Chapter 273: The Ring That Was Never Just a Prison

Victor looked at Fafnir.

"Is there anything else here that I can use?"

For the first time, Fafnir showed some genuine enthusiasm.

She turned around and examined the entire hall.

Her golden eyes glowed faintly.

Victor realized she wasn’t merely looking.

The dragon’s energy seemed to sweep through the objects around them, recognizing things she had probably known before she was sealed.

"There is."

Several objects began to move.

A book floated from a shelf.

Then another.

A small blue crystal rose from a box.

A metallic bracelet left its pedestal.

Two scrolls flew toward them.

A small curved knife appeared as well.

Fafnir gathered everything in front of Victor.

"These are useful."

Then she began separating them.

"This is the best one."

She moved Supreme World Cultivation to the front.

"Then this."

A small red manual.

"These two might be useful depending on how you develop your energy."

Two scrolls floated side by side.

"This crystal can strengthen an internal formation, but I don’t know whether it still contains enough energy."

Victor watched her.

Fafnir continued reorganizing everything according to usefulness, quickly discarding several items after taking a closer look.

Rowena crossed her arms.

"You know quite a lot about the things here."

"Many of them came from my nest."

Fafnir’s tone turned bitter.

"The others I recognize from their structure."

Victor began examining the small selection.

Most of the techniques weren’t particularly interesting.

There was a body-strengthening method inferior to his Divine Blood Body Refinement.

Another taught a way to concentrate energy in the legs to increase speed, something Victor already did far better through the techniques he had learned.

But one manual caught his attention.

Its cover was dark red.

There was no title.

Victor opened it.

His eyes moved across the first few paragraphs.

"Blood magic."

Fafnir looked over.

"That one is good."

Victor read a little more.

The technique taught ways to alter the properties of one’s own blood during combat, not merely hardening it or transforming it into weapons, but modifying its density, temperature, and ability to conduct other types of energy.

That could actually work well with his abilities.

Victor closed the manual.

"I’m taking it."

He tucked it inside his clothes along with Supreme World Cultivation.

Fafnir frowned.

"Why are you putting them there?"

Victor looked at her.

"Because I want to take them."

"Use the ring."

He raised his hand.

"This ring belongs to Rowena."

"So?"

"She’s sealed inside it."

Fafnir stared at Victor.

Then at Rowena.

Then back at Victor.

"Are you two idiots?"

Rowena narrowed her eyes.

"Careful."

Fafnir pointed at the ring.

"That is a Dimensional Ring."

Victor fell silent.

Rowena did too.

Fafnir continued.

"That thing is meant to store objects. Not seal someone inside!"

Victor slowly raised his hand to eye level.

"What?"

"It’s a spatial artifact."

Rowena stepped closer.

"I’ve been trapped inside that thing for so long and never noticed?"

Fafnir shrugged.

"You were trapped in the spiritual layer."

She grabbed Victor’s hand.

Her palm rested over the back of his hand, directly above the ring.

"Look."

Fafnir sent a small amount of energy into the artifact.

The space in front of them distorted.

An opening appeared.

Victor became completely still.

On the other side was a vast dimension resembling a large storage facility.

The floor seemed to be made of a pale, solid surface, while artificial walls marked out an area of approximately seven hundred and fifty square meters.

And there were already things inside.

A lot of things.

Boxes.

Old weapons.

Small objects.

Fabrics.

Books.

Things Victor didn’t even remember seeing before.

He looked at Rowena.

Rowena looked at him.

"You knew about this?"

"No."

"You live inside the ring."

"IN THE SPIRITUAL PART!"

Victor pointed toward the portal.

"How did you never see this?"

"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO SEE IT?!"

Fafnir watched the two of them.

"Impressive."

Victor looked at her.

"What?"

"You managed to use a dimensional artifact as a prison without ever discovering that it possesses a dimension."

Rowena looked offended.

"I didn’t choose to be trapped inside it."

"Still."

Victor started laughing.

Rowena shot him an irritated look.

"You’re not helping."

"Sorry."

Fafnir leaned closer to the ring.

Her expression changed.

"Hmm."

Victor noticed.

"What?"

"This ring is rather intriguing."

"Why?"

She touched the metal.

"It uses the power of the World Tree."

Victor became serious.

"Yggdrasil?"

"I assume that’s what you call it."

Fafnir closed her eyes for a few seconds, analyzing the artifact’s energy flow.

