Frank had meticulously cataloged every doorway and corridor, mapping out the lethal traps scattered throughout the fortress. Although he was incorporeal and invisible, his lack of a physical footprint was a double-edged sword; while it kept him from triggering pressure plates, it also meant he couldn't trigger the tripwires or subtle mechanisms that were connected to the pressure plates. Although he was able to navigate every corridor, alleyway and corner of the castle, he was not able to find out where in the castle the life energy he so readily desired was, it felt it was only when he came with his corporeal body he would find that out.
He had confirmed his hunch that there were four secondary vaults, but none housed the concentrated life energy he desperately required. However, the search wasn't a total loss. He discovered a hoard of luxury goods and exotic technologies he had only ever seen in Orn's rarest blueprints or whispered about in black-market articles he read about. The sheer density of high-tier gadgets and shimmering relics was staggering, glinting with a cold, metallic promise of wealth that far exceeded his wildest expectations for this mission. He realized his satchel couldn't hold even a fraction of it, so he mentally marked only the smallest, most invaluable treasures for his physical body to retrieve later.
Furthermore, his ghostly form allowed him to identify several overlooked ventilation shafts and structural weaknesses that offered a ghost-like entry for his corporeal body. With this new intelligence added to his prior knowledge, the heist felt less like a gamble and more like a certainty. Satisfied that the "score was in the bag," he drifted back through the stone walls toward his physical form, which sat waiting in a deep, meditative trance.
Immediately Frank's incorporeal form met his real body, it shimmered faintly, then faded into existence, and he woke fully conscious in his physical shell. Frank, now knowing what to do and what dangers to watch out for, began moving forward toward the looming castle as the other soul beings in the queue were doing. However, before he approached the line, he diverted along another route—an obscure path that seemed like a dead end. When Frank reached it, he discovered a wall built seamlessly alongside the structure, immovable and unremarkable at first glance. Yet, as he examined it closely, he noticed a thin line etched faintly across the surface. It seemed insignificant until he aligned his skeletal fingers into the groove and pressed, enlarging the fissure. He repeated the motion, pushing the fixed surface deeper into the adjoining wall until the line widened into a hollow doorway large enough to slip through. Sliding inside, Frank turned back and realized the passage was not a door at all but a tinted window, perfectly camouflaged in the castle's color scheme. From the outside, it looked like nothing more than another wall, but from within, it revealed its hidden nature. Emerging cautiously, Frank crept into the room, hiding behind pillars and shadows to avoid the patrolling guards and the cameras he had carefully noted on every floor. His plan had shifted—he no longer sought to steal life energy. Instead, he intended to gather the castle's expensive resources and rare technologies, stuffing them into his bag to sell later for immense profit then he could use the profit gained to get life energy he could use to heal himself.
Looting the two jewelry compartments on the first few floors was surprisingly easy. The compartments were relatively unsecured; all Frank had to do was expand the fissures that held them together until they were ajar. He then poured the glittering contents into his bag, the gems clinking softly as they fell. However, things became far more complicated when he attempted to steal the cursed energy bars. Each room that housed one contained a heavily reinforced safe.
On a normal day, Frank would have walked away, unwilling to tamper with alien machines whose access codes—strange combinations of numbers and letters—were utterly incomprehensible to him. But today he had come prepared. Carrying a sturdy pickaxe, he ignored the cryptic codes and relied instead on brute force. He struck the safes repeatedly, each blow echoing through the chamber, until the pickaxe pierced the protective sheet that marked the boundary between the device's shell and its hidden contents. With careful persistence, he smashed open several safes and collected a handful of cursed energy bars. Yet his reckless determination betrayed him: while breaking into one particular safe, he triggered a concealed alarm rigged to alert the castle's security team. Though he managed to seize a few more bars, Frank failed to notice the trap. He simply went full "Minecraft" on the safes, smashing indiscriminately, unaware that his noisy triumph had already drawn unwanted attention.
The last thing Frank was taking into his hands was a book he desperately wanted to learn about, surprisingly the book was the only thing he was able to interact with in his incorporeal form. When his hand went through the book, although he wasn't able to pick it up, he was actually able to interact with it as his ghostly touch made the book assume a shimmering blue hue and the words Etre came to life before his eyes. Of course, when Frank saw the word Etre, glowing with strange vitality, he knew he must take hold of the book. Now he wasn't taking valuables to sell; instead, he sought one treasure that was almost as invaluable as the life energy he craved, an unknown relic that seemed to hold the knowledge of the power that was only lesser than that of the creator and it was even known as "Death's book". However, where the book was located was a place far more secure than any of the chambers or rooms he had ever looted.
It was hidden inside the vault—specifically the third vault out of the four he had searched. Although the vaults didn't house any life energy bars, that didn't mean nothing of luxury or value was stored within them. The third vault, for example, contained a number of highly ranked and expensive books, shelves lined with priceless tomes, and one book that bore the initials Etre, the very one Frank desired. Naturally, he investigated the other vaults to see if more books on Etre existed. The first vault held rare and exotic plants, the second stored luxurious clothing and rare materials, both undeniably valuable, yet Frank dismissed them. He wanted only the book of Etre. The fourth vault, however, was the strangest—it was located behind the third and was by far the largest. It seemed spacious enough for someone to live inside, yet when Frank checked, he found nothing at all, not a single pin, just emptiness echoing back at him. So he had to settle for the lone book of Etre in the third vault.
Yet thinking about the vault and actually reaching it were entirely different matters. Frank had a subtle notion that his journey would be anything but easy. Although he had gotten there relatively easily in his incorporeal state, he knew that now, with a corporeal body, his mass, weight, scent, and heat would betray him, triggering traps designed to ensnare intruders. Still, Frank believed that with a great plan, careful timing, and a few techniques he had mastered over years of perilous ventures, he could claim the book. Now that he knew where it was, his resolve hardened, and with determination burning in his chest, he walked forward toward the chamber where the vaults awaited him.