I make my way to the door. It is a simple lock. To be honest, the only thing to worry about is the small alarm formation that exists on the side of the door. The man who had placed it did not even bother to hide it. Maybe he was not capable of such fine mana control. Not everybody is good at this after all.

  I don't even need to think as strings of mana enter into the formation and break all links it has with the door. It is a pretty standard design too, as I find all the critical points on it. The alarm is never going to ring again in its life. Nobody will be able to tell from the outside though. It looks as pristine as the day it was created. Almost forgetting the man behind me I enter the room.

  Trevor is still focussing on maintaining that illusion of his. That is why right now he has the face of somebody daydreaming. Somehow that looks very odd on his face. I could slap him in the face and the man would not even react to me. You could say at the moment the man is somewhere else. That is a risk with using active illusion magic. That you are leaving yourself at risk while controlling the illusions.

  The man is sweating like crazy. He looks as drenched as if somebody has poured a bucket of water on him. It looks like he is reaching his limits. An illusion formation does have a greater range than a spell at the same level. Still, Trevor must be reaching the limits of his range. The fact that he can maintain it at this range is already proof that the man is very experienced with it.

  The farther the illusions get away, the harder it will be to control, I have heard. For now, at least I don't hear anybody rushing to attack, so I have to assume that the illusion is holding for now. Anyway, grasping him as gently as I can I enter the room. The first thought I have about the place is just how ordinary it is.

  For all the effort taken to get to this place, the place is painfully lackluster. It looks like a library, full of documents and books for the legion. Just from the place I am standing in, I can see the room is full of books and books.

  Any person taking a single glance at it would think that this is meant for the guards. The only problem is that this are too many books for the guardhouse. The place has almost been stuffed from top to bottom with books. There isn't even a place for me to walk comfortably here.

  The books here are old, ancient even. Right now I am sure that if I were to pick up a book it would just crumble in my hands. I can already guess what happened here. The bosses in the guardhouse wanted a way to hide their ledgers. Hiding it in a single room would have tipped off to the enemy that there was something important here.

  They decided that keeping a single room would tip off people who wanted such a thing. So they brought a bunch of books in bulk at very cheap prices and stuffed the place full of books.

  Otherwise which genius would have the idea of opening a library right next to their treasury? Just vetting people into the library would become such a headache.

  Shit, what the fuck am I doing. Now is not the time to be getting distracted. I should be looking for the damn ledger. Right now, the very formations that are meant to protect it will reveal it to me. After all, any formations have to emit mana.

  I focus on my mana sense. I am looking for traces of mana that I can detect only through my mana sense. After all, a warning system would not work if it was visible to anybody with a half-decent mana sense.

  Ah, there it is.

  The only reason that I even managed to find my target was due to the glow of the mana it emitted. Otherwise, it would have been lost in the complex mess of cupboards in the room. Well, this is a pretty good idea. After all, not everybody has a Trevor to scout out such a place. Even I am surprised at how much idea the man has about the guard house.

  I sometimes wonder if the old man somehow flunked out of scholar training. (there are a few such failures, though they never do tell you what they learned.) he does seem too skilled at gathering information.

  The moment that I get close to it, I can sense the mana formation on the cupboard. The formation has pressure-based runes, which will trigger at the lightest of taps. It is acting as the only layer of defense to this cupboard. The runes of such a formation tend to be quite fragile. Even a touch will be able to break them. Once that happens only god can tell what can occur. Some just tend to be alarms. Some tend to release noxious fumes. The best traps (or the worst for the man stuck in them.) are often the result of a formation mage and poison mage working together.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  I am sure that there won't be any poison in the traps. We keep our neighborhood clear of the poison mages. Still, this trap will be more than enough to get me screwed if I were to mess with it. After all, we are hiding in the room right next to the people whom such a formation would alert.

  And thus I begin my work. Strings of mana extend into the formation, like cautious rats next to the trap. My work now is to find the section of the formation which will correspond to the trap. The part that will cause the alarm to be raised. If I can do that without damaging the part that will collapse on touch, the security will be disabled. For now, I will call this part the non trigger.

  Shit, I catch myself as in this moment of distraction I almost triggered the trap. It is time for me to focus.

  (After five minutes.)

