Making an Ally

Entering the Oak Inn establishment, Radulfer let the door fall closed behind him. He could hear the click of the lockset turning into place from behind him as his feet led him towards the sitting area. There was quite the amount of people who were walking in and out of the room he was in, which was perfectly fine with the mage.

He found a chair that was in a relatively good position for his hobby of people-watching. While not outright nestled in a corner, it was still hidden enough to make it for a comfortable but lone sitting spot. While he had an inkling to position it somewhere else, Radulfer didn't want to make some sort of commotion by moving it. So, instead, Radulfer plopped down onto the chair, an arm leaning against the chair's armrest, a leg propping itself over the knee of the other leg. Leaning back, Radulfer rested a cheek against his fist, his white hair falling into his eyes.

The man contently watched as several people passed through the room, catching bits and pieces of different conversations. It was pleasantly loud, just enough to drone out the familiar ticking of his watch. Something about sitting back and just watching others go on with their lives felt peaceful to him. Radulfer wasn't exactly sure why noise seemed so soothing to him, but he wasn't too curious about the reason why.

Sitting up, Radulfer stretched out his leg before setting it back down. One hand scratched at his bicep where his guild mark rested. Glancing down for a brief moment, Radulfer traced a nail along the tattoo before putting his hand down in his lap.

Jozuma walked inside the Oak Inn, he had been doing jobs all over for the past week and was incredibly hungry. If he had enough jewels he would easily empty the inn's entire food storage but he didn't so he settled with what he could get. Walking towards the bartender a scent caught his nose, the faint scent of a demon. Jozuma at first didn't head it any mind. "Hm... ah it's a big place bound to be demons somewhere shouldn't fuss about it too much if it's not causing trouble." Jozuma continued walking towards the front desk but his gaze turned towards the source of the smell until he locked on a silver-haired man sitting by himself. He didn't seem to be doing much but what caught Jozuma's attention was the guild mark on his arm, the mark of Infinity Hydra. Jozuma didn't recognize this person meaning he could be someone new that joined during Jozuma's long trips outside the guild, regardless he decided to greet his guildmate. Jozuma quickly went to the bartender "Hey, a slab of meat and 2 drinks please." After the bartender came back with his order Jozuma walked towards the silver-haired man chewing at a piece of meat along the way. Jozuma pulled up a chair next to the man, took down his hood which made the guild mark on his cheek clearly visible, and passed him a drink. "Nice to see another Hydra around here, I don't believe I've seen you around the guild you new?"

Radulfer didn't realize that someone had pulled up a chair by his own before he spotted the man in the corner of his eye. Sitting up in his seat, the mage leaned his arm against the arm rest of his own chair as his apparent company pulled up his hood. Radulfer was quick to notice the Infinity Hydra guild mark on the other man's cheek, causing him to raise an eyebrow. So the man had spotted him and his mark and came over to chat? He wasn't too sure how big the guild he had joined but seeing the size of its guild hall it mustn't be too small.

Reaching out with his other hand, he quietly took the cup with a grateful nod of his head. He quickly glanced down at the contents of the drink before returning his attention to the other mage. At his question to whether or not he's a new member or not, Radulfer nodded his head, his cup being lowered into his lap.

"Mhm, I am a new member," he begun with a slight tilt of his head, "Oh, and my name's Radulfer, by the way. And you are?" Radulfer asked, leaning back in his chair. He raised his cup and took a small sip as he waited for the reply of the other "Hydra".

The man turned to Jozuma introducing himself as Radulfer and a recent member, it seems that the guild slowly but surely growing. The man leaned back on his chair and as he started listening. Jozuma was already nearly done with his meat as he continued the conversation.

"Well it's nice to see some new faces but I was in your shoes not too long ago so I gotta warn you, everyone in Infinity Hydra is a grade-A nut in some shape or form not a single normal human being in there, myself included, but it all adds to the fun of the guild." Jozuma chuckled a little bit before continuing. "My name is Jozuma by the way, I'm one of the more wandering members of Hydra so I'm not at the guild hall very often I'm mostly here for some good food on my way back from some jobs. How about you, what brings you around these parts?"

