Illusion of Grandiose(Haraka/Vincent)

Spoiler:

By the time the half demon picked this job, listings started feeling pretty normal to do. The half dragon hadn't thought there would be one that could surprise him, despite that each job choice was still random. The young looking old man had been proven wrong. A job that surprised him, and has Haraka earned a reply to him writing to take the job, but he also found out a member of a different guild would be doing the job as well. For him to do the job at all, it would have to be with this higher ranked person. It was a surprise but once Omaras started something, he finished it. The ice blue skinned person had sold many cases of wine that ended up in Crocus and likely more tea serving sets than realized. In this place he always imagined an amount of peace and elegance to some extent. Sure, everywhere had an underbelly somewhere... but a self proclaimed rat king sounded less like an underbelly and more like a lunatic. The person sounded silly enough that the mixed blood honestly wanted to go down there now and take care of things on his own. The issue was rank. This job had a higher rank than what he had, meaning it was harder than it sounded. The insane joke of a person was more dangerous than they seemed. This meant the 'rat king' had to be judged as a threat and treated like a real threat. Well, it looked like there was still a little time before the other popped up, so he pulled out a bottle of juice. The bottle looked fit for wine in size and shape, shaking the bottle up a little.

The bottle had a juice mixed of cherry, raspberry, a little lemon, and dragon fruit. The shaking didn't actually do anything, but it felt nice. The quark came off easy, the juice smelled as refreshing as it tasted. "Plants that make this drink, please help me finish this job without getting covered in something disgusting." This may have been useless, he knew it was, but the young looking man really didn't want to get dirty. Most of his clothes were white, it was part of the west fiore trading company uniform. The uniforms design may have been generally loose but... white was a must. It had to be mostly white, so his slacks and vest were white. Those two pieces made up most of the fabric covering his body, the dress shirt being a dark grey instead, and the dress shoes being black. Doing the job meant finding the crazy, thus going into the old sewer system. There was more than likely going to be quite a bit of fighting There was no avoiding coming out smelling like trash. He was more than ready to go to the nearest bathhouse after the mission if need be, but the gods only know just how much he didn't want to smell like a sewer. "At least I can take solace in that I wont need to go to far to find a decent running public bathhouse.." He muttered quietly with his soft and gentle voice before  closing the drink. With that said, he stuffed it away, than went bath to waiting for the person from crystal swan.

What did he know about that guild? Well, it was made at some point after he joined west fiore trading company. That and that it was a legal guild was pretty much the only things he knew about it. Haraka had no idea what to expect from the stranger, save that they would be stronger than him. Well, maybe they would be wearing a guild emblem pin? Just as the mix blood  wore west fiore trading companies emblem on his white vest.

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The sewers again... this should be interesting. Yes, this wasn't the first time that the scholar from Crystal Swan had been forced to wander around a sewer system in search of a crazed maniac. The first time he had to do such a thing was in Magnolia Town on account of the lunatic's responsibility in causing a surplus of trash to be found littering the town. After successfully capturing this man, Vincent felt as though an enchantment to keep one's clothing clean and smelling like normal was a worthwhile investment of his time. Washing out the smell of sewer last time was no easy task... I won't go through that again and whomever is assisting me with capturing this rat mage will be thankful as well. Vincent knew absolutely nothing of West Fiore Trading Company aside aside from the fact that their primary dealings were as a merchant business rather than a guild, but if one of their mages was going to be assisting him in what seemingly amounted to a glorified extermination then the priorities of the guild had to be more or less in line with his own guild. One might wonder why the robed wizard would choose to rummage around another sewer system of his own free will to which he would respond with a single word: opportunity. Typically, individuals were not exactly "allowed" to go exploring the sewers of Crocus on account of the security risk they would present and, even one did manage to get into the underbelly of the capital, they would soon get lost and need to return on account of the labyrinth of tunnels that they would fine.

This job not only granted him access to the Crocus sewers that were rumored to be filled with hidden passages and chambers, it would provide him with a map of the area. The map was, admittedly, incomplete, but that was completely fine - he did come from a guild of explorers after all. Vincent could have truthfully created his own map of the labyrinthine system sitting beneath the capital, but that would have taken a bit more time than he was willing to give up provided what he would be getting out of this little adventure. There's no telling what kind of interesting artifacts I'll find in those hidden chambers given the description of the staff that the so-called "Rat King" used. I suspect that acquired such an artifact from one of these chambers - no, I'm sure of it! Needless to say, the Crystal Swan mage was quite excited to go rummaging through what the people on the sunny side of the capital have long since forgotten. I'm finally here. The wizard walked at a brisk pace until he arrived at where he and the mystery mage from Onyx Moon had arrived to meet when they both registered for the job. His eyes came upon a blue-skinned man who was certainly not human. Vincent approached from behind and gently tapped the man on the shoulder to get his attention before introducing himself.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you. I'm the one with which you will be risking your life. You may call me Vincent." Vincent thought about the way he introduced himself and never gave his last name despite typically referring to others by their surname if they were not guild mates. He shrugged this thought off and then promptly pulled out a small scroll from a black drawstring bag that sat comfortably under his robe and tied at his hip. The mage opened the scroll and channeled some of his magical energy through it in order to power the simple rune etched into the parchment. "If you would believe it, this isn't my first time chasing a maniac through a sewer. This is a small enchantment that I whipped up for us - we wouldn't want to get our whites dirty after all. I won't bore you with the details, but this enchantment will repel the dirty sewer water and retain the smells we have on us now. Dirt and other... solid objects may still dirty our clothing, though, so stay vigilant." With that, a small circular field would cover both mages and, if they remained, the enchantment would take effect. The Crystal Swan explorer would slowly wrap his scroll up and put it back in its proper place before continuing to ask about the job they would be taking. He needed to know if all of the preparations were taken already. "Have you already met with Frank and acquired the map we're going to need, or is that where we're headed?"

WC: 770

The mixed blood turned before he was touched, but the tap had still surprised him a bit. It probably shouldn't have, but there was just something alerting about strangers touching certain places. At least it was only the shoulder. Risking his life? "I wouldn't consider it a risk, as dying means not completing a task. My name is Haraka Omaras, it's nice to meet you Mister Vincent." Oh no, he refused to not finish something once he started on it. Deep sapphire iris's looked to the scroll pulled out. It was easy enough to read, or would if it kept still. Well that didn't matter anyway, he was told what it was anyway. It was that persons scroll that man had just used so maybe it being legible to the mix wouldn't mean anything? More importantly, this was likely a sign that Vincent was smart, not just strong. That or the previous experience made them very determined to avoid horrible smells from sticking on them or their clothes. Well, since the person from Crystal Swan had created the enchantment themselves, the half demon just assumed it was a lot of determination to not get covered in the pungent odor. Who could blame them? "That's an amazing enchantment, and if it fails I know how to make something that clean clean any rotting smell out of clothing fairly easily." He had trust in the spell, he just had no idea how determined the attackers would be to get them. Other solid objects, did that mean...? Well, this was a sewer after all.

