Doggo

Reinaan had forgotten what it was he had wanted to tell the others in the middle of everything. At this point he was mostly contemplating how he'd gotten wet as water continued to drip from him as he walked down the hallway. Eventually Lindow's shoulder got under him again, again things weren't clear there. Nothing much was by this point. The boy just wanted to sleep and was fighting to stay awake to keep walking. Somehow he managed it though as they got closer to their destination, Lindow was going to end up doing more and more of the worked. Wherever they ended up the boy took to floor rather quickly. His lips were moving but one might simply pass it off as drunken rambling continuing into his dreams. But if one really wanted to focus on it they might make out a single word. "Ah...mul..." the boy would mutter over and over. Perhaps a name? Likely Draken as he barely knew humans prior to his adventures with the Chosen. Whatever it was, the mumbling stopped after the Draken moved along in the sleep cycle to deeper stages.

Lana's recollection of her training to use an axe elicited genuine awe and bubbly laughs as more humorous notes landed from the Fereis mage. Estellise had much to wonder about from the story of course. Farm labor seemed like a subject for an entire day's inquiry at the least. It was also somewhat comforting to know that the ease of handling a weapon was an acquired skill and perhaps the young Estellise might have been able to do it had she just stuck with it. Not that such a thing had ever realistically been possible for the then young girl. Lana then turned the question on its head, seeking out Estelle's experience in the study of magic. There was a bit of a pause as the woman shifted in her seat, clearly thinking about how best to tackle the subject. "Hmmm... what is it like indeed?" Estelle asked herself aloud. "It has been so long since I started. If there was a time I was unable to read I was likely being lectured. Father and Mother are both brilliant mages. Father especially would speak to me at length of his research from as early into my life as I remember. Mother of course had much more strict ideas in mind. I had regular lectures from many older members of the family as well as the occasional guest from another mage family." Estellise mused. Trying to explain a process that had occupied her entire recollected memory was trickier than it sounded. "When not being lectured I was to be reading. Magic is more than anything, a cumulative process. Our ancestors discovered the core principles to channel the energy, and every generation after has uncovered new mechanics and applications. The things my family seeks to understand today may well not bear fruit until the time of my great grandchildren. And so I yet have a great deal of catching up to do on everything the Fereis line has ever studied. When not reading I would often practice channeling. Not even casting a spell just trying to hold the energy aloft and focusing it into different parts of the body." Estelle paused for a moment while looking about the room briefly. "My, I suppose this is not the most helpful explanation. Suffice it to say that the magic I used today was the product of an entire life of study. And I imagine I shall be spending most of tomorrow reading more theory."

Reinaan sputtered up the water he'd been in the process of swallowing. More than just the floor, everything seemed to bet twisting now. Or perhaps he had actually been moved. That there was suddenly a wall in the room where he had thought he'd seen the girls was confusing. He touched back down to the floor outside the bath, quickly slipping on the wet floor and falling onto his rear end. His tail wasn't going to appreciate that in the morning. He could still hear Ryia and Madelyn wherever they were at. At this point Ziiyol appeared in the air above her partner. Her hesitance to be around so much water in such a small place didn't stop her from finding humor in the situation. "Reiny isn't quite himself, other Chosen." she called out to Ryia and Keres. "He drank something called a Dragon Slayer and has been rather hilarious since." she continued giggling while trying to urge her partner out of the room. She couldn't do much in the way of lifting him but her touch did get the confused draken to pay her some attention. "Ziiyol, what happened? Where'd this wall come from?" he asked still obviously addled by the alcohol as evidenced by his sloppy speech. "I'm afraid you missed the room. They're back the other way." the fire spirit teased back. Reinaan hadn't seemed to latch on to Madelyn's insults much but the Fire Spirit had not so readily forgiven them. Nothing so beautiful as her partner's scales could be savage she asserted to herself. She hovered over to the other side of the wall briefly to remind herself what this non-chosen woman looked like. As she thought, just like any other human. If only their hair could reflect light light better she might like them more. As she hovered back to her partner she smirked as she summoned a single bit of flame and let it drift onto the water. A harmless prank really. Just a less than mild heating of the bath, starting on Madelyn's side of things. Surely if she were so much more civilized than her dear draken partner she would be able to take it. If not, the spirit could observe water burning things and the concept itself seemed so paradoxical it elicited another laugh. Reinaan for his part had gotten back up on his feet and taken his spirit's words at face value. He didn't even know why he'd come in here in the first place. Several thuds sounded as the water on the floor and the boy's feet were clearly not doing his already impaired balance any good. But the thumps at least were getting further away from the girls and back towards Lindow and the room he was actually supposed to have gone into. Though the longer this went on the more the Draken seemed to realize he should probably be mad about something. What he couldn't place exactly.

