[h1][center]Opportunity Knocks... or Doesn't[/center][/h1][hr][hr]Characters: Cal'tuuro'jaros, Johann Steinbauer[@Force and Fury][hr][hr][center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nMUr8Rt2AI]♫[/url][/center]


The others were busy having their revolution and, in principle, Johann supported them, just not... in [i]action[/i]. He had bigger fish to fry.

[color=goldenrod]"I am telling you, moila, the good stuff is up and not down. I have it on a very reliable source."[/color] When the door wouldn't open and the only traps he sensed were mundane, Johann gathered up a great deal of magnetic energy and... a few turns to the right, one to the left, slide the bar... [i]CLICK![/i] 

He grinned wickedly. [color=goldenrod]"All of this good stuff,"[/color] he crowed, [color=goldenrod]"that they keep under lock and key, is now ours, as all magical knowledge should be."[/color] Perhaps it was just Johann's revolutionary spirit that caused him to speak thusly. He was... animated by the zeitgeist. What could he say?

The door slid open with the slightest creak, revealing the most comically nefarious of shadows: tall and lean, shorter (though still not short) and round. The latter cast about for further security measures but - wasn't it beautiful? - all of the people who warded this place were rather busy at the moment. [color=goldenrod]"Let there be light!"[/color] He kickstarted a few chemical reactions and the lanterns flickered to life.

Like a child who'd pried open the honey jar, Johann tiptoed into the room, still paranoid, but increasingly eager with each passing moment. It was here! It was [i]all[/i] here: Temporal, Dark, Blood, Deep Atomic, Command, Primordial, though the last two sparingly! Johann licked his fingertips and reached eagerly for his first prize.

Cal had his own goals in here and the Kerreman did not begrudge him those. It was an alliance of mutual convenience. There could be no... achieving positive goals for... the world without breaking a few rules, after all. 

Cal'tuuro'jaros was not one to show emotions in their fullest extent. Perhaps he may have went a little over the top when playing a part, but in this moment, he felt true, ecstatic glee. Johann was a man of the sciences, one of unique principles and actions that resonated with him. At least, as far as he could tell about him. The conversations they'd shared seemed to suggest as such, but oftentimes in life, people wear masks. 

In this instance, the masks were off. The two were as open as a book about their intentions to dive deep into topics well hidden, and with the benefit of mutually assured destruction, they were perhaps allowed to be their unfiltered selves for a little bit.

[color=cyan]"As it should be, Moila. Better in the hands of respected scholars and providers to the community, than to tyrants or an angry mob!"[/color] he joyously looked around the room. There was still the caution of traps, as the zenos were fond of, but he found it hard to imagine they'd put something that could risk work as precious as this.

As Johann reached for his prize, Zeno Cyrus McGillicuddy's Treatise on Pocket Dimensions, he shot an interested gaze. The idea of wanting a personal space told him much - but he had something else on his brain. He reached for a couple of books that he sought knowledge from - two that he stuffed inside a bag for later reading and one that he began to read in the moment, looking eagerly for something he'd heard rumors of

[color=cyan]"Say, Johann, my good man. The knowledge of the schools is bound to be excellent, and this research will surely further our work..."[/color] he paused, and evaluated. To say what was on his mind was a risky proposition, and it was a pure fifty-fifty that his read was right. He hated gambling. But, there was true potential for exponential growth here, and he had been shown that taking calculated risks could sometimes have colossal payoff.

[color=cyan]"What if there was a faster way?[/color] he grinned wickedly, genuinely in fact, holding a particular book written by the late Paradigm, on a page related to the pinnacle of chemical magic - something that was practically in reach by both, so long as they helped each other and his assessment of the portly Kerreman was correct. 

Johann furrowed his brow and shuffled inward. His eyes flicked back and forth across the page. [color=goldenrod]"What if...[/color] He bit his lower lip and bade Cal turn the page already! [color=goldenrod]"This,"[/color] he murmured, [color=goldenrod]"is ground breaking stuff."[/color] He twisted to regard Cal for a moment, eyes lighting up with almost-childish glee. [color=goldenrod]"Think of all the [i]stability[/i] we could provide: so many needs and fears erased just like that!"[/color] He nodded along as he read and, perhaps, his curious nature even rivaled that of Cal's. Yasoi were known to lose themselves in pursuits like this, even Tarlonese. 

Then, from somewhere far too close for comfort, he heard a thump. People were rushing up the stairs: perhaps past the two pilferers and perhaps through the same doors that they'd entered. Johann's eyes widened and he reached out with his energetic sense. No: not this time, but the danger was very much present. [color=goldenrod]"I suggest we might read these in safer environs. We should abscond with our prize before it gets too hot."[/color] He hustled over to a nearby shelf on Chemical magic, one on Temporal, and one on Blood, and slid the choicest texts into first one bag and then the other. [color=goldenrod]"Time to liberate some knowledge."[/color]

Cal looked curiously at the man's reaction. To think that his read was right - that this man was a kindred spirit. He was glad he'd picked him to come along and not another. People like Tku were certainly a grade above the average Yanii - but if he'd read the mans words in writing, he could have easily mistaken him for a member of his own kin. [color=cyan]"I couldn't agree more, my good friend. As we prosper, so shall our communities."[/color] he spoke in earnest glee, nodding as their eyes met in mutual understanding and agreement.

