The Ruby adventurer hired to guard the undercroft wasn't there when Naya led the group up. Naya figured he heard the movement downstairs and left, assuming his job was done, and he couldn't care less about investigating. As much as she appreciated the non-interference, it didn't paint a decent picture of the higher-tiered adventurers.
Then again, it was odd to her that one would be guarding a decrepit church; the gold must have been high, and even he likely felt it demeaning.
"Well, well, looks like you had a bit more success than I did."
Sophia's feathery voice sounded from a bit in front, and she stood outside the church doors, leaning against a pole as if she had been waiting for a while.
"Sophia!" Rula exclaimed and ran up to her. "We discovered a lot!"
Sophia smiled and rustled her hair.
"Why do you guys do that!" Rula dodged back.
"Because you're such a cutie!"
"Paragon..." The man behind Naya mumbled. He was using a long wooden stick to help him move.
"Ouch, that's an ugly scar you got there," Sophia said with a smile and an unchanging tone, which made it sound mocking.
"You two are working together?" He pointedly ignored her comments and instead turned to Naya.
Naya nodded and moved toward Sophia; she didn't care to slow down for the man to keep up. He couldn't run from her; she'd easily hear it if he tried.
"The Thieves Guild, huh," Sophia said as Naya approached.
Naya's brow slightly raised. "You knew?"
Sophia gestured toward the man. "Not until I saw him, but I had a theory, just didn't seem plausible."
"Why not? This guy said they worked with the Witch for gold." Rula asked.
Sophia scowled, and she disdainfully scoffed. "That means the Rozen Hall went rogue and stopped following the principles of the guild."
"Principles? For Thieves?" Rula asked dubiously.
Even the man seemed confused when Naya glanced at his expression.
Sophia sighed. "We don't have time for a history lesson, but the Thieves Guild laude themselves as noble thieves who would never work with villains, let alone a damn Witch."
Despite the information, Naya couldn't help thinking that it was the first time she heard Sophia swear in any capacity.
--The Thieves Guild is pretty much a copy of the Adventuer's Guild in structure, done that way on purpose. I'm happy to hear it's just this Hall going rogue, though that in itself is very unusual.--
"Why would the Hall go rogue?" Rula asked again. Her curious nature was a massive boon, and Naya knew it.
"It's not something that happens, considering how easily they would be crushed. Someone must have gotten a bit too cocky." Sophia looked at the man. "I'm sure he can explain."
All eyes now on him, the man appeared nervous. It seemed to Naya that he feared Sophia more than he feared her.
--Well, she is a Paragon.--
"The Hall Master is a crazy bitch, but she's really strong." He didn't explain more, pointedly closing his mouth.
"What's her name?" Sophia asked.
"Loriel."
Sophia's eyes widened. "Of course, but for her to be here..."
"You know the Hall Master?" The man nearly stumbled.
Sophia shook her head, "Loriel's been on Sanctum's wanted list for the last seven years," she smirked. "To think she'd be running a Thieves Hall in Rozen of all places."
"She knows where the Witch is and is the one who accepted working with it," Naya said.
"Of course she would." Sophia eyed the man with a squint. "I'm sure you'll lead us to her."
"As long as you keep your end of the bargain."
"Bargain?" Sophia asked with raised brows as she looked at Naya. "You could have just beaten him into submission."
"You think of me as a barbarian?"
"No, you're way too pretty for that; just..." Sophia spoke matter-of-factly and then shrugged. "I didn't think you'd accept a deal with a thief."
Naya found herself immune to her random compliments, and her ears did not twitch.
Sophia briefly looked disappointed.
"I only said I would not kill or hand him into the humans."
Sophia shrugged. "Works for me; I'm not too concerned with a small-time thief."
"Good. Let's go."
Following the man's directions, the trip took them across unfamiliar streets through the human district. The number of people on the streets dwindled the further they went until; eventually, all crowds phased out.
The buildings now looked more dilapidated than the church had been, with many holes in the wood, sheets of cloth covering doors and windows, or no roofs.
Naya could hear the scattering of footsteps and feel many eyes on her as they attempted to hide themselves behind the cracked wood.
Rula's grip on Naya's hand tightened, and her face was downcast, depressed.
"What is this?" Naya asked.
"The Slums, every city has one." Sophia didn't seem phased.
"Slums?"
"Where the poor people go..." Rula mumbled.