Sure enough, Nanami had set several of the boys on edge with her bearing it all in the kiddie pool. Though that Akuma was shamelessly taking in the sight was a bit less expected. Still, she didn't much mind the attention. Rash actor that she was, she had pulled similar stunts many a time before and gotten scolded for it just as often. The truly unexpected factor came in the arrival of Miyu, who before Nanami could even react was already in the pool with her in a very hands on fashion splashing about. The shark protested in a mixture of laughter from being somewhat ticklish and aggravation at the unsolicited touch and less than appropriate questions. "Ever look in the mirror?" she managed to bark back with regards to Miyu's own incredibly lewd nature. The two wrestled a bit as Miyu continued her harassment as conversation shifted to the events of the different teams. It seemed all things considered, the Electronics store had it pretty good. At least compared to the team that got scolded by some no name heroes. At this point Nanami managed to break away from Miyu long enough to stand up in the pool. Water droplets slid down her scale-like skin like they were racing back to the pool below. Enough was enough. "Yeah boys are useless, just like you in a few minutes!" she called out while moving in to attempt to put the devil child into a head lock. Taking in what everyone else was up to was going to prove difficult until she got this one under control.

Reinaan continued stumbling on his way into the women's side of the baths. From voices he was hearing he was fairly certain this had to be where everyone had ended up. He remained incapable of being dissuaded from his task by any words and was not exactly capable of being physically restrained by a single human. And he'd gotten enough of a head start that Lindow hadn't yet caught up to him but it was sure to happen fast. All the more reason to keep moving. But fate was unkind. Just as Reinaan had entered the room to the bath properly, the floor got a lot more twisty than it was supposed to be. As he placed his foot he could feel his balance go. "Woaaaaaaaah! Hang on!" he shouted out almost laughing as he fell forward and tumbled to the ground. It didn't stop of course. Reinaan kept rolling with the momentum he'd had across the floor until he landed face first into the bath Madelyn, Ryia and Keres had up until that point perhaps been enjoying. It took the drunken Draken a moment to realize what had happened but soon began flailing about in the water at random trying to get above water to breathe again. After a fair bit of struggling and a lot of splashing his head managed to get to hair for him to gasp and shout. "What the hel-" he started with a moment of clarity through the booze due to the shock to his system. But he hadn't actually found a good grip on anything yet to stay above water and was now fighting to stay above and shout about his confusion as to what was happening. Through it all he thought he saw glimpses of the girls. So he'd found the right place after all. It seemed there were silver linings, even to suddenly fighting not to drown.

Estelle was generally happy with the overall feeling of the Drooling Dragon. Not that many cheered at her triumphant reentry. But even dampened a bit by Sergei's swift parting, The mage was confident this was going to be a good time for the rest of the group. Just how literal she had been about feasting remained to be seen. But she very much intended to experience the full spread of the chef of the house. There was always something so charming to her about food prepared outside the sterile perfection of the Fereis' kitchen full of servants. As Chris was taking to the bar, Estellise gladly joined Lana at the table they were to be using as food arrived. Lana's comment about giant rats was a sentiment she could share but one that got her thinking regardless. "Hmmm... I wonder. Was that the first giant rat I have seen in the Dungeon? It changes so much each time I cannot recall. If we are lucky we may well never see one again!" she concluded cheerfully, as if there was something comforting about never knowing what the same floors would throw at them in future visits. Drinks arrived first, which was natural. The server girl seemed incredibly nervous but eager to do her best. The mage looked almost sad for a moment, thinking perhaps the girl's nerves could be attributed to her social status. This was to be a joyful time for everyone involved. "Thank you dear I am sure you will do great." Estelle called out in support to the server as she departed. This brought her back to Lana. "You know, I quite admire the way you fight. You all handle weapons like they have always been in your hands. I recall wanting to try my hand at sword play as little girl. No matter who I asked, all of my family said I was more likely to hurt myself than ever slay a monster. Mother claims I often came crying to her after having hit my head with the various sticks or brooms I would grab so I suppose they were right." She laughed heartily at the recollection. "So what is it like Lana? Training to use weapons and the like."

Reinan was growing steadily more irritated as the staff of the inn stirred at the sight of him. Hadn't they ever seen a Draken before he wondered. Nevermind one that looked as good as he did. He was about to snap at them asking him to leave but Lindow spoke first. This added some confusion as he hadn't fallen over despite Lindow being in front of him. A shadow was supporting him. The booze inhibited brain didn't want to process the detail so it simply accepted it. But what it didn't accept was Lindow's explanation for his state. He hadn't lost his clothes. He'd taken them off very intentionally.... how long ago had that been now? Reinaan couldn't remember the last time he hadn't been naked. The confusion was enough to stop him getting angry but he did still have to protest. "I didn't lose anything..." he muttered in defiance of Lindow's ploy. In any case, the staff seemed ready to be rid of them. At Madelyn's name they cringed and the worker at the desk hurried over to the group. "Just. Get going, this is the room, go there, she can deal with this." he said. They were being offloaded onto Madelyn as her problem. Reinaan didn't particularly grasp the full details of the situation but happily began stumbling down the hallway. Madelyn's room was a straight shot down to the end of it. But the group wouldn't immediately reach the end of that hall. Reinaan was struggling with how twisty the floor was looking and felt the need to comment on it aloud to no one. Of course, the floor was fine but he had no way of knowing. But then something caught his nose. Something familiar. Keres, or Ryia, or Madelyn had been around there recently. It seemed stronger down this other hall than on the way down to the room. And so Reinaan pushed away from LIndow's support and began staggering down the hall to the hot springs. "Com on, they're thiz way. I gotta tell 'em." He called back to LIndow. Upon reach the divide between the male baths and the female baths Reinaan would without regard for anything, perhaps because he couldn't read, straight towards the female side of things. It was going to take a very creative solution to stop there being any further trouble.