"There isn’t much active energy, but the spatial structure appears to have been created using something related to the Tree."

Victor looked at Rowena.

She looked just as surprised as he was.

"We need to analyze this more carefully later."

"Definitely," Rowena replied.

Fafnir seemed far less concerned about the mystery.

She grabbed the entire pile of books Rowena had separated.

And threw everything into the dimension.

Victor blinked.

"Hey."

"What?"

"You just threw everything in."

"It needed to be stored."

"I was going to look through it first."

"Look later."

She grabbed the scrolls.

Threw those in too.

Then the crystal.

The bracelet.

Even the small knife.

"Done."

Fafnir closed the portal with a movement of her hand.

"When we’re finished here, store Gram in there too."

Victor looked at the sword resting on his shoulder.

"You can enter the ring along with it?"

"If I’m connected to the sword, yes."

Rowena nodded slowly.

"That would make things much easier."

Victor continued watching Fafnir.

She had already moved away and was examining another pedestal, clearly far more interested in the collection now that she could project herself outside Gram.

"You got tame pretty fast."

Fafnir turned her head.

"Tame?"

"Not long ago you were promising to eat my entrails."

"You offered."

"And you refused."

"Because you’re disgusting."

Victor laughed.

Fafnir went back to examining a small crown made of dark metal.

"I like new things."

The answer was simple.

Victor stopped laughing.

Fafnir moved her fingers near the crown, although her spiritual projection couldn’t fully touch it.

"For two thousand years, I could feel several of these treasures."

She pointed toward the shelves.

"Some were close enough for me to recognize. Others I could only sense through their energy."

Her golden eyes moved through the vault with an interest that hadn’t existed while she was trapped inside Gram’s world.

"But I couldn’t leave the sword."

Victor understood.

Fafnir continued.

"I couldn’t touch anything. I couldn’t open a book. I couldn’t even properly see what was around me."

She looked down at her own hands.

"Now I can."

Victor smiled faintly.

Fafnir noticed and immediately narrowed her eyes.

"Don’t start."

"I didn’t say anything."

"That face."

"What face?"

"The same one as before."

Victor didn’t answer.

Fafnir turned away and resumed observing the treasures.

"I formed the bond with you. So I’m going to make the most of every second I can remain projected outside that sword."

She pointed toward another corridor.

"Now move."

Victor raised an eyebrow.

"Are you giving me orders?"

"We have three minutes and I want to see what that old man stole before you take me away."

Victor looked at Rowena.

Rowena shrugged.

"She has a point."

Victor sighed, adjusted Gram more comfortably on his shoulder, and started following Fafnir.

"I just found another troublesome woman."

Fafnir answered without even looking back.

"And I just found a seven-hundred-and-fifty-square-meter dimensional storage space for my future treasures."

Victor stopped.

Fafnir kept walking.

"Wait."

She finally glanced over her shoulder.

Victor pointed toward the ring.

"My future treasures."

Fafnir smiled for the first time since leaving Gram.

"We’ll discuss that later."

Victor stared at Fafnir for a few seconds as she began heading toward the corridor she had pointed out.

Her excitement was too obvious to hide. Until just minutes ago, Fafnir had spent two thousand years trapped inside Gram, limited to vaguely sensing what existed around the sword. Now, she could walk through the vault, see the objects, recognize ancient treasures, and even argue with someone about what should or shouldn’t be taken.

Victor understood perfectly why she wanted to keep going.

The problem was, Anette had been quite clear.

Ten minutes.

He looked at Rowena.

"How much time?"

Rowena closed her eyes for a moment, making an estimate.

"A little over two minutes."

Victor raised an eyebrow.

"Left?"

"Yes."

He looked back at Fafnir, who was already several meters away, examining a spear mounted horizontally on a wall.

"Then it’s over."

Fafnir immediately turned her head.

"It’s not over."

"Fafnir."

"We have two minutes."

"Exactly."

Victor started walking toward her.

"I don’t intend to find out what happens if Vlad’s Vault decides to eject me on its own after ten minutes."

Fafnir looked annoyed.

"There’s time to check that corridor."

"No."

"Just that one."

"No."

"That shelf, then."

"No, either."

Fafnir narrowed her eyes.

"You are extremely irritating."

