Global Beast Mastery: Only I Can See the Hints

"This doesn't seem to be the bottom level of the vault," Charles paused at the top of the stairs leading further down, his mind momentarily stunned.

He recalled what Matthew had said at the entrance to the treasure vault: the higher your rank, the lower the level you can access. Did this mean that the items stored on lower levels were even more valuable?

With this thought, Charles suddenly felt that his 'seventh level' was inadequate. There must be even more valuable treasures below!

He paused at the entrance, observing a few security personnel patrolling the seventh basement of the vault; he guessed the lower levels would be similarly guarded.

For safety, he found an unoccupied blind spot and activated his [darkness cloak] skill to blend into the shadows. He then followed the stairs down to the tenth basement level, the core area of the Lsengard vault.

Judging by the family crests on the blast-proof doors along the corridor, Charles surmised that this area contained important items stored by Lsengard's major families.

He wandered around, noticing that the Stokes and Smith families had stored many significant items here.

Charles wasn't interested in petty thievery. Just as he was about to leave, he spotted a blast door marked with [Sly], which appeared to be the private vault of the Taylor family!

With a meaningful smile, Charles, shrouded in shadow, seemed to exist in another dimension as he passed directly through the thick metal door.

As soon as he entered, the scent of potent herbs hit him.

Inside, materials were piled high, not as many as he had once seen in [Herbal Shop], but all were the culmination of years of effort by the Taylor family!

He remembered that, aside from jewelry, the Taylor family's shop also sold some low-quality miracle drugs. Taking these alchemy ingredients would effectively cut off the lifeline of the Taylor family's pharmacy.

With a sweeping gesture, Charles transferred all the materials in the vault into his system's [storage space], and a series of system notifications began to sound in his ear.

[Acquired miracle drug: spirit root×32!]

[Acquired miracle drug: revival flower×65!]

[Acquired miracle drug: dragon's blood×23!]

[Acquired miracle drug: nine-day revival×5!]

[Acquired miracle drug: heavenly dark×38!]

[...]

So many!

He had struck it rich!

Glancing at the miracle drugs now in his system storage, Charles was elated; with so many materials, he had enough to tinker with alchemy for half a year.

And after converting these materials into miracle drugs, he could sell them for even more money!

...

After leaving the Taylor family's storage vault for medicinal materials, Charles headed to the neighboring vault that stored ferocious beast materials.

Inside, ferocious beast materials were piled high, and devices similar to cold storage units prevented the decay of ferocious beast meat.

These materials must represent years of effort from the Taylor family's ferocious beast hunters in the ferocious beast mountains!

Without hesitation, Charles also transferred these items into his storage space.

[Acquired ferocious beast material: wooden bear skin×64!]

[Acquired ferocious beast material: tide-summoning merfolk tail fin×21!]

[Acquired ferocious beast material: steel-spiked hedgehog fangs×35!]

[Acquired ferocious beast material: emerald water frog meat×546 tons!]

[Acquired ferocious beast material: panthera tigris claws×93!]

"Sly, you put a bounty of 10 gold coins on my head on the dark web, huh? I'm emptying your vault, let's see where you'll get the money to keep up your bounty now, heh heh!"

Chuckling to himself, Charles transferred all the treasures stored by the Taylor family in the vault into his storage space.

Not a single item left!

Looking at the Taylor family's vault, now as clean as a licked plate, Charles wore a satisfied smile on his face.

...

Exiting the Taylor family's vault, Charles came face to face with a large iron door marked with the name [Kevin].

The Draven family was a major player in weapon forging in Lsengard, essentially monopolizing over 70% of the weapon business. This place was likely where they stored rare forging materials.

"These Dravens are no saints either!"

Security guards occasionally passed by the vault perimeter, but they lacked access to the vault itself and mechanically patrolled the corridors, completely oblivious to Charles sneaking in from the shadows.

But Charles wasn't worried; even if they discovered the missing treasures, over 200 people had entered Lsengard Bank's underground vault today. Let them try to figure it out slowly!

And Charles had teleported all the treasures directly into his [storage space], leaving no trace of evidence!

Charles looked around; the Draven family's vault was filled not only with a vast array of forging materials but also with all sorts of fully crafted weapons and armor that hadn't yet been sold.

Armor, leather boots, helmets, swords, bows, and supreme spears—all were ready-made military gear.

Among them, Charles even found an item of blue-quality!

Thomas, you wanted to kill me, didn't you?

Kevin, you shameless old man, interfering in the affairs of the younger generation?

Think I, Charles, am easy to bully?