Nanami quickly realized how little of an actual plan there was at work here. And she was soon deflated as the fight soon became Juryo talking the electric monster down. The shark was ready for blood the whole while of course, but so long as things seemed under control that would prove less than wise. Still, she made sure to keep the back of the guy's neck in range of her teeth. If he acted up again she wanted to put a stop to things before he turned into an electrical monster she couldn't hurt. But the need never arose and the group managed to actually shop somewhat normally all things considered. The awkward air about it all never really subsided but by the time they made it back to Hairo, even Nanami had almost relaxed. The solution to both problems was certainly cocky on Juryo's end. Hiding a whole person away on campus grounds as he siphoned electricity on the government's dime seemed like quite the operation. But the sentiment Juryo expressed was one she could get behind. Still, she wasn't going to put her neck on the line over any of this and she had to make that clear. "Don't do anything too shady. i ain't gonna go ratting you out but I'm not gonna go out of my way to stop them finding you either." she called out as she took her leave of the shopping group. ----- Endlessly tired of the school uniform, Nanami had changed into what one could describe as a bikini if they were being generous. It covered so little one could question the point in wearing it at all. At least for the moment, Nanami didn't raise that question to herself as she made her way from the dorms to the recreation center that had been provided to them. Upon entering, the shark took notice of Juryo on a couch but didn't speak up to him yet. She was on a mission. One she was sure to be disappointed in but she had to try. She entered and exited the room several times before confirming there definitely wasn't a pool on campus grounds. There was a hose outside but at that point she might as well just go take a shower. This took her to searching through the closets and storage, sorting through junk games and other activities provided to them. Then she struck gold. Well silver really. Probably more of a bronze the more she looked at it. "Well shit. Guess that'll have to do." she said as she dragged a large heap of plastic outside. The sound of running water could be heard after a few minutes and before too long in came Nanami, dragging a freshly filled kiddy pool into the recreation area. She was careful not to puncture the plastic but not so careful as to avoid getting water on the floor. Leaving it outside would have been easier but she wanted to see what the others made of the place after their first lessons and shopping. Might as well try to be social for a little bit. With a relatively vacant corner of the room secured for the pool, Nanami finally set it down before lowering herself into the water with a small splash. "Perfect..." she grunted, clearly irritated. Her legs and the end of her tail were sticking out the end of the thing. It was deep enough to go all the way under, if one slid the entire lower half of their body out of it first. It would be a nice place to sit and relax for her at least compared to any of the couches. Two could probably fit in the thing if they were okay being really close to each other. Now was the time for the question from earlier. Nanami removed the already revealing swim wear without a care in the world over this being a public space for all the students. If they were going to be monitored all over the place she wasn't about to get hung up about it. That was probably someone's job after all. It was time to stretch and try to loosen up from the brief fight with the electric kid from earlier. Finally as comfortable as she was going to get without being able to actually swim, the shark acknowledged Juryo in the room with her. "Bet they have us painting the place for them tomorrow huh?" she put out with a laugh.

The branch's venture into a good clean game of cards was short lived as it happened. Not that Richard had been expecting a quiet day, given the line of work. Nicholas raised a meow of protest as the alarms sounded but the hunter himself seemed almost entirely untroubled. Instead he calmly put down his hand before reaching for his feline friend to set him down gently. The cat seemed to know what was about to happen. It happened often enough after all. Besides, Nicholas hated car rides. Richard could spare his friend that much. A dark shadowy aura surrounded the man and passed to the cat as Richard faded from view. Now possessing his friend, Richard stretched his temporary feline vessel and shook himself out. Off to the trucks it was. Richard didn't care much for the lack of details. He hadn't expected much better given the state of the branch. No matter what they knew going in, how effective he could be was always a matter of getting to the scene and observing anyway. At the least he could occupy Nicholas' body for the moment to have something to work with on arrival. It was always humorous how much stronger he proved possessing something, even his small feline friend. In his boredom, Nicholas caught sight of Kira and took note of how distracted she seemed. Maybe distracted wasn't the right word. She was so distant. Simply going through the motions perhaps. In any case, it was enough for Richard to poke at. Literally. With a practiced meow, Richard moved in his cat host to Kira's side before gently pawing at her. He'd spent enough time possessing his pet to act convincingly as a cat but not perfectly. If one was listening or observing closely they'd notice it. Of course there was also the fact Richard himself wasn't in the truck but his cat that never left his side was. But that was all part of the fun. One could think of it as a test. Just how distracted was the poor girl?

