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um acktually all speedruns are tool-assisted the tool is called the GAME CONTROLLER can't beat a video game without that go trim a hedge or something NERD

The bard exhaled slowly, taking a moment to compose himself and prepare for the conjurations. After a few moments, he began to slowly conjure out a few things. He started small, taking aim at a broken down set of abandoned boxes and slung his hands towards it...it immediately being struck by a bit of acid. After that, he struck it with a small flurry of ice strikes. It was like riding a horse...he truly never forgot how to do it. "Thank you, my goddess..." he muttered softly to himself, before turning and noticing a trio of cloaked figures coming his direction. "Greetings. We're members of the Kalo family and can't help but notice you seem to be using Conjuration magic. But I don't recognize you. I take it you're not from here? Perhaps you're here to explore the dungeon? I hope you're not here to cause some sort of disturbance, we're in the middle of some inspections you see." Ziun looked at the trio of cloaked figures, before clearing his throat and bowing slightly. "Apologies. I did not mean to cause any alarm here, sir. However in your inspections and assumptions, you did guess correct. I am practicing a bit of my Conjuration magic, trying to get back in tune with it. I am also not from this fine city you have here. Ziun Castir, a humble bard from Cheron, as well as explorer of the Dungeon. A pleasure to make your acquaintances." "Ah, I see. Well that's no problem as long as you keep to yourself...What is it?" He turned towards one of the two who told him something and he nodded. Looking back at Ziun he said, "You haven't happened to meet any...unsavory characters also exploring the Dungeon have you?" "Hmm? Unsavory?" Ziun repeated, putting a hand to his chin slightly. "Would you be referring to the undead and the skeletons that may have attacked myself and my allies whilst in the Dungeon? If not those..." he paused, before nodding. "...there was a hulking beast there with a group of, and the best I can describe them as were cultists." "No, no not monsters." he said, waving his hand. "I mean people. Thieves and cutthroats and the like." "Hmmm then aside from the cultists, as I mentioned, I did not see any thieves or cutthroats of that ilk." Ziun shook his head. The trio looked at each other and then back at Ziun. "Listen, there's someone going into the Dungeon recently who is very dangerous. He's already stolen something from members of our family and attacked others. We need to find them and get the item back. It's incredibly dangerous if left in hands of those who don't know how it works." "I see..." Ziun nodded, rubbing his chin slightly. "Do you happen to have a descriptor of this individual? If not a descriptor of him, perhaps the item he stole from you? It might make it easy to identify if we run into them." The trio began to explain and describe the 'villain' in question. A young man with a height of 5'8"...tidy but unkept short blonde looking hair... ...wait a minute... he thought, listening more and more to the way they described this thief...and he mentally facepalmed. ...oh no...no no no no...don't mention he's carrying a sw-... Apparently they mentioned the exact weapon and Ziun cursed internally. ...son of a satyr...what in the hell did you get involved in Chris?!?! He tapped his finger to his chin once he realized what it was. He did his best to keep calm and not let them know that he technically knew the culprit. "I see, I see...fret not, I'll keep my eyes peeled for such a thief." "Are you sure? After all from what we've found he began exploring the Dungeon recently so you might have noticed them and not even realized." "You may have a point. I may have bumped around a few people that fit that description, but I can't be 100% certain of it..." Ziun sighed, rubbing the back of his head. Again they glanced at each other. "Well, if you do come to the head family's mansion. We will give them your name and description so they know who to be...on the lookout for." "Of course, happy to help." he gave a firm nod. "I do wish you happy hunting for this criminal all the same." "Keep your eyes open, they've been shown to not be above violence to take what they want. Wouldn't want you to get caught unawares." Once they finally left, Ziun turned and was five minutes away from take his hat and immediately start tearing it to pieces. This was NOT what he wanted to hear or needed to hear from anyone at this point. The Apati family wanted him to sabotage everyone in the Dungeon. And NOW the Kalo family was simply looking for Chris because he apparently was wanted for whatever crimes that they were accusing him of. Does anyone else in this party have anything else with these families?! he thought, shaking his head slightly. ...seems like me and our fearless leader need to have a talk...a very insightful talk.

Fen was made more curious by Kelsey's initial explanation, but before she asked about it she was asked her opinion on "this." At first the girl thought she was referring to simply the aquarium, to which she was definitely fascinated by the structure and enjoying her time seeing all the new types of ocean life, but then realized she likely meant the city as a whole. No perhaps she meant the "planet" or "world" as a whole, though the two hardly seemed any different then the "city" to her with what limited exposure she had to it. Even still, her answer remained largely the same from the aquarium. "Well, hmm, I think I've certainly enjoyed my time here so far. I was uh, definitely overwhelmed when I first came though. I don't think I've ever seen, well, just about any of the magical devices that they have here back home." Bashfully the girl added, "in fact I was uh, well, nervous that to even send a message with this," the girl held up her watch. Her nerves, based on Kelsey's response as well, were not unfounded though she supposed that was more a matter of prose then function. Back pedaling the girl said, "oh but um, that's not to say that I've had only difficulties with these devices. And I've learned all about how convenient they could be. Back home because of, well, my own magic I had to constantly use it as a means to store and preserve food, but I've learned that there's a wonderful thing called a "refrigerator" that does it for me. The city is also much more um, I suppose vibrant and tall then I'm used to." Thinking about where she was from the girl said, "I suppose really the only place that compared was the capital of Arbolia, though even the grand architecture and size of that city pales a bit in comparison to this city. It's also a bit overwhelming to deal with...oh, but well, I've had a number of helpful people - oh yourself included, who have helped me. Well, get my bearings. It...almost reminds me of my guild...really..." The girl looked to the side, remembering that she was far, far from home with no way back before saying, "the work here isn't too different then what I'm used to, and I do enjoy helping people but...that I don't know how long this job should last...or how to get home and how sudden it all has been...well um..." Fen trailed off before looking back to Kelsey, her expression lighting up. "Oh, but you said you've traveled to other worlds before right? Does that mean you can come and go as want?"