Now she understood why she looked like that; Rula mentioned her family's dire financial state when they met.
"Not quite; it's also the den of criminals. The guards hate it here." The man whispered from the front.
--No matter how prosperous a city may appear on the outside, the inside usually has plenty of rot.--
[Whose fault is this?]
--A question for the ages, and I'm afraid there's no simple answer to it.--
Naya already hated it more than she hated any place she had ever been in. The smells reached her nose, which carried scents she couldn't even begin to describe, and the state of nearly every building left her feeling sour.
[Why would the humans let it get like this?]
--Politics.--
[That word again. ]The more she heard it, the more Naya felt it was a disgusting word. Politics led to her banishment and the Elves falling behind in technology.
Their steps eventually took them to an unassuming, broken-down building that appeared to have gone through a fire. It was surrounded by buildings in a similar state but with cloth covering the windows and doors, which Naya linked to human residency in the slums.
The group stopped.
"Once in there, the trapdoor is in plain sight and will take you to a cavern."
[How can they exist if their base is so easy to find? ]Naya could see the trapdoor from the entrance to the building.
--Because their existence is profitable for everyone, the Thieves Guild is an excellent tool to keep nobles from acting out too much. Or, they just pay the City Lord handsomely.--
Naya felt her opinion of human society worsened considerably the longer she spent in the city.
[Beautiful on the outside, corrupted on the inside. ]It reminded her of Soranulam.
Sophia suddenly pat Naya's back, which startled her. Sophia looked at her with a solemn gaze. "For every bad part of humanity, there is a good part. Do not let this soil your view of us."
Naya wasn't convinced, and it showed on her face.
Sophia shook her head sadly. "After this, you and I will walk to the capital so you can see what normal people are like."
Naya was going to refuse, but she would likely end up walking anyway, so it didn't matter. A slight anticipation crept its way into her heart.
A feeling that made Naya think about why she would possibly feel that way: a likely conclusion quickly hit her. [There are going to be a lot of Witches in the capital.]
Lia scoffed. --Yeah, I'm sure that's what it is.--
"Let's go." Naya walked through the door.
"I'll... I'll wait out here." The man now appeared terrified, clearly more fearful of whoever Loriel was over, both a Paragon and an Elf.
"You believe a human would be able to best me?" Naya found his attitude oddly annoying.
"Loriel isn't a human; she's a demon."
Naya's ears perked up, and her eyes widened, as did Sophias.
"A demon here, in Rozen?" Sophia asked gravely.
Demons were a powerful race, the ones that came closest to naturally being comparable to Elves in power. They came in many different varieties, and even Naya's teacher had mentioned once in passing they didn't know the full scope of the types of Demons. No Elf enjoyed being unaware of something, so it was never elaborated.
"What's a Demon?" Rula asked, which prompted both the man and Sophia to look at her with brows raised.
"How do you not know one of the major races?"
Rula blushed and looked down.
"Demons are just another mortal race; some have horns, some have tails, and some have odd-colored skin, such as purple or pink. There's a lot of varieties, but those are common traits." Sophia explained and rubbed Rula's head.
"Are they strong?"
"Yes," Naya answered. "But it will not be a threat."
Though she recalled the man who outsped her, and not by a small amount.
She would have to be cautious since she didn't have Arcana.
--Speaking of that, I have an idea... --
[What?]
--Well, when Rula summons a painting, it's a being made entirely from Arcana, so technically...--
Nayas eyes widened.[ Of course]. It was an obvious conclusion; Rula's power almost perfectly fit Naya's.
--It's like having an alchemist feed you free potions.--
"What's wrong?" Sophia asked, her voice filled with concern.
"Let's enter the cavern," Naya eagerly said, walking through the burned house.
"Okay?" Sophia said suspiciously but followed along.
Rula's grip was tight.
Naya didn't waste time and quickly pulled the trap door up.
"Wait." Sophia put her arm in front and tossed a piece of wood down.
It made the sound of impact with stone, but nothing else happened.
"No traps?"
"Don't need em'. Loriel could kill anyone who dared enter. The moment you opened the door, she knew." The man stepped out of the house.
"Well, no time for chitchat then." Sophia moved first down the ladder.
Naya urged Rula to go after.
When Rula went through, Naya went and ensured the trap door shut above her so the man couldn't eavesdrop.
