To Con a Conman

A loud voice rang from a street corner in the Desert Village, echoing across it. The sun blazed down on the village that day with a strange fervor. Many people walked around, sweat furrowing their brow and their uncomfort clear. A small crowd seemed to be gather around the voice, which constantly sang out invitations to join it. Standing on a streetcorner next to a building, a young man directed the crowds, a warm smile on his face as he called out to them. He didn't seem bothered much by the unusual heat, despite his heavy clothing, instead painting himself as the picture of calm and collected. There was a small table covered with various objects next to him. Most of the crowd seemed confused by his actions, uncertain what he was up to. Eli knew exactly what he was doing however; this was a routine he had practiced many times before. Once he felt enough people were gathered, he turned away from the crowd, relaxing his shoulders and himself briefly.

Turning back around, he met the impromptu audience with a grand gesture, raising his arms high above himself. He clear his throat loudly, bringing the small chatter amongst the crowd to a silence, all waiting for his next word. He smiled. "Thank you, thank you, ladies and gentleman. I am very pleased to be before you today. I am Eli, a wandering entertainer here for your enjoyment. Today I hope to fill you with wonder through some simple tricks and help alleviate your struggles with today's terrible heat. But to do this, I need a volunteer." He walked back towards his table, grabbing two objects off it; a small bucket and a deck of playing cards. He placed the bucket before him, obviously to collect some small change for his efforts, and began shuffling the deck. Looking out into the crowd, he gave a warm smile. "Do I have any volunteers?"

Zenshin was wandering around the ever grateful desert village. The same village that bordered his guild somewhat and felt as though they were indebted to him for dispatching of all the bandits not too long ago as well as hunting for them. It was quite the place, as it was also the place where he had convinced Marick to join his guild. Little did he know that Marick would be the one to rise above all other guild members of his and become the only ace of the guild... that was until Aegis made his return. I wonder if it annoys the villagers that I always pass through their market but I never buy anything he thought as he browsed the fruit stands. People stared, of course, but it didn't bother him too much so he ignored them. "Thank you, thank you, ladies and gentleman. I am very pleased to be before you today. I am Eli, a wandering entertainer here for your enjoyment. Today I hope to fill you with wonder through some simple tricks and help alleviate your struggles with today's terrible heat. But to do this, I need a volunteer." a voice said, calling for volunteers right after.

Zenshin let out a bit of a gasp. A street performer! Oh! It's been such a long time since I've seen one in action. I have to be a part of this. Some astral bodies must have aligned, because the lost art of wandering entertainers is becoming more and more lost. To meet one is something that just doesn't happen anymore he thought excitedly, probably overreacting to seeing the con at the corner. Thought it was true he hadn't seen one do their shtick in a while, they were mostly in larger cities since word gets around quick in a small village like this that someone slick is swindling the citizens. "I'll volunteer" he said calmly, stepping closer to the man than most of the crowd was.

Eli sized up the crowd as he spoke, making sure not to linger on any one person to long. There wasn't anyone who stuck out to him immediately. That's a good sign, you want to avoid anyone who sticks out. It usually wasn't very hard to get a few people interested in volunteering for the first trick, and that's all that mattered. After all, today wasn't a day for a show, today was a day for a job. As much as he loved to give a good show, he didn't have time for it today. Emilia and him planned on leaving, so he had to cover their travelling expenses. The job they had taken to get them out their fell through, so there was no more point to spend any time in the town. They had to find more work now.

When a volunteer finally arised, Eli turned his attention to him, sizing him up to see how he would run this show. Dressed casually, no major signs of any weapons. It was a good sign. He couldn't judge magical power, but the chances of any high ranking wizards he couldn't handle being out in such a small town were slim to none. As he continued to shuffle the deck, he smiled towards the man, giving a small bow. "Thank you, thank you dear sir. Might I ask your name, for you already know mine." He stood before Zenshin, now no longer shuffling the deck and instead holding it in his left hand, extending the right for a handshake.

This seemed to be a fairly easy mark. He'd end the show after the first act today. Judging from the crowds annoyance at the heat, his chances of getting any money off his act was almost nothing. Today was a day for a little taking. He could spy a few pockets on the man, and judging from his accessories, he looked to have a decent amount of cash on him. He extended the deck towards the man, giving him a grand smile. He fanned it out with his hand, presenting the entire deck to him. "Pick a card, my friend."

