[quote]“If we are worried about the ethereal, then maybe we should harness our own unearthly power ourselves. Fighting fire with fire. You could say that I am uniquely equipped to return that very fire.”[/quote]
[@Randomness]

"Madam, that's exactly our goal now!" Vesemir said, looking even more beaming than before. "Alkautsar holds very limited records from the ancient days, but thankfully I managed to find the important bits; That was after Serensiel's death, the new Government led by Theriadore created a tool to combat ethereal beings. I could only hazard a guess that such adversaries were abundant post great-war, or were developed to aid the effort to claim the land. Unfortunately, it seemed the latter was abandoned and the former was unsuccessful. To what degree, I do not know, but I am very sure the vault holds the answer, or even the prototype itself. 

"let us just hope that dragon doesn't guard the old library too." shrugged Mr. Elc. "But I am curious, Vesemir, if there is an option not to seek a confrontation with Vildared'saca, would you take it? You seem a bit too immersed in the prospect of taking down the ancient dragon." 

The scholar shook his head and spoke assuringly. "I would not take any unnecessary risk that may endanger my crew. But what you call immersed, Mr. Elc, is preparedness."

The masked elf nods. Did the diplomatic answer satisfy him? To the initiated, they could see that Mr. Elc was fishing for a certain answer to measure the scholar's intention and resoluteness to that cause. And such ambiguous answers were the bane for an interrogator like him. 


[quote]“I might be alone, but I would hope to encounter the dragon again. You could say it is one of my selfish wishes. When else would I have such an opportunity to uncover the hidden potential within its body. It’s not like the dragons of fairy tales, so much about them could still be lies. But to me, that doesn’t matter. It’s my thrill.”[/quote]

The sorceress said. This time it earned her a slightly concerned look from Jazdia, but she uttered no word, and instead, sipped her tea and then looked to the dark horizon, mulling over the words 'trust' and 'closeness', and to what extent a camaraderie could be forged. Only Mr. Elc was willing to offer his view on that statement. 

"I will not judge you solely based on your words, Madam Fia, but there are secrets in this world that are better left undiscovered and forgotten. And in this Land of Twilight, the power derived from such secrets often comes with a terrible price."



The appearance of a teenage foreigner suddenly grabbed everyone's attention. Mr. Elc was the first to assume a combat position, while Jazdia stopped sipping her tea and had her eyes fixed on their newcomer. Meanwhile, Vesmir and Eblana looked at the anomaly curiously.

This encounter was a bit too random to look to be what it was; a foreigner stumbled upon a colorful party, in the middle of a haunted and dangerous forest, at midnight, just a few hours after a legendary dragon showed up. But The so-called ninja was the one willing to look past the incongruity and offer her some hospitality. 

"Did you two hire another adventurer?" Whispered Mr. Elc to Vesemir and Eblana. Meanwhile the ninja could be seen scooping a portion of stew for the girl. 

"I have no idea about this one." answered the scholar. 

Jazdia too could not be asked to scan this newcomer, being low on mana. So for the time being, the task of determining whether their guest was a real breathing human or another projection created by the Land of Twilight itself was left to Akari, who offered her a small talk, and the so-called Miko seemed a way too articulate for a wayward spirit. 

But you could never be too careful. Let's hear what the Miko had to say. 
[@Akari][@13org]