And Johann deliberated his warning. His heart pounded a little faster in his chest, as to be caught in the midst of their scheme here would spell disaster. But, as he would suggest, a flight response is often better than a fight, especially dealing with the monsters in these corridors. So he followed the instruction of Johann. Several different books were shoved into his own collection of bags, including several notes personally written by Hugo Hunghorasz, Adradelle Latvar, Giacomo the Owl, and a number of the books of forbidden schools that he'd taken particular interest in.

[color=cyan]"I do believe we've scored ourselves quite a haul, my good friend. Now, should we indulge in the fruits of our liberation? It would be a waste to not experiment and make the best of such [i]unfortunate[/i] circumstances"[/color] he spoke with a wide smile, a sense of the unbridled yasoi curiosity he normally kept bundled away coming through in his tone

Johann was surprisingly quick - he was not the sort of man one usually thought of as such. He chose five tomes - one for each of the gods, and made haste for the exit. Then, he froze. He froze and his eyes flicked Cal's way. [color=goldenrod]"We go out there, we're found out, I think."[/color] He cursed beneath his breath: [color=goldenrod]"[i]Schiesse[/i] I'm not losing my mind, correct? You sense them too?"[/color] The revolution had arrived, or perhaps just some unfortunate souls. There were more of those infernal clones of the Zenith and someone was fighting them.

here wasn't much chance for conversation at this point - the risky maneuver they'd pulled had immediate consequences as the revolution was fully underway at this point, and he didn't need Johann's reassurance to feel it. He'd left manas behind to detect entry, and it was clear as day there were multiple powerful signatures around them - a battle between the strong and no real way to escape unscathed. He grit his teeth in frustration - there was only one way out. [color=cyan]"You're not crazy. But there's only one way out."[/color] and then there was a pause. [color=cyan]"They're fighting, though. An ample opportunity to slip by."[/color] he gave him a look of confidence, as if this was there shot, and prepared to sneak by. So long as they didn't have to fight, no-one would know they'd been here.

[hr][center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUuusqy50yk]♫[/url][/center][hr]

The battle that followed was intense. The moment they'd stepped back out into the hall of this place, there was clear combatants. One, two, no... three variations of the Zenith Claresse Upta were currently engaged in battle with Tan-Zeno Klesta Hannevor. And as sneaky as they tried to be with the magics they possessed, it was not enough to trick a combatant of that level, engaged in a fight to the death with opponents at her level or stronger. She did not turn to regard them but shouted out, relief resounding through her voice "Thank god tha cavalries arrived! Give me a hand 'ere!" she shouted, deflecting a blood spell from a maddened clone of the Zenith and responding with an arcane lance of her own. 

Cal spared a quick glance at Johann to indicate that he had absolutely no intention of sticking around to help this woman. She was a loose end, and were she not in the midst of life or death, perhaps she'd realize immediately where they'd come from. It only took that thought for him to also realize that - perhaps they'd better make themselves sparse before they were recognized. He hesitated to speak before the Tan-Zeno spoke again, this time far more insistent.  "Interesting direction ya came from, help me out and I'll turn a blind eye, c'mon!" she shouted, throwing more defensive magics out to resist the horde. She seemed to be truly desperate at this point

They'd had very little time to process the information they'd read in the library, and even a three versus three as this was, it was far from a fair match. They were only students, after all, right? Still, he figured that sometimes, taking a risk was worthwhile. Especially for an opportunity like this. He thought back to the passages he'd read - thousands of words in his head as he attempted to find the right ones. The theoretical school was too risky. The other one... there wasn't nearly enough, and his mind went back to what he was familiar with - blood. There was a spell that Giacomo the Crow had written about in his personal memoires that had phenomenal potential. It was, of course, a spell of the forbidden magics that could hold vast consequence from being used. Regardless, he took the gamble and attempted to unleash it.

The effects towards one of the charging Upta's was... not pretty. Truth be told, it was the first time that Cal had truly killed somebody. He'd done so in Mano-e-Mano, but even in Mandelein where his mettle had truly been tested, he had settled for putting the wildbloods to sleep. And yet, he couldn't find himself feeling much as the body of said Upta was torn to ribbons, imploding from the inside out. He spared only a glance at Johann, and then at Hannevor as the viscera covered his clothing just from the splashback.

 Within 5 seconds, another explosion of gore occurred, but it wasn't his doing, nor was it the Zenos. And it wasn't at the Upta still channeling the spell toward Klesta. He turned again and saw that she was still deep in concentration, somewhat shocked at what had occurred. One look at Johann was all he needed to decipher that it was him. An instantaneous copying of magic of that level. And such precise target selection - it was only then that Cal realized that this Yanii possessed talent potentially beyond his own.

[color=cyan][i]You're terrifying, Steinbauer. Terrifying and brilliant.[/i][/color]

His thought was cut short as the atomic spell was unleashed toward the Tan-Zeno, right as a combined assault had managed to rid the world of a third Upta. But they'd simply acted too late..

Klesta Hannevor lay before them, on death's doorstep, and Johann scowled. [color=goldenrod]"It appears the unforeseen has come to pass,"[/color] he remarked, standing over her crumpled form. It was a grim sight and he let out a sigh and shook his head. [color=goldenrod]"A shame, truly, wouldn't you say?"[/color] He glanced over at Cal, lips pressed together in a thin line, and then at their bags, thrown hastily into an alcove and - only by the grace of Ahn-Shune and some defensive spells - saved. His face settled on a determined look, bu tthere was something else in it: something eager and wild and difficult to place. [color=goldenrod]"But... mayhaps, Gods willing, not all need be lost?"[/color]