Catriona had found absolutely nothing of interest to her simply wandering about the outskirts of the town. All the fun was inside after all it seemed. Perhaps it was sensible given they were under attack. But what mattered now that she had her fortune to mull over was that she had to pick where next to go. She had to imagine the others had figured out what Madame Wadjat had told her. Meeting up with them would be only to tease them then and that was settled. With her choices once more before her the woman had a fairly easy decision to make. "The tavern it is." she voiced to no one. Any sort of entertainment she was interested in wasn't going to come to her in a church or any old building. Only booze and bad decisions could get the rush she was after. But then of course, no sooner did the cat jaeger enter the tavern than did the sight of several of the others come into view. The boy with the love curse talking with the witch at the bar and a trio including the prince and that dreadful rabbit eared man who had gotten in the way of her games with the dragon slayer. She felt no need to openly address any of her improvised group of companions but leaving them alone would be boring too. "Time to play my dears." she giggled as she took a seat near the entrance to the establishment. Two shadow cats appeared before her and made their way off toward the other jaegers in the place. One would go to settle into Lachlan's line of sight. He was an easy enough spook. She doubted she even needed to activate the intended spell to get an enjoyable reaction out of him. The other would go to bother the card game, Alexandre in particular. The idea of his monstrous form running wild here seemed more entertaining than any rumor of night time attackers. But she could be patient. She just needed to confuse her targets with the sight of the cats for now.

Teleportation wasn't a sensation one got accustomed to, however many times one did it. At the least, Estelle had yet to adjust to it. And so this escape from the Dungeon, like others before it, still managed to catch the mage off guard. She nearly stumbled and might have had she not oddly been anticipating the feeling of not being ready for it. It was all very bizarre but the woman was not well versed in human physiology to attempt to speak to what all effects were at play. Before the Fereis could do so, medics that stood by at the entrance to the Dungeon swept in onto the party to check them all over. Estellise was able to quickly dismiss the mages from her own person in favor of seeing to the others. She had not sustained physical injury and was merely fatigued from prolonged use of her magic. The medic team was thorough in their work and soon the team found themselves restored and Estelle found herself not in need of tending to them even when her magic had sufficiently recovered. Chris and Lana were quick to agree on the group's next course of action. Returning to the Drooling Dragon seemed in order. The woman smiled and agreed eagerly before scanning the area. Just a quick check but it had definitely distracted her. Still, whatever she had been on the look out for, she had not found it or else judged unworthy of attention at the moment. Instead she turned back to her friends to usher the group onward. There was celebrating to do after all. However brief their venture had been, it was still a successful venture and the group's first at that. "I am eager to report back to Hector myself. I made him a promise after al-" Estelle started but soon cut herself off as a people flooded the group as they advanced. As ever, people were hungry for the latest news of the dungeon. This wasn't the woman's first rodeo after all. She had a practiced response to dismiss any who would trouble them: "Inquiries into our venture into the dungeon must be made at House Fereis. We can share nothing at this time." With a triumphant grace that flew in the face of the fatigue the mage felt, Estelle marched through the town with her friends. All things considered this was a great victory for them. Surely it would be no time at all before they surpassed the official Fereis caravans into the depths of the Dungeon. The thought carried her to the doors of the Drooling Dragon which flung open with overly dramatic flair. "Let us feast!" she declared to rest of the group.

The drunken draken had been mumbling to himself as he approached the inn. It looked right but he really couldn't be sure at this point. Reinaan was preparing a list of things he wanted to shout at Madelyn when he saw her but his tongue kept tripping over the right words as he stumbled through the space around him. He was distracted from, and ultimately forgot, the list of things he'd been rehearsing as the sound of two familiar voices caught his attention. Looking up he could see Damien and LIndow. The Thunder Chosen seemed to be in a good mood if the laughs were anything to go off of. But Damien's question was clearly mocking him. However clouded his mind was at the moment he could tell that much. "Ssshhut up." He started with an initial slur to his words from the alcohol having set in more entirely to his system. "I didn't get in trouble or anything. I..." he trailed off as Lindow moved in to help him move. "Stop it, I'm fine!" Reinaan declared as he tried to push away from his friend. The next few steps showed clearly he wasn't as he nearly fell before catching himself. It wasn't long before he simply fell back into Linow's support simply by not moving from the spot as if he taking another step might send him falling through the ground. "Isss, this really the inn?" Reinaan questioned as he looked back up at the building. "We gotta get the others. I needa tell em... what was it again?" He pondered aloud. Without finishing his question he attempted to walk a bit faster toward the inn. He would continue to ramble to Lindow and Damien about needing to get the group together. Something about a secret a huge guy with no hair who made fences told him. He was insistent on finding Keres and Ryia right away, wherever they were or whatever they were doing. One could only hope stopping him from doing so wouldn't prove difficult.

