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 side of

some solid safety. This way, our researchers can conduct

"Rhimestone?"

my brow in mild

incredibly sturdy

also

across the wall,

don't have to worry about the facility if the

be stupid if they didn't

trying my best to memorize the

out to be more useful

the other areas?" I

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

it was no longer a matter of greed.

you asking whether the mana fluctuations and the like reach outside of this

"Yea."

it. In that case, no. Everything in this

corner of the room, where a

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 will

about the ones stuck inside? Do they have a chance to flee? I assume this

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 worse, everyone here

across the guard's eyes as he looked at the

if they do end up surviving, the system will deactivate as soon as it judges that the mana density in the room is at

"...I see."

ruthless of

not go outside

happened to the people

sacrifice their

a pity to

actually quite useful to

that I had previously envisioned became much more

go to the

guard called out to me, moving towards the door of

one last glance at the

"Yes."