Book 2: Chapter 1
001: Gifts
Before Ember returned to his group, he decided to inspect the spatial storage ring, as he was unlikely to get another opportunity soon. He had read about them and knew storage rings were far rarer than average artefacts. With the system providing Inventory space to every Ascendant reaching Iron Class, the demand for storage devices had waned over the centuries. Besides, not anyone could make a tiny device capable of folding cubic metres of space inside its miniature form.
Dawn had mentioned that his share of the loot was within the ring, implying its storage capacity was definitely comparable to, or larger than, the System Inventory Iron Ascendants received for starters.
However, before examining its contents, Ember chose to bind the ring to his will and mana, restricting its access to him alone. This was the compulsory safety net built into all storage devices to ward off theft.
Shaping a few threads of mana and enforcing his Will upon them, Ember poured it all into the ring, driving his awareness into its inner rune formation. The first thing Ember noted was that its internal structure diverged significantly from any other equipment he had examined. The second was that he could not penetrate its intricate layers at all to inspect the concealed script formation layered within.
Nevertheless, he succeeded in claiming the ring as one of his possessions.
Diving into its inner space proved even easier. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite make out what was stored inside using mana alone. There was no light in the folded space, and even if there were, his mana perception couldn't discern it. All his mana managed was to trace the outlines of various articles, and even then, it was so vague he couldn't pinpoint anything precisely.
This was another reason people preferred the System Inventory over a storage device. He could imagine it being a real problem in urgent situations, for example, needing to retrieve healing potions in the heat of an intense battle.
Perhaps I could organise the more crucial, life-saving items on one side of the storage, he mused.