Of course things like that would be waiting down there. When asked about the map the demon reached into his dress vest. He pulled the map out, or what he had been told was one. "Yes, but it looks so vague that I am unsure if it truly still falls on such a name." Looking at the map... it felt so... "I think we're going to have to fill in the missing details... It doesn't seem like nearly enough to even have an idea where to look for the maniac first." It really didn't, but at least it should be easy to start the search. Ah, would the other be able to see alright in the darkness? Well, they have been in sewers before, so they likely had a way to find their way in the dark, or a light. "If I had known it was going to lack this way.. I probably would have poked around for more information on its layout." He should have done it anyway. What had he expected? Well, a better map for one. The half ice dragon unfolded the paper, frowning at the details on it. To be more accurate it was at the lack of detail, though it wasn't his first time looking at it. [color=#77e8ff]"I'll just... add to it as we go."[color=undefined] What else could be done? By the time he had the map it was already too late to ask any connections if they had details. They were already here to do the job, the sewers awaited them in such a horrible way that the man couldn't help but have some amount of dread. This was just something he would have to face, that was that.

In any case, it's probably better to be safe than sorry. "I'm going to be asking my wind spirit to help keep the smell from overwhelming my senses. Would you like me to ask him to include you in that?" Yes, it would be harder to think if either of them was having trouble not choking on the terrible air, and last time the young looking old man had been in a foul smelling situation his nose had been far less strong than it was right at this moment. It was nice that they had an amount of magical protection for their clothes and person, but he was still so glad that he knew where the nearest bathhouse was. He took in a deep breath of the fresh air while he could. It felt like they had almost everything in order, that meant going down sooner. The ice blue skinned man really did want to enjoy fresh air for the time that he could. There would be a lot of hidden things down there, but it shouldn't be hard to keep from getting lost, so long as they continued adding to the map. If only it had more detail, more something. At least Haraka had utensils for writing on his person, though that was there long before the realization of the maps lack of detail in the first place. It was good to be prepared? Yes, that was true. The necklace under his shirt kept the body from glowing and the small stud earrings would help a bit with speed and protection for his mind. He spoke again with his smooth and gentle voice, one last thing before the sewer perhaps? "I hope neither of us will need to rush for the nearest bathhouse after the job is finished and turned in, but at least now it seems less likely to happen." Though not impossible.

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"I admire your confidence then, Mister Omaras." The wizard paused for a minute to ascertain the sex of his partner which was, currently, unclear. He would assume male until corrected. Vincent was shown the map that Haraka had presumably gotten from Frank, the exterminator who had asked for the help of guild mages in the first place. After a quick study, he raised his hand and magically created another, identical map to the one he had been shown. "Now we have our own maps - it's quite a helpful trick." he said with a smile before leading the way towards one of the entrances marked on the map. "And yes, please include me in your wind spirit's blessing. I would much rather avoid the smell of rot infesting my nose. Thank you very much." Could he be an elemental mage? That would be the third one I've seen in recent history - I suppose it's a more popular choice of magic than I initially believed. Eventually, the duo would reach one of the few main entrances marked on the map which was covered by a large metal manhole with the symbol of the royal castle engraved upon it. "Such fancy embroidery given that this is the lid to the vile underbelly of the capital. I'll take care of this." With that, the mage pointed both of his hands forward and a dark grey aura began to seep from his hands and onto the ground surrounding the metal disk. About a few seconds later the aura covered the manhole and caused it to disappear.

The disk would reappear about two meters north from where it had originally been. "You might have guessed it by now, but my abilities relate to manipulating space itself and the objects in it." He wanted to inform his new partner on his abilities in case he happened to stumble across an obstacle individually that would best be dealt with using spatial abilities. "And I would assume that you use some kind of wind magic, given your earlier mention of a wind spirit?" As he said this, the white haired mage would descend down the ladder and into the dark depths of the capital's sewers. Thankfully, on account of the wind spirit's blessing, it didn't smell completely of bloated corpses. Instead, it smelled like sulfur, but Vincent would take the smell of rotten eggs over that of death any day. He held his hand out and tried to summon a bright orb using light magic, but failed. "Oh, right. I don't exactly have a command of the elements like I used to. Thankfully I always come prepared." While he thought aloud Vincent pulled out a jar of bright blue butterflies. These will have to do. After this thought he unscrewed the lid and let the swarm of butterflies out. For the duration of the job these bright blue butterflies would follow him and Haraka, allowing the two to see in the absence of natural light. "Much better, wouldn't you say?"

This question was obviously rhetorical, but the scholar enjoyed to muse aloud. Once the issue of light was solved, he took notice of all the small droppings littering the space between the stone wall of the sewer and what was effectively a sidewalk which bordered a filthy stream of water. "At least we've confirmed that there's an abnormal amount of rats living in the sewer - evidence that the job we took wasn't a trick. You never know exactly to what lengths dark mages are willing to go to in order to spring a trap." Vincent's paranoia had saved on him on multiple occasions, so at this point he was fine with simply call it him being careful. He looked down at his map and saw that the way forward from the main entrance had been mapped out for a couple meters, so he figured that they might as well advance along the beaten path until they reached an uncharted point. From his black drawstring bag the wizard pulled out a small pencil. "I'm not too fond of the iLacs. I prefer the traditional methods of cartography, personally. Let's go this way until we run out of map before filling it in. Thankfully I've gotten a bit of cartographic experience in my guild - Crystal Swan. I don't think I need to say more on that." The mage was no artist, but he could definitely fall into the categorization of explorer. As such, he knew how to make maps like he knew his own magic.

WC: 1529

Confidence? No... "No, just..." How does one describe it? He could honestly, but it sounds a bit weird to admit that it was something his grandmother would say. Then again, he might never see this person again, it could be okay this time. "My grandmother used to say when you make a promise, you must fulfill it, that one is honor bound. I use her words in a weird way to help remind me to not give up on commitments." In any case, it was good they both had maps now. Even if it wasn't that complete now, it could be as they travel along. When he was asked to include Vincent in a wind spirit blessing he made a slight smile. "You could call it a wind blessing? I use my ocean magic as a medium to connect to spirits, though I would probably have more control over him i-" Without even being asked yet, wind had started blowing some of the foul smell from the two already, but not completely. The spirit sounded amused in all its multitude of child voices. He could tell the tone of those laughs what that meant, an amusement over the suggestion of being more controllable. The laughing quietly continued in its multitude of voices, following through even when they had started entering the sewer. Wind hadn't even waited for him to ask, but it would have felt weird to ask when wind did it already. Maybe that's what wind was going for?

It wasn't hard to imagine the spirit doing something just to mess with someones head. He was pretty positive that wind gained some weird form of amusement from doing that. It was hard to not think that at times like this, when the spirit had laughed for so long. "I am the wind born to collect the voices of the dead to give them deeper rest. Control? hnn? Controool? My beloved child, no." Haraka made a slight face, but didn't comment on wind. What could he say? But at the least he should finish what he was saying earlier, before wind had interrupted with... what is best described as being wind. "So... while I am a medium, my magic looks elemental? But elemental spirits are the safest kind to contract. Also I don't want anything more mischievous than wind capable of entering my mind." The wild fae like personality was pretty much his limit in brain access. Demons, angels, those sort of spirits? Both always sounded so aggressive to handle in one way or another. Connecting with the dead sounds risky and unsavory, but he blamed wind for his long running distaste for waking the dead. "Besides wind, I have a fire spirit and a lightening spirit. Wind is the only one who can speak in people words... I also have a lot of plant spirits." Wind was the unspoken boss of the other spirits, but he wasn't going to bring that up. It was strange the sort of chain of command they fell into. In the end he was still the top at the chain though, even if he didn't always use it so firmly.