Naya found herself at the start of a hall drilled into the dirt and lined with wood and bricks to form a tunnel.
She didn't hear any noises from the distance besides the sound of dripping water.
"Rula, I need your help." Naya looked over to where Rula was.
Sophia just watched curiously.
"What?" Rula tilted her head.
"I want you to draw and summon something for me to absorb."
Sophia and Rula's eyes both widened.
Sophia stared at Rula in shock. "Summon? Absorb?"
"That..." Rula looked like she didn't know what to say.
"Interesting." Sophia watched closely.
Naya realized Sophia hadn't seen her fight or seen her absorb any spells before. It was mutual, however, since Naya also wanted to see how Sophia fought.
"That's kind of... lame?" Rula said, but still complied and pulled out her sketchbook. "I feel like I'm making an illegal potion."
Sophia chuckled.
Moments later, Rula had a ball drawn on her pad. However, she looked frustrated. "I can't summon it."
--Damn. I think she has to have some sort of connection to the things she draws, so a haphazardly made picture wouldn't mean anything. --
"Do you have any pictures you wouldn't mind losing?" Naya felt ashamed to ask, but she didn't know what sort of abilities a demon had, and she had already witnessed a mere human outspeed her. She wanted to have Arcana before entering.
"I love all my pictures... but I get it." Rula flipped through the book, and her face drooped.
The guilty feeling rose within Naya.[ This is how that man felt, taking gold from her.]
--But your caution is justified. A demon running a hall in this place? Something's up, and for her to be on Sanctum's wanted list means she's no easy target.--
Rula finally stopped on one of her pages; she flipped the book over to show Naya. It was a picture of a bird in intricate details so perfect that Naya felt it would be a sin to ruin it.
--This girl is... talented doesn't even begin to describe it.--
Sophia's eyes widened at it as well. "You two are surprising me a lot today. Rula, that painting is breathtaking."
Every grey feather on the bird was drawn with intricate detail, including the patterns on each individual strand. The eyes were drawn in a way that made it look as if on the hunt for prey, with the wings unfurled and halfway through a flap.
"I drew this a long time ago, but it doesn't matter anymore." She looked at Naya firmly, "You're my new bird."
Naya didn't know what that meant.
--For most mortals, Birds represent freedom; I'm sure you can figure out the rest for yourself.--
Even Naya felt her rising emotion at that; she perfectly understood then what Rula was getting at. It dated before Carla's tower and likely stemmed from her own family.
Sophia had a gentle smile on her face as she observed them.
Rula took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Pearly white threads began to form from the bird and stretch until they touched the ground before Naya.
They behaved similarly to when she formed shapes; they spiraled at one point and continued until parts of the bird's body were off the paper and onto the ground.
"Take it right away, or it will fly away," Rula said.
The moment the threads reached the end of the beak, Naya reached out and touched it.
Her purple vortex instantly appeared, and the bird shattered.
Rula had her head turned away.
Purple lines crawled up to Naya's wrist, and her eyes had a very slight glow.
"Wow." That was all Sophia said.
Rula had a bitter smile. "I guess I can't be your personal Arcana dispenser."
Naya nodded. She wouldn't force Rula to get rid of her drawings again, especially considering she needed them herself in case Naya couldn't offer perfect protection.
"So that's how your power works." Sophia was intently staring at Naya and her purple lines. "It's odd. Those lines resemble Arcana veins, but I can't fathom its meaning."
--Right, she can see Arcana.--
"The Arcana within your core is Wild, so you use it in that state... but it's also being put to work to do... something? I can't tell."
--She's seeing it passively enhance your body.--
"It boosts my senses and strength."
"Hmmm, I feel like that's not quite right, but I don't know what else it could be." Sophia squinted. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was more transforming your body than enhancing it."
"Not possible," Naya spoke resolutely.
"Yes, you're definitely not being modified, just boosted." Sophia reached down to grab Naya's hand.
Naya snapped it away.
"My bad, my curiosity is just so strong!" Sophia looked up to Naya's eyes. "You have no idea how much more mesmerizing you look right now."
Sophia didn't even say it teasingly, which only made Naya's ears twitch more.
"Come on, guys, let's get this over with, okay?" Rula spoke with exasperation.
"Sorry, but that purple light is easy to get lost in." Sophia laughed.
Rula rolled her eyes.