Eli smiled at him and he smiled back, shaking the man's outstretched hand before the trick actually started. Did he just size me up? No, it's just my imagination. Then again, not listening to my gut before has yielded less than pleasant results. I'll just proceed with caution. He is a weak mage after all, even if he does pull a fast on on me, I'll easily catch up. Not like I carry anything of value on me anyways he thought while closing his eyes and smiling at the card holder. Using his origin perception on he cards, he was able to deduce that they were completely normal. No magical enchantments or anything of the sort, which was a good sign. Maybe this was just an ordinary trick after all. I guess I'll take the seven of spades he thought as he reached in the space between the middle of the fan and the left part of it, removing the seven of spades and looking at it, though mostly keeping his attention on the entertainer.

Eli couldn't shake the feeling that he'd seen this man before. The more he looked at him, the more a sense of familiarity rang in his mind. That's not good, familiarity is never good. It was especially bad with how unique the man already appeared; those eyes were not common at all. While normally this would be a sign to get out, he had already started the trick, and he was not one to back down from a show. Once Zenshin had taken his card Eli smiled, letting Zenshin keep the card while he began shuffling the deck again. "A shy man are you? That's alright, I'm not going to pry. You took the seven of spades I see. Perfect. Now to begin the trick." The man hadn't said his name. Another alarm bell rang in Eli's head, that was never a good sign.


He walked around Zenshin, looking out at the audience as he shuffled the deck. "Now, our friend over here has picked the seven of spades, and currently he holds it in his hands. He has also seen this deck, and can attest that there is not another one in here." He turned back to Zenshin, standing beside him on his left with a smile. He decided to cut the theatrics now, this was already proving to be more risk then worth it. Normally, he'd give a small act, mess it up, everyone would leave in shame, and he'd leave with whatever he could get from the man's pockets. However, he was wasting no time in his getaway now. Clean him out and get out.

Taking the deck, he cut it into two halves, holding one in each hand. He took the first half in his left hand and threw it in the air suddenly, without warning, right beside Zenshins face. Next, he slightly bumped into Zenshin after the throw, as if he had lost his balance somewhat. Taking this chance, he moved his now free hand quickly over Zen's pockets, not entering them yet. Nothing. Moving to the other side he repeated the process again, this time yelling "Behold!" He now reached his hand quickly into Zen's opposite pocket, and realizing nothing was in there as well, he cursed slightly. Crap. He had gotten careless and now had nothing for it. Time to make a retreat, warning signs were all over this. The entire process had taken all but a few seconds; Eli had perfect this "art" over a long time.

Now distancing himself from Zenshin, he grabbed a falling card, revealing it to Zenshin. It was a Seven of Spades, but with a strange circle drawn on it. He gave Zenshin a cocky smile. "As much as I would love to have given you a proper show, unfortunately there's nothing for me out of this. I believe I'll have to bid you farewell for now." With that, the circle suddenly glowed, and Eli disappeared, a blank card floating down in the space where he used to be. In an alleyway on the other side of the street Eli appeared, landing against a wall. 'I messed up. Bad. I panicked, was completely obvious with what I was doing, and used Motus to get away. I made a show of myself in the WRONG way. Something about that guy was completely unnerving, I couldn't handle it. Hopefully he's just gonna drop it and not go make a fuss. Maybe he didn't even notice.'

Magic Power: 90%

Zen observed as the man cut the deck and threw it up in the air. Shit, this is no magic trick, he's just trying to take my valuables. He's not even trying, wait a second... did he ask for my name? Shit, I was so distracted thinking about what he could be that I forgot to answer his question. I probably spooked him too much to perform the actual trick, whoops he thought as he looked at Eli's hands as everyone else looked at the flying cards. I don't carry valuables on me, silly con, but I appreciate the effort. Not many have that kind of conviction to perfect such a technical art he thought again in astonishment as he made a break for it. Had he continued to look at the ever brightening card, the seven of spades, he probably would have missed the fact that the con blinked for the alley on the other side of the street, but Zen was so engrossed by the act that he couldn't help but keep his eyes on the prize. Without a moment of hesitation, Zenshin ran to a position where he could see down the alley and linkstepped to the man so that he was right in front of him and attempted to pin him to the wall before giving him a proposal. "How would you like to join Sabertooth"

Eli was trying to shake the dust off himself when he was suddenly forced to the wall. Ok, this was not planned, at all. At first he thought it might have been Emilia; that she arrived earlier than planned and was just being rough with him. But when he saw Zenshin's face before him that idea flew out the window. Nope, he was in trouble. He knew it was a bad idea to go for that play, and now he was gonna pay for it, probably. He couldn't safely get any circles off in this position either. With no where left to run, his best bet would be to just stall for time until Emilia showed up. Even then, he wasn't sure if she could take him; this guy was strong.