"Ah, when wind says voice he means the unrest. It just... gives him a copy of their voice. And.. besides my main magic I have ice dragon slayer... but that's a long story." Yes, make wind sound less creepy, or try to, and finish explaining what magic you have. Vincent's magic seemed a lot easier to explain, but likely was far more complex than it sounded. Deep sapphire eyes looked to the glowing butterflies, their illumination briefly enchanting his curiosity. They were very beautiful, though also very unfitting for this sort of place. "How did you go about learning your magic?" He knew there were some that learned from a teacher, or a family member. There were others who learned from research, or just practice. Then there were those that had a bit of mix in things thy had done to learn and get better. Just looking around away from the butterflies caused the spell caster to wind up his hair a bit. For as long as he could avoid it, the mixed blood intended to keep the long locks from touching anything. Maybe he should cut his hair, but doing such a thing sounded so horrible. One of Omaras guilty joys in life was the enjoyment he gained from managing to keep it long and healthy. The pencil and paper wasn't surprising to see when they got yo an unmarked area, but the phone comment was. "Those things have mapping features...?" He made a mental note to figure out how that works at a later date. Until then, maybe he should make notes? But the other was already?

A small sound drew his eyes to small pipe that was above them in the darkness. It sounded like something moved in it, but the pipe did not go down. It likely went down at two connecting points, neither involved this little space they were on right now. Then again he was just assuming that the pipes had two connecting points. Was it a pipe that lead out of the sewer somewhere? Well, he couldn't just stare at it forever and expect to find out. Should they be looking for hidden rooms? The ice blue skinned man decided to forget how filthy the walls were and start to gently rap against the wall as they moved along. Where the hidden rooms where would likely give a different sort of sound, one that signified walls not as thick due to something being on the other side. "Why would anyone even want to become a rat king? Even if they are a dark mage, it just sounds so nonsensical."

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The wind spirit spoke with an air of purpose and guidance. It didn't seem to be malicious, but it made a simple fact clear: Haraka was not in control. Still, it decided to help him and Vincent of its own accord. To no one in particular Vincent spoke: "You have my thanks, wind spirit. These smells are quite unpleasant." I see... so Haraka is more closely related to a celestial summoner than he is an elemental caster. Intriguing. Can't remember the last time I stumbled across a summoner. "An excellent question. How I went about learning magic and my specific type of magic are two separate, but related, stories. I was formally trained in just about all things magical from a young age, so I could be called a 'proper mage.' During this time I learned about enchantments like the one I cast on us earlier, curses, properties of magic, and so on. It was there were I also honed by control over elements, though let's say elemental magic and I weren't exactly compatible. I insisted on learning it, though, out of stubbornness. As for my current magic... well. A lot of self learning through manuals. It's quite a recent development, actually." As Vincent explained a bit of his history, he created five floating copies of the manuscripts he had used to show Haraka to serve as a visual aid to his words. Titles such as "Elementary Magical Manipulation of Space" and "Advanced Manipulation of Space" could be seen on the otherwise unremarkable looking books.

"Due to my past, I learn quite quickly. So, I was lucky enough to adjust from using elemental magic to spatial magic quite seamlessly. As for your remark on the monarch, well, anyone I suppose. Imagine not having any magic and working a typical job when, all of the sudden, you happen across an artifact that gives you an unparalleled control over the minds of all rats. Would you simply go back to your mundane life or would you adopt the mantle of king? I believe our job speaks for what many would do." Vincent continued to walk through the sewers illuminated with blue light until the two got to the end of what was mapped out. He would lead Haraka beyond this point and very carefully draw the intricately connected tunnels on his copy of the map. "I trust that I don't have to tell you this Haraka, but I will anyways. We cannot afford to underestimate our foe. As maniacal as he might be and as ridiculous as his power is, not treating him like a legitimate threat would certainly lead to our failure. We're here to incapacitate him and turn him into the appropriate authorities, nothing more and nothing less." Vincent figured that he would rather be safe than sorry with his new job partner. Up until this point he had mostly been working alone or with another member of Crystal Swan, so he wanted to make sure that both he and the mage from the West Fiore Trading Company were on the same page.

The two would keep walking and Vincent would keep mapping until he came across a rather peculiar looking tunnel in the wall. It looked just big enough for a small dog to crawl through. Vincent hadn't yet mastered the power of manipulating his own size, but he could think of one solution. "Hey Haraka, I feel like this might be an entrance to one of those hidden rooms Frank mentioned. It's not big enough for either of us to fit through, but a small animal could. That said, allow me." After Vincent's short statement he began to become engulfed by shadows. The shadows from his upper body would collapse down and those covering his lower body would extend outwards in both directions until a definite silhouette in the shape of a fox with nine tails could be seen. Once he was completely transformed, the shadows would disperse and he could finally be seen again. This was only the second time he had transformed into what would be considered the "true" form of a kitsune so he was still getting used to the finer motor movements. Vincent turned to his blue-skinned companion and looked up. "What do you think? I acquired this little trinket during the same job that I lost my ability to effectively use elemental magic. Essentially my latent talents went through a kind of 'awakening.' I'm not too comfortable using this form to fight, though it does have other uses." As he gave another bit of information to the Onyx Moon mage he pawed a black pearl necklace he wore with a similarly colored fox token on the front.

In this form, the half blood looked like a giant. This was the point. With his current stature Vincent easily made his way through the metal pipe and, after traveling straight for about a meter, ended up in a large room with plants beds and carpets. The wizard transformed back into his human form and stretched. I should spend more time in that form if only to be able to transform between it and my usual one quickly if I ever want it to leave the supporting role which it currently occupies. Now to look around for a... switch! Vincent quickly found a lever on the wall with would lower a stone rectangle which separated the room from the sewer. The lever was small and towards the bottom of the wall. I suppose the people that lived down here must have trained small animals to open the doors for them when they returned from exploring the sewers... but why live down here to begin with? The white haired mage hoped that his questions would be answered on this job, but wasn't about to hold his breath. Still, he was lucky enough to have found this large hidden chamber and wasn't about to leave it unexplored, for that would go against his guild's goal as well as his own curiosity. "It's quite a useful trick, if a bit disorienting" would be his first words to his partner upon seeing him again. He was reasonably sure that Haraka wouldn't mind this minor detour to explore one of the many hidden chambers underneath the capital.

WC: 2576

The young looking old man listened to Victors story, though eyes remained wondering over all the scenery. It certainly sounded like a complicated journey of magical discovery, but at least it had a nice end to it, sort of. It had as much of an end as a story can have that doesn't involve death. "It sounds like you had to work very hard, your determination must be strong to learn." The only books haraka had to read concerning his magic was finding hidden names of plants, and facts about elemental spirits. He never had to dig deep for the ability to use his own magic. "I learned from my mother, Doctor Fennos Omaras." 'The golden doctor' used to be very famous, but thousands of years ago. Her medical books were thankfully and unthankfully very rare in this modern age. But it meant this person was unlikely to know about his human adoptive mother who had lived and died in the bronze age, long before humans even found out where illness came from and how it spread. Still, it didn't feel like he was giving any hints at his own age. "She was a plant magic user, but read about mediums at some point before my birth occurred. What I didn't learn from her, I learned from my spirits, and books." She wasn't there for him all the time, but not out of not wanting to. Dead people can't teach you, or hold you. The spirits couldn't hold him either, but they were good teachers. If he had a chance to hold his mother again? The half demon wouldn't take it. The dead deserved rest, she had more than earned it.

