The Author's POV

341 Taking the initiative [1]

Halting his steps in front of a large metallic door, the guard paused for a moment.

Placing his small blue hand by the side of the door, the metallic structure rumbled and slowly opened up.

Rumble-

Once the door was halfway open, the guard started talking.

"This over here is the artifact testing area. As you're probably aware, this place is dedicated to testing artifacts and their power."

"Oh? I've heard of this place."

Walking into the room, I pretended to be unamused by what I saw.

In truth, I was beyond shocked. With all sorts of complex machinery around the room, duergars could be seen testing all sorts of artifacts.

BANG-

Covered in sophisticated equipment, the duergars tested weird-looking artifacts against some sort of odd machinery. Displayed on the machine was all sorts of data which other duergars looked at by the side, taking notes on their holographic- looking devices.

Some of the artifacts were so powerful that I could sense the mana in the air convering towards it.

Keeping a straight face had never been more difficult for me.

'...I wonder if I can steal them.'

I thought to myself.

Oddly enough, that was the first thing I thought as I looked at the artifacts. I couldn't be blamed though.

Each one of the artifacts present would sell for astronomical prices back in the human domain.

To be honest, the probability of me being able to steal them was low, but a man could dream, right?

'Mhm... Actually, it's not impossible for me to steal them...'

A wild thought suddenly entered my mind.

If everything proceeded as planned, then, perhaps, I may be able to take some of the stuff here.

next to me, the guard patted the

Rhimestone, ensuring some solid safety. This way, our researchers can conduct

"Rhimestone?"

raised my brow in mild

what I remember, Rhimestone was an incredibly sturdy rock that could withstand

also

his finger across the wall, the

the facility if the artifacts ever do malfunction.

be stupid if they didn't

my best to memorize the layout of

to

the other areas?"

on his answer, I could probably make up for the sudden

no longer a matter of greed. This place could be instrumental to my

whether the mana fluctuations and the like

"Yea."

in this

the corner of the room, where a

there measures the mana density in the room. When the mana density reaches a certain level, it will trigger a defensive mechanism and activate the security system, which in turn

they have a chance

looked at the duergars working on the artifacts in the distance before shaking his head. "They'll be sealed inside, and probably die. We don't want to take any risks. For better or

flashed across the guard's eyes as he looked at the

way, if they do end up surviving, the system will deactivate as soon as it judges

"...I see."

ruthless

not go outside of the room, they were prepared to have anyone inside

happened to the people here,

sacrifice

a pity to lose

actually quite useful

that I had previously envisioned became

to

me, moving towards the

glance at the

"Yes."