“After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.” -Daniel 7:6 (NIV) Melissa was returning some kind of nodding acknowledgment of a jogger crossing her path when she first heard the jingling of the bell. It had just seemed like background noise, a little embellishment coming from one of the endless stream of buildings. Melissa was pretty used to confines. Even when she wasn’t willingly locking herself in a bathroom stall for a good moment of alone time, she’d spent most of her life in a dome called Ambrosia. Still, even Ambrosia had places of openness to it. You could pretend the sky was real there. Here, though, she couldn’t help but feel a touch of claustrophobia. She was at an intersection deciding which way to wander next when she heard the bell again. The sound was unique enough to be memorable, and clear enough against the monotonous haze to recognize it. Melissa didn’t see anyone when she looked, but she did hear the bell a third time and finally identified the source. There was a cat following her. By the time she noticed that was what it was, the cat had stopped and was now sitting in front of her, looking up. “Oh, hello,” Melissa said, crouching down and offering the back of her hand to the cat. “Aren’t you curious? What’s your name?” The cat nuzzled against Melissa’s hand, though it didn’t purr like she expected a cat might in such a situation. It got closer to her and kept looking up, and Melissa could see that the cat had a collar with a tag on it. The tag didn’t have any more identifying information than a sigil that looked like a ghost, but at least it was something. “Well, it’s nice to meet you. My name’s Melissa,” Melissa said. “Do you live around here? I’m not trespassing in your territory, am I?” It really seemed like the cat was listening to her, even as it wove in and out underneath Melissa’s legs in a figure-eight pattern. Melissa nearly tripped over the shifting weight at her feet but managed to right herself. “I’m just wandering around too,” she said. “Where have you been? Anywhere exciting?” The cat stopped meandering and started trying to climb Melissa’s dress. “Oh! Okay, um, please don’t, um…” Thankfully, someone else came running up. “Ghost, wait,” the woman said in between haggard breaths. “Don’t… climb… on strangers.” Melissa guided Ghost off of herself and back down to the ground. “It’s alright,” she said. “I’d introduced myself, so I guess we aren’t strangers anymore. I take it you’re his?” The woman had regained her breath, but Melissa noticed that she still got quieter talking to her than she had with the cat. “Oh, um, I suppose so. He’s one of the babies from my shop but he hasn’t let anyone take him yet,” she said. The cat, meanwhile, leapt up onto the woman’s shoulder and remained perched there. “Like a cat café?” Melissa asked. “I’ve heard of those, but I’ve never actually been in one, not even back home.” She looked at Ghost, taking in all his features again. “He's a little big to still be a baby. How old is he?” “Oh, no, it’s a pet shop,” the woman said. “Or… a shelter? And also a shop. I’m not really explaining this well.” She looked down at the ground, cheeks flushed. Ghost had to nudge the woman to get her to answer Melissa’s actual question. “He’s ninety-five, so I guess you could say he’s more middle-aged.” Melissa’s eyes widened in spite of herself. “I think the oldest cat I met before I came here was around twenty years old or so,” she said. “You’re a very lucky cat, Ghost. And I’m sorry for assuming.” She had to rush to tack on that last bit, but Melissa thought it was an important one to add. “Really? I guess all cats are different,” the woman said. “Oh, but I should, um, let you get back to your business now. He didn’t rip any of your clothes, did he? I always tell him to be careful…” Melissa checked her dress again for any tears, but the fabric on Prana was impressive enough that she found none. She demonstrated this to the woman and said, “Alright. Oh, but I guess if you run a pet shelter, do you have any advice for raising a Slakoth? I… guess you could say I came into one a few days ago and I think he’s happy with how I’ve set him up, but it never hurts to get more advice, right?” Another extra thought. “I don’t think I got your name?” The Pokémon was unfamiliar to the woman. “Is a Slakoth a sort of slug?” she said before realizing that she hadn’t introduced herself with another set of flushed cheeks. “I’m… I forgot that part. I’m Delilah.” “A… I think it’s a sloth pun.” Melissa tried to find a picture on her watch to show it to Delilah. “I already told Ghost this, but I’m Melissa.” Delilah seemed a bit nervous as she glimpsed Melissa’s watch, but her eyes lit up as soon as she saw the picture. “What an interesting little one,” she said. “Perhaps you could bring him here sometime. I would love to meet an animal I had never seen before.” Just like that, though, whatever confidence Delilah had was gone. She took a few steps back again. “Sorry. I got excited.” “Oh sure, I’m sure Bartleby wouldn’t mind,” Melissa said. She switched her watch over to a map screen. “Just, uh, point out where your shelter shop is and I’ll be sure to come in sometime.” As Delilah sighed and leaned in to do so, Ghost reached out from his perch and booped Melissa on the nose. Melissa couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Alright, well, it was nice to meet you, Delilah and Ghost.” It took a moment for them to actually part ways. They both initially went the same direction, and Melissa feinted like she left something behind as an excuse to turn around and actually say goodbye to the two of them. Still, soon after that, she was alone again. “Well, that was an adventure in itself,” Melissa said. But at the same time, it felt like she had seen all there was to see on this level of Prana, at least for now. She really did mean to turn around, it turned out, go back to the shrine with the teleporters and try something new. “I wonder what the next floor has?”