Well, in any case, Vincent seemed happy with the fruits of his hard labor. That was the best thing about hard work when it did happen, the growth in ones self. Being asked to imagine such an existence... well, he couldn't see that scenario. "Assumptions can lead to folly.. But as you said, the authorities will be the ones to deal with that after he's captured. But I do want to point out that life can be extremely satisfying even without magic." He couldn't let himself rattle on of the many possibilities. They didn't have the time for that, not that there would even be a point to it. In any case he didn't like the suggestion that it would be common for a person to find life dull or unsatisfying without magic. The many years Omaras had lived without it, the mixed blood didn't feel like those years were wasted, dull, or unsatisfying. The big issue in life had little to do with that, but rather ignoring his own heart and continuing to run from a darkness. Most of the things he enjoyed didn't involve magic, though said magic did make it easier and cheaper to get the materials. What he didn't expect was for Vincent to turn into a small animal. The color and elegance of the fur was impressive. If Vincent wasn't a higher ranked mage than himself, than the half dragon probably would have let himself try to touch the fur. That was not a reality though, so the young looking old man held back from doing anything that betrayed his feelings on such a form. Then again he was asked so there should be no harm in saying something, right?

"That fox form looks very useful, as pretty as the trinket it came from." Of course after that he was alone with only a few glow butterflies until the hidden room was opened up. There was no bother felt from waiting, though it didn't take long anyway. Seeing inside the hidden room was interesting. He wanted to look around, but his temporary teammates health came first. It was a bit disorienting, so.. "Will you be alright, or would you like to rest until the disorientation wears off?" He would have offered food or a drink but in an area that smells like this? Good food or good drink smells would just mix with the foul odors of the sewer and make things worse. But he could still offer water. Well, maybe he should stop worrying as much and thank them? Disorientation wasn't good for getting anywhere in a maze like environment, but that animal form was why they ended up with access to this hidden room in the first place, wasn't it? "Sorry for fussing, it's impressive how you found a way to enter." Despite saying that, he still wanted to go further in the fussing, to give Victor a checkup, water, and anything else would depend on the checkups results. The internal struggle was stomach knotting, a small cold puff of air coming out of his stomach. Finally he decided to give a small head bow of respect then finally enter. It was interesting to see inside, it really did look like a living quarters. "I heard some rumors a few hundred years ago, but I never thought a bunker city had actually been made...

That used to be popular for cities to do for thousands of years. The bunkers were typically either over simplified or over complicated. The over simplified ones typically lacked necessary things that the above homes had like baths and clean flowing water, or they had everything and every unknown item had the hidden possibility of being a trap. The theory with the later types was the traps could and would harm, or confuse any possible invaders trying to enter." And there the eventual slip up had come. The other person was a quick and determined learner, it had helped Vincent learn a magic that he was not naturally adept to. Maybe he would think Haraka was just being a bit silly? But that didn't make sense in context.

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Vincent shook his head. "I would never like to lead a life without magic unless I was born without it. It's not unlike being handicapped; if one is born blind they can't miss being able to see. Their life is brutal, but they don't know what they're missing. Going blind, on the other hand, is much worse. You know what the beauty of the world is and you know that you'll never get to see it again." The white haired wizard's entire life revolved around the study of magic and its use, so he couldn't imagine a worse fate than completely losing it for the rest of his natural born life. Later, Vincent would raise his hand up in a gesture to convey that he didn't want Haraka to worry about his health. "Don't worry mister Omaras, I'm fine. If the disorientation was bad enough to compromise my job I wouldn't use it." After that, Haraka said something strange. While it would typically be regarded as a joke, it seemed out of character for his current partner. "Did I hear you correctly? You heard some rumors a few hundred years ago?" The scholar didn't exactly listen to the rest of what the blue-skinned mage said on account of the bizarre transition into speaking about the bunker cities. The thought had occurred to him that the mage accompanying him on this journey wasn't a human, but this thought sat in this back of his mind until the "few hundred years" comment was made. "If that's true, then it's safe to say that you're not human, are you mister Omaras?"

Regardless of the answer he received Vincent would listen intently. He didn't have anything against other races, but this would be the first time that he had actually interacted with one so directly. Vincent had, in the past, interacted with Yōkai in Nazo, half-cats in Joya, elves in Seven, but he had never come across a race that looked quite like Haraka now that he thought about it. Before Haraka would finishing his explanation of the statement which would indicate that his age far exceeded that of the Crystal Swan mage, a giant rat would make its way past the lowered stone entrance of the hidden room and look at the two of them. Vincent would point at it before informing his guild mate of the threat. "Be careful Haraka, there's something off about that rat. I feel like it's going to attack us any minute now, so be prepared to run. I'm not confident about fighting it for some reason." The wizard raised his palm to face the rat and summoned a long red spear with a large sharp blade. Without warning it fired it at the beast that was watching them and it hit... something. While at first it would appear as though Vincent directly hit the large rat at the top of its back, further inspection would reveal that the giant rat had summoned an armor made of smaller rats to defend itself. "Alright Haraka. That confirms it. We should run." The red spear dematerialized into glowing dark grey pieces and Vincent used another power of his.

By no visible force, the rat would be pushed away from the room and into the stream of the sewer, buying the two mages enough time to run out of the room and further into the labyrinth that was the sewer. As they ran, the robed wizard would hastily fill in the map as best he could so that, when he stopped, he would be able to complete his drawing so that the two wouldn't be completely lost. Once they ran for a while and Vincent believed the giant rat to be off of their tail, he slowed down to a brisk walk and then slowed down again to a normal walk. "Alright, I think we lost the rat. We also got some key information. I'm not sure if you saw how exactly that giant rat blocked my spear, but it summoned an armor of smaller rats that were all densely packed enough to completely stop the spear from piercing the wearer of the armor. I suspect that the Rat King is using some kind 'rat make' magic. I've never heard of someone using maker magic using living creatures, but it fits hits title I suppose." The white haired wizard felt silly saying the words "rat make" out loud due to the inherent ridiculousness of such a power, but, once again, he needed to make sure that he didn't underestimate their foe. On the right sewer wall about four meters ahead the wizard could see what appeared to be wavy air. To one who couldn't see through illusions it would simply look as though the wall was one solid piece of stone, but to Vincent it appeared much differently.

Vincent would gesture for Haraka to follow him as he cautiously approached the portion of the wall that looked to be wavy. Slowly, he put his hand out to touch the stone wall and, as soon as his hand made contact with the wavy wall, it vanished into a cloud of white smoke to reveal what was behind. What was behind the wall was quite a surprise, though if he thought about it a bit more it was exactly what he should have expected to find sooner or later. Skeletons littered the ground and were stacked carelessly towards the center of the room. I suppose those that lived down here had to place their dead somewhere.... Wouldn't want to risk corpses dirtying your clean water supply. "Looks like we stumbled across a rather boring, but still necessary hidden room. If it wasn't for the ability to see through powerful illusions that this amulet grants me then we never would have found it - I suppose those that lived down here before really didn't want anyone to find where they buried their dead - if you could even call them buried. It doesn't look like anyone has used this as a burial site for a while given that it takes at lest twelve years for a corpse to decompose to a skeleton."

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The young looking old man laughed a bit with that soft and gentle voice of his. "In my home country, no person could use magic until after they hit puberty. After I hit puberty it did come, but I didn't actively use it outside of hiding some physical features. I've built homes, made amazing tea sets, amazing wines, I'm pretty decent with sowing and I know how to make quite a long list of medicines. Not having magic isn't a disability." Of course he forgot a country like his own one hasn't existed in thousands of years, not above water anyway. That didn't change the honesty in his words. The first part of his life had been lived without magic, save for the short time at ten he discovered ice magic from his dragon half. That didn't really count since he had actively used t to break of the very part that held that magic. "It was a very rewarding life, but that's a story for another time." It was too easy to be soothed by sowing clothes, making your own furniture, working on your own home, baking... It could feel so rewarding to create things by hand. The skills over the years grew from lacking to something to have a little pride in. Well, pride if he hadn't been using that kind of life to hide from the reality he eventually had to face. He had to stop running and hiding, despite how temping doing so had felt. "A life without magic is definitely not like a disability." Magic may have been amazing, but a disability suggests that it makes life harder. How hard life is to him didn't depend on a magic or lack of.