The idea of going to a bar to get into a fight seemed interesting enough to the Fire Chosen. Already he looked about some to see if any establishments were nearby. Still, something about the way the man had been acting around his boss seemed to imply some sort of past trouble he didn't want to discuss. And given that was all the two had discussed thus far, Reinaan decided to try and help the man restore some amount of normalcy and asked him to show him his fence building technique. And so the Draken tried to feign interest as he watched the man work ever harder at installing the fence posts. He was sure to point out the shape of the bottom of the post, how best to position it into the ground before pounding down on it, and other such things to make sure the fence stood up straight. If nothing else the boy was drawn in by the sheer show of muscle and power as well as the man's general vigor for his profession. Before too long the two parted on friendly terms, the man seemed much more relieved to have been talking about fences instead of fighting. That left Reinaan searching for a bar. As it happened that wasn't particularly difficult. There were several bars in the town, but the one Reinaan ultimately settled on was well known for the fights the broke out in it. It was called The Molten Melons, and apparently specialized in liquors flavored with the aforementioned melons. Signs outside advertised a drink so spicy it would burn a dragon's mouth which raised the non-existent eyebrows on the draken chosen. The room was packed with various low lives and drunkards. The tension was thick in the air as if people were just waiting for an excuse. No doubt the table with a game of cards going on was the main source of it. Several less than savory looking human men sat about it, giving each other the nastiest glares as they played their cards. Reinaan, a bit confused, stumbled to the bar, he had his bag on him to have his card from the council ready. The bartender turned from looking at the ongoing game to see to his new customer. Seeing a draken he was caught a bit off guard and soon looked the boy up and down before speaking. "Kinda got this backwards dont ya?" the man asked. "What do you mean?" Reinaan asked curiously as he got up onto the bar stool. "Most guys get a few shots first before losing their pants at the card table." he teased with a smirk. "I ain't got the charity in me to hand out free booze to poor fools hitting up another tavern after losing everything." "I didn't lose anything." Reinaan asserted, a bit annoyed. He pulled up the card from the council. "And I've got the money." This caught the man's attention. "Heh... well maybe you're the smart one then. Can't lose what you don't got on ya. What'll ya have then?" he asked, eager to get some money. "People were talking about something..." Reinaan started, trying not to divulge that he couldn't read to say what he wanted. "Something too hot for a dragon." "Ah the house special. Pretty bold for one your kind to take on the Dragon Slayer." the bartender laughed as he moved to prepare the drink. He mixed so many different things the boy couldn't keep track of it all. But when the drink was set down before him a variety of spices assaulted his nose. Apparently every melon juice available to the bar was also in there but the boy definitely couldn't smell it. Hesitantly Reinaan lifted the drink to his lips and attempted sipping it. Sure enough the mixture was some of the hottest material to ever pass his lips. An odd quality for something in someone who breathed fire regularly. Still, he didn't want to quit and Reinaan forced himself to choke down the whole thing before gasping for breath, sparks of actual flame escaping his mouth as he did so. Reinaan swung his head about some from side to side trying to shake off the pain surging down his throat and into his stomach. But that didn't stop him from trying to prove himself a more than worthy challenger by ordering two more. With two more painful shots down, Reinaan could feel his face getting hotter as his senses dulled some. He seemed a lot looser than he'd been. Had he really been carrying all that tension? It was nice. Maybe he needed more of these Dragon Slayers. He swayed his tail about casually and was getting ready to tell the bartender his life story when the sensation of something running into and falling over his tail took over his attention. "Watch where you're going!" a clearly drunken voice assailed Reinaan's ears from behind him. The draken turned about, irritated and not afraid to show it with the buzz he was feelin "I wasn't going anywhere idiot!" he called back. Almost immediately the man threw a punch at the boy's face which only set a feral rage into motion in him. All at once the bar turned attention from the card table to the bar where the fight had unexpectedly broken out. This seemed the perfect excuse as several other fist fights broke out. Reinaan soon found himself rolling around the floor of the crowded room grappling with and trading blows with the man who had tripped over him. At least Reinaan thought it was the same man. He couldn't be sure really. Several other people had gotten involved. Bruises abounded in the mosh pit as did deep scratches from the boy's flailing claws. "Sheriff!!" a call went out. This lot was used to the intervention of the law. The scramble was now from the fights to get out of the way so as to not spend a night in jail. Reinaan didn't entirely understand but a thought went through his mind that he didn't wanna end up like Damien so rather than try to talk things he out he grabbed his things and bailed out a back entrance just as several drunk men started yelling to the sheriff about some damn naked lizard they had been fighting. The fire Chosen began running away from the scene in case the sheriff went looking for him. It was something of a round about path and he stumbled a few times from the alcohol in his system but the boy was fairly certain he was on the way back to the inn Madelyn had shown them. Fairly certain he wasn't being followed the boy relaxed his pace and looked around him for something else to catch his eye short of just meeting back up with the others. If nothing else he could go tell that Madelyn woman a thing or two.

