( Winning against Professor Mia? Dream on! )

I was not underestimating Professor Frey who is a Rank-S -. However, compared to her, Professor Mia is much stronger. It is already hard for Professor Frey to win against Professor Mia if they were of the same rank but Professor Mia has advanced to Rank-S - earlier than Professor Frey.

It wouldn't be weird if Professor Mia had advanced to Rank-S after all these years. If so, then the chance of Professor Frey winning is almost zero.

Rather I am worried about Hiro, Lisa, and others who would be the targets of Rank-Bs and Rank-As Dark Guild members.

I was not sure how strong they had become but according to the novel, most of them would be around Rank-C in this period of time with Hiro becoming Rank-B -. However, I could not be certain as they had been growing faster than what is depicted in the novel.

Even so, I didn't believe they were strong enough to defend against so many Elites of the Dark Guild.

It might be fortunate that I had replaced Jester whose mission is to infiltrate and capture Hiro and others. I could help them if they were in trouble.

However, before that, I still had to find those Mana Explosives. There was still time before the Dark Guild made their move.

So, after I was given the meeting was over, I started my quest to find those Mana explosives again.

After spending quite a bit of my time here, I had an idea about the places in Dark Guild's headquarters. There were many places that I, as Rank-A - guild member would be allowed, however, there were still some places that were only allowed for those Rank-S members.

And through the knowledge of my novel and combined with the fact that Jester didn't receive any information regarding Mana explosives, I was sure that the Mana Explosives were in those locations. Especially that one location that had many guards even though no one knew what was inside that room.

The guards were not ordinary either. They were all Rank-B and quite strong. Keeping Rank-B as a guard signifies how important that place was.

I had been spying on that place for quite a bit and saw only some Rank-S going through that area. With my power, I could not really see their stats. However, just based on how I couldn't see their stats, it is enough to say that they were Rank-S and above.

So, I devised a plan to go and check that place. I was planning on using Shadow Dance to go inside the room.

For that, first I had to make sure that no S-Rank was inside the room. And secondly, it needs to be done at night when it is easy for Shadow Dance to mix in with the environment. And using Mana Manipulation I could try to make my technique undetectable by those guards.

Unless it was someone of Rank-S or someone very sensitive to the mana, they would have no chance of discovering me.historical

*****

[ "Shadow Dance" ]

I used Shadow Dance to turn into Shadow and with Mana Manipulation, I tried to conceal all the mana aura and blend into the surrounding.

The night was dark and quiet, with only the occasional sound of crickets chirping in the distance. The guards stood outside a large, nondescript building, their eyes scanning the perimeter for any signs of danger.

*YAWN!

One of the guards, a tall, burly man with heavy eyelids, yawned loudly and stretched his arms.

"I can't believe we have to stand guard here all night."

He complained.

"I don't even know what we're protecting."

His companion, a shorter, skinny man with a stern expression, shrugged.

"Our supervisor told us to guard this building, that's all I know."

He replied.

"We're not supposed to ask questions, just follow orders."

The sleepy guard rubbed his eyes and let out another yawn.

"But don't you want to know what's inside?"

He asked.

"I mean, so many of us had been deployed. Not even the treasure room has as many guards as us. And the number has been increasing lately as well."

The other guard sighed.

"Look, it's not our job to know what's inside."

He said.

"We're just here to make sure no one breaks in. Now, stay alert and keep your eyes peeled."

The sleepy guard rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall.

"Yeah, yeah, I know!"

He grumbled.

"But it's so boring. I'd rather be at home sleeping."

Suddenly, a rustling sound caught their attention. The guards straightened up, their hands on their weapons.

"What was that?"

The sleepy guard whispered.

The other guard shook his head.

"I don't know."

He said.

"Stay alert."

They waited, their eyes scanning the darkness. After a few tense moments, a small animal scurried across the pavement and disappeared to another place.

The sleepy guard let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew, just a rat"

He said.

