After discussing the plans with Robert, Ethan immediately went to bed, and when he woke up, he spent the entire day meditating, calming his mana heart, and laying the foundation for his power.

In the middle of the night, when he finally felt ready, Ethan left his room and, soon after, the city of Stormerga.

His destination was the outskirts of the coal mine controlled by the royal family, just over 15 kilometers from Stormerga, a distance he covered in just over an hour, hidden from prying eyes by the veil of night, and soon met up with other members of the group.

Eve was sitting on a rock with a bored look on her face. She was wearing a long, noble dress; her black hair had been dyed gold; and even the color of her eyes had been changed.

As for the other men, they were all wearing cloaks and had their faces completely covered by black masks.

"Ethan, did you bring your mask?" Robert asked, concerned to see that Ethan's face was still uncovered.

"Yes." Ethan replied briefly before pulling a mask out of his pocket and covering his face as well, leaving only his beautiful blue eyes for all to see.

"Great! We can get started; Eve will lead the way to talk to the guards; I'll follow behind to protect her; once she's got their attention, you can go into the mine." Robert ordered, and after making sure everyone was ready, he left with Eve.

They were at the top of a small hill, and the guard's hut was just below, in front of which was a bonfire where the men drank and sang as they enjoyed the evening.

It didn't take more than a few minutes for Eve to reach the area of the hut. On the way, she disheveled her hair, messed up, and soiled her dress, even pulling it down a little more than usual to show as much of her breasts as possible without letting them pop out of her clothes.

"Who's coming?" One of the guards shouted, alerting the others.

It was a dark night, and they drew their swords toward a slender figure whose appearance was not yet revealed by the firelight.

"A woman?" Another guard spoke as Eve's form finally became clear.

"Please help me!" Eve cried, and with a wailing voice and impeccable acting, she threw herself into the arms of the first guard who approached.

"I was traveling with my husband when we were attacked by bandits! They... They killed him right in front of me." Eve burst into tears as she hugged the man even tighter, using all her feminine charms to win the man's sympathy.

"Calm down, miss. Sit with us, have a drink, and tell us what happened. We are warriors of the royal family, and I command these men. I promise on my honor that we will do everything possible to avenge your husband's death!" The oldest of the guards stepped forward and took Eve's hands, who had already escaped from the guard's arms and was now crying on the ground.

Clearly trying to win the favor of a beautiful widow, he helped her up and poured her a glass of beer.

"Th-Thank you very much." Eve spoke in a sobbing, faulty voice as she sipped her beer, oblivious to the burning stares that many of these men were casting in her direction.

At the top of the hill, Ethan and the other three members of the group had impressed looks in Eve's direction. They already knew she was a snake woman with great manipulative skills, but they hadn't expected her to be so good at acting.

"That's our cue; let's go." Ethan spoke when he noticed that the guards' attention was fully focused on Eve.

The small group moved cautiously through the dark forest, and after passing the guards' hut, they found themselves in front of a crevice, poorly lit by torches and just wide enough for two men to pass through at the same time.

After looking at each other for a second, the group entered, the strongest in hand-to-hand combat, with Ethan and Durgan leading the way, while Jhon and Clark followed behind, all with weapons drawn.

"Wait!" Ethan whispered before stopping his steps and raising a hand, signaling the others to stop as well.

The mana emanating from the stone walls was intense and almost palpable, powerful enough to confuse the mana senses of even powerful Foundation Stage Awakenings.

But even so, it didn't do much more than cause a little discomfort to Ethan, who seemed to have his senses protected by some kind of shield.

"There are two with their backs to us around the next corner, a third sitting directly in front of them, and a fourth lying in a corner." Ethan spoke in a low but confident whisper after expanding his mana senses and feeling the presence of everyone there.

"How do you know that? Even my mana senses aren't working properly here!" Durgan shouted, a little louder than he should have, startling the other three members of the group who looked at him with annoyed faces.

"Shhhhh... Shut the fuck up! I have my methods; that's all you have to do," Ethan grunted, still keeping his voice low.

Durgan thought about retorting, but at the displeased looks of Jhon and Clark, he just cursed in a low voice before continuing.

When they reached the corner Ethan had mentioned, Jhon went to Ethan's side and took a quick look behind it, sticking his face in and then pulling it out again the next second.

With a wave of his hand, he confirmed Ethan's words and then readied his sword.

Ethan and Jhon stood side by side as they prepared, the former raising three fingers of his hand and lowering them one by one before finally closing them completely into a clenched fist.

In the next second, the two figures advanced, exploding in speed as mana circulated through their legs and propelled them forward.

In less than a second, they had crossed the distance of nearly five meters that separated them from the guards, their swords swinging in pure synchrony as they flew toward the necks of the two guards.

Two mournful groans echoed after the terrifying sound of Ethan and Jhon's swords slicing through the flesh and crushing the bones of the two men, sending their heads into the air.

"Who?" The third guard shouted, rushing to his feet as he drew his sword, but he barely had time to stand before an axe flew past Ethan and Jhon, striking his skull and splitting his face in half.

In a split second, the three guards fell, and the fourth didn't even wake up, still sleeping peacefully against a corner of the mine's stone walls.

In a normal scenario, they might even let him live, but unfortunately, when dealing with the royal family, risks were not something any of these men were willing to take.

Ethan then walked over to the man, placed his sword against his neck, and pressed down.

"W-what...?" The guard woke up and tried to say something, but soon the blood rose from his throat into his mouth, and he choked, his eyes terrified as he looked at Ethan and the dead bodies of his companions.

"This is the vault door," Clark said as he pointed to a rectangular metal structure.

Ethan and Durgan immediately took up defensive positions, protecting the two places from which the enemies could come, while Clark and Jhon walked up to the door and began removing pieces of paper and taping them to the door.

They were runic scriptures, words in an ancient language that could hold great power if put together in the right order and with the right channelers.

They quickly finished pasting the runes and placed their hands on the opposite corners of the door, on pieces of paper that seemed to have circular patterns in the center rather than writing.

"Ethan, can you help us here? We need three; put your hand on the rune with the circular patterns in the middle." Jhon called to Ethan and pointed with his free hand to a piece of paper in the middle of the metal door.

"Right!" Ethan replied promptly and ran over to them before placing his hand on the door. He didn't know much about runes, and the rush to leave the place as quickly as possible prevented him from even thinking about it.

The moment Ethan put his hand on the rune in the middle, Jhon and Clark looked at each other, and after a short hesitation, they shouted, "Now!"

[Take your hand away!]

The shrill, rushing voice of the system sounded in Ethan's mind, but it was too late. An explosion exploded in the young man's mind, and his consciousness immediately went dark. The last thing he could hear were the voices of his "allies.".

"What the hell is this dark energy?"

"Does it matter? The sacrificial runes worked, the vault opened!"