How hard life was depended on how you used your own talents. Disabilities involve the body, or the soul. Missing limbs, or damage to the soul in certain places. Ah ah, now Vincent was asking about his age. Should he admit it? Well he couldn't deny it. "I was born-" But of course that was around the time the rat had popped up. The mixed blood hadn't said enough to hint at anything besides something true to most people. At one point he was born, that's it. There was something weird about the rat, more than just the size. Why did the eyes suggest to him like it was an old being? When Vincent said it looked like it was going to attack, Omaras was surprised by the next few things. While ready to stand his ground and figure out how to take the thing down... The ivory haired youth was the stronger of the two. If the crystal swan was going to run, the mixed blood would have to follow suit. It wouldn't make sense to stand alone to try to fight a rat that would likely kill him if trying to take it down alone. He let out a low growl of annoyance, but followed the other when the chance was earned to run. Being able to slow down was nice at least, he didn't like running away from a fight, let alone rushing away from a battle. Rat make? He really doubted it. Well, maybe the rat king had that, but the intelligence he saw in those eyes... "I don't think the rat king has nothing to do with that animals strength. It had the eyes of a creature far older than the average sewer rat.

Honestly, I would have rather tried to fight it to find some weakness, it was strong and intelligent and was daring us to try to attack." Wait, did he really just say he was upset he didn't get to attack something? What kind of person was the halfblood turning into? The young looking old man shook his head in disappointment in himself. Maybe this was just a one time thing. "Well, I don't doubt the rat king might has some weird rat make magic, I just don't understand how he would be able to use it on a creature he wasn't in the same room as." Maybe some people had the ability to use magic that way, remote and unseeing, but to him that sounded abstract and complicated. "Then again, maybe he can feel rats near enough to him? Even if in a different room..." It wasn't hard to imagine that possibility. Sometimes being in your own environment can make feeling certain things a bit easier. Those sort of thoughts helped push down the sourness over not being able to fight the large rat. Not being able to see through illusions, his own dark sapphire iris's only saw a normal wall. What wasn't expected was to see what seemed like a normal wall vanish easier than smoke with just a touch of the hand. Had it been an illusion? The realism it had is a little alarming, but clearly one of them was able to tell it had been an illusion. Clearly that person wasn't Haraka. "How were you able to tell the wall didn't exist?" The half demon had a feeling this wasn't a sort of skill that would ever come natural to himself.

The contents of the room didn't make sense to him. The last room had looked functional, but not lived in. Was he wrong? Also, why were the bodies stacked that way? "Nobody of a civilized era buried their dead in piles unless it was to make mass graves or hide murders. The reasoning, outside of being a waste of good space and it's inefficient, is that it's disrespectful. I don't know what this is." He had heard of some of the tactics that over crowded cities used to deal with corpses that piled over time, but it wasn't this. It wasn't an effective use of space, but it also wasn't respectful towards the dead. Omaras curiosity brought the half demon closer to the pile, though for some reason with as much caution as the shorter mage had got him to earlier when approaching what looked like a normal wall. The idea of dark magic never even popped into his mind, not until he got too close to the pile. Red marks appeared that hadn't been visible before, the skeletons looking to melt. "Crap." The words had a bit of panic to them, his mind racing. 'Why did I approach the clearly suspicious pile of corpses?!'[/color] Of course those thoughts wouldn't undo the mistake, or that he had stupidly triggered a trap. What he didn't expect? Was what the circle did. The half dragon thought it would summon something ancient and deadly, but it looked like it just made... a baby clam. Some words were on the magic circle, ones he didn't bother to try to read now that he was face to face with a baby and unsure what to do.

"...Count William Akeldama the II?" The clam raised it's foot from the shell, poking it into the air. Was it.. raising its limb like a teacher just called on it? No, this was just an animal, a baby. Wasn't it? He didn't realize that whatever original amount of 'fuel' had been left for the spell had diminished with time. This was the only reason the spell summoned a baby demonic creature, but an under fueled dark spell trap didn't mean it was a harmless baby. To Haraka who knew next to nothing about dark magic, let alone the reason it ended up summoning a baby... he wasn't really sure what to think of it. "I'm Harama Omaras. It's okay, I'm a sea creature too." That's when he was surprised again. What do you not expect of a tiny blood colored demonic clam? For it to start flying at you, or for the flying to resemble how a scallop swims. He stiffened up a bit, looking and feeling surprised and a bit alarmed. In the end all the baby clam did was land near his neck then use its foot to tuck itself under the tall shirt collar. This was all very... confusing. "...What just happened? I promise not to try not to approach things that confuse me again." Part of him was sort of thinking still that he had ran into a trap, but another part of him was pretty sure it would have been a lot more dangerous with... an adult.

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"Our mission is not to clear the sewer of rats, it's to find the Rat King and stop him. If we had stopped to fight the giant rat we more than likely would have decreased the likelihood that we would succeed in our job on account of wasting energy. That giant rat looked like it was more trouble than it was worth." Later on, once Vincent had dispelled the illusion and found the pile of skeletons behind it he decided to answer the question posed by Haraka. "I'm not sure how familiar you are with the Midian folklore, but this pendant I'm wearing was given to me by what is known as a kitsune. They're a kind of... divine fox creature that are quite proficient in illusion magic and shape shifting. Fittingly, the amulet allows me to shapeshift into what would be considered the 'true' form of a kitsune as well as see through powerful illusions. I wouldn't have noticed the wall had I not been wearing this." Vincent was thankful of the gift he had been given by the Yōkai and that he decided to handle that whole situation diplomatically. Disrespectful towards the dead? I don't think they mind at all. The wizard kept this comment to himself so as not to create unnecessary tension between him and Haraka, but he thought the idea that the dead could be disrespected was quite absurd. What happened next caught Vincent's attention, for Haraka had stumbled into the room and triggered a summoning spell which presumably used dark magic. Now this is something that I'm more familiar with.

Vincent walked forward and into the room that was once filled with skeletons but now contained only a... clam and his partner. "You see a pile of skeletons melt and the first thing you do is name the horrible demon that was spawned? You're either very brave or very foolish, Haraka. I would not touch that thing with my bare skin unless I was absolutely sure that it wouldn't put a curse on me." The white haired wizard thought the name given to the clam demon to be a bit on the flamboyant side, but if his blue skinned companion was willing to put himself in danger to interact with a baby clam then he could name it anything he wanted. Carefully, Vincent approached the magical circle which contained a complex system of runes etched into the space between its outer two circles. These runes that could be found at the edges of a magical circle often contained information about the spell being cast. "Well that answers that question. The elements present in this magical circle are darkness for the summoning and fire for the melting that we saw. It's exclusively a summoning spell meaning that there is little to no chance that the clam will curse you, thankfully. I would still be careful, for there are plenty of creatures summoned with darkness magic that leech off the life force of their host. It's a sort of parasitism. If it were me, I would put that creature somewhere and study it to see if I couldn't find a way to create a mutualistic relationship with it on account of its odd appearance, but proceed as you will, just please do so cautiously."

