For all the monsters’ presence, the bank was still stuffed with quite a lot that could prove useful. There was an untouched pantry and kitchenette area that replenished their store of dry and non-perishable food. That gave them the perfect excuse to settle down and have the breakfast they’d denied themselves earlier. Rory was glad to fill his stomach.

Everyone mostly seemed relieved and upbeat to still be alive. Evelyn tried to stay away and remain glum by herself, but Viv pulled her and made sure she ate and drank enough. Rory wondered if the others wanted to offer their condolences, but they did the right thing in giving her space for the moment.

Once they’d finished up eating, they resumed their salvaging mission.

There was more Mana to be looted from the sides and the roof of the bank. Bunch of paraphernalia would be great as well, including stationary, mechanical clocks, some spare clothes, and the like. There was also a lot of furniture and electronics that they might be able to use when they settled down eventually as well.

The problem was that they couldn’t transport everything. With the old Cadillac gone, they’d all be squeezed inside the van, leaving no room for extra salvage.

Thankfully, Trish and Allen found more cars in the underground parking lot, left behind by the ones who had passed away thanks to the apocalypse. Most didn’t work of course, but there were a couple of older vehicles they would be able to get going—an older pick-up truck and another old-fashioned car similar to the Cadillac.

“Look at that Spyder,” Trish said, gazing fondly at the vintage convertible. “I can keep it, right?”

Allen snorted. “It’s not your pet.”

Rory was struggling to remember why he’d been dragged here in the first place. “Yeah, sure, keep it if you can get it running.”

“Just need to loot the dead people for the keys,” Trish said, seeing no problem at all with grave robbing.

At least Allen blanched.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Rory said, walking away. “Make sure you get the pickup running too.”

As he climbed out of the underground parking onto the street outside, instead of using the staircase inside, Rory suddenly got an idea. He got close up to the bank’s rear then used his Weaving.

It felt ridiculous, and he wasn’t expecting it to work. After all, his Weaving’s area of effect was in a 13-metre radius. Nowhere near enough to cover the entire bank. And yet, the white lines of his Sigil sank into the nearby walls, doors, and windows as he focused on the bank itself.

In moments, he had a Sigil showing the image of a bag of money.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Finance. You can now take care of financial matters. Here’s your dose of free education.

[Argent VIII] allows 4% greater financial handling enhancement. Improves passively.

Stats

Type: Settlement

Rarity: Uncommon

Tier: Argent VIII [0%]

Efficiency: High [72%]

Well, Rory had no idea what that was supposed to do, though its type being Settlement was a strong hint. He’d figure out its exact function at some point, though, so he pocketed it for later.

Back in the hall, where no one remained except for Evelyn keeping May company, Rory walked up to each of the corpses. He found the two resting women watching him with odd looks. Well, Evelyn had summoned a confused expression. May just looked vaguely amused.

“Don’t mind me,” Rory said with a smile. “Just your everyday Weaver poking around.”

The Emberfang’s pit was more fruitful than he had expected it to be. Its corpse was disintegrating, barely recognizable thanks to the horrific damage Dez, Viv, and Miles had dealt it, though he didn’t catch any decaying stench from it. Strange. Maybe Otherworlder monsters didn’t decompose the same way regular creatures did.

Nevertheless, Rory used his Weaving on the giant corpse and received intriguing Sigil options.

[Sigil Options]

You can now pick a Woven Sigil from a maximum of three options. Choose wisely.

Sigil of Eruption

Type: Element Rarity: Remarkable Efficiency: Low Summon volcanic eruptions

Sigil of Fireburst

Type: Element Rarity: Remarkable Efficiency: Medium Set fire, and boost power

Sigil of Wildfire

Type: Element Rarity: Remarkable Efficiency: Medium Summon living flames

Interesting that he had little descriptions to go with each of the Sigils. It seemed there were more benefits to raising the Tier of his Sigil of Weaving than he had thought. He no longer had to take a shot in the dark and hope the Sigil he picked was the best, though it still didn’t come close to being able to test them all and see.

Rory picked the Sigil of Fireburst. Living flames and volcanic eruptions sounded intriguing, but this would synergize well with what Miles could already do. It was too good to pass up.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Fireburst. For every single thing that you set aflame, you are now a tiny bit stronger for the duration of burning.

[Argent VIII] allows fire summoning in a 16-meter radius and an 8% boost to all stats per burning object.