I'll empty the Draven family's armory; you can kiss your status in Lsengard goodbye!

Gazing at the mountains of weapons and materials, Charles didn't hesitate.

"Whoosh..."

In the blink of an eye, the large vault was empty. With all these forging materials, Charles would never lack the resources to craft weapons and armor of blue quality or lower.

Next, Charles went to the treasure vaults of the Taylor and Draven families.

"Whoosh..."

He transferred all the gold, silver, and beast cores into his system's storage space.

[Acquired gold attribute beast core [tier 1]×22!]

[Acquired water attribute beast core [tier 1]×18!]

[Acquired fire attribute beast core [tier 2]×1!]

[Acquired wind attribute beast core [tier 2]×2!]

[...]

A total clearout!

An absolute clearout!

Last time, to gather materials for Max's advancement, Charles had almost sold off all the ferocious beast materials in his storage space.

Now, that freed-up space was stuffed full with treasures from the vaults of the Taylor and Draven families.

Just thinking about the expressions on Sly and Kevin's faces when they discover their vaults emptied made him burst into uncontrollable laughter.

Footsteps sounded outside, startling Charles so much that he quickly covered his mouth.

He emerged from the shadows on the -10 level, making his way up to the -7 level where he had initially slipped into the darkness. Exiting stealth mode, he then confidently entered the treasure room.

By this time, all the vaults on the -7 level were unlocked, apparently opened just for him.

Pity he could only take one item.

Charles looked around; although everything was valuable, compared to the treasures from the Taylor and Draven families, the quality here was somewhat inferior.

His [storage space] was already packed full, so Charles had no intention of emptying this place as well.

He checked the time; only five minutes remained for him to make his selection. He casually strolled through the vault, eventually picking up a silver mystical beast egg before leisurely heading upstairs.

...

At the entrance to the treasure vault, after a security check by the staff, Charles was let out of the vault.

At the entrance to Lsengard Bank, the 200 students who had gone to the vault were gradually emerging, each one sporting a joyful smile, clearly having secured some remarkable treasures.

Charles's expression, however, could hardly be described as merely a 'smile'; it was more like a grimace!

While he understood the wisdom of not flaunting wealth, seeing the plethora of treasures in his storage space made it hard for him not to. But his smile suddenly stiffened when he saw Aurora approaching him, with Celestine unexpectedly in tow...

"Charles, seeing you smile so happily, what treasure did you take with you?" Aurora came up beside Charles, her face beaming with curiosity.

However, Charles's attention was fixed on Celestine behind Aurora. She was dressed in a beige dress today, with a pretty butterfly knot in her hair, looking very ladylike. But as she walked over, Charles could swear he heard her grinding her teeth.

Seeing Charles, Celestine seemed to recall the hour they spent by the river last night, and her face instantly flushed red.

She desperately wanted to put an end to this despicable scoundrel, but with Aurora right there, she had to maintain her 'gentle big sister' image, so she rolled her eyes at Charles and then looked away, deciding that out of sight was out of mind.

Charles completely ignored Celestine's eye roll, pulling out a silver mystical beast egg from his pocket: "I found this in the treasure room. It seems pretty good."

"Ahh..." Aurora's face showed a hint of surprise; the seventh basement of the vault was a place many dreamed of entering, and after all of Charles's effort, he had only found a silver-quality mystical beast egg—a real waste of a good opportunity.

However, considering Charles's feelings, Aurora managed a polite smile: "A mystical beast egg is not bad either. Just having it close guarantees a 100% successful contract, but..."

"My father recently returned from the imperial capital with a Gold-quality mystical beast. If Charles needs it..."

Aurora was interrupted by Celestine pulling her aside. Celestine was exasperated with her naive sister and didn't know what to say.

Celestine looked annoyed: "Aurora, that was acquired by father at a great cost from the imperial capital. It's intended for your advancement to a third-level Beast Master. How could you think of giving it away?"

"Celestine, if it weren't for Charles, I might have died in the ferocious beast mountains. I haven't properly thanked him yet." Aurora gently pushed Celestine away, stealing a glance at Charles in the distance, her expression troubled.

"But, you can't just give away a Gold-quality mystical beast..."

The Stokes sisters seemed to be having an argument, but Charles wasn't interested in listening in.

This silver-quality mystical beast egg, if he didn't find a more suitable one before leaving Lsengard, would just serve as a temporary solution. Later, if he found a better match, he could simply break the contract and release it.

As Charles was preparing to leave, he saw a portly figure with a cane hobbling toward him...