He would turn and exit the room so that the two could continue searching for the lair of the Rat King after that brief intermission. "So you're a sea creature, Haraka? That's interesting. Might it have been any creature I've ever heard of? I'm no stranger to different races." Secretly, Vincent hoped he hadn't heard of the kind of sea creatures to which Haraka belonged, for he loved to learn. Still, it would not surprise him in the slightest if he had, in the past, encountered whatever it was his blue-skinned demon clam whisperer companion was in his many studies. Eventually, the two would come across a small passage that was similar to the one he had crawled through earlier, only this one was a little bigger. "Well, I'm not tired of crawling through disease ridden rusty pipes, so let's see what we find." The Crystal Swan scholar got down on his hands and knees and began to crawl through the metal pipe which more or less matched his description. This pipe was a lot longer than the one he had crawled through earlier and he figured he had to crawl through about ten meters of pipe before he came out the other side. The butterflies which had been illuminating the dark sewer only lit up a small portion of the massive room in which he and his companion from the West Fiore Trading Company would now find themselves. Before long, torches began to light themselves in pairs starting with their side of the room and continuing to the other side of the room where Vincent noticed a throne and a man sitting in the throne. Oh, so this must be where he was hiding. "I think we stumbled across our mission objective, Haraka. What luck!"

"Intruders! Kneel before your king or face the punishment fitting for those who cannot show their king his due respect!" If Vincent were any other mage then he would have replied with some kind of cool rebuttal, but that simply was not his style, so he simply tried to imagine what Elvira would say in this situation. "Listen King of the Rats, I do not want to fight. It smells terrible down here and we have been walking around for a while - I truthfully just want to finish up this job and go home. Could you just come with us so that we may avoid fighting?" He had to at least try to resolve this encounter diplomatically, for he had quite a distaste for fighting intelligent enemies in this manner. The king of the rats stood from his throne and his cape made of rats squeaked as it wriggled forward and backwards. His crown of rat bones remained firmly in its place as the man brandished his pitch black staff which contained a red jewel at the end of it. "A king does not surrender! A king fights to the bitter end! Even if I believed you knaves to be any sort of threat to me, I would never surrender my position of power! You will have to take me dead if you wish to take me at all!" The white haired wizard sighed and changed into his combat robes quickly. After his robes were requipped he decided to requip his most powerful blade, for he wanted to end this fight as quickly as possible.

"I will clear a path to him, you focus on getting that staff from his hands, Haraka. Something tells me that without his staff he is powerless." After this brief statement of strategy Vincent rushed forward and raised his weapon. Predictably, the Rat King summoned his giant rat guardian from what seemed to be thin air after pointing the end of his rod at that same air. The giant rat and Vincent both stared at each other and the sword wielder got into an odd stance. This was the stance that he had learned to fight beasts, not humans, and so he would be able to fight this giant rat more effectively. The monster charged at him, but Vincent stood his ground and put his entire body into a slash. When he saw the ever familiar magical circle to summon the rat shield, he smiled. Vincent hoped that it would try to block his slash like it had in the past. Instead of stopping at the miniature rats that squeaked when they were struck, he blade continued through and left a deep cut on the face of the giant rat guardian. After lading this strike he jumped backwards and watched the confused monster. It didn't expect his strike to land, and yet it didn't hesitate to continue it's assault. The swordsman's enemy opened its mouth and created a magical circle perpendicular to its snout which appeared as though it was a summoning circle. Vincent's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen and he rolled to the side as quickly as he could to only narrowly avoid a stream of rats that was created. The attack was similar to that of a slayer's iconic breath move, but instead of an element it was tiny squeaking rats. This was truly a bizarre opponent.

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"And what if we run into it during a situation we can't run?" The young looking old man asked honestly. Something that big and old wouldn't be stupid enough to attack just any random person that strays in these sewers, right? And the right king having that rat title... he doubted that rat make armor was summoned by that rat. Either way, it seemed smarter to the mix blood to take care of it now, least it comes back in a situation that makes it harder to fight. Deep sapphire eyes were briefly distracted and unfocused. It was a little distracting to have a tiny clam nestled to his neck.  Ah, all kitsune as divine creatures? "That item sounds useful, is the form it gives you from a specific kitsune? Or is it in part reflective of you?" But he also wouldn't consider all kitsune divine either. This wasn't something he would say out loud though. For one divine didn't suggest all of them were, secondly it would be rude. Of course when it came to around the time of the interaction between himself and the newborn, he gave the other a side glance. It would probably upset him more if it hadn't been something he had heard so many times though all these years. At this point in his life he almost felt sorry for those with that sort of outlook. Haraka tried to keep it off his face, but the pity for Victor seemed to leak through in expression. In any case, the half demon was now checking himself over. Yes, good, everything looked fine. It was better to be safe rather than sorry, ven if a summon was the only thing the circle mentioned.

"Their name was written on creature summoning the spell circle. Try to imagine what a newborn wants, how they would react to what you would have done if you had been the one to trigger the spell. This is a baby." It was his way of saying he didn't think William was harmless, but he also didn't see the way a life was born to be a reason to condemn them. Who the new little William would be is up to the baby, and its parent. In this case, Omaras guessed it would be himself taking a sort of parental or pet owner role. Akeldema already seemed to be making himself feel safe with him. After this job was done and they were all clean, he had to find out what the baby ate, if it ate normal clam food or not. Ah, a question about his race again? At least this time there was time to answer it. "Do you know of the giant deep sea mantis shrimp? Adults big as an average human, punches can take down iron hull ships, meat is sold in the finest luxury restaurants. Imagine a humanoid looking demon version of that, or look it up in a book later. The species is extinct outside of hells frozen ocean, my people used to call them guardians. I'm half that." He wasn't sure how to make that one half of himself any more clear, but the mixed blood was pretty sure he got the point across. Ah... self lighting torches? It was probably caused by Vincent, the crystal swan mage seemed to have a special mastery over items. Even if the mage already explained why, it mystified the mixed blood a bit.

Still, he wasn't sure what to make of the person. The half dragon made a face at the small passage. At least it wasn't a sewer pipe, though it was more than likely terribly filthy regardless. "You have a good eye for finding hidden things." But with that said, Omaras started to move himself through the passage after the job partner. His hair was now dragging on the floor, rather than being held. It was hard to squeeze through, but actually a lot cleaner than a number of situations he had found himself in the past. What he didn't expect was to run into the rat king, it almost felt too soon. It must be due to the others ability with navigating through all these unmarked hidden areas. Ah, this was how the person was going to act? He knew they would act violent and full of themselves, but this... "My great aunt was an actual king of an actual place, rest assured you are only fit to rule rats. Being a king isn't about blind force, it takes a lot of work, intelligence, and charisma to make the right kinds of connections and so that decisions have weight and support. You don't even have what it takes to be nobility. Neither do I, but at least I'll admit it." Kneel before a megalomaniac like this person? He would rather crawl through sewage first. The ice blue skinned person disliked it, the illusion of grandeur. People who claimed they could be something that they didn't even understand the first half of. It got under his skin enough to bring up the family ties that the half ice dragon would rather leave forgotten and burned in the past.