Naya moved to the front with no objection, and the trio began to walk down the tunnel in silence.
The tunnel was long and dark, the only illumination coming from the glow on Naya's body. Both Sophia and Rula didn't make a sound and kept their footsteps as quiet as possible. The silence allowed Naya's ears to pick up anything in the distance, and she still barely heard a noise outside of water drops and running water.
However, they all collectively froze when they reached the tunnel's end.
What greeted Naya was an expansive cavern illuminated by lanterns of light with various simple wooden structures built into it. The buildings were connected by haphazardly constructed bridges and were above a lake.
"Wow." Rula gasped. "It's so pretty."
The cavern was, in Naya's opinion, but it was yet another piece of nature ruined by human hands since the buildings were an eyesore.
But her attention was taken by the lack of people anywhere in the structures. Not only that, but she couldn't hear anyone either.
"Did they abandon it?" Naya muttered.
"Thieves are elusive; they vanish at the first sign of trouble. I'm willing to wager most left the moment they heard of my presence in the city." Sophia explained, with her arms crossed and a frown.
"Would that be enough?" Rula asked.
"Yes, because any serious investigation would eventually lead back to here, and any deals they have with nobles would mean nothing." Sophia scoffed. "Gods, I hate thieves."
"Someone is still here," Naya said.
She could hear the sound of footsteps and the creaking of poorly put-together wood.
"Let's not keep them waiting." Sophia smiled.
Naya continued forward; the sounds weren't running away. They were approaching.
The group crossed bridges until they stopped on a large, flat rock platform that would be suitable for a gathering ground. Around the platform were various buildings hastily constructed, with no windows or doors.
It was dead silent, except for the now audible, slow sound of footsteps clattering against stone.
Two people stepped out from behind a building, which seemed to lead toward a much larger structure a distance away.
One of them had the appearance Naya immediately linked to the man that had escaped from her. His face wasn't covered at all. He had slicked-back peppered hair and a slight stubble; his eyes were hazel and showed no signs of fear, likely due to the individual beside him.
She was tall, even slightly taller than Naya, and was clearly not human.
--By Aleria, that's...-- Lia stopped.
A head of bright pink hair fell down to her lower back, nearly as long as Naya's own, and a small set of dark horns grew from her forehead, smaller than what Naya heard demons usually had. Her eyes are like amethysts, a violet shade nearly like Naya's own, and they shined with fascination and ease.
Her face oozed seductiveness, and it showed passively with her light smirk and sultry gaze.
Contrary to where she was, the demoness wore a long black dress that exposed the top of her back and much of her chest. Her hands up to her upper arm were covered in a black pair of gloves with golden circles at the wrist and top.
However, the most striking feature of Naya was the demoness's long ears, which were as long as Naya's own. They were decorated with small black hoops and studs.
It almost made Naya blush just to look at her, and Rula couldn't resist and avoided looking into the woman's eyes.
"A succubus." Sophia spit. "But not quite, wait..." Sophia snapped her head from Naya, specifically her ears, and toward the demoness.
Naya's eyes widened, and her lips parted in realization. She hadn't seen a succubus before, but Sophia's and Lia's reactions showed her a horrifying possibility.
No other being should have ears like hers; otherwise, she'd have learned about it.
A light chuckle came from her, and she raised her hand to cover her mouth while doing it. "So you're the interlopers ruining my plans." She spoke unhurriedly, with a light and sultry voice, as if every word was intended to be flirtatious.
Her eyes didn't leave Naya's own.
"Loriel, to think I'd have the honor of catching one of Sanctum's most wanted," Sophia spoke arrogantly.
"Sophia the Paragon, along with Naya, and I'm afraid I'm unsure of the cutie's name." She winked toward Rula, who didn't meet the woman's gaze.
Naya glared. "What are you?"
Her flirtatious smile widened. "I'm Loriel." She chucked, then moved forward, "But I supposed you're more concerned with my race in typical Elven fashion."
The man stood silently behind her, a blank expression on his face, and he moved along with her.
"Answer, or die." Naya's glare sharpened, and she coldly commanded and prepared to pull on her Arcana.
"Violent, but I suppose that's to be expected given our heritage." The demoness stopped before Naya.
[Our...]
--Yeah, she's---
"I was born from the..." She glanced down at Rula. "...efforts... of an Elf and a Succubus." She poked both her ears. "I am an Elven Halfing."