"It should be a crime to hold these priceless treatures looked at here collecting dust," Alex said, his face having a bright smile as he scanned the massive vault using his eyes of the ancient.
Alex's heart pounded with excitement and anxiety as he glanced around the vault, taking in the breathtaking sight of priceless treasures of various categories, each being of higher quality than the last.
The artifacts were neatly displayed on unique luxurious stands, each with a placard detailing their significance and origins, and among the most prominent pieces were ancient relics of unknown origin, shimmering with an otherworldly glow.
Alex meticulously scanned the area around him expecting there to be small hidden traps, but he found none, and what he did discover was intricate combinations of magical runes that created protected barriers around not only each item but also each section of items.
Alex knew about the barriers around the items, but he wasn't expecting there to be large barriers around each section of the items, and their presence meant a big problem.
Alex had planned to avoid any small traps, and after selecting the nine items he wanted, with the tenth being the Ethereal Compendium, he would simultaneously start refining the barriers protecting the items removing them at the same time before picking them and taking his leave.
"This is going to be trickier, but I can still work out my plan," Alex whispered to himself, coming up with a quick solution.
Alex quickly started to search the area for the items of the most value, but with him requiring to alter his plan, he didn't have the complete freedom to pick and choose items.
After a few minutes, Alex was done selecting six items, all of them being legendary quality and one even being a legendary quality egg of unknown origin.
Alex had no plans of picking a second companion beast, but he still decided to take the egg and no other good legendary item in its place because even without any available information, he knew the beast was special after seeing the abnormally dense space surrounding it.
'Let's pull out the first heist of my life,' Alex thought as he used the selective refinement skill, picking the ten barriers he wanted to remove.
After getting the time required to remove the smaller barriers around the items, Alex unselected them, just leaving the three large barriers around the three sections before starting the skill to do his work.
Alex planned to begin by refining the three larger barriers first, and as the time required for their removal approached the duration needed for the smaller barrier's removal, he would then immediately start refining the smaller barrier as well, aiming to remove all barriers simultaneously.
The Red Gem released the ethereal red mist that spread like smoke in the chamber, covering the three barriers in their entirety in mere moments.
Alex took a deep breath, focusing on the precise timing required for his plan to succeed as he mentally counted down the seconds, ready to use the skill on the seven smaller barriers.
Alex's anxiety level was high as time seemed to both slow and rush by, and he could feel the tension building within him, knowing that any misstep could ruin the entire heist.
But Alex pushed aside his doubts, trusting in his abilities and the plan he had devised, and at precise timing, he used the skill on the remaining seven barriers and signed a breath of relief.
Alex had done everything as perfectly as he could, and now he needed to wait, watching the intricately woven runes of the barriers disintegrating in his black-and-white sight as his mental clock ticked down.
After the anxiety-filled, forty-five seconds passed, all ten barriers simultaneously collapsed, and the vast amount of ethereal red mist returned to the red gem.
The vault lay open before Alex, revealing the prized treasures, and with a mixture of relief and joy, he stepped forward to claim the six legendary artifacts he had selected.
Alex wasted no time and used the phantom walk to swiftly gather the six legendary artifacts starting with the magic grimoire for which he was doing this heist.
Alex didn't even spend a single second more in the vault, and the moment he placed the last item in his inventory, he used the Temporal Beacon and returned to his hotel room in Silverridge City.
Alex stood in the room, his heart pounding while his mind filled with thoughts of what if he stayed and took more, but besides these few passing thoughts, he was thrilled to have acquired what he wanted but, more than that, to have pulled off a smooth heist.
A sudden disturbance shook Aureate Merchect Group's main building mere seconds after Alex left the vault.
The ground trembled, and the air crackled with elemental energy, and an instant later, everything within hundreds of meters of the towering building was cloaked in a cube of swirling gray mist.
The sudden phenomenon meant only one thing that Morgan had found out about the heist, and his trusted guardian was at work looking for the man who joyously set in a luxury room far away from his reach.
It was unknown whether it was removing the barriers that alerted Morgan or the absence of items, but whatever it was, now it didn't matter because Alex was a safe distance away and enjoying the reward of his work.
The common folks in the vicinity were shocked by the sudden change of the phenomena, while some who were strong enough knew what the cause of it was, but they were all ants trapped in unbreakable prison, able to do nothing.
In a fit of rage, Morgan stormed into his vault, his eyes ablaze with fury as he surveyed the empty spaces where his prized artifacts once stood. The room seemed to vibrate with his anger, and a chilling aura surrounded him.
"Who dares to steal from me?!" Morgan roared, his voice echoing through the chamber.
"Eldarian, Eldarian, Tell me you have found that fucker," Morgan said, his anger quickly turning to panic seeing the items missing.
"Morgan, I feel no presence in the space in or outside the vault, meaning whoever entered the vault is gone." Eldarian, a handsome elf with gray hair, appeared beside Morgan and said, his eyes shining with intrigue as mist cloaked his body.
"FIND HIM, FIND THAT BASTARD," Morgan roared, veins covering his head as he let loose his aura of peak Elementalist.
"I would love to find the thief and ask him how he was able to not break but completely erase these barriers in their entirety, but sadly I don't think I will get my answers," Eldarian said as he walked toward one of the item sections with no barrier.
"Eldarian, you can't find him?" Morgan's voice trembled with a mix of desperation and rage, and his face paled further as he saw his trusted guardian shake his head solemnly.
"The thief only took Six legendaries and One unique grade grimoire, which were valuable, but many of the items in your collection are worth more than those seven combined, so don't sweat it," Eldarian said as he started to manipulate the mist around to achieve something.
'The Grimoire is gone. My chance to get eternal Life and power. All Gone because of a fucking thief,' Morgan thought, his mind going blank as the realization of the magnitude of the situation sank in, and his anger turned inward, blaming himself for placing the grimoire in the vault.
While Morgan stood rooted in place, consumed by anger and regret, far away in his hotel room, Alex couldn't help but smile in triumph, holding the Ethereal Compendium, not knowing the hidden value it held, at least not yet.
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