Milla stared on nervously as she looked between the strange man and then back to her friends. Everyone seemed fine with battling but she still wasn't sure what she wanted to do. The choice wasn't difficult surely yet she felt somewhat paralyzed. Was it the strangeness of the man, or the thought of battling, or the mixture of the two? Regardless, there were three enemy pokemon and only two on her friends side. She didn't doubt Nathan or Nomi couldn't control more than one of their pokemon well enough to handle it if need be. And though he wasn't out of his pokeball, the girl could just see the look Rondo would be giving her at the moment. She had committed to being a pokemon trainer after all, and this was part of it. Trying her best to put on a serious face she stepped up alongside her team. Seeing a litwick was the remaining opponent her hand shifted from Rondo's ball where it had been hovering. "I-i'll help too!" she called as Andante emerged to join Bug and Cassius in the three on three battle. The lion seemed admittedly confused and nervous about being thrown into the fray of this no doubt hectic battle to be. But the girl wasn't going to give her partner enough time to get scared. "Use Work Up!" she called which focused her friend.

Estelle's only focus was maintaining her enchantment. That much at least seemed to be holding firm. Lana and Chris' movements were improved enough they could safely engage with the large rat. But the details of it almost didn't register in the mage's mind. She had to maintain focus on control on the limited magical power she had left to her to channel. Eventually the pair ended the rat's life and before anything the woman sighed in relief as she released the spell and stumbled forward. She stood in place, eyes vacant, as she began to realize what had occurred in front of her. "Very impressive everyone!" she managed to cheer as her breathing stabilized. She began moving despite the apparent fatigue. She needed to take stock of serious injuries among the group. Nothing seemed life threatening but they certainly needed some more of her magic. More than she had at the moment. As the teleportation device activated with the floor conquered, Estelle's eyes locked on the path she knew the group needed to take. She had wanted to go deeper but she couldn't discredit the achievement of making it here with such a small group. The mage took to ushering the group to the chest and means of escape before moving to open it. "It is our prize for making it this far, yes." she spoke in reassurance of Chris' earlier question. And while she opened it, she soon stood back for the others to see the contents. Inside were four small leather pouches. Once opened, one would find blast powder. A pretty common substance. As the name implied its main use was for blowing things up, though somewhat magically at least. It wasn't much but then what could one expect so early into the Dungeon. "Let us claim our prize and make our way out. I need to heal you all but I will not be able to until we have had time to rest."

For all the muscles on the man before him, Reinaan had assumed there would be more bravado or passion. It seemed clear he did fight, or perhaps used to. The Draken had never built a fence himself but there was a mountain of doubts in his mind that he'd bulk up much at all by making them. Somehow the muscle-bound human seemed almost nervous. If fighting was a crime that perhaps made sense. It felt like they needed to talk in private without the so-called boss in the situation. "Yeah... that's probably all you can help me with. I'd need someone who actually fights to show me some tricks first hand. But if fighting's illegal I'm out of luck." Reinaan thought aloud, slightly dejected. If ZIiyol's magic really was the only advantage he had over minotaur opponents he would have to accept it. He didn't like it but what else was there to do? It wasn't like he could just let them do whatever they wanted with the gate just for being physically stronger than him. He kicked at the dirt of the road a moment before an idea crossed his mind. The boy leaned in and spoke in a softer tone. "Unless you know any less than law-abiding establishments in town?"

With the shaman goblin dead, Estellise turned her attention to Sergei first who had been assaulted by magic she hadn't been able to deflect. He seemed alright but she wanted to devote a lot of time she didn't have to healing each member of the group. That had to wait as there was still one monster left as brought to her attention by Chris' call for help. The giant rat was all that remained but it seemed to of course be the most durable and dangerous thing that had been on the floor. It was going to take several more solid hits to kill it and ensuring no one got injured in the process of trying to bring it down was going to prove difficult. The mage began moving closer to Lana and Chris as she took stock of the situation. "I am not certain what help I can offer..." Estelle offered back somewhat disheartened as she attempted to channel more light. Already she had been struggling with the arrows that had slain the last goblin. At this point, providing offense for the team seemed unlikely. But then a thought crossed her mind as the sporadic light between her hands faded. She seemed absorbed in thought as she bounced several ideas around her head at once. Her face lit up with the thought process finished and with a quick motion she waved a hand with no no light show as one might have expected until a soft magical glow would appear at both Lana and Chris' feet and legs. "I do not know how long I can do it, but I will try to keep a speed enchantment up." The mage informed her friends of her intentions. So long as they could dodge, getting a fatal blow in seemed like it would be easier.

