Bones thought he would be enjoying the fight between the two silver rankers but the fight turned one sided shortly after it started. Darsumi was second tier and his opponent wasn't. It was as simple as that. After an equal exchange at first, the difference became obvious. Darsumi was a Bladedancer and danced around his opponent, avoiding his attacks and parrying the blows he didn't avoid. He outclassed the head of security and ended the fight with a blow to the head, rendering the man unconscious.

"Bones! Gather the staff!" Darsumi yelled. Bones nodded and looked left, then right and back to the dwarf.

"Go right, your left. Rooms for the staff are in the left wing."

"Alright, be right back." Bones said and left. Not even five minutes later he came back dragging an elderly man and three maids following behind him. The fear was evident in their eyes and one of the maids fell to her knees in shock after seeing the bloody and unconscious guard and head of security.

"Well shite…" Darsumi muttered and descended the stairs. He first reassured the staff that nothing would happen to them and explained that they were here to rob the place and that their intention wasn't to harm them. After calming the distressed maids, he led them up the stairs and into the master bedroom on the upper floor and locked the doors. He then turned to the elderly man.

"Old man, lead us to the vault and we’ll be out of your way in no time!"

"Sir, I don-" The old man started but Darsumi interrupted him, saying he knew the old man was the head of staff and knew HE knew where the vault was. The old man reluctantly nodded his head and led Dar and Bones into the study room.

The room was a lavishly decorated office with red carpet on the wooden flooring, bordeaux colored curtains and paintings decorating the walls. A single sofa was placed against the wall next to a window and a large desk was situated in the center of the office with two luxurious arm-chairs in front of it. Behind the desk was an ornate, high-backed throne chair and a large bookcase stretching from one end of the wall to the other.

"Behind the painting?" Bones asked after entering the room and making an observation.

"Kind of cliche, don't you think so?" Dar commented but saw the old man flinch at the mention of the paintings. *sigh* "No imagination…" He murmured then asked which painting. The old man pointed to a large painting hanging at the right side of the wall and Bones approached, lifting the painting and revealing circular doors to the vault.

"I don't have the key! Only the master has the key and he keeps it with him at all times!" The old man hurriedly said. Darsumi nodded and told him to relax. They had no further need of his assistance so he led the old man to the master bedroom and let him join the maids.

Meanwhile, Bones summoned the Incomplete Skeleton Key and tried to insert it into the keylock. It didn't fit of course. He waited for Darsumi to return and then asked for instructions. Darsumi explained he had to constantly use shaping while inserting the key. It sounded simple but Bones soon found how difficult it was to constantly shape the key until it matched the keylock. Darsumi left the room, leaving Bones to work in peace while he went to tie up and gag the guards. He came back ten minutes later and saw Bones still struggling with the key. He didn’t interrupt him, but walked over behind the desk, sat in the throne chair and pulled up a bottle from the bottom drawer while he waited.

After twenty minutes of silence, a barely audible sound of bone scraping against the metal was heard. Bones fully inserted and turned the key. Numerous ticking sounds of cogs turning were heard and the door to the vault slightly opened.

Bones peeked a glance inside and quickly stepped back after seeing the dimming light of runes. He turned to Darsumi who got off the chair and walked over to the vault. “Runes? There’s a formation inscribed inside the vault!” Bones said, giving Darsumi a questioning look.

“Aye. Why the surprise? Every safe and vault have some form of extra safety measure. If they didn’t, we wouldn't need the Skeleton Key and we'd just force the lock open. That’s another reason you have to be the one to open the locks with the Skeleton Key. The key opens the lock without activating the formation. I’m sorry Bones, I thought I told you about it.

“You didn’t, but it’s fine. Any other surprises?” Bones asked. Darsumi shook his head and motioned for Bones to check the inside of the vault. Bones stepped closer and pulled the doors wide open, revealing the mesmerizing color of silver and gold. What drew Bones’ attention the most were fancy cut precious stones.

“Beautiful isn’t it”. Darsumi said standing next to Bones and watching the glimmer of wealth inside. "They're mana crystals of different affinities. Red ones are of fire affinity, blue ones of water, yellow of earth - and so on."

“Use the ring I gave you and we take half each.” Darsumi said and Bones summoned a plain and bland silver ring in his hand. The ring was what each member of the heist had on them to use for storing stolen goods.

“I understand now why we’re not storing the goods inside our inventory space.” Bones commented after sensing the amount of mana coming from the vault.

“Aye. We two might be fine storing the items in our inventory but others…it might damage their souls, if not shatter them. C’mon let’s get to it!”

The two cleared the vault clean and headed out after checking the condition of the guards and locked up staff. They all seemed fine and with minor injuries. On the way out of the mansion Bones couldn’t help but ask how others planned to open the vault. He was the only one with the key.

“Well, forcefully I’m afraid. We can’t have you running around opening every vault for us. Mirami has her way of opening locks and Durram - ah you only met him recently. Well he, Thaddeus and Hemdus picked the first house to rob. He can deal with the formation and force the lock open. For the last two houses though, we will absolutely need the Skeleton Key!”

“Incomplete Skeleton Key.” Bones corrected.

“Don’t worry, Bones. The key you made will be more than sufficient for any vault in this city.”

“Seriously? Any vault?”

“Maybe not the royal treasury.” Darsumi replied, chuckling.