When Zenshin asked him the question, Eli's confusion grew even further. While he didn't care for guilds or anything like that in general, he at least recognized their names. This man was asking him to join Sabertooth? Who was he exactly? "I'm sorry, let me get this straight. I try to rob you, so you hold me down in a back alley and try to get me to join your guild? I think I might be missing something here." This definitely wasn't adding up, and Eli wasn't liking where it was headed. "Unfortunately, I don't have any intention of giving up my freedom just quite yet, I'm actually quite fond of it so far."

Eli gave Zenshin an annoyed glare. He clearly was not happy with this situation in any way or shape. He struggled under Zenshin's grip, trying to break free. "Also, I'm sorry, but just because I'm in an alley doesn't mean I preform "those" tricks, so could you please let go of me?"

Magic Power: 90%

"Giving up your freedom? No. Unless you plan on assassinations and the like, you won't be giving up much. I won't mind if you do you con man shtick of the local areas, so long as you don't get caught. Then again, with what you'll be making as a guild member, I doubt you'll need to pick pocket to stay alive." he began, explaining what joining a legal guild would entail before putting him down. "It's not your misdeeds that I want in my guild, don't get me wrong. It's that you possess a certain quality that my guild values, and if you have one, I have no doubt you can develop the two others that makes a true member of Sabertooth" he said, grinning a bit as he spoke. Zenshin loved to talk about his guild, he just concluded it came with the job of running it. "There aren't too many people that have the kind of conviction you do to master an art of conning that is lost to most. The dedication you must have to what you do must be extraordinary, and that, is the reason I want you to join my guild. Plus, I have connections in the Magic Council, in case you do make a slip up" Zen continued, he grin turning into a mischievous smirk for a moment. "Oh, and I haven't introduced myself. I'm Zenshin, fifth wizard saint. Good to meet you Eli, if that's even your real name"

Wizard Saint. That explained a lot, actually. Well, this is what he gets for ignoring it all. As much as he wanted to try and run some more now that he was free, the chances of success for that were pretty low. He leaned back against the wall, wrapping his arms across his chest and giving Zenshin a skeptical look. He seemed to be digging a bit, in Eli's mind, but he couldn't argue what he said wasn't true. If Eli thought himself anything, it was dedicated to his work. "Eli. If there's one thing I'm not, it's a liar." Complete lie, he was an almost compulsive liar. "I have no intention of being on the council's leash. Just because I have no plans to take a life, doesn't mean I won't later." He wouldn't, he disliked the idea. "The money's nice and all, but I don't really care for it." He did care for it, a lot actually.

Eli's pride was unwilling to waver in this case. He was proud of being a free agent, and he wasn't going to let that slide over an encounter in a back alley. He couldn't argue that there were some benefits to joining a legal guild, and Zenshin was right in that it wouldn't take much of his freedom, but he still hated it. He wanted to be able to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. No one was going to tell him what to do again. Besides, that would make this guy his guild master, and so far Eli had no reason to give him any authority over himself. "Besides, I have no reason to trust you, and you have no reason to trust me. Who says I won't just take all I can and run when I get into your guild? Why would you want to bring a risk like me into anything? I doubt it's worth it."

Emilia checked the clock, 2:13, time to head out to meet up with Eli. She chugged downed the last sip of her water. No alcohol for her, not when she may have to be cleaning things up for Eli, and not when it was this damned hot and dry. Seriously, why had Eli chosen to do this during the hottest part of the day? Oh right, some BS about people not noticing because they were distracted by the heat. Whatever. She got up and walked out of the village's tavern covering her eyes and squinting as her eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight. Damn, it was even worse out here.

