He got the message two days later. This would be the last step before Neal would be ready to perform his greatest heist yet. He didn’t know what exactly the man needed, regardless even he was getting somewhat excited to see how things would transpire. Now that he knew what the intended target was, and the kind of effort that would go in to trying to rob the place, he had to admit to himself he was more than a little intrigued to see how the man would pull it off. The cameras surveilled practically every inch of the building.

And if the cameras weren’t enough, the Rune Knights weren’t your average run-of-the-mill guards. They actually did their job, and did it well. They hadn’t missed a beat during his visit into the bank, taking note of him the exact moment he stepped foot in the building, and focusing in on him after he asked a seemingly innocent question about the vault. But to them, it wasn’t so innocent, and his observation about something like a magical crystal providing a private security grid for their vault instantly raised a flag. If nothing else, the Knights were a bit too good.

The place wasn’t the most secure in the world, obviously, but that didn’t mean it would be as simple as stealing from a simple convenience store, or random stand on the street. This target was still considered part of the big leagues, and if Neal could pull it off, he would firmly place himself near the top of the list of the area’s most wanted. In the underground, Neal would be elevated almost to the level of a local legend. And as a result, due to his assistance in elevating him to this position, Mikajia would gain some recognition too.

WC = 300/1,000

But for Mikajia, it wasn’t the recognition he was after, it was the resulting connections and jobs he would gain from it. It wouldn’t do for him to continue these small-time jobs. He needed more. He needed better. Mikajia was a man of action. He was all for planning, recon, surveillance and the like; for all that people could say about Mikajia, they would never be able to call him brash or reckless, however, neither would they say he was a coward. He always kept his word, no matter what it took, and he almost never left a loose end.

When he arrived at the location Neal had described, the man informed him of his next task. It was simple enough, but absolutely necessary. He needed a couple more items, and of course they would need to be stolen. Considering the level of security was a bit higher than the man had expected, these items would be absolutely crucial to his success. Which of course meant that they would be a bit harder to procure than the first items he had stolen for the man. He would need to be a bit more creative with how he went about it.

Neal handed him the paper with the items listed on it. The first item was a pair of night vision goggles, while the second was a pair of very special watches. Both items were extremely pricey, so that meant that whichever merchant had them, would most likely have them in a very hard to reach location at their stand, or in their store. While he made his way towards the street lined with merchants and their stands and stalls, he started to think up a number of ways he could go about distracting the merchants enough to nab the items.

WC = 600/1,000

It turned out that getting the night vision goggles was actually easier than he thought at first. When Mikajia originally saw the night vision goggles and that the merchant had them placed on the shelf behind him, he racked his brain for several minutes, trying to find ways around the man to get at the item. However, the thought finally came to him to just cause some damage. Not himself directly of course, if he were to go around smashing stalls, he would only get himself arrested. Instead, he walked casually by and tripped a random person, making them fall.

They sprawled head first into the stall, smashing the front of it and sending the merchant’s merchandise scattering across the street. Mikajia turned to help with gathering items up, the merchant was extremely angry about his items flying everywhere, but was too busy trying to make sure the person that had fallen was okay. In the midst of the chaos and trying to help gather up some of the items that had slid away, Mikajia found the perfect time to pocket a pair of the night vision goggles. With that item safely tucked away in his bag he slipped away.

It didn’t take too much longer for him to find the watches. They were a pair of watches that could synchronize their time even while apart, as well as do a number of other impressive things. Mikajia knew that these items would not be found at some random merchant’s stall. So, he began searching through the various nearby stores. It took him only a few minutes to pinpoint the exact store that had them. However, this one had a couple of Rune Knight guards placed outside. If he wasn’t creative with his distraction, they would be on him almost instantly.

WC = 900/1,000

He was still trying to rack his brain for how he could get away with nicking the watches from the store without getting caught when he noticed there were a couple people already in the store. They would make for the perfect carriers. He made his way into the store and just casually walked around the building, checking out the various items available. These items and objects were much more valuable than any of the stuff he’d seen on the stalls outside, easily three to four times the price.

The store owner was currently engaged with a couple of other customers, so Mikajia just wandered around, eventually making his way to the section which kept the watches. They were easy enough to reach, but it would be far too obvious that he was the one that had grabbed them if he snatched them right now. However, a moment later, he realized luck was smiling on him. The two customers the owner was helping right now, happened to be interested in the same exact item he was after. He couldn’t ask for a better opportunity. So while the owner was busy with the couple, he silently grabbed a set off the shelf, then wandered back over to the owner and the customers.

When he was close enough, he slid the watches into the woman’s purse while walking by, pretending to look at a pair of magical sunglasses instead. When all was said and done, and the couple apparently decided against buying the overly expensive watches, they said their goodbyes before turning to leave. While they were passing through the door, a shrill alarm started to sound. A second later, the two Rune Knights stationed out front had the couple in cuffs. Soon after the owner dropped the watches he had been carrying back on the counter before hurrying out to confront the couple he had been dealing with. Mikajia simply wandered over to the watches, pocketed them and exited the store. Seeing as the alarm hadn’t been reset yet, he was able to leave completely undetected.

Several minutes later, Mikajia was back in the same alley, handing over the items he had stolen for Neal. The man was beyond pleased with his success and handed over the payment. At last, they were ready for the biggest heist yet of Neal’s career.

WC = 1,290/1,000