  And thus I work, my body drenched in sweat for the next five minutes. I don't do much, just study the structure of the formation. It is an art, to hide the non-triggering part of the trap. That is why they keep the structure so confusing. What might be the trigger in some formations, will be the non trigger and vice versa.

  It is all a gamble. Some formations even add a buffer layer to the entire thing, making it even more confusing. The buffer layer does nothing other than increase the complexity of the thing.

  That is why dealing with security formations is such a hassle. You can never be certain. In this while, I have found the nontrigger or at least what I think is the non trigger.

  I have been poking it with my mana strings for a while and it has not reacted. It could be that this is the trigger and the formation mage was not skilled enough for his work. Thus, the trigger has been rendered nonreactive. However much pressure I put will not activate the trap. At the same time, the trap setter could have been skilled enough to make the trigger resistant enough that it could survive a few pokes. If that is the case, the opening of the cupboard will set it off.

  For a few seconds, I fear a puff of poisonous mist on my face. Thankfully, the moments drag on and nothing happens. I breathe a sigh of release as I destroy the remaining formation. (It is not so hard since it was built to do so.)

  Now all that leaves me is the environmental formation to work on. Breaking that will occur in a few moments. Before I can continue my work.

  "Captain.", whispers Trevor as if he is being choked.

  I turn back from the formation. I look at the female captain standing behind me, her hands around Trevor's throat. There are moments in life when your brain is supposed to go all out. When in the instant of looking at something you suddenly realize a plan of action.

  Nothing like that happens here. The only thing that I could speak was.

  "Why haven't you killed him yet.", I ask.

  For a second the three of us look at each other. None of us expected my statement. Finally, she recovers though.

  "I will kill him unless you return my sword to me.", the lady speaks.

  "I do not have your sword with me.", I reply. "It is not like it would have been useful to me anyway."

  As I speak, I can see the hand that she is using to hold Trevor's throat tighten. Looks like I have misspoken, but I don't know what else to tell her. Only a fool would bring something that doesn't give him any benefit. It also risks me getting discovered.

  "Where is my sword, mutt.", she asks. Her voice sounds insistent. "There is no way that you would leave such a useful tool behind."

  "Well, I don't need it. I have a better sword.", I reply.

  As I speak can see her other hand clench. Right now I am not sure if should risk it. If I piss her off enough, she will leave the man alone and focus on me. If that happens, at least it will be an easy fight.

  I don't have long too, with Trevor so distracted, the illusion must have failed. The captain must have already been making his way here. If I am not careful I will find myself in a sticky position.

  "Has fear prevailed over your arrogance finally, mutt.", she speaks. "To think that a mere mutt could have caused us so much harm."

  "I am just thinking what your family would think of you when a mere mutt would separate your head from your neck.", I reply. I am trying to speak in my most annoying voice. The goal is to taunt the lady after all.

  I seem to have touched a nerve as the lady throws Trevor at the wall behind me as she charges at me. I don't get to think as the lady strikes at me. Before she can reach I already have my sword ready to intercept her hand.

  Using my other hand, I hold her other hand crushing it against the rack near to me. A wave of pain stops me for a second as I hear a cracking sound.

  As I retreat, I see the damage done to me. The lady has managed to get her claws into my stomach. It is not a serious injury, the only problem being the fact that it is bleeding. The lady is fast.

  I have done equal damage to her. I can see that one of her hands has been twisted to a degree. I am surprised that I was the one that did it. Her other arm is going to be useless for a few days.

  My left hand is throbbing again though. It now feels like somebody has been hammering it for a few days now. Well, I have been putting my hands through the motion.

  "Who are you, mutt.", the lady speaks, circling as much as the mess of bookcases would allow. "This is not something that a mere grunt should be capable of. You are barely transformed and yet you are capable of causing so much damage. Your fangs haven't even popped yet."

  "What can I say, I might be the most unique vampire that you have seen in your life.", I reply. I am technically speaking the truth as well. What I have achieved with the bloody fang is supposed to be pretty unique.

  "It's fine, mutt.", she speaks, her face splitting into a grin. "You might be the most unique vampire I have ever seen, but that is only until I open you up and see what makes you tick. You might have equaled me, but I wonder what you will do against my master."