Ouro was quickly taken out of the house and bribed to do his little scare tactic one more time. Seth arrived at the site and equipped a black mask and black outfit before telling his friend to start.
The snake slithered up and hissed at the poor, trembling man who was supposedly a guard. He practically ran off screaming so afraid of the snake and considering his size Seth thought many would do the same.
Ouro by this point was a beast of an animal and at the lower ranks, they had no intelligence and usually were frenzied beasts who only let instinct drive their minds. Seth thanked his mythical friend and patted him before telling him to wait hidden by the door.
Since Seth had trained his beast a decent amount during his road trip the beast understood his order and hid itself by the door. It then fell asleep; he was truly a lazy mythical beast.
Seth used the lack of security to enter his way into the building where he quickly located a light source. Once Seth turned the light on he tried his best to think about where the stairs down were, but he could only say it was near where he was.
He remembered being taken to the back and they only took a few corridors to go downstairs so the stairs should be close to where Seth was now.
He looked around, after turning off the light, now using a dimmer low-output light orb to discreetly find his target.
Sneaking around the labyrinthian corridors Seth could swear he heard the sound of footsteps. He turned off his orb and hid in a dark corner of his hallway.
The guard came closer, and Seth could hear the keys rattling on his belt. A dim light followed coming closer to the right corner of Seth’s eye.
Seth held his breath and stayed completely still as the guard got ever closer to the end of the corridor. Luckily Seth's route ended in a dead end, so it was unlikely that the gaud’s patrol took the exact corridor that Seth was in, but he needed to stay completely still just in case the gaud decided to take a glance in his direction.
The worst-case scenario was that he had some sort of Intruder Eye skill that would highlight him in red and make him blankly obvious compared to the darkness surrounding him.
Seth knew guards like that cost a lot so it was unlikely they had one doing menial patrols, but Seth didn’t like the chance that it could happen.
He waited as the light got ever closer and the clinking of the keys got louder. Seth peaked out an eye from the ball he had made of himself at the end of the dead end and looked into the now light-filled corridor.
He saw the guard staring down his part of the corridor and Seth could even swear he was looking at him.
Seth could hardly believe it; he had reduced the odds so in favour of him that it was incredibly unlikely he got caught and yet still he managed to fail. Seth cursed his luck and admonished his plan; he should have checked more.
Seth was thinking of how much he would get as a sentence before the guard's eyes moved to another, higher-up area of the corridor.
Seth was shocked but stayed his body with a stern mental command. He needed to stay still now more than ever he still had a chance of a flawless heist.
The guard's eyes wondered as he brought the lamp closer, and Seth further stayed till.
It was only when the guard brought his orb back and he began wandering around the rest of his patrol route that Seth breathed a sigh of relief.
He waited until he was sure he had gone before Seth got up and moved towards where the guard had come from. Seth reluctantly turned his dim light orb on again before he started wandering the halls yet again. He could still hear the sound of the guard's keys, but they were getting calmingly further away.
Seth eventually found the stairs down and whilst he was making sure he didn’t walk over any trip wire he found himself at the bottom of the stairs. Seth was happy he didn’t need to deal with that, and he peered over to the only permanent light source on at night.
It was a torch-lit above the vault door and Seth could see the faint shadow of two guards standing still in the guard posts. Seth continued staring but realised that the guards were robots still.
`Crap, it’s them. I could swear that they worked the shift before why they did an extra one, workaholics!`
Maybe one of the guards had something like Security Sense or something that made the two work a late shift just in case. It was unlikely they would be working in this dump, but it was still possible.
Seth now had to deal with the two guards, and he needed to take them out quickly and quietly. Luckily he had made a plan for just this occasion. Seth didn’t like to be surprised but as a planner, he needed to plan for every variable.
Seth made sure he was in hearing distance of the guards and used a spell had had not used yet. Seth started weaving magic together using his mana control, making sure to do it as close as possible to himself to reduce the difficulty. He weaved together a coin-shaped object and he needed to put a little symbol of a diamond on it.
