Around 11:00 PM, the group decided to leave the party early.
Claire once again volunteered to bring them home as her personal driver was waiting outside.
As everyone was preparing to leave, getting inside the car, Brandon passed up on the offer.
"Are you sure you're going to stay for a while?"
Rachel asked Brandon with a worried look on her face.
"Yeah, I don't feel like going home yet."
"Okay, but remember to watch out for 'that' guy."
"Don't worry, I don't plan on running into him."
"Okay, see you."
"Mhm, take care."
Rachel was most likely worried because Felix seemed to have his eyes on Brandon, due to the humiliation.
With everyone inside the car, they all waved at Brandon, who was standing by the entrance.
"See you, Brandon."
"Mhm, take care guys."
With that, the car drove off.
Turning around, Brandon contoured to a serious expression, as he muttered to himself,
"Time to get down to business."
Heading back inside, Brandon made a quick detour to the bathroom.
Clank-
As he hid inside one of the stalls, he retrieved the crumpled paper from his pocket, trying to uncrumple it.
In the text message he sent to Alpha, he instructed him to scout out for any peculiar room that screamed 'secret passage'.
While also marking every CCTV camera that was placed in the venue.
Inside the crumpled paper was a detailed map of the venue's layout.
All the CCTV cameras were marked with a red crossmark.
"Looks good."
Brandon headed back to the party, where there were still some students that stayed. Their murmurs and laughter echoed throughout the entire venue.
The reason why Brandon waited until the end was because…
'The ones who stayed behind were usually the ones who were drunk.'
It would be easier to sneak around the venue without anyone noticing.
There were CCTV cameras, but Brandon had already thoroughly planned everything.
If there's one thing in common about the world's technological advancement, it was that–they were mostly powered by mana.
And what skill did Brandon have?
[Mana Disruption]
He could temporarily disable the CCTV cameras.
He strode towards a peculiar waiter, acting as if he needed something.
He then leaned into his ear and whispered softly.
"The operation starts now. Follow me, but do it secretly."
"Understood, Lord Moriarty."
Brandon nodded, and switched his gaze towards a camera that was keeping watch of the corridor entrance.
With [Mana Disruption] he completely disabled the camera.
He strode towards the corridor while Alpha followed suit, keeping a fixed distance.
Once again, there was a camera in the far corner of the corridor.
He disabled it once again.
Of course, if the cameras were completely disabled, then the ones who were tasked to watch would be suspicious.
Which is why Brandon only disabled it for a set period of time.
He continued with this tactic, treading softly in each corridor.
Until he finally paused, peeking from the corner.
From a distance he could see two men–most likely guards.
'Beyond that area seems to be off limits.'
The secret passage was most likely there.
"Alpha, you're up."
Alpha nodded, putting on his best ignorant waiter act, and revealed himself to the guards.
"Halt, this area is restricted."
"How did one of the staff even manage to get here?"
"Sorry, I seem to have gotten lost. You see, I was looking for the bathroom. Could any of you show me the way?"
One of the guards glanced at his partner.
"You do it, Ryan."
"No, you do it. I won the bet last time, Calvin."
"Hngg… Fine. Right this way, but be quick, you're not supposed to be here."
"Thank you… Actually, could Ryan over there come with me as well?
"Huh, why do I have to come with you?"
"It's a bit urgent, and I'm not sure how far it is. Would both of you mind showing me to the bathroom just in case?"
Fart-
Alpha let out a fart.
'He's way too skilled at this…'
For the first time, Brandon genuinely praised Alpha.
"Urmm… Fine, we don't want you shitting all over this place."
"I appreciate it."
With that, the two left with Alpha, heading towards wherever the guards' bathroom was.
Brandon could audibly hear Alpha talking to the guards.
Their chatter gradually toned down until Brandon couldn't hear them anymore.
Even Alpha thought out that small detail, just so Brandon could tell if they were still nearby.
'He truly is a Professional.'
Looking above the inconspicuous door, Brandon could see a CCTV on the far top corner.
With [Mana Disruption], he disabled it once again.
Step-
He made his way towards the door.
But soon realized that the door was sealed with a thick layer of mana.
Since [Mana Disruption] could only target one specific location at a time, Brandon had to act fast.
Disabling the [Mana Disruption] on the camera, Brandon quickly scattered the mana that lingered on the door within the time lag of the camera's reactivation.
Clank-
Shutting the door, Brandon found himself in a pitch black room.
He quickly conjured up a ball of flame with [Elemental Manipulation] to illuminate the area.
Scanning the area, he could see that there were multiple hallways.
And since the light couldn't reach too far, the ends of the hallways were completely dark.
'It's almost like a maze…'
It actually was a maze.
'I could use an X-Ray skill right about now…'
But he didn't have one.
Brandon took a pause, if he traversed with no plan, then he would end up lost.
He pondered on how he should mark each hallway entrance, to tell if he had already gone there.
Rip-!
Since he brought no other items with him, he decided to tear a piece of cloth from his suit.
Woosh-
He burned the piece of fabric using the smallest amount of fire he could conjure up.
'This should buy me enough time.'
He then strode towards the first hallway.
'A dead end…'
From behind him, there were trails of cloth wrapped in flames.
He followed the trail and dispersed the flames, picking up each cloth.
If he left them behind, then the academy could tell that someone managed to enter the secret passage.
He continued to do so until he was able to return to where he started.
'So the middle hallway was a buzz…'
He then employed the same strategy on the hallway in his left.
He continued to strode forward, but...
'Another dead end…'
Once again, he returned to where he started, and instantly entered the next hallway.
It was another dead end.
Again…
And again…
And again…
'Haa… this is so annoying.'
He ruffled his hair in frustration.
'This is gonna take awhile...'