​Chapter 24: The Vault Master’s Favor

The ink on the golden Grand Commander seals wasn’t even dry before Phoenix was marching her crew toward the heavy, star-iron gates of the Imperial Vault like a mob boss arriving to collect overdue protection money.

Her steel-toed boots clanked against the polished marble hall, leaving a trail of dried purple monster blood and soot behind her.

"Boss," Toby panted, jogging frantically to keep up while dragging his smoking, spark-spitting handcart across the pristine floor. "The Vault Master isn't some low-tier bureaucrat we can just intimidate with loud words. He’s an S-rank administrative enforcer! He’s spent forty years guarding the Academy’s hoard. He doesn't just hand over high-grade mana cores because we wave a shiny gold badge in his face!"

"Toby, sweetie," Phoenix drawled, casually tossing her newly minted Grand Commander seal into the air and catching it behind her back without missing a step. "He has two very simple choices today: he opens the vault peacefully, or I use Killian as a human battering ram until the door gives up and begs for mercy."

Killian, walking half a step behind her like a loyal, eight-foot wall of muscle and bad intentions, rolled his broad shoulders with a dark, dangerous smirk. "My pauldrons are wrecked, Boss, but my skull is reinforced with star-iron. I can definitely give it a shot."

"See? That's the kind of proactive teamwork I like to see," Phoenix grinned, turning her head to give the silver-haired tank a sly wink.

Killian immediately cleared his throat, snapping his head forward as a bright, furious red flush crept up his neck and flooded the tips of his ears. He adjusted his tactical belt, entirely incapable of maintaining eye contact with her for more than three seconds without his pulse spiking.

They reached the end of the grand corridor, arriving at the Vault's massive obsidian doors. Standing in front of the spatial seal was Vault Master Thaddeus—a stoic, bald old man built like a brick shithouse, wearing enchanted battle-robes and holding a six-foot staff wrapped in anti-magic chains.

Thaddeus looked down at Phoenix’s blood-splattered cargo pants, Toby’s soot-covered face and grease-stained goggles, and Killian’s bare, unarmored chest. He raised a single, thick gray eyebrow.

"So," Thaddeus grunted, his voice sounding like two millstones grinding together inside a cavern. "You're the F-rank defect who made Vice-Headmaster Sterling throw up his breakfast in the plaza."

"I prefer 'tactical innovator,' but sure, let's go with that," Phoenix said. She stepped directly into the old man's personal space, pulled the golden Grand Commander seal from her pocket, and slapped it firmly against his sternum. "We're here for the S-rank Mana Reserve, three cases of volatile star-iron alloys, and whatever top-tier offensive artifacts you’ve got gathering dust in the back."

Thaddeus stared down at the glowing seal, then slowly looked up at Phoenix’s dark brown eyes, which were still humming with crimson dragon-blood light. The old enforcer’s stern face twitched once, twice, and then he burst into a deep, booming laugh that vibrated off the obsidian walls.

"Sterling’s going to have a full-blown stroke when he sees the quarterly inventory report!" Thaddeus wheezed, shaking his massive head as he slapped his calloused palm against the door's central rune matrix. "I like you, girl. You've got more balls than the entire Class A faculty combined. Clear out as much as your little cart can hold."

The heavy obsidian doors groaned, ancient runes flaring brilliant violet before the massive portals slowly parted, revealing a vast, glowing subterranean cavern. Inside sat mountains of glittering high-grade mana crystals, racks of prototype heavy artillery, and ancient battle relics glowing with raw power.

Toby’s eyes went wide as saucers, his jaw literally dropping open as his glasses slid down his nose. "Oh... sweet baby Jesus. It's beautiful. It's like heaven, but with more high-yield explosives."

"Alright, boys," Phoenix smirked, cracking her knuckles and stepping over the threshold into the treasury. "Grab everything that shines, anything that explodes, and if it looks ridiculously illegal to own, grab two of them. We’re building an empire, and Class A is paying the bill!"