Stats

Type: Element

Rarity: Remarkable

Tier: Argent VIII [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [41%]

Rory smiled. The Sigil showed a figure reminiscent of a bodybuilder but on fire. Miles was going to love it.

Next up was the lich. She was breaking apart too, just as the Emberfang was, except her broken pieces were freezing solid first.

He got three Exceptional rarity choices this time—Sigils of Resurrection, Rending Blizzard, and Soul Sorcery. All of them were amazing, and Rory rued the rules that wouldn’t let him pick them all. Resurrection naturally let him summon the dead, while Soul Sorcery let him control souls.

Rory already had a Rending Blizzard, though he couldn’t use it yet since its Tier was so high. Deciding there was no point twisting himself into knots about it, he picked Resurrection. He hoped it would work as fail-safe in case things went so wrong that one of them was in danger of dying.

The Sigil had the image of a human body horizontally laid down, but with the middle slightly bent as though it was being pulled upwards.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Resurrection. The grave is no bar to your call.

[Argent VIII] allows 4 minor corpse reanimation for 64 seconds.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Exceptional

Tier: Argent I [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [48%]

Hoping he wasn’t ever going to need it, Rory pocketed the Sigil and headed outside. One last monster to take care of.

Outside in the parking lot, Rory was afraid the remains of the Thunderclaw Knight would reattach and attack him. Shutting his paranoia down, he used his Weaving on the Knight’s corpse. There were the expected Sigils of Lightning Shield and Heavenly Lightning. But there was a new one too.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Electrostatic Resilience. Connect every inch of your body to each other via the spark of electricity. Watch as it reconstructs itself thanks to magnetism.

[Argent VIII] allows passive minor wound electrical healing 10% faster.

Stats

Type: Element

Rarity: Remarkable

Tier: Argent VIII [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [35%]

When Rory headed back inside, he found the others gathering. They’d gathered a lot of salvage from what he could see, and he was slightly concerned they wouldn’t be able to find a way to carry everything. Rory trusted them enough not to have brought anything unnecessary, but still. There was a lot.

But before he reached them, Rory caught sight of the lich’s staff. The skull-topped rod seemed to glimmer as Rory walked over and picked it up.

New Item!

You’ve obtained a Staff of Deadly Winter. Summon the wrath of the deepest midwinter and freeze your enemies’ souls in place.

[Argent I] allows [Argent I] Sigil use. Bonus to wintry or necromantic Sigils.

Stats

Type: Weapon

Rarity: Mythic

Tier: Argent I [0%]

Efficiency: Extreme [90%]

- Sigil of Rending Blizzard

-

-

New Achievement!

Item Hoarder! You have successfully filled all your item slots. You can now proceed to make wield your mighty weapons and tools with glory trailing in your wake.

Rewards

All Sigils Warded into Items will advance in Tiers 20% faster

For something made entirely of metal, the staff was lighter than Rory had expected. He was intrigued by it, but he wasn’t sure he could use it just yet. Rory hadn’t absorbed the Sigil of Wielding, nor had he attempted to use his Hammer and Anvil of Sigil Warding, which he assumed would also need a Sigil of Wielding.

Rory checked his Status, wondering how close he’d gotten to attaining another personal Tier.

[Status]

Rory McIlroy

Race: Human

Class: Weaver

Profession: Merchant

Tier: Argent V [80%]

Perks: Rescuer, Stalwart, Looter, Venerable

Stats

Spirit: 10 [Argent III]

Fortitude: 10 [Argent III]

-

Sigils

Sigil of Weaving: Legendary, [Argent VIII]

Sigil of Locomotion: Remarkable, [Argent V]

Sigil of Stats: Ordinary, [Argent VI]

Sigil of Knowledge: Exceptional, [Argent VII]

Sigil of Mercantilism: Exceptional, [Argent III]

Items

Hammer of Sigil Warding

Anvil of Sigil Warding

Staff of Deadly Winter

Just over halfway to the next Tier level, which was Cerulean, if Rory recalled correctly. It was a little disheartening to see it advance slower than he’d expected, even after that achievement that had confirmed his Sigils were gaining strength faster. Ah well.

“You look worried,” Viv said, approaching him with a quizzical look. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, really. Just that there’s a lot of work ahead of us.”

“We’ll get through it all, you’ll see.”

Viv’s encouraging smile made Rory’s chest feel much lighter. They made their way back to the others and to the large piles of salvage they’d gathered.

“That’s… a lot,” Rory said.

Viv crossed her arms. “That’s what I said.”

“Yeah,” Dez said. “But it’s all important stuff.”