The two left the estate and joined the people watching the street performers entertaining the crowd with their act. The ceremony was in full swing and more than halfway done. Darsumi and Bones fought through the crowd to reach the location where they would meet up with the others. They didn’t have to wait long. Within an hour everybody was there with smiles on their faces.

Infiltrating the House of Hartmore will require more finesse and expertise on their part than the previous houses. Mirami devised a plan for the last two and most important heists and started instructing everyone on their assignments. Given their limited time, the choice of approach was to put most, if not everyone, to sleep. Just like Mirami already did to everyone in the house assigned for her to rob.

The party of dwarves and Bones mingled with the crowd while making their way further east toward their next target and away from the opening ceremony. The large estate of Hartmore's was located in a remote spot, some distance away from the other houses in the district.

Hartmore's didn't have a garden but a single wide road leading to a "U" shaped mansion about hundred meters away from the gates. Two guards were stationed at the gates, looking very serious and four guards patrolled each corner of the estate. It was unlikely a direct approach would go unnoticed and Mirami knew that. She led the team and stopped before the estate came into view.

"This is the spot, this is our entry point and was supposed to be our escape route but…we'll see how everything will go!" She said and everyone looked down, looking at the sewer hole at their feet. Hemdus bent down and removed the plate lid covering the hole. One by one, they jumped down. Hemdus was the last one to go. He grabbed the lid and covered the hole before descending as well.

The team picked up pace moving through the tunnels of the sewer and in no time reached the area beneath the mansion. Mirami took out her remaining bombs counting them and told everyone to follow her. She would enter the mansion first through the drain cover leading to a storage area and from there, use the bombs to disperse the sleeping gas to take everyone out.

"Alright, this is it! Wait for me here. I'll be back in a few!" Mirami said and climbed the metal ladders. She lifted the lid covering the drainage slightly and peeked around. She looked down and gave everyone a nodd, indicating they were in the right place and fully removed the lid. Everyone watched her leave from down below.

"What's in those bombs?" Bones asked, curious about what Mirami had cooked up in them.

"Sleeping gas." Thaddeus said and Darsumi added, "Modified, with increased effectiveness. The guards affected should be out of it for at least half a day."

Bones was surprised Mirami's capabilities and expertise could do that much. He remembered her workshop, full of gadgets and devices, but he underestimated her abilities." I didn't think she could make bombs this effective!"

"Nah. While she does makes her own bombs and can make a sleeping gas, these bombs were specially bought for the occasion." Darsumi corrected.

"Ah, I see. Will it work on a gold ranker?"

Everyone shook their heads at Bones' question. The gas might affect the gold ranker slightly, but far from knocking him out.

"Then how are we going to deal wi-"

*grooowl*

Bones paused and they all turned to the far end of the tunnel, where the growling sounds were coming from. They heard a faint sound of shouting, mixed with more growling.

"Your friends, Bones?" Darsumi asked. Bones thought for a moment then nodded. "Most likely. I can't imagine those growls coming from the Ratmen though."

"I don't think those were Ratmen." Thaddeus pitched in.

"What the hell are they then?" A voice came from up above. Everyone looked up and saw Mirami grinning at them. She descended the ladders and joined them in the sewers.

"Everything arright lassie?" Hem asked. Mirami said she released the sleeping gas through the ventilation system but it would take a few minutes for the gas to spread throughout the entire mansion. So the team waited and discussed their plan of action.

Five minutes later, Mirami led everyone up and into the storage area. The storage space wasn't spacious so everyone was kind of huddled up. Mirami opened the doors and glanced around, then fully opened the doors after seeing no-one.

"Alright, same pairs as before. Spread out and knock out anyone still conscious! Remember! No killing if absolutely necessary!" Darsumi warned everyone.

Mirami's sleeping gas worked wonders though and knocked out almost everyone inside the mansion. The only one still kicking was the head of security as was expected of the second tier silver ranker. Hem found the Head swaying and hitting walls while trying to reach the sliding doors of the balcony on the upper floor.

He took out his hammer and silently approached the man from behind. He pulled his hammer back and with an overhead swing brought it down on the man's head. He missed as his target abruptly side-stepped his attempt at hitting him. Hem tried to have another go but before he could take a proper swing, his target crashed into him, shoulder first and sent him flying.

Hemdus grunted and saw his target staggering toward him. He picked himself up and readied his hammer, then grinned after seeing Bone Spikes pinning the head of security, took a run and swung wide. The hammer hit the lateral side of the man's torso, breaking an arm and a couple of ribs for sure, and sent him crashing into a wall. Hem harrumphed and approached, checking if the man was still breathing, then turned to Bones and gave him a thumbs up. A minute later, everyone gathered after securing all the guards.

"All the guards are here and accounted for and I tied the head of staff and left him in the closet. The rest of the staff have the rest of the day off due to the festival." Darsumi explained and continued. "Hem and Bones, you two go on and deal with the vault while the rest of us will go and clear the mansion of valuables." He finished grinning and added to stay clear of the windows so as not to be seen and to convene on the ground floor after the thirty minutes are up.

He then approached the nearest window and peeked outside, checking to make sure that the guards were still patrolling. Their infiltration attempt went unnoticed and the sound of a silver ranker hitting the wall, unheard due to the clamor caused by the festival in the distance.