Radulfer's brows furrowed together as the man, who quickly introduced himself as Jozuma, mentioned that no one was a "normal" human in Infinity Hydra. The words comforted the Mage now that he knew that there were other peculiar cases within the guild. But other than that, he was intrigued by Jozuma being a part of the "nonnormal-human" group as well.

"Oh, I was just passing through on my way back from a job and decided to take a little breather here," Radulfer answered flippantly before taking a sip of the drink Jozuma had gotten him earlier. It wasn't sweet enough, personally, for his taste, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Radulfer pondered for a moment before shifting in his seat and looking down at his cup. He wasn't sure if what he was going to ask would be rude to Jozuma or not, but the man did refer to himself as a part of the nonnormal-human part of Infinity Hydra. Radulfer was intrigued, because not only did he mention the fact, but why would he say that in the first place? Couldn't that potentially chase off some people, though, he supposed that if someone were to leave because of it, then they probably couldn't work with the rest of the guild.

"So, earlier you mentioned earlier that no one is a "normal" human. Why is that? Do they all use some sort of odd magic?" Radulfer questioned as he looked back at Jozuma, his head cocking to the side in a way that was not unlike how a bird tilts its head.

Radulfer said he was also on his way back from a job which was fair enough. At this point Jozuma had already finished his food and was still hungry but he didn't want to leave the conversation. Radulfer stared at his cup for short while before looking up at Jozuma again asking about what he meant by nonnormal-humans. Jozuma has seen a lot of strange stuff since joining the guild and didn't feel like going through the whole list so instead he decided to site a few examples as he got relaxed in his chair. "You really want to know? Well where do I begin, my partner Poom is partly made out of polygons which also is his magic. I to this day still don't know what Copy's magic does and he has a little guy with him who calls himself Excalibur, I don't know if he really is Excalibur but he sure acts like he is he's always yelling at everyone, Copy too. Wolfe is an interesting case, apparently he's been in the guild long before I have but disappeared and then one day after I joined he just popped up not knowing who he is or anyone else for that matter. Also if I'm counting right, including myself 3 of us have demons in our heads whom we do talk to keep that in mind if you see any of us space out or talk to ourselves; mines name is Calcifer, he's an alright guy a bit annoying sometimes." Calcifer spoke in Jozuma's head. "Hey, I heard that!" "Aaand he's awake, wonderful. Pretty much, most of the members are either weird, have some weird magic or companion, or a combination of the 3. There's only a few remotely normal people in our guild, one of which is our Guildmaster Ardere who has to deal with our crap on a daily basis." Jozuma smiled and then moved on to finally talk about the smell Radulfer gave off. "Speaking of magic what magic do you use, let me guess it's demonic magic right? I can smell it off ya from across the room."

Radulfer sat his cup down as Jozuma began to talk, the man eagerly leaning forwards to hear what he had to say. He didn't know what he was expecting to hear from the other mage, but what he did hear wasn't what he was expecting. A man named Poom made from polygons? It brought up an interesting image in his mind, and he had a feeling that if Poom and he were ever in the guild hall at the same time, he would instantly recognize him. Radulfer had the sense that polygon magic was one that wasn't too widely practiced, though he wouldn't voice that thought before he was certain of it.

The second example didn't seem as bizarre as the first one, though the fact that even Jozuma didn't know what Copy's magic does gained his interest. Excalibur was as much as a mystery as his companion, and Radulfer would be lying if he wasn't thinking of trying to meet the two. Wolfe seemed to be a peculiar case as well, disappearing one day and reappearing time later as an amnesiac. But the fact concerning demons, with Jozuma apparently included, was what made Radulfer excited the most. What were their relationships to demons and their magic? Would it be similar to his own Takeover abilities, or was it something different entirely?

