Karl stared at the information floating before him for several moments before finally reaching toward the sealing formation.
The moment his fingers touched its surface, the formation recognized his authorization and slowly opened.
The long black staff immediately moved toward him as though it had been waiting for this moment, and the instant Karl wrapped his hand around it, an unfamiliar connection spread through his body.
The feeling was completely different from holding an ordinary weapon.
The staff felt almost like an extension of his own arm, while the grey markings covering its surface brightened and released a faint deathly aura around him.
Another system panel appeared before his eyes.
[Death Stick]
[Status: Partially Sealed]
[Grade: Epic]
[Current Tier: Mortal]
[Type: Growth Equipment]
[Special Requirement: Necromancer-Class Professional]
Karl’s eyes immediately narrowed.
A Necromancer-specific weapon?
That alone explained why nobody within the Reed family had properly discovered its value before.
Necromancers were already uncommon and finding one who happened to enter the Reed family vault while also possessing enough compatibility with the weapon was even less likely.
Karl continued reading as several additional lines appeared beneath the existing information.
[Skill: Death Domain]
[Creates a death-attributed domain around the wielder, strengthening allied undead within its effective range.]
[Necromancer skills used inside the domain receive increased effective range.]
[Additional effects remain sealed.]
Karl stared at the description for several seconds.
Death Domain alone was already an extremely useful ability for a Necromancer.
Most Necromancer skills possessed limited effective ranges, especially commands and abilities that directly supported undead summons.
A skill capable of strengthening every undead within an area while simultaneously increasing the range of his Necromancer abilities was almost perfectly designed for large-scale combat.
More importantly, the weapon was still partially sealed.
And it is growth-type equipment.
Karl tightened his grip around the staff slightly.
If its current abilities were already this useful while it remained Mortal-Tier and partially sealed, he could only imagine what the Death Stick would become after advancing through several Tiers.
"Ho, you actually found something?"
Arthur’s voice suddenly came from behind him.
Karl turned around and found his grandfather approaching with something small hanging from one hand.
Arthur had apparently finished helping Leon and Mira choose their equipment, but the moment his gaze landed upon the weapon inside Karl’s hand, his steps stopped.
His expression changed almost immediately. "What the hell?"
Arthur walked closer and stared directly at the staff.
Karl raised one eyebrow. "Grandpa?"
Arthur ignored him for another moment while examining the grey markings running along the weapon’s surface.
He even leaned closer as though trying to determine whether Karl had somehow replaced the object with something else.
"Where the hell did you find this thing, little bastard?"
Karl pointed toward the now-empty sealing formation beside him. "Right there."
Arthur followed his finger and the old man’s expression immediately twisted into confusion.
He stared at the empty formation, then looked toward the staff again before finally muttering, "Is that the useless stick?"
Karl looked at him questioningly. "Useless stick?"
Arthur rubbed his forehead before pointing toward the weapon.
"That thing has been inside this vault since before I even became family head."
"Nobody knows exactly where it came from anymore, only that one of the previous generations brought it back and decided it might possess some value."
He gave the staff another suspicious look.
"The problem was that nobody could identify anything useful about it, no matter who held it the thing behaved like an ordinary black stick."
"Eventually everyone stopped wasting time on it and threw it into this section of the vault, I probably have not looked at that thing properly in several decades."
Karl finally understood why he had never remembered the weapon from his previous life.
When he awakened Sword God, there had been absolutely no reason for the Death Stick to react toward him.
To everyone else, including Karl himself at that time, it really would have appeared completely useless.
Some high-level weapons possess their own consciousness or requirements and choose who can actually use them.
Karl had encountered equipment like that during his previous life, although such weapons were extremely rare.
The Death Stick was obviously created for Necromancers and without someone meeting its conditions, none of its real abilities would appear.
Arthur watched Karl’s expression for a moment before shrugging. "Seems like you are one lucky bastard."
Arthur raised the object he had been carrying, it was a small dark necklace rested within Arthur’s hand, with a silver pendant hanging from its centre.
Several extremely fine formations had been engraved across the pendant’s surface.
Arthur tossed it toward him and Karl caught it instinctively. "Take that as well."
Karl looked down at the necklace. "Storage equipment?"
"One of the better pieces we have at this level," Arthur replied. "The internal storage space is considerably larger than ordinary storage rings and it also possesses three emergency protection talismans."
Karl’s expression immediately became more interested.
Arthur pointed toward the pendant.
"Each talisman activates automatically when it detects an attack powerful enough to threaten your life."
"One talisman can withstand an attack around the strength of a Level 600 professional or a Sixth-Transition beast."
Karl’s eyes widened slightly, level 600 protection was absurdly excessive for someone who had awakened only today.
Even if each talisman could activate only once, possessing three of them meant Karl effectively carried three additional lives against most dangers he could reasonably encounter during his current stage.
Arthur crossed his arms. "Do not look so happy, those things are expensive."
Karl immediately placed the necklace around his neck. "Then I should make sure none of them are wasted."
Karl checked the storage space briefly before placing several of the smaller items he had selected inside.
By the time he finished, Leon and Mira had also returned from the other side of the vault.
Mira had kept her choices relatively simple, the pair of Diamond-grade daggers Karl had noticed earlier now rested at her waist, while a lightweight dark armour covered beneath her ordinary clothing without restricting her movement.
Leon had taken the opposite approach.
Heavy black armour covered almost his entire body from his shoulders down to his boots, while reinforced plates protected his chest, arms and legs.
A large shield rested against his back, and Leon had somehow even found a matching helmet.
Mira pointed toward him. "Tell him he looks ridiculous."
Leon immediately protested. "Ridiculous? This is called proper defence."
Arthur released a long sigh. "I should have placed a limit on how many pieces he could try wearing at once."
Leon immediately looked offended. "Granduncle, every single piece serves an important purpose."
"Yes, bankrupting me."
Karl laughed while Arthur reached into his clothing and removed two more necklaces similar to the one he had just given Karl.
He tossed one toward Leon and handed the other to Mira and both of them looked down at the pendants in surprise.
Arthur’s expression softened slightly.
"Take them, both of your families have stood beside the Reed family for many years, and the three of you have been running around together since you were children."
He looked between Karl, Leon and Mira. "Consider these my personal gifts to the three of you."
Arthur paused before adding, "May that friendship last long enough that these necklaces become unnecessary before any of you manage to destroy yourselves."
Leon immediately placed his around his neck and grinned. "Oh, this is good, this is very good."
Mira held the pendant quietly for several seconds before fastening it around her neck, one hand remaining around it for a moment longer than necessary.
"Thank you, Granduncle."
Karl watched both of them and smiled. In his previous life, too many things had gradually pulled the three of them apart.
This time, he had no intention of allowing that to happen again.
After everyone finished organizing their equipment, Arthur personally checked the vault once more before leading them toward the entrance.
The enormous metallic doors slowly closed behind them, while the security formations reactivated one after another until the Reed family vault was completely sealed again.
The four eventually returned to the living room, where the food prepared for their awakening celebration was already waiting.