Phoenicia followed the compass for a while until she reached the center of the theater.
Confirming she was above Grant, she pocketed the compass and started casting a spell. The area around her began to glow, but the color seemed muted. Like the circle was a reflection in a mirror as a cylinder of light sank deeper into the earth.
The crowd started murmuring.
"Hey, what's she doing? Should we tell someone about this?"
"She's probably just a maintenance worker."
"I don't see a name tag."
"You think she could be one of 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮?"
*scoff
"With that outfit? Please!"
Phoenicia paused to glance at her appearance, but didn't look any worse than she usually did.
Then she remembered the fight from earlier.
"Did miss something?"
It took another second before she realized.
"Oh! Right, I always look terrible."
Turning back to her search, she tried expanding her reach at the bottom of the cylinder and started shifting the widened area upwards.
"Got'chu." She said as she found an open area underneath the theater. From there, she found Grant's trail and attached it to her compass.
As soon as she did that, she shut down the spell and followed the trail.
She had just walked into the main hall when a voice cried out.
"Stop right there!"
She looked up from her compass and locked eyes with the two people readying spells. One of them, in particular, had one arm pointed dramatically at her.
"I've let you get away with your wanton wastrel wrangling long enough!"
"You may be able to wreck the dining area! You may be able to destroy the town! You may even make an incompetent guardsmen duo out of us in broad daylight!"
Tim clenched the fist he was pointing with.
"But I will not let you stain the honor of the theater!"
The theater-goers immediately started running to the exit, screaming their lungs out in the process and sending everyone into a panic.
"Aaaah! I told you she was one of them!"
"How was I supposed to know!"
The heckler turned around and cupped their hands around their mouth like a cone.
"Hey lady! You have a horrible sense of fashion!"
Phoenicia, Emers, and Tim could only stare in stunned silence as the heckler bolted out the door.
...
"Tim, I don't have time for this. He's right here. We're right on top of him. If you could help me, I'd go with you willingly."
Phoenicia pocketed the compass without breaking her gaze.
"I'm not looking into suicide today, chimney sweep. You should've asked when I was still fresh from the break-up. "
Phoenicia ignored the jab and started gathering energy secretly.
She flinched as she remembered who she learned it from.
"But he's right there! He's powerless! Even if he's a skilled fighter, we could easily take him!"
Tim shook his head and dramatically clenched his outstretched hand.
"Prepare to die Amberston!"
Tim and Emers proceeded to release the spells they had prepared. Several nodes and artifacts started lighting up and lines of mana formed into a magic circle.
The circle then started activating in full, forcing all of the mana around into it.
Phoenicia's eyes widened and tried to brace herself with the energy from earlier, but it was all she could do to keep it from being snatched away.
"No! you idiots! Haven't you checked this place out! It's going to come on top of us!"
Emers immediately looked around for any sign of structural instability. As for Tim...
"As if we'll fall for that."
Tim replied with a cocky grin and a tilt of his head.
That's when the supports for the theater ran out of power.
_______________________
After a lovely conversation over the importance of prepping for a performance and making appointments, we finally made the trade.
One packet of spores from the wyvern's bane fungus for fifty kilos of Amberston family steroids.
*cough*cough
I mean training resources. I would never advocate selling drugs to the mob... they'd have more than you anyways.
Brian's eyes practically popped out of his skull when he saw that and was badgering me as we left the office.
"I just don't like using stuff like that."
I said, shrugging as we passed by the nearby tables. None of them noticed we were the performers since the lights were on and the guild was still here.
"But why would you carry fifty kilo's of drugs on you?" He said with his hands in a gesture of frustration.
"Why would that guy have the exact plant I needed on him when I didn't tell him what I wanted to trade for?"
Wanda was just about to speak up, probably to correct me, when the ceiling spontaneously collapsed. The debris rained down on the dance floor, luckily all of the dancers reacted in time and were unharmed.
The same, unfortunately, could not be said for the raised band. One of them tried jumping off but was buried under the rubble with a cry of, "Ahaaagh!"
"No! Wilhelm!"
Another member screamed with his arm outstretched towards his friend as the platform they were on crumbled beneath them.
Dust filled the air as the majority of the theater as well as some of the surrounding structures crumbled into the hole.
Practically everyone was in a panic. People were crushed, no one could breathe, and fabulous cloaks were certainly no longer fabulous.
The group looked at the destruction unhindered by the dust, courtesy of cloak enchantments, and were struck silent with awe.
"Let's get out of here."