Once the construct was made he flowed mana into the symbol and the coin took shape into the physical world. It glowed a light blue, but the unmistakable shine of gold was also present to attract whoever heard it.
All Seth needed to do now was drop it, so he simply did, and it fell to the floor.
The sound was odd. A distinct high note as the coin hit the cold stone floor. The sound seemed so beautiful, and smooth that it made one feel forced to go and look for its source and even Seth was forced to look at the shiny appearance of the coin. The fact it hit the floor more than once was just icing on the cake.
Seth watched as the coin quickly disappeared after it had made its distinct sound.
Rob, the guard closest to the sound, heard it and looked towards the stairs. He looked at his twin, who shrugged and signalled for him to ignore it, but Rob felt he couldn’t. Something about that movie was too enticing for him to resist so he looked at his twin and said, “Give me a sec.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Mob seemed shocked to see his brother walking off, but he decided to allow his undertaking. He was also curious, but he was always more dedicated than Rob and he could just wait for his brother to return to tell him just what made that beautiful sound. For now, he stayed guard, looking and waiting just in case a Robber arrived.
Seth heard a singular person coming in his direction and he got out his cloth to deal with him. He had actually wrapped his cloth around his dagger to use as a 2 for one and Steh was about to see if it worked. The potion had already been applied as he still had a leftover one from Darter.
The guard crossed the corner and Seth quickly grabbed his head although the guard struggled Seth quickly got him unconscious with the cloth next to his nose.
The combination was a failure as it was a struggle to not stab the target at the same time and also hold the weapon whilst trying to knock him out, but it was a cool idea, it failed miserably.
Seth caught the body as it fell and got changed into the guard's clothing. By now Seth had had some practice in speed clothing and thanks to an extra disguise enhancement it didn’t look like he had done it in a rush.
Seth's head was starting to hurt from mana overuse, but he needed to stay strong, so he relaxed on the Seren Mind usage but continued the Disguise enhancement, It played a key role in what he was about to do.
Seth walked out into the light with his nothing to hide and walked up to Mob like he was just another guard. Mob was weirded out not to see his brother turn the corner but the security guard that came through the door looked so convincing.
He shook his mind out of it. IT WAS A SPELL! His mind reeled from the thought, and he stood guard against the person who had just come in. “Who are you? And what have you done to my brother?!”
Seth cursed that his plan didn’t work flawlessly but he shook his mind, and it went into fight or flight mode. Seth felt the world slow as he ran towards the final obstacle to his riches. He watched as Mob brought out a device Seth recognised as a Message Stone but before he could use it Seth had already kicked it out of his hands.
The brothers knew how to fight but it seemed in the heat of the moment that they just weren’t cut out for high-octane fighting. Mob reacted slowly to his message stone being kicked away and Seth used this time to jump at the man.
The two tumbled on the floor as Seth tried to get his cloth around Mob’s mouth but as the fight went on Mob got better and better at fighting under his condition so Seth quickly made the decision to end it all.
He used the dagger to cut the man and as Mob had never been hurt before he panicked and went to reach for the nearby Message Stone. Seth rapidly got the cloth over his mouth and seconds before Mob reached the Stone he fell into a deep sleep.
Seth breathed in and lay down on the floor. His chest hurt from where Mob had kicked him, but he stood up and moved to the vault. He always turned into this machine whenever he fought and whatever thoughts he may have had were banished and only simple clear instructions entered his head.
These were instincts that drove a man when they were in a life-or-death situation. Obviously, the stakes weren’t that high but since Seth thought they were he felt his heightened intuition flair into his only thought process.
It reminded him of beasts, and it reminded Seth that humans were just the evolved version of them.
Seth was bruised but alive and the reward that awaited him was just steps away. Yet, Seth had to be careful. The guards were posted behind this point and a tripwire could have been planted to catch out any unsuspecting Robbers.
Seth controlled his magic over this area and let the mana flow in those directions to see if anything blocked the current. Nothing, but Seth needed to be sure, so he used up valuable time to check.
No, seems Seth was over-cautious, but Seth felt no shame having such a title, he even considered it a compliment.
