There was no real concept of night in the Deep Pit.Only the смен of guard shifts, and the crystal light becoming slightly dimmer.
After leaving Vako, Eray did not return to his bed.Instead, he moved toward the dirtiest and least visited parts of the mine, where waste channels and ventilation shafts crossed each other.
His mind worked like a combat system.Target: Gorak's storage room.
Two armed guards and a heavy lock were the simplest problems.
Eray scraped the white, dusty layer from the damp tunnel wall with his fingers.
"Saltpeter," he whispered.
The place smelled like sewage, but to a chemist, it was an armory.He collected the saltpeter and wrapped it in cloth. Then he took a handful of charcoal dust from a dead furnace. Finally, he picked a few yellow, sharp-smelling sulfur stones he had seen in Vein 4.
He crouched in a corner and crushed the sulfur between two stones.
To a normal person, these were just dirt and rocks.But Eray knew what they could become when mixed correctly: black powder.
The materials were impure, and the ratios were rough.It would not explode like a bomb. More like a heavy firework.But Eray did not need destruction. He needed smoke.
"They expect magic," he thought while wrapping the mixture in torn fabric from his shirt."I will give them a simple lesson in chemistry."
_ _ _
Gorak's storage room was built into a natural cave near the administrative section of the mine.A heavy iron door guarded it. Two Ogre-blooded guards stood outside, holding torches and clubs.
Eray moved silently to an air shaft about fifty meters away.The airflow was strongest there.
He placed the powder bundle at the base of the shaft.
He had no magic. No flint.So he used primitive methods.
He stole a slow-burning oil wick from the lantern of a dead worker in the previous shift.He attached it to the bundle and touched the other end to a wall torch.
The wick hissed.
Eray moved fast, slipping into the blind spot on the opposite side of the storage room.
He counted silently.
Five… Four… Three…
The guards were yawning, joking in their rough language.
Two… One…
PFFFFTTT!
The sound was dull, not loud, but the effect was immediate.Thick gray smoke burst from the air shaft, filling the corridor.The sharp smell of sulfur spread instantly.
"What is that?!" one guard shouted.
"Gas leak! Methane!" the other yelled in panic.Gas explosions were the worst fear in the mines.
Both guards dropped their torches and rushed toward the smoke.
Now.
Eray slid out of the shadows like a snake.He knew how to move without sound.First rule of Raiders training: stealth.
He reached the iron door.The lock was simple, just a heavy metal bolt.
He took a stiff wire from his pocket and pushed it into the lock.These locks were not complex. Just brute obstacles.
He bent the wire at the right angle.
Click.
The door opened without a sound.
Inside, it looked like Gorak's private treasure room.Confiscated items lined the shelves: gold teeth, family necklaces, hidden food… and papers.
Eray went straight to the table.
"City sewer routes… Crystal transport paths…" he muttered while searching.
Then he found it.
A thick parchment with the imperial seal.A map showing underground water channels and how they connected to parts of the palace.
Eray grabbed it and pressed it to his chest.
Then, with a quiet smile, he noticed something unexpected but useful and slipped it into his pocket.
He turned to leave—
And froze.
A shadow filled the doorway.
One of the guards had returned.
The Ogre-blooded guard stared in shock, mouth opening to shout.
Eray did not think.He reacted.
Three meters.
Eray lunged forward.
The guard tried to raise his club, but Eray slid low, kicking hard behind the knee.The guard bent forward in pain.
Eray moved behind him.
The collar blocked magic.Not muscle.
Eray wrapped his right arm around the guard's neck.His left hand locked his own arm.He pressed his head into the guard's back.
Rear Naked Choke.
The guard struggled violently.Eray's ribs screamed in pain. The guard was strong.
But Eray did not release.
"Sleep," he whispered."Just sleep."
Seven seconds without oxygen was enough.
The struggle slowed.The arms dropped.The heavy body went limp.
Eray lowered the unconscious guard carefully.
Not dead.
A dead body meant alarms and investigation.An unconscious guard meant one thing:an idiot who fell asleep on duty.
And Gorak loved punishing sleeping guards.
Eray closed the door, reset the lock, and vanished into the shadows.
Half an hour later.The Old Gallery.
Vako and Kaelen were still there.
Eray entered and threw the parchment into Vako's lap.
"What you wanted," Eray said, breathing hard but standing tall."And don't worry. Gorak heard nothing. One guard just got a headache from 'gas.'"
Vako opened the map. His eyes lit up.
Then he looked at Eray again.
No mockery this time.
"You went in quietly," Vako said."You took it. No magic. No blood. Just work."
"Deal is a deal," Eray said."I did my part. Now it's your turn."
Vako stood, axe on his shoulder.
"We will help you, Soldier," he said."But to reach your things, you must go back to the palace."
Kaelen added, "And from what I hear… Princess Velira just got on the mine elevator."
"She's coming down," he said. "Very angry."
Eray smiled.
Cold. Calculated.
"Perfect," he said."Exactly as planned."