“Potentially important stuff.”

“I mean.” Dez lifted up an old clock, its hands still ticking to show it was ten minutes past nine A.M. “I’m pretty sure keeping track of time is important.”

“Really? What exactly do you have there?”

“Hmm, let’s see.” Dez started counting off fingers. “There are clothes, clocks, stationery and books, some cleaning supplies, a few tools, tape, ledgers, locks—”

“Hold on,” Viv said. “I’m going to need a notebook to keep track. Can you repeat?”

Dez stared at her. Miles just laughed.

“Fine, fine,” Rory said. “Let’s just head out as soon as we can. You just need to make sure you can fit everything in the cars. Speaking of, are they ready to move.”

“We’re still looking for some of the keys,” Dez said. “Shouldn’t be long now, though.”

Even as he said it, Jerome came running down the distant stairs. There was a haggard look on his face, and when his eyes finally found Evelyn, he swallowed and quickly looked away. Rory swallowed. Whatever he’d found, it wasn’t good.

“We found the dead,” Jerome said quietly in Rory’s ear, side-eyeing Evelyn. “And yeah, they’re all dead. Though the bodies are… strange.”

“Strange how?” Rory whispered back.

“You might want to come and see for yourself.”

Cryptic as she was, Rory decided he had better go check it out. Viv brought Evelyn with her, as Sue did May, while Dez and Miles decided to figure out how to stuff their gathered supplies into the vehicles.

Jerome led them back to the third floor, through the shattered and barely-there lobby still covered in patches of ice from the lich’s exhibitions. They went past that, and also past the office they’d first seen the lich in—Rory was tempted to stop and see if there was anything interesting there, but he controlled himself—before taking a short stairwell at the other end of the floor down to the next level, where a large vault stood gaping open.

Rory spine turned rigid as an iron rod, tingling as though it was being frozen slowly. There was a lot of money inside the vault, but it was the corpses that drew his eye.

“What happened to them?” Rory asked, taking a careful step inside.

Trish and Allen were there too. Neither them, nor Jerome had any answer. Rory couldn’t blame them. It was mystifying to see.

The bodies weren’t harmed in any overt way, so far as Rory could see. No wounds, no injuries, just bodies sprawled in strange angles and with horrified expressions on their faces. It looked as though they’d been scared to death. Most were figures in business attire, a few in janitorial clothes and gear or the unform of a security guard.

“Found the kid,” Allen said. He swallowed. “Same as the others.”

Rory walked over. It was cold in the vault, even more than it was in the broken lobby, and he had to drag himself over to the body Allen indicated.

The child looked the same as his apparition. Short, spiky hair, a curved nose, a gap where a missing tooth would have been. But his face was nothing like the ghost Rory had seen. It was contorted in fear, eyes big and wide as though they were about to pop out, mouth open so far, he was afraid the lips would tear.

“No.”

Rory barely heard the strangled cry before Evelyn had flung herself down atop the man and the child. His heart squeezed itself too tightly. It was difficult to see them like that. They could leave her to mourn some more, perhaps find a way to bury or cremate them, whichever Evelyn preferred, but Rory had a better idea.

“Evelyn.” He walked forward and placed a firm but gentle hand on her shoulder. “I’ve got a Sigil of Resurrection. Do you want to use it for a bit?”

He managed to explain his thoughts to her once she had calmed down enough. Evelyn agreed readily.

“I want to see what happens,” she said breathily.

“Evy…” Viv placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Be careful. This isn’t… normal.”

“I want to see my son again, Viv. And my husband too if I can.”

They gave her some space and left her alone. Viv stayed on the third floor to make sure everything would be all right, but the rest of them departed to the parking lot where Trish, Ned, and Allen had brought around the other vehicles. Compared to the old convertible and the pick-up truck, the savaged van looked as though it had been stolen from a junkyard.

“Are we all ready to get going?” Rory asked.

“We have everything piled in with room to spare for people,” Dez said. “It’ll be a squeeze, but not for long.”

Rory sighed. It seemed he couldn’t escape tight confines no matter how many cars they found.

He looked around and saw no sign of the donkey anywhere. None of the others had mentioned anything about Truck, so Rory didn’t feel like bringing it up. They’d been spooked out enough already.

Viv and Evelyn finally returned, the nurse looking even more devasted yet more determined at the same time. Rory was curious to hear how exactly the Sigil of Resurrection worked. Now wasn’t the time, however.

“Alright everyone,” he said. “To the palace.”