Essentia Animus

23-Standard Practice

Their sleep was almost interrupted by commotion in the halls strictly at the moment of dawn. The hunters had all become active at that time, preparing for their daily tasks in an organized manner.

Riyxia tried to just keep sleeping as her spectre kept making its rounds. She had been casually wandering around through the night, like a ghost haunting the place. She had still held to her ethical conduct, but was mostly interested in seeing how much everyone else was being ethical in return. Was there people spying on them as they slept, for example? It seemed Ayzherie was taking a demonstration of trust to heart, her complete overnight investigation yielded nothing suspicious in that regard. Notably, it hadn't even yielded anything interesting, the bland stone walls being highly uninteresting over the entirety of the night. It reminded her that one of the hardest tasks she had about being a spectre was going upwards, considering her floating did not actually involve flying, even when abusing her surroundings in conjunction to passing through walls. Spending a night devoid of starlight had left her feeling extra depressed by morning.

Wandering around though, she eventually found the merchant and the reporter, both seeming to have ended up spending the night here as well. The reporter was actually terrified about the terms of his own circumstances, afraid that if he left with the knowledge he had, someone would assassinate him. The fact that the girls seemed to have support from some group with capable influence over the Hunters did nothing to still those fears. The merchant on the other hand had been more interested in the number of Qeld that Sryine had been throwing around. Coupled with the profitability of the creation she had completed with Vwyx, he was certain that his economic future would depend on figuring out how to keep himself involved in the financial goals of the three girls. Other than finding the three girls, both guys were really invested in trying to figure out a way to remain as guests of the hunters for any period longer, so that they would not be dismissed from their individual goals.

Soon after Riyxia wandered away, the reporter confronted Ayzherie. "It has dawned on me, by the way, that we might have some mutual interests. I work for River Valley News as a reporter, so collecting news is my profession. As I'm sure you've noticed, the three girls here have proven to be very interesting, people who could give me a great scoop if I were to learn more. But now, they're sorta around here, making them a lot harder to investigate. However, with your support, I would be capable of continuing my investigation, and maybe in the process be able to share any of the knowledge you yourself seem intent on. It is my job, after all, to bring the news to the people." "Jwyexzn, just the man I was hoping to find. You see, it seems with all the training going on, I might be a bit short staffed. The girls are going to have the need of a very custom training regime, after all, and I'm going to need someone to keep a record of the assessments given by their instructors, so that we can make things work. I certainly hope a guy with your talents would be interested in such a simple responsibility." The merchant did not miss the subtlety of the request, a presented offer Ayzherie made in trade. It certainly wasn't beyond his abilities, a fair trade indeed.

Riyxia lost pace with her spectre when a knock sounded from the door. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just had to find you three before you started off on this.. training. Is it alright if I came in, or should I wait out here." "You do know this place has sections split by gender, right? I don't even think you're supposed to be in that hallway." "It does?! Terribly sorry. I'll wait for you out in the main hallway then." The merchant fled with all haste at Riyxia's insight. "Wait, is it?" "I didn't notice at first either, but this area does only have a women's washroom, and there are no guys here. Think about it too, if this was more of a guest section, wouldn't it have been smarter to have the guys resting in one of the nearby rooms? Now, yes, this is just me speculating, as I haven't actually found a sign on the same subject, and I could always just be missing that second washroom, but in his case it might be safer than sorry." Sryine nodded, realizing that Riyxia's claims made sense. They quickly completed their preparations for the morning and went to go find out where the merchant was waiting for them.