But the next fact was the most surprising to Radulfer; it caused him to furrow his brows and slightly nod his head. The demons within their heads were capable of speaking to them? The thought made him think of what if Lyn was capable of talking to him whenever the demon pleased him. The fact stands that the Lightning demon in question was either incapable of speaking to him outside of transformations, or he just didn't have any desires to do so. The thought process quickly brought him to imagine what sort of things Lyn would say outside of battles, so maybe he could try to talk to him when he had time?

At Jozuma's probing question, Radulfer glanced at him strangely before nodding his head in confirmation. Was Jozuma able to smell Lyn himself, or did his magic actually give him a demonic-like scent?

"You're not wrong there, Jozuma," Radulfer replied in a quiet tone as he leaned back, "I use a type of Takeover Magic that employs demons. Thankfully, I never hear Lyn outside of transformations. Though, I'm not too sure if it's because he can't or if it's because he doesn't want to. But, do you mind if I ask how demons relate to your magic, Jozuma?"

"Me? Calcifer fuels my magic, well actually I fuel my magic he alters it. Our souls are bound and so is our magic which usually results in a magic similar to yours but we are a bit of a special case. Essentially I'm an Ice Demon Slayer, if you've heard heard of the more well known Dragon Slayers it's the same deal but with demons. With the blood of a demon I can infuse light into my magic to kill demons and other dark creatures. Also means that I'm technically not entirely human so, you know, there's that." Jozuma  then thought a moment about this Lyn Radulfer mentioned. It kinda reminded him of when he was a kid and Calcifer was first bound to him, back then the only time they ever spoke to each other was when there was something to argue about or when Calcifer was going to take control of Jozuma's body to keep him safe. Fast forward to now and the two are now practically best friends. If this Lyn can speak but chooses not to then perhaps all he and Radulfer need is time. Jozuma stopped his short train of thought and got back into the conversation. "About your demon Lyn, I can't tell you if he can talk to you outside of takeover or not but if he can I suggest you give him some time. Demons can be as much like people as you and me if you're patient he'll come around eventually. Plus the only times a demon lends a human their power is A, they want control of your body for one reason or another, or B, they see a potential in you worthy of a partnership, and I don't sense any corruption in you so I'm pretty sure it's the latter. Maybe start by asking if he can talk outside your takeover when you get the chance." Jozuma had spent some time here already and though it was time to hit the road again, he stood up from his chair. "Well I think I'll grab some more food and get going." Then a thought crossed Jozuma's mind. "Hey, since we're both going back to the guild want to head there together? Maybe I can take you a few jobs and show you the ropes since you're new, I gotta say it's kind of nice to find another demon magic user in the guild." Jozuma made a warm smile.

Radulfer quietly listened to Jozuma's explanation, his head nodding at the bit about Dragon Slayers and Demon Slayers. He could remember his father explaining to him about how to be careful around those who used Demon Slayer Magic since, due to the nature of their Takeover Magic, it was particularly effective. That, and that if they had a matching element then his own spells could easily be absorbed by the Demon Slayer.

"I suppose I could try," Radulfer hesitantly replied, his white brows furrowing together as he thought. During his Takeovers with Lyn, the demon wasn't hesitant to be violent, though he wasn't sure if it was due to the situation or because of the demon's personality. But, if he was to continue to use his magic, it would most likely be a good idea to try to establish some sort of communication with Lyn if it was possible.

Radulfer's head was lowered slightly as he thought to himself, and it was when he heard Jozuma standing did he quickly raise it back up. Before pushing himself to his feet, Radulfer grabbed his glass and finished off the glass. He didn't want to be rude and leave the cup half-full after his newfound friend had gotten him the drink.

"If you wouldn't mind, I would be delighted to do so. And yes, it is, how to say, comforting to know that another mage uses magic relating to demons. Is there any job you had in mind, Jozuma?" Radulfer inquired as he nodded his head, returning Jozuma's with a smile, albeit a faint one. His words weren't false since for a stark moment Radulfer was worried that Infinity Hydra contained no one else who used demonic magic, considering it's legal status. Though, in hindsight, he shouldn't have been so surprised, considering how many different people flocks to a guild. And anyways, birds of a feather flock together, there would bound to be another person who was similar to Radulfer, after all.