The magess simply shot Kyle a strange look, and continued observing him a bit as he went about his business. Kyle could see that there where covered areas where one could cross the streets and such, along with coverings for the walking areas of the streets themselves. With just a little navigation, one could likely find themselves in the arena without getting hailed on. However, there was a more direct route- Just suck it up and run through the now heavily falling hail.
-----
Back at Blitz Arena, Kumiko and Kelne observed the first true fight- A pair of swordsman. Almost evenly matched, the fight dragged on quite a bit, from a combination of skill and the weather getting in the way. The fight finally ended when nature intervened and allowed one of the swordmen to be hit with a rather strong blast of lightning, much to the crowds enjoyment. He was carted off as the other swordsman, going by the name of Narayan, was declared the winner, given his proper cheers, and sent off to be checked up before his next fight. Kelne and Kumiko saw that Narayan would be quite difficult, if nothing else than his pure skill. It would take a bit of effort to down him, should he arrise as an opponent. Vaniyakna, however, didn't seem impressed by him at all.
Now, the two had a bit of time before the next match, which just happened to be Kelne's- A full hour to be exact. A few of the people left the stadium for now, going to check out the town, or return home for the time being.
---
Meanwhile, to the south of the City of Storms, Inverse had found his mark- Some ancient ruins, surrounded by a not-so-ancient wall. A few troops patrolled outside the walls, and quickly taking note of their positions, Inverse quickly formulated a plot to put himself within those walls. Putting it into action, he managed to scale the wall, getting over just as the troops came back within eyeshot.
At the far end of the base, he could see some rather new buildings. Closer to him, some older ones- Temples. And in the far corner...A rather large beast, secured in place by a thick chain and a pair of guards. It was a large creature with armored skin, and many horns on it's head, not to mention a bit of extra metalic armor on it's body- WarMachine. Trying not to let it bother him, and not to be seen, Inverse headed for one of the smaller temples that sat beside the main one.
As he entered, he saw a statue atop an alter- A tall, noble looking humanoid- A Barian Demon. He also saw a path leading underground, and twards the main temple. Heading in that direction, he head a pair of boots heading deeper into the main temple. Staying within earshot, he listened to hear if he could pick up anything from whoever had just walked by- And his hopes were answered, as a young man's voice peirced the silence.
"Why do you suppose it's sealed up this way?"
The voice was soon answered by another- A slightly older woman's.
"There could be quite a few reasons, really...Personally, I think this is where he keeps those...Things, you know, WarMachine and the other beasts he keeps around."
Inverse took it all in as the man responded.
"That would at least explain why he wants it guarded so carefully....You suppose there are any...Y'know, things like that around?"
"I don't know. But really, astral scan this place. It's got the same feel to it as Lord Vaniyakna himself, not to mention those little pets."
"Well, let's get out of here, it's creeping me out!"
The woman sucked her teeth at the man. "Toughen up, you're a Knight!"
"Like you aren't scared out of your mind, too!"
The woman paused a moment, then sighed. "Fine. If you want to leave, as your partner, I have to go with you."
The man sounded a bit releaved at that. "Whatever. Let's GO!"
Inverse quickly ducked away as two pairs of feet made their way back through the temple, the heavy stone door slamming shut behind them. Things had gone quiet within the temple.
Heading up, Inverse listened for any activity while checking the room in detail. He saw many carvings in the walls- One of a raging thunderstorm, one of an ice burg, a blizzard raging above it, one of wind blowing through a tree, one of icy rocks falling from the skies....And finally, the largest- A carving of a large group of Barian Demon's, the Emporer class at the top, the 'Lords' below him, the 'Knights' below them, and the 'Peasants' below them. Under that carving, stairs leading down, below the cold, swampy earth. Heading twards those stairs, Inverse attempted to memorize the carvings.
Heading down, Inverse saw a large, cavernous room, lit an eerie green by...A pair of torches, burning with green fire. In the far end of the room sat a massive door, easily 20 feet tall, made of solid stone, with a seal in the middle- A glowing green eye. The door sported more carvings, this time of a battle- Or rather, the scene following a battle. The Demons stand victorious over their crushed enemies. Inverse didn't even need the ability to preform an Astral Scan to know the door was sealed shut by powerful magic- He could feel it.
Taking in the situation, Inverse continued plotting. Against his better judgement...He reached out to the door, placing a hand to it. As soon as he touched it, he felt his hand freeze solid, and jerked it away. However, he also heard a voice, deep in the back of his head. Old, raspy, and mean, the voice gave a rather simple request:
"Get....OUT!"
Shocked, Inverse looked around a little, and responded with a whisper.
"Is someone there?"
Not getting a response, Inverse checked his hand, and picked a bit off ice off of it, carefully. However, he doesn't have much time to think- He soon feels the presense return in his mind, as he involuntarily turns and begins heading to get back to the main temple. Going with it, Inverse quickly found himself in the main room again. Stopping to think about what had just happened, the presense made itself known again- Inverse began walking twards the main door. Taking control of his body again, Inverse headed back out the way he came- Through the connecting tunnel into the sub-temple, and out, twards the back wall.
Stifling the urge to mumble in a language he didn't even know, Inverse took advantage of the fact it was WarMachine's feeding time, and made it back up, and over the wall, and hurried away from the base. However, a tree managed to catch his eye, and...As he looked, he couldn't help be disgusted by it- Disgusted enough that destroying it seemed a viable option.
Doing the best he could to stifle the urge, he soon found it replaced by a new one- Investigating a nearby puddle. Looking into it, he saw something quite strange- Some of his hair had begun to turn white, and his eyes had an orange tint in them.
Assuring himself it was simply an illusion, Inverse moved as quickly as he could back to the City of Storms, and the inn. Heading down to the groups shared room, he quickly looked in the mirror- And found the same as before. Whitening hair, orangy eyes. Letting his guise drop, and reverting to his slime form, Inverse looked again- Although he had no hair to be turned white...His eyes still had an orange tinge in them.
"AAAAARGH!"
Lucky for Inverse, the Opening Cerimony had just gotten out, and none of the residents of the inn had returned yet.
(I had meant to spread out Inverses bit a bit more, but it slipped my mind, and now simple timing won't allow me to. Oh well. :( )
Edited by: Shinigori V2 at: 2/2/04 10:33 pm