Victor stopped beside her and looked at the spear that had caught her eye. The object was beautiful—made of an almost pure white metal with small blue inscriptions near the tip—yet he could barely sense any energy coming from it.

"And you just spent several minutes saying that most of the stuff here is useless." "That doesn’t mean I don’t want to look."

"I know."

Victor placed his hand on her head.

Fafnir immediately pulled away.

"Don’t touch."

He laughed.

"Let’s go. You’ll have other chances to see new things."

She stood motionless.

Victor realized those words had an effect different from what he’d expected.

Fafnir glanced at the hall once more.

At the weapons.

At the books.

At the objects scattered across the pedestals.

Then she slowly lowered her gaze.

"Other chances..."

"That’s what I promised."

Fafnir didn’t answer.

Victor didn’t try to pressure her, either. He let her observe the place for a few more seconds before returning to Rowena.

"Is everything you set aside in the ring?"

"Everything."

"And the *Hound’s Fang* manual?"

Rowena pointed at his hand.

Victor looked.

The book was still tucked under his arm.

"Oh."

Fafnir made a nasal sound.

"And you called *me* absent-minded."

"I never called you absent-minded."

"You thought it."

"Do you read minds now?"

"I don’t need to."

Victor opened the ring’s dimension again, this time trying to replicate on his own what Fafnir had done earlier. He channeled energy into the artifact, searching for the spatial structure he now knew existed.

At first, nothing happened.

Victor frowned.

"How did you open it?"

Fafnir stepped closer.

"You’re pushing too much energy."

"That usually solves things."

"With delicate objects, it usually breaks them."

Rowena crossed her arms.

"She’s right."

Victor looked at both of them.

"Are you two already forming an alliance against me?"

"No," Rowena replied.

"Maybe," Fafnir said at the same time.

Victor sighed.

Fafnir held his hand again and guided a much smaller amount of energy into the ring.

"Don’t force it. Feel the structure."

Victor paid close attention.

This time, he sensed it.

There was a sort of tiny fold inside the artifact, a connection to something much larger that didn’t physically exist in the space around them. When he touched that structure with his energy, it responded.

The portal appeared.

Victor smiled.

"I get it."

He tossed the manual inside.

Fafnir immediately pointed at Gram.

"Now her."

Victor looked at the massive sword resting on his shoulder.

"Do you need to go back first?"

"Yes."

Her expression grew a little less pleased.

Victor noticed.

"It’s temporary."

"I know." Fafnir walked over and stood before Gram.

For a few seconds, she simply observed the weapon.

Now that Victor knew part of its history, it seemed different. Gram wasn’t merely a powerful sword containing a draconic soul; to Fafnir, that weapon had been her prison for two thousand years.

She placed her hand upon the blade.

Her projection began to fade.

Before vanishing completely, Fafnir looked at Victor.

"Don’t forget your promise."

Victor didn’t hesitate.

"I won’t."

She held his gaze for another moment.

Then, she disappeared into the sword.

Victor immediately felt the bond remain active. Fafnir was there, inside Gram, but her presence was now much clearer than before. It no longer felt like a hostile energy lurking within the blade; he could vaguely sense her emotions and even perceive her discomfort at having returned to that state.

"It won’t be for long," Victor murmured.

Gram vibrated.

Victor took that as a response.

He placed the sword into the ring’s dimension.

As soon as Gram passed through the portal, Victor felt something curious. The bond didn’t vanish. On the contrary, it remained perfectly stable, as if the distance between the ring’s internal dimension and his body meant absolutely nothing.

"Interesting."

Rowena observed.

"Is she still connected?"

"Yes."

"So, the ring’s space doesn’t interfere with the spiritual bond."

Victor closed the portal.

"That will be useful."

Rowena nodded.

She looked around once more.

"Shall we go?"

Victor swept his gaze across the hall.

There were still hundreds, perhaps thousands, of objects that hadn’t been examined. Some weapons likely concealed secrets, books might hold unknown techniques, and—given what they had just discovered inside a seemingly ordinary manual—it was highly probable that other significant treasures were hidden in similar ways.

But he had already gained far more than he had expected.

Gram.

Fafnir.

Supreme World Cultivation.

A blood technique.

The Hound’s Fang method.

And, perhaps most importantly, he had finally discovered that Rowena’s ring was a dimensional artifact linked in some way to Yggdrasil.

Greed had its limits.

At least when the vault belonged to Vlad.

"It’s time to go."