That Draken weren't commonly seen in the town was at once expected and frustrating to Reinaan. The more people he approached the more he realized he'd need to be changing his questions. Many were curious to see him due to his kind's scarcity in the area so instead of looking for another scaled brother he began asking about strong men. This search proved more fruitful as several people could think of a very strong human man that wouldn't involve the boy combing through the entire city. What the Fire Chosen eventually found surprised him. He hadn't seen muscles quite that large on a human before. The lack of hair and shirt also appealed to him. Hair was gross anyway but he was clearly proud of his body and wanted it to be seen. Perhaps Reinaan was simply projecting of course. Still, he approached and inquired if he had experience fighting minotaurs. "They don't see well huh..." Reinaan repeated as he pondered the advice given. "So if you don't fight anyone, how'd you manage to get those muscles?" The boy asked next. He eyed the man up and down again thinking of all the fighting that he surely hadn't done in order to be so much bulkier than the average man. His focus then went to the task the man found himself engaged in. Using only a gloved hand for a task any average man would surely use a tool. That seemed like another thing he wanted to be able to do, even if such a task was never necessary back at his village. He could only hope human and draken physiology were similar enough that whatever the great strong human had done would work for him as well.

The group walked with Madelyn to the establishment she claimed to be staying at. And for some reason she seemed intent on promoting it. While Reinaan could very much understand enjoying the service an establishment provided, he couldn't think of a need to press upon others to visit them. If this Gold Canary was so great people would just stay at it right? Regardless, the boy had to take a moment to ponder the woman's question of the establishment suited someone like her. If she meant literally then the yellow paint was probably perfect for her. If she meant this to be some fine cultured establishment, well the draken had little context to understand what human women considered to be cultured, respectful or proper given the two he was traveling with had both been fine to sleep in an inn that stunk of fish. Apparently Ryia at least had been considering his idea as she offered to stay with Madelyn. The boy regretted bringing it up but couldn't deny the sense of the matter. "We should probably all get a room here then. Or at least somewhere a bit closer. Splitting up the group could be dangerous given how..." Reinaan trailed off. Was he really going to admit it to the group? The wound to his ego would be irreparable. "How strong a single minotaur is." And with those words he conceded he was not nearly so up to the task of minotaur wrestling as he had been when they first set out toward the tower they had found Madelyn at. He seemed almost downcast as though he had already admitted defeat against any future minotaur encounters. "What everyone decides is ultimately on them. As for me, I know how to find the place now so I think I'm gonna go looking around town." The boy remained intentionally vague. For what exactly he hoped to find even he couldn't be sure. He wanted to get stronger and thought surely a large city like this must have the key to a quick strengthening. Though any sort of single day fix to the problem of not being able to out-brawn a minotaur would surely be a hoax or else so expensive he couldn't afford it. But that wouldn't stop him from trying. Maybe he would search for another draken in the town. Someone with experience in these things and how best to fight them.

That an improvised spell had mostly done its job was something to be pleased with. Her family would likely consider the idea boorish so there was little actual speaking about it Estellise would be able to do. But she would be sure to add the idea and execution down into a journal of similar ideas to work on and perfect at some later time once they were outside of the dungeon. For the time being, the rat was dead but the shaman had managed to escape the slower projectile and began moving towards the nearby water. Estelle had been ready to try and fire more basic arrows but found her magical control lacking after the exertion and was staring down a barrage of frost rays fired haphazardly at herself and Sergei. While not in a position to protect her friend, the mage hurried to raise her cape to deflect what rays came her way. Mid-failed spell as she was the maneuver was rushed and didn't allow her to exactly send the ray back at the caster like she had another of the shamans. This one instead flew off in the direction of the enemies Lana and Chris would be engaging or what was left of them at this point. But Estellise herself had not managed to track the spells well enough to be able to warn them if the rays were on a collision course with them or not. For the time being the mage tried channeling her magic again to fire arrows at the remaining shaman. But the magic flickered as she channeled it, causing irregularities in the size or precision of her shots. Unexpected curves might cause them to miss or the spells might fizzle out altogether. But surely, she thought, so long as she fired enough one would land into the shaman and remove the threat of enemy magic.

