Chapter 197: Chapter 197:Emergence [1]
With Astrid aware of the possibility that the criminals could bring everyone to the courtyard and attack from there, precautions would already be taken.
Knowing Astrid... or the not-cloned one, she would already be using her connections to gather people in the courtyard.
And if that didn't work out, she would it herself, setting countless traps and escape routes in the courtyard in case anything happened.
With nothing to do anymore... I could actually help out with that.
Within around three days, and definitely before the Christmas Wonderland incident, the entire courtyard would be rigged with traps and have countless escape routes.
There was also the chance that Alya coordinated with Astrid to make their planning more efficient.
While Astrid took care of evacuating and helping the students, the main cast would protect the vault under the faculty building.
"...the vault, huh?"
What was in it?
Although I was curious and most certainly interested in what vault could be worthy of protection by the school principal, someone among the top ranks of heroes, the process would be lengthy.
Of course, I didn't have access to the vault as there would be keys required; however, in the book's plot, it was said that the djinns attacking somehow had obtained a way to bypass these security measures.
That would mean I have to trick both the main cast and the attacking djinns into getting the key and then somehow arriving at the vault.
The process was lengthy and would be difficult... but the real question was.
Was it worth it?
Well, there was also another solution.
Shaking my head, I watched from the window as Astrid walked towards the courtyard.
"...wait, is that her clone, or is it actually her?"
Sitting down on the couch and leaning backward, I dreamed of the treasures that could be in that vault.
Looking around my room... I had nothing.
Every item and weapon I had used was made out of corruption.
I quite literally had no "real" magic artifacts or weapons in my possession.
There were the flimsy mana rings on my finger that had been useful to me earlier, but now, with the number of abilities I had that required mana, they didn't help that much.
My mana rings were rare and uncommon artifacts that simply boosted my mana capacity as a passive.
Not to badmouth corruption as it was definitely powerful and more than strong enough... but unlike magical weapons, corruption didn't come with any abilities.
For example, Liam's sword, which was a divine artifact he had obtained before reaching school, as described in the prologue of the book, had countless powers.
Nullify magic spells, create natural disasters like hurricanes, and like my corruption, his weapon was soul-bound, or he could summon it at any time.
Of course, not every magical artifact had these overpowered abilities, as Liam had the highest rarity artifact, which was divine.
I mean, even Zach's axe, an Epic artifact, had a passive ability that allowed him to gain 0.5 stats of strength temporarily every time his axe successfully hit an opponent.
And Kevin's sword has the fearsome ability to quite literally make someone weaker.
Every time Kevin landed a sword slash, the opponent's sub-states and rating would drop until, finally, they were a flimsy E-rank.
This means that, given enough time, Kevin could turn an A-rank hero into an E-rank by just using his magical artifact.
Though his artifact was classified as Mythic, a rank below divine, his sword artifact was still powerful given enough time.
Even Lily, Ruby, and Irene, the non-weapon users, had countless magic accessories that slowed the time it took time to cast.
Their wands were all at least epic artifacts, with Lily having a Mythic Artifact that allowed her to store spells and instantly use them at later times, matching perfectly with the trait that allowed her to replicate spells.
And here I was... with some low common, uncommon, and rare mana artifacts that were barely of use to me.
Making up my mind, I instantly stood up from the couch with newfound motivation.
I was going to commit.. a robbery!
However, this was like robbing Fort Knox, the U.S.A. reserve that holds over 274 billion dollars in gold bricks, or Area 51, the military base famed for its security and obscurity.
Allowing the criminals to break in would be impossible as the main cast would surely put a stop to them before I could get anything.
So, what if the vault had already been opened before the djinns even arrived?
Looking at my hands, I reconsidered my decision for a moment before taking out my smartphone.
[Ren: you know... I think the principal could be of help.]
[Astrid: And, what do you mean by that?]
[Ren: You are the student council president... she would be inclined to help and believe you if you explained the circumstances.]
If the main cast, school principal, and Astrid came into contact to stop the Christmas Wonderland incident from happening... this robbery might just be possible, even if it's a less than one percent chance.
Stretching out my hands, I reluctantly got up from my bed before heading down the building stairs and outside.
In a few minutes, a very familiar building popped up.
The Training Hall...
It's been a while... hasn't it?
Opening the doors of the hall, I was immediately surrounded by the sounds of countless students panting and breathing heavily while attempting to stand straight.
Usually, I came in the dead of night when the training hall was nearly empty... but coming in the afternoon was definitely an experience, to say the least.
Pinching my nose, I walked past the hundreds of strength training equipment at weights, arriving at the familiar area.
"Ah... I'm right back where I started."
In front of me stood a set of secluded rooms, each marked with a sign that said something like.
[AI Dummy Training Room #5]
Rubbing my hands together, I located a vacant room before walking in and shutting the door.
"Been a while, buddy... I still haven't forgotten all those times you made me feel pain."
Not wasting a second, I walked over to the control panel and set the difficulty.
[Which Difficulty Bot would you like to choose?]
[User: Stage 1 Dummy]
[...are you sure Stage 1 is the correct difficulty fo-]
[User: I'm sure.]