"I thought we were under attack or something. The number of rats has been increasing lately. I think we should call someone to handle those rats."

The other guard chuckled.

"You're jumpy tonight,"

He said.

"But that's a good thing. It means that at least you're taking your job seriously."

The sleepy guard smiled.

"Even though I might complain and be lazy, my ears are still better than all of you. I just don't like the fact that I have to protect something that I am not even aware of."

The other guard shook his head.

"Don't worry about it."

He said.

"Just focus on your job and keep your eyes open. I don't want to lose my head just because of some careless mistake." ...

*Phew!

I thought I had been discovered. I didn't expect that a rat would be making his appearance at the same time as me. Fortunately, the guards had their focus on that rat rather than some shadow.

I had managed to sneak into the building. I quickly stopped using Shadow Dance. Shadow Dance is a good technique but the mana consumed is too much. As the situation is unknown to me, I didn't want to waste too much mana on unnecessary things.

However, I was not without any camouflage as I took the appearance of one of the Rank-S that I saw entering this building. I was afraid that I might encounter someone inside the room. Who knows what I will encounter? It is always good to be cautious about these things.

I moved through the dark building, my steps light and cautious as I scanned the area for any signs of danger. The silence of the place was almost suffocating, broken only by the sound of my own breathing and the soft padding of my footsteps.

As I moved through the dimly lit hallways, I noticed that there were strange symbols etched into the floor ahead of me. I paused to examine one of the symbols, recognizing it as a type of warding spell used to protect against intruders.

( Interesting! )

I carefully examined the symbols.

( It seems the Dark Guild is taking extra precautions to keep these explosives safe as expected.)

The symbol that was laid before me was some kind of explosion made with a special artifact. Using the monster's core and connecting the circuits, explosives were made like this. However, it is very rare, albeit it has been said to be used quite extensively in the past.

It is the same method that is used to create those Mana explosives though Mana explosives were more difficult and needed more resources than the explosives before me.

[ "Shadow Dance" ]

However, to make it explode, someone needs to step on it. I guess that those Rank-S who are allowed here know which tiles are not explosives. I could also find it if I tried to focus and carefully examine each tile.

However, there was no time and well, Shadow Dance could do the job. I could see a room. The room was dimly lit, with a row of small, cylindrical objects, about the size of a hand grenade, with a metallic exterior stacked against one wall.

I cautiously approached them, my eyes scanning the area for any signs of danger. I reached out to touch one of those objects and felt a faint hum of mana emanating from it.

I stepped back, my mind racing.

"These must be the Mana Explosives."

I had never seen one myself. But judging by the shape and the mana that I could feel from it, I knew this was it. And there was no other thing in this place other than those cylindrical objects.

I examined the Mana Explosives more closely, looking for any signs of a trigger or mechanism that would set them off. It seems that there were no traps attached to those Mana Explosives.

( Time to get started! )

I started to absorb the mana from the monster core in those cylindrical objects. I could have also just taken these Mana Explosives but it could only delay their attacks, and it would alert them. To make their plan unsuccessful, I had to reduce the power of explosion which I could by absorbing most of the Mana.

The Dark Guild members would attack those places while placing these Mana Explosives thinking that they had completed the mission. Not only could they not destroy those places, they will come under the attack of The Authority and other guilds.

It is the perfect plan to reduce the damage caused by the Dark Guild while also taking care of them.

I could absorb a lot of mana without being overloaded due to my Mana stat being at Rank-A. However, it was still a bit too much. The monster core was mostly from Rank-S and it has a lot of mana.

[ "Shadow Dance" ]

However, I used Shadow Dance to consume that excessive mana. I had Mana Manipulation to make my mana aura undetectable so I was not worried. Moreover, this building has some kind of mechanism to stop the mana aura inside to be concealed.

If not, with so many Mana Explosives made of Rank-S monster cores, I could have easily sensed something from this building.

Zero let out a sigh of relief.

( Completed! )

"But now I need to get out of here before someone else shows up."