't allowed to touch anything, especially the glasses that protect these items. If you try, you'll be hurt badly. All these glasses have been magically reinforced by our Dean himself. So please be mindful."
After issuing a warning, Noel moved into the next item in the massive hall.
"And here we have..."
Noel kept explaining the items and their significance in history. With each item, he didn't forget to remind everyone what they could learn from this.
Gabriel wasn't interested in the explanation. He could see that all the items here were useless. None of these were Numens. Most of these were ordinary items with some historical significance. The only items with his attention were the ones he was after, and they were on the above.
The above floor had no windows... At least none that could be seen from the outside. So if one was to enter, they could only use this route to get there.
Noel was immersed in explanation. On the other hand, Gabriel was observing the guards and their positions. He was informed by Lira about what to expect, but now that he was inside, he got a much more accurate idea about what he could face. There were just too many guards here...
He also noticed the Elements of the Guards, memorizing every detail that he might need for his goal.
Even as time passed, his black ring hadn't calmed down. It was still uneasy. Gabriel noticed that the closer they went to the stairs to the next floor, the more his ring started to react. Moreover, when they moved away from the stairs to learn about items in another corner of the hall, the ring became a bit less excited.
'Something is above... That's for sure. Something that is making my ring react like that!'
Only he knew here that his ring was his Grimoire of Death and Necromancy in disguise as a ring. In reality, it wasn't a ring that was reacting... It was his Grimoire that was responding. And to make his Grimoire react... The item had to be more than just another Element's Ancestral Staff.
He believed whatever was making the ring react... It was something related to Karyk, or his element!
He remained with the group, eagerly waiting so they could be taken up where he could find what it really was.
After spending three hours on the ground floor, Noel was finally done with all the Artifacts here. In the entire group of first-year students, there were only two people who weren't hearing what Noel was saying. Only the two students appeared to be distracted during his explanations, and this didn't escape Noel's attention.
Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about it. Every year, there were students who were bored when he talked about the mortal treasures that the academy possessed. He could only shake his head and focus on other students.
Those two students were Lelin and Gabriel.
"Now that we are done with the items that humans used to change the World, let me show you the items that Mages used to affect the world in ways that no one could've imagined. The Artifacts used by the strongest Mages!"
With Noel's declaration, there was great excitement amongst the students. They were Mages, and that's what interested them the most!
Finally, Gabriel and Lelin also looked interesting. Seeing their interest, Noel could only laugh wryly. These two were so materialistic.
"Come."
Noel walked to the stairs. Gabriel and the other students followed him. Just as Gabriel had expected, the closer he went to the next floor, the more excited his ring became.
He clenched his fist tightly to try to make his ring calm down a bit. His finger had started aching at this point because of his ring's reaction.
With each step, Gabriel's heartbeat increased. He was about to see just what it was that even his Grimoire couldn't stay calm before.
After around fifty steps around the circular staircase, Gabriel stepped foot on the next floor: the floor where all the Numens and everything precious was kept.
As soon as Gabriel stepped here, the first thing he noticed was the security of this place. It was even worse than downstairs here. There were more guards here than there were students at the moment. And each guard stood beside one of the artifacts.