Seth began the long marathon that would be the Lock Picking spell and closed his eyes as he slowly started what was going to be a mentally tough few hours.
Feeding mana into the orange hands, they got to work. Starting to pick away at the security locks that Seth was already aware of. Like last time this would reduce the time taken to unlock it to a considerably more manageable time.
His brain hurt but he kept the spell going. Headaches plagued his mind and the bruises on his body did nothing to help his focus.
The orange hands toiled away at breaking into the vault while Seth's sweaty body slumped leaning against the vault. Seth was struggling to keep himself awake and as time passed that feeling only got worse and worse. Adrenaline only lasted a while and once that ran out he felt like he was swimming against the current, or fighting in a losing war.
Seth maintained his consciousness through sheer will and greed as he fought against all Illogical reasoning to fall asleep.
Time passed and finally, Seth heard the beautiful sound of the orange hands finishing their unlocking and the spell dissipating. With the vault unlocked Seth felt a wave of relief wash over him and for once in the past 2 hours he felt conscious thought return to his mind.
`Just need to get the money and go.`
He turned the vault doors and began to look around for any traps. He spent one final minute looking for anything that may trap him or disable him before he ran in and took some of the most precious items inside.
Skill books were Seth’s main priority as they were both light and incredibly expensive and looking around the vault he saw a small bookshelf with 4 books on it.
Seth took those and called it a day. He could have lugged out more but his body and mind both came to the conclusion that he was better off just taking the books.
He placed them in his bag and with the security guard outfit still on he started making his way out of the building. Seth tried to remember the way he came in, but his headache refused to do that level of remembering so he just quietly made his way down the corridors.
Seth hoped he didn’t see that guard again. He staggered his way down the dark corridors, a dim light the only thing illuminating the path. His ears were peeled listening out for any potential footsteps or key ringing so he could again successfully hide.
Seth noticed a toilet room to his left and he thought about staying there until morning came but his plan was dispelled by the unconscious guards who would undoubtedly call the police once they woke up.
Seth also wondered if he should wait in the toilets for the guard to pass on his patrol route. Assumably he went from the back door to the stairs and if he did waiting here for the guard did sound like a reasonable plan to Seth's unconscious mind.
He sat down on the stool and let his ears focus on the noise. He heard nothing but the city's distant echoes for around 10 minutes and right before he was about to drift off he heard the distant clatter of the keys.
Seth sat up and kept listening as the keys got closer and closer until they even sounded like they were in the same room. `Wait, the same room!` Of course, the guard decided now was a good time to pee, right when Seth was in a stall.
The guard even tried to take Seth’s stall but found it locked. If Seth’s mind hadn’t been through enough pressure he had to think of a plan in seconds as he quickly assumed the role of Mob.
He thought of his voice and what he would say and before he knew it the sound “Occupied,” had left his mouth.
“Oh, damn. That you Mob? I thought you would never leave that spot; you and your brother are really diligent in your guarding.”
Seth thought and said simply, “Yes. We do try.”
The guard thought that Mob was acting a little weird and his voice was a bit off, but he didn’t think much about it. After all, Mob might have focused on something else.
The guard peed and quickly said goodbye as Seth held in his breath and waited for him to leave. Which he did shortly after.
Seth waited for the keys to disappear from earshot before getting out and running down the hallways and getting out the door.
He scared the guard standing outside, which Seth forgot even existed. Seth quickly called for his snake which promptly made the guard run away again.
“SNAKE!”
Considering how the guard almost instantly abandoned his fellow guard it seemed he had an unreasonable fear of these small animals.
Calling Ouro a small animal was just factually incorrect, so Seth forgave the guard for running away. It was sort of the entire point of leaving the snake here, to scare off the guard again, but it seemed Seth forgot even that part of his plan.
It was a good lesson on the severity of controlling mana for too long had on the mind and although Seth got a headache from the Manor heist it was nothing compared to the exhausting heist he just had. That’s right he had renamed the heist from Casino Heist to Exhausting Heist.
Thinking even that much had left Seth in pain so he shut himself up and took himself and Ouro home where he fell asleep immediately.