She walked through the streets until she reached the alley she and Eli had agreed to meet in. As she rounded the corner, she saw Eli and Zenshin speaking. "Shit." She said under her breath. She hadn't heard any of their conversation yet, but immediately jumped to the conclusion that someone had caught Eli conning them and was now trying to get whatever he stole back and now she would have to beat the hell out of them or at the very least scare them away. She wished she had her armor right about now, but in this heat she would probably collapse from exhaustion after about ten minutes in it. Hopefully Trauma hanging from her belt would be a good enough intimidation factor to scare the guy off, since Emilia herself didn't look very intimidating with her small stature. She walked toward the two, a hand on her mace, ready to pull it off of her belt. "Having any trouble, Eli?" She asked, still near the entrance to the alley, not close enough to recognize Zenshin yet.

"The council's leash? Why do people think that legal guilds are slaves to the council. We're more like independent organizations who occasionally have to report to the magic council. And you're a thief, not a murderer. I've been around enough of your kind to know that you wouldn't just kill a man for no reason or justification." he started, explaining why his thoughts were simply wrong about legal guilds. Myths and stereotypes created by the lonely guildless mages who think that everyone in a legal guild was kept on a tight leash by the overbearing magic council. But that couldn't be more wrong. "You just said the money's good but you don't care for it, and then you give me the hypothetical of running into my guild, taking all you can, and running out. Sure, you CAN do that, but what purpose would it serve. The guild hall itself is a bit barren, aside from the rooms in the guild hall made specifically for the mage living there" Zen said before taking a breath and continuing.

"Also, my magic allows me to recreate anything I've seen, so it wouldn't be much of a problem if you ran off with my liquor or shot glasses. I wouldn't even mind if you brought along your friend if it made you more comfortable. I doubt you'd put your trust in just any random stranger, so I'm going to conclude you two have similar personalities in some aspects. Anyone with such conviction wouldn't make friends with a lazy coward, I'm sure of that" he said before turning his head to the woman. "Hello, I'm Zenshin. Yes that one. We were just discussing how your friend here should join my guild, perhaps even with a beautiful woman such as yourself. But dont tell my fiancee I said that, haha"

Great, Emilia was here now. This was going to be fun. He had hoped to take care of everything before she showed up. Now this was either going to go two ways; they were gonna all fight, and probably lose horribly, or he was going to look like an idiot. He turned to Emilia, letting out a sigh as she approached. "Emi, darling, glad to see you could make it. Unfortunately, I'm just dealing with some company right now." He had no idea how Emilia would take this; she had mentioned finding a guild to join once or twice before, just because of the extra cash. He'd pushed the idea away for a while now, saying it wouldn't be worth the effort to find one they liked, but now he didn't know if he could get her to say no when a guildmaster was asking them directly. "I may have gotten a little greedy with my work today. I'd recommend keeping a cool head about this one, unless you wanna go for a trip with me to the hospital." He had a feeling Emilia wouldn't try to attack Zenshin, but he felt the need to warn her regardless. She liked hitting things.

He turned back to face Zenshin, looking slightly annoyed now. He seemed to be presuming a lot about Eli, and it bothered him. Most of what he had presumed was correct, but Eli didn't like people who judged him so easily. "It's not a tight leash, sure, but it is one. I'm a wild dog myself." He stood up from the wall, moving over towards Emilia and standing in front of her slightly, leaning his shoulder once more on the wall and starring at Zenshin. "We are a complete bundle; where she goes, I go. Vice versa. As for the money, maybe I do like it, maybe I don't. Maybe I would want to steal your stuff for the money, maybe I wouldn't care for it. My point is you barely know me and you're inviting me to your guild, as well as making presumptions."

He wasn't sure where he wanted to go on this. The man seemed fairly lax, and was even telling Eli he could continue running cons and doing as he pleased. While one part of him liked that idea of taking the extra money from the guild and keeping his current lifestyle, the other assumed he was just saying that now to appease him. This man wanted something. He claimed it was just Eli himself, but he could never be sure. Eli could be reckless, but when dealing with man with Zenshin's power, he wasn't going  to be that. "Now, as much as I want to say no deal, I guess I have no choice but to let Ms. Hit-First Think-Later here say her peace. Emilia, do you want to go join this guys guild?" He turned to face Emilia, looking at her curiously. He knew that if she chose to join in the end, he'd follow her regardless. So he might as well let her decide for thm.