That the trip back to town was unremarkable was a blessing and a curse. Reinaan really wasn't in the mood to be fighting things and wasn't feeling particularly minotaur-worthy the more he thought about the amount of cheating to not immediately lose his little test of strength earlier. But of course, this left little but Madelyn to fill the silence. That she wasn't afraid to speak what came to mind was almost commendable as the boy didn't know many humans to make it a habit to be up front with things. But the way she did it. Well it was grating on him as time passed. They eventually saw signs of minotaurs moving through the area but saw no sign of the beast men themselves. Returning to the city was no different. Madelyn obviously felt this town not entirely up to her standards. Then of all faces, Damien stood before the group. He'd gotten away on his own and made it back to town much faster than the rest of the group had. Not pausing to talk with a new guest would do that most likely. If Damien was Madelyn's idea of manners Reinaan was confident he not only wouldn't understand the woman, but would likely never get along with her all that well. Still, he'd have to try to be patient. The woman was heading back to where she was staying, the most expensive place in town apparently. Ryia voiced Reinaan's thoughts best when she stated she liked the rooms they'd been staying in fine. Spending more money than needed for a place to lie down seemed silly. "We definitely need to at least know where it is." he started, agreeing with Ryia's sentiment about walking there with Madelyn. "I'm fine with our rooms too but now that I think of it, maybe one of us at least could stay in the same building. You know, if the minotaurs get any bright ideas or something." the boy suggested, wondering if any of the other Chosen would agree, let alone go along with the idea. If anyone stayed with Madelyn it was probably smarter for them all to do it in terms of keeping the group together. In any case, Reinaan had more wandering to do about town after seeing the woman to her inn. He didn't want to think too much about too much else.

At Shawn's call to attention, Richard Sartre looked up from his general disinterest in the room. Nicholas, his pet cat, occupied his shoulder comfortably and protested some at the man's movements to step a bit closer to the meeting. As one of the older hunters in the room, the man had to smirk at the primary points of concern of the meeting. Transience came with the job. Hunters moved about all the time for all sorts of reasons. Richard himself was happy to settle in wherever he was needed. Wherever he was working, whoever his partner was, nothing much seemed to matter. Well except making sure Nicholas was happy with the situation. The cat purred softly at his shoulder, it clearly wanted to take a nap but the current perch made that somewhat precarious. News that Kramer was arriving was somewhat exciting at least. That their branch should have such special attention was nothing to ignore. Even without Shawn's warning, Richard would have been himself of course. There was no one else for him to be after all... usually. And that left the final humorous note o the meeting being the banning of gambling around card games due to the abuse of a gift to win. The man had lost some to the gift in question of course so he was pleased to see it being punished. He would have gladly used his own gift to cheat if it were easier hiding his entire being disappearing to possess something. Ah well, the opportunities were gone. At least the ones with money anyway. There were yet offers on the table. From Ray and soon joined by Maybelle. "Cards sounds lovely." He started with a smile as he approached the other obviously-not-gamblers-to-be. "No money on the table, naturally." he cheekily echoed Ray's initial disclaimer they would definitely be following the directive they'd just received.

With Chris mended, Estellise turned her attention back to the shroud of darkness. Sergei had reacted rather quickly and had managed to escape the spell without too much issue. The mage began focusing her own magic into her hands to fire off a spell at the shamans still inside. Just as she prepared to release the magic she was caught off guard at seeing the rat spring forth from the shroud. The darkness itself was beginning to fade and as best she could tell, only one of the shamans was still inside the perimeter. The other had gotten to Sergei's position. Taking magic from two directions would prove problematic for most anyone and so Estellise readjusted herself and focused on the shaman's outline, just barely visible through the darkness. The mage pulled a hand back as she had been doing when firing light arrows up til now. But the shaft of light seemed bigger than her usual fair. And then another layer of magic appeared over it, brighter than the usual light. The energy around it grew for a moment but Estellise didn't draw the procedure out for fear of losing control of her power from the earlier usage. Her shot was mostly straight, encouraging as she wasn't confident in her ability to bend the projectile after launching. With a determined look in her eye, Estelle let fly the bundle of light. It moved faster than a normal light arrow, on direct course for the rat that had charged forward. If it found a mark, the outer layer of magic would give off a bright shine as it propelled the inner bolt. Ideally through the rat and into the shaman behind him. The girl had come up with the concept on the fly, admittedly not the best time to be experimenting, but this was nothing to a Fereis she thought.

Milla had been more than grateful to see Nathan take over the conversation for her. Trying to speak to this man was unsettling and it seemed even in response to the boy it wasn't going to get any easier deciphering him. Ramblings of doctors and doors shifted into a somewhat normal request. But that didn't stop it from catching Milla off guard? A battle? Here? Why now? What would be the point? Maybe most of this was normal and she really just didn't know how pokemon training worked. And after all that work to train and fight Tavares too. Nomi seemed about as unprepared for a battle at the moment too. Perhaps it was more she was unwilling given her eventual complaint. But at the least, Milla could confirm she wasn't the special one and laughed a bit at Princess being special. She was indeed a very special Rhyhorn. Still, that didn't change the fact that a strange masked man was asking if they wanted to battle. "W-we don't have to battle." she started, more voicing her own lack of desire. Maybe Nathan was still raring to go after the gym battles. "We could hurt the ruins if we weren't careful... and that'd be a shame. All the history and what not." Milla rambled meekly as if any amount of logic could sort this situation out.

Sure thing boss. Torkoal Sneasel