[color=598527]"Now, let's see..."[/color] Aron said, reaching into a little alcove in the brickwork.

His hand groped the inside of the bricks for a little while before emerging with his prize: A slightly twisted but clean handful of iron scrap. He stuffed it into his mouth and his teeth chewed away, crunching it down. Aron sat down to enjoy his small meal. He was rather vexed by his teeth and his digestive system, unfortunately. If Aron wasn't born with such a glaring defect, he might've been one of the richest people in Ebb by now. Unfortunately for him, he had to eat his only source of income. There wasn't much he could do as a homeless guy, after all. Aron 'acquired' and sold scrap metal as a day job. Back when he had his little gang, he started stealing money from other gangs. Unfortunately for his gang and his income, the crew had gone down in a whirlpool.

After that, he signed up for the expedition and found himself back down the sewer. Kind of like travelling around a desert for a week and finding that you'd been walking in circles for a week.

[color=598527]"Well, nothing for it."[/color] Aron grunted, standing up.

The was actually less like walking in circles and more like walking in one big circle and finding that someone left a sack of gold back at the start, assuming things went well and he actually got paid.

Aron got up and looked around, only to see that the group had gone on without him.

[color=598527]"Oi, wait a tick!"[/color] He said, hurrying to catch up.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a struggle and rushed out, pushing aside the stragglers.

[color=598527]"Ay!"[/color] He said, stopping in the doorway of the room. [color=598527]"What in the-"[/color]

His eyes telescoped into the blob creature, narrowing in recognition. The blob creature that he'd seen a few times before. Their behaviour was inconsistent at best. Sometimes they would let the sewer residents by and other times, they would attack them. It was a hated addition to the already crowded sewers, who's inhabitants relied on routine.

Aron drew his gun and loaded a exactly 3 bullets. A well-placed shot would kill the smaller ones, but sometimes there were some who could survive it. The worst experience he'd had with one was when he'd shot a big one 5 times and it just ran away. He always regretted wasting those five bullets.

He mentally noted the expense of the bullets, taking it away from the potential reward. However, the elf of their party created a spear of lightning before he could shoot and threw it at the creature, hitting it with a blast of electricity. Aron shielded his eyes as it exploded, creating a brilliant flash of light.

[color=598527]"Nice shot lass, but you best be careful."[/color] Aron said, wincing.

Judging by its size, it wasn't likely that it lived, but he was careful anyway. They could be surprisingly tenacious. Despite the creature's surprising survivability, Aron was more worried about the other denizens of the sewers. Certain species had certain territories but some just reacted to things, and the snow elf's magic spells could potentially alert said creatures.

[color=598527]"There're things you really don't want to wake up down here."[/color] Aron said, training his gun on the blob-creature's silhouette.

[hr]

Ash was aware that a small presence was tailing them, and he put it in the back of his head. It was following them, certainly, but acting rashly would not do. It was likely that it was a sewer denizen, twisted as it was. There may have been a few reasons for it to tail them, including curiosity. It may have had more malicious intentions, but he couldn't know that without it acting. Hence, he ignored it for now, but drew his knife and prepared for the worst.

As the crew walked down the sewer, he was on guard. Their resident sewer dweller Aron walked with unreserved energy, seeming to show that there was no threat. However, unexpected events could occur at any time. With the things in Ebb like they were, Ash wasn't sure Aron knew all of what was going on. With the aformentioned deformed creature following the crew, who knew what else lay in the sewer?

His misgivings was proven when the group arrived at a junction. Two of their group, Edwin and Mr Ghurst, headed down one end where a splash was heard, followed by another splash, a strange flopping sound and a strange airy sound, like heavy breathing. Ash took a small look as Marianne blasted the monstrosity with a lightning javelin.

[color=00746b][i]Potentia. Cast spell. Relatively low mana cost.[/i][/color] Ash noted.

It was more out of habit than anything, but he always found it handy to know the techniques of his allies. He could picture how the battle could go and react accordingly, usually. And also, it made them easier to deal with if need be. However, now wasn't the time to deal with people. Even if there was only one monstrosity visible, the sounds of combat would probably draw some unwanted attention. 

While Aron dashed into the room, Ash stood back and kept vigil. The fork in the road went two ways, and it was likely that there were other sewer dwellers down the other end, and there was no guarantee that they would leave the group be.