Wait, that guy was seriously asking Eli to join a guild? Fat chance of that happening. More importantly, Eli tried to con one of the wizard saints. That is where Emilia had heard the name before, wasn't it? And he seriously thought Emilia was going to try to pick a fight in this heat before trying to intimidate someone? An even more seriously, he thought she would try to do either of those to a wizard saint? He really wasn't in any position to be judging anyone's intelligence right now.

As Eli turned, he would see Emilia scowling at him, clearly not amused. She punched him in the gut as she walked up to him. It would be painful probably, but the worst it would do was knock the wind out of him. "First thing's first, no more calling me stupid Mister 'I'm going to con a wizard saint!'" She slapped him upside the head for good measure. "And you already know my opinion on the whole guild business. As long as it isn't one of those psycho guilds like Savage Skull or something, I'm all up for joining. Only reason I haven't is because you're afraid to. Why? I don't know. But if you've finally gotten it into your thick skull that being in a guild isn't, in fact, slavery, then we should join.

She turned to Zenshin with a smile that probably seemed a bit peculiar, given the fact that she just punched, slapped, and ranted at her friend. "It's nice to meet you, Zenshin. I would love to join your guild if my idiot friend is willing. As for not telling your fiance what you said, well that depends on what her not knowing is worth to ya. She said with a grin. She had yet to decide if she was kidding or not. Why make it a joke if he was willing to offer a good amount of money? Yeah, the guy might be a wizard saint, but any mage, no matter how powerful could easily be defeated by their pissed off girlfriend.

"Well, if you really want me to know more about you in order for you to be comfortable with joining my guild, you should've just asked" he said with a smile. "I know you are twenty years old. You're also rooted in your principles and have a soft spot for children. You're incredibly competitive and you have a borderline gambling addiction. I know you dislike serious people, which I can assure you I am not most of the time, as well as authority and animals. You're quite prideful and you wish nothing more than to prove your parents wrong after they casted you out for being worthless. You're afraid of commitment and necromancy as well as not being prepared. Hell, I probably know you better than you know yourself" he said again, having used his origin perception on the man before him. Zenshin turned his attention to Emilia. "If you want, I can also do this trick to you, but I like to refrain from doing so unless provoked. It's a little bit of an invasion of privacy. So if we're done here, I can walk you two to the guild hall so that you can select your rooms and get to telling me how you want them 'customized' for lack of a better word. Oh, and Emi, I don't mind if you tell her. Good luck finding her though, haha!"

With each passing second the situation turned out of Eli's favor more and more. He endured the hits quite well; after all, he was very used to Emilia's abuse, and was expecting some to come at him then. He turned to face her, annoyance clear on his face. "One mistake by me doesn't make you smarter. I didn't even know who he was at the time, forgive me for not paying attention." He sighed, rubbing the back of his head slightly. "I don't like the concept of being under someone else's orders, and you know that."

He turned to face Zenshin, listening as he rattled on and on about him. Eli's annoyance with the man grew with each word. He was using some sort of magic, that's for sure. Or he was a stalker. Neither option was one Eli liked however. "Knowledge is a two way street, just because you know about me doesn't mean I know about or trust you. And stop - please don't give me your life story now, as if I'd trust your own words about yourself." He looked around, cracking his neck as he did. "Wait now, you're getting way ahead of yourself. I never said I was joining. I mean I-" He froze for a second before placing his head in his hand and shaking it. "It doesn't even matter at this point. You've got Emilia willing and you'll just pester me till I give up. Whatever, I'll join, for now." He started at Zenshin, his face clearly showing that while he was going to placate him for now, that didn't meant he had given up on his resistance. It shouldn't be too hard. Join for a couple days and get himself kicked out. He was pretty good at that. He looked at Emilia. "You ready to go, I guess?" He expected Emilia would have already figured out his plans by now. He was going to make Zenshin kick him out.

"I think I'll pass on you offer to know me through magic. There's no fun in that. She shrugged when Zen said he didn't mind her telling his fiance. "Can't blame me for trying to get something out of it, can ya?" She turned to Eli. "You should know the wizard saints when you see them, stupid." She shook her head in fake disappointment. She was mostly joking anyway. And based on what Zen had just done to get to know Eli, he would probably know what Eli was planning as well. She nodded to Zen. "Lead the way."