Then again, shrugging off even the title of nobility was perhaps the most telling of just how involved with such affairs Haraka actually wanted to be. Noble? Royal? No, it didn't exist in his eyes for himself. That country was under the ocean, that identity was blissfully lost in the depths of the sea as well as time. Wait, he was supposed to get the staff? But Vincent was the higher ranked mage! But in the end, insecurities didn't matter when the plan had already been announced and set in motion. With a breath sucked in, the young looking man started running towards the rat king. He knew the person was saying things, but the words were lost on his ears. The mixed blood was a mixed of focused and angry. All the half demon could hear was the sound of the ocean in his mind. It wasn't like he couldn't see the movement of the mans lips, they were likely saying something. Rats, they spilled from all the small pipes connected to the room. It was as if he could summon all the rats from this strange dark old area. What was the best way to get him? If he couldn't speed up to match the rat kings speed, than he would slow the man down. With as many rats were around, enough of the spell would hit them that it wouldn't do a terribly large amount of damage to the man. No, this didn't need to hurt the man at all, just get him cold. Haraka could feel bites and claws digging at his pants, shirt, and though the fabrics. This was a fact that went ignored for the better of doing what he could to end this forsaken job.

Vincent had been good company, he was impressive in intelligence and ingenuity. This made for wonderful conversation and at times quite amazing feats. None of this changed that they were both bound to this job that they had both decided to take. This job that involved some interesting sights, but all those sights were still in a sewer. The horrible smell he had been doing his best to ignore, the filth that had caused the half dragon to carry his hair around for the majority of the time down here. Then there was the constant fear of stepping in something filthy, now it was getting attacked by all those disgustingly dirty rats that would certainly cause him to need to replace the clothing. His black dress shoes stepped on some rats as he continued towards the rat king, releasing a heavy breath. This breath caused ice crystals form around his mouth, getting quickly pushed forward by a thick layer of snow. Just as he had hoped, the 'king' was still in fine health after snow breath was used. There was also the strange affect of having killed or seriously injured far more rats than Omaras had ever imagined he would actually end up doing in his lifetime. Still, the shivers from the man made the half ice dragon believe that the slowing affect of the spell had worked. The young looking old man rushed forward and through the icy wall of rats, going for the staff being held onto by said person. The slowing affect of the spell gave Haraka some edge, but it wasn't exactly a won battle.

A strange struggle, both people gripping at the item. The mixed blood knew this person was yelling things, but the sound was still muted in his mind. The rats biting to try to get the mage to release his grip certainly weren't being gentle, but that didn't matter to him. It should, he knew how deadly rat bites could be in the long run. Feeling frustrated with the struggle, he tried headbutting to get the other to loosen their grip. That... ended up with him mostly headbutting rats. That was disgusting and didn't end any of this! So he instead moved his hands and talons on trying to loosen the rat kings grip on the staff instead of gaining a grip on it himself.

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"If we can't run, then we fight - it's as simple as that. I would much rather choose the path where we don't fight, though, for everything is simpler and cleaner without bloodshed." Vincent thought back to his time in the Academy when he would have to cast spells towards his fellow magi in training during their studies on defensive magics. While he wasn't exactly fond of those situations, he knew that no one could get too hurt - usually. Real battle in Fiore was a lot different than battling in a controlled environment, for there was no one to stop either party before someone was killed or badly hurt. A certain degree of self control was required in order to leave altercations relatively unscathed with the threat neutralized. This was part of why Vincent pursued the power that he did. "I know that the Magic Council is quite lenient when it comes to killing on jobs to handle bandits or some other human threat to one's life, but I absolutely detest the killing of humans or other intelligent creatures, like Yōkai. If you have ever wondered about the motivations for people like me to achieve great power, allow me to tell you one. The weak cannot show mercy - they have no choice how a battle will end. And this isn't just the weak, either, it's just anyone who is not strong. Tell me, if you were in a battle against a single bandit who was on your level, or heavens forbid stronger, would you be concerned with ending their life? I know I wouldn't. I would desperately fight for my life which would inevitable, one day, lead to the death of my enemy. I never want to feel that desperation again - I never want to end a life, so I pursue greater power."

This was only one reason that the white haired mage studied and trained so hard to strengthen himself and his magic. There were others, but this was one of the major ones. Ironically, only the powerful could afford to show mercy, for only they could easily dispatch any challengers who were no longer considered threats. "As for your inquiry on my fox form, I'm not exactly sure actually. Presumably it's a reflection of me in some way, for I can't recall seeing a kitsune that looked quite like me, though I can only see the ends of my tails and my paws which isn't exactly a broad scope, so maybe there is one that the one who granted me this little relic had in mind." Vincent thought of the one to whom he had just referred, Naomi, and made a mental note to ask her about Haraka's question the next time he decided to go on a hunt with them. "Oh and continuing off of what I said earlier about my disdain for fighting intelligent creatures - I feel like that giant rat falls into that category. It's powerful and it seems to be aware in some way. When it challenged us in that little room I felt a kind of hesitation coming from it as if it didn't want to fight us as much as I didn't want to fight it. That might have just been my imagination, but I would like to leave that giant rat alive if I can help it." The white haired scholar listened to what the half blood had to say about the clam demon which he had just adopted. Not only did the name come from the summoning circle, but the clam creature had seemingly developed a sort of childlike role upon being scooped up by the blue-skinned wizard.

I see... so Haraka is a half a giant mantis shrimp demon. Definitely one of the more peculiar racial combinations I've ever heard of.... For a brief moment, the white haired wizard pictured a well sketched creature with the lower half of a man and the upper half of a mantis shrimp which had horns alongside an elf from Seven which is what Vincent presumed was the other half of Haraka's origins. The white haired space mage shook his head hard and closed his eyes to rid himself of that thought. Later, Haraka had complimented Vincent's keen awareness to which he could only respond with a nod and a short: "How fortunate are we that I found a filthy pipe through which we could crawl?" This comment was, of course, said in jest, but even so it still rang with some degree of truth. Once again, Vincent listened closely to what the half shrimp had to say and was intrigued to find out that he descended from royalty. The space mage himself was something of a man from a high class - not exactly as high as royalty, but one wrung below. Like Haraka, Vincent wanted very little to do with the title granted to him at birth and thus shed it when he came to Fiore to start his new life. Thankfully Haraka didn't argue when Vincent told him to go after the king. While one might expect the king to be the most powerful being in the room, that was clearly untrue; in reality, the king was quite weak and only relied on the rats at his disposal to protect him - the strongest rat being the one that Vincent believed to be somewhat intelligent.

Vincent continued to slash at the giant rat who didn't relent in his attacks or his summoning of slightly smaller rats to assist it. This dance would continue with Vincent trying his best not to hit a vital point of his opponent until all of the angry squeaking in the room stopped. The white haired wizard smiled Haraka got it. Once all of the rats in the room grew silent and only the angry swearing and pleading of the rat king could be heard, Vincent's hypothesis was confirmed. These creatures were only listening to the commands of the faux-king sitting in his throne because of staff rather than any kind of actual respect. "And now you see the pitfalls of magical coercion, false king. You will be coming with us - I wouldn't recommend resisting unless you want to take you injured." "You rats! Attack the intruders! Why won't you listen to your king!" The scholar sighed before summoning a frying pan in the air above the rat king and allowing it to drop on his head which silenced the maniac as he fell into a deep sleep. Before Vincent could congratulate his blue-skinned spirit mage companion, the rats began to squeak and run towards the fallen king. "Stop!" He screamed the command instinctively, not to illicit some kind of response, but even so the rats stopped. The largest rat turned to him and began to squeak, but this time he could understand what it was saying. "If my liege demands that we show this peasant mercy, then so shall it be." After this, all of the rats scattered into the various pipes throughout the room and the largest rat disappeared, for they did not want to be in the room with the potential to receive conflicting orders from their two new monarchs.

The Crystal Swan mage raised his index finger towards his companion and hesitated for a moment before lowering it. "That was... odd. But great work nonetheless mister Omaras. I'll carry this one back to the surface with us so that we may be done with this job already. While I'm quite sure that we don't smell too bad, I still know that my robes have gotten dirty during our little expedition." After this comment, the mage glowed for a moment and changed back into his usual robes and placed his sword back in its appropriate pocket dimension. "We were lucky to find this place so soon - so much of this map is still left unfilled. I wonder if Frank won't mind if I return here and fill in the rest. I'm certain that there are many other hidden rooms with their own secrets to uncover, though perhaps its all clams. There's really only one way to find out." With that, Vincent pointed his hand towards the unconscious source of their payday and carefully moved him up off the ground and into the pipe which from which they had entered. "I'll lead the way. I have a pretty good idea of how we got here since we did so quite quickly." Vincent's mental map of the area was about as filled in and accurate as the real map - he figured that this was the case because of all of the cartography he had been doing while in the guild of explorers. Eventually the two would make their way passed the no longer hidden rooms which they had previously explored and up the ladder which had led them down to the sewer to be greeted by sunlight and odd looks in part due to the fact that there was a floating unconscious body which smelled of death following them. Once outside, Vincent would make the quick suggestion that they should probably deposit this man at the nearest Rune Knight outpost for their reward.

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He didn't actually expect to succeed in knocking away the item so soon. The 'rat king' had seemed to have such a strong grip before. It almost felt like things happened in a rush. The ancient staff had shattered into pieces after it had met with the hard ground. It was so strange to watch the rats so quickly turn on the 'king', but not quite as strange as hearing the giant rat speak. His mouth just opened for a bit and hung there, his mind struggling to move for a few moments. "That's the first rat I've ever heard talk to someone." That wasn't counting any rat people since they were technically people as well as rats. The youth seemed to take it with better ease than himself, had they met talking animals before? Well, maybe it wasn't too strange, this was a world of magic after all. It was great working with him? He waited for Vincent to start his movements through the pipe first before starting to go through himself. "I'm sure it would be easy to find someone as useful as me, but thank you very much for the kind words. It was wonderful working with someone as intelligent and creative as you... Though it also sort of feels like there's an a certain amount of innocence for some reason. I can't help but to envy that a bit." He had been many things in all these years, including a fool. A fool that blocked away certain memories for a long time and hurt not only his health but his ability to retain certain abilities and gain certain instincts by not repairing his own soul for so long. Omaras had made many mistakes for multiple reasons.

One was the hole in his soul. It caused certain emotional traits to be only able to get so strong, made some instincts non existent, even wiped away some emotions. That was a large reason it took him to get well enough to seek help. he knew that now. Another was having those weaknesses and seeing as many horrible things as he had. He finished going through the pipe, grabbing his long hair back up in one hand. A... lick was it? From a tiny clams foot reminded him not dwell on certain things too long. "The weak are the ones most likely to show mercy and generosity. It's desperation that can cause a person to become irrational and paranoia. I'm sure you know this but.. anyone of any rank can feel cornered and desperate..." He sighed a bit. Did he like fighting? No. "I didn't want to attack the rat before out of a want for death, it's a little more complicated. I saw my country sink to the bottom of the ocean, a multitude of wars, revolutions, widespread diseases... sometimes when I see something that wants to attack that's strong and smart, it's hard for me to not think that the danger will return unless I abandon everything and run, or take care of the danger. That is... some slight paranoia, but it's mine." But thinking back now on the fox topic that was spoken on before the rats... "Maybe if you visit me sometime I could make a painting of that form for you, then you would have a better idea on it's appearance." Weaving the likeness into some fabric might be interesting to, but certainly a lot more time consuming.

...Though was that really a good offer on getting Vincent to visit? He seemed more interested in learning and travel rather than anything else. "Or if you wish, I could tell you things about my country that textbooks hadn't managed to save. It may be gone, but I was still a citizen there, through foods, fabrics, and other things, you could still learn about it, if you wish. I would also like to learn more about you and your culture." It felt amazing to be out of the sewer once they finally got out. The air felt more fresh above, the light even felt a bit refreshing. Well, as refreshing as it can for someone who was built to exist in the dark. "It's amazing how well you got around in the sewer. I don't think Frank would mind if you did that, so long as you asked first... I think the clam was just a random powerful demon someone found listed in a book, so any other dark magic summon traps down there are more than likely just as random as the demonic clam... probably just as under fueled. It would be less like running into summons and more like running into the summons new and confused baby copies. Probably try avoid setting off those traps, otherwise you might wind up needing to find some of them parents." It was easy to imagine not all the demon summon spells even being ocean related. Seeing as many demons were humanoid, it was safe to assume some of those might actually create some actual babies if they were set off. That was sort of a strange thought. Speaking of babies, he would need to find out at some point what William eats.

Ah.. deposit the man? Deep sapphire eyes looked over to the rat king. That should definitely be done. "That sounds like a wise suggestion. After he's deposited I am going to go to a public bath and wash up. Even if my clothes aren't dirty, I still feel a bit dirty." Then find out what the baby on him eats. Babies did need to eat sooner or later after all... even ones born by accident.

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Vincent shook his head at the praise heaped onto him from the blue-skinned half fish. "Please - you flatter me. I've done little to nothing to deserve such praise, though thank you for your kind words." Later, Haraka made a particular comment about having watched his nation sink to the bottom of the ocean. In addition to the earlier comment about himself being quite old as well as the fact that he was literally part fish, the white haired mage had a pretty good idea from where his partner hailed. He was familiar with the stories of such mystical places having studied them in the past. "Oh? Yes that would be excellent. I would love to hear about the culture and beliefs of your sunken city, but forgive me if I'm a bit reticent with respect to my culture of origin. I find speaking of the Kingdom to be quite unpleasant." The space mage closed his eyes and shrugged when bringing up his birthplace. There really wasn't much to say about the Pergrande Kingdom that couldn't be found in books or other such places. "I didn't live there for very long - I was about thirteen when I essentially 'left.'" The scholar didn't exactly leave the nation in the most literal interpretation of his words, but for all intents and purposes he did which is all that really mattered. "Yeah, I'll try not to set off any more traps, though if I did I think I would have the problem of parents solved." Unlike his partner on the job, Vincent was not so compassionate towards what appeared to be mindless beasts. He had the problem of parents solved not because he knew individuals willing to adopt, but because he would simply exterminate the baby demons.

"I think I might join you in that bath house - if for no reason then to relax. All that wandering around in the dank dark sewer gave me the urge to just bathe in the hot sun - preferably while submerged in hot water." Vincent would go on to track down the nearest Rune Knight outpost, much to the dismay of regular high class citizens due to the fact that he radiated a pungent smell despite his best efforts to avoid such a fate, and fill out all the necessary paperwork to hand over the deposed "Rat King" to the appropriate authorities so that they could sort it out. He was paid the appropriate amount of jewels for both his and Haraka's payment and thanked for their service before exiting the small building and handing half of the reward to his partner. "Not such a bad payout considering the relatively minor threat posed by the self proclaimed king. I already have grand ideas towards where I'm putting this lump sum." Vincent could picture it now - beautiful and powerful aquamarine gemstones that specifically form at the bottom of the ocean where no light can reach; those powerful amplifiers of water magic would serve him well in addition to making his home just a little bit brighter. "I suppose now we'll be heading to that bath house on which you've had your sights set since we arrived, then?"

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