Jeremiad, the Thief's Story

Koko began wandering about the Tower, albeit with fear fueling his search of the stairs upwards.

Almost immediately, Koko found an impressively rare item thrown about the floor, beside a dusty bookshelf; a Tome, an ancient book containing a plethora of information. This Tome was titled: "Wizard 102: Transferring Wounds With A Simple Touch, written by the Demon Saints Cult." Inside was all the information a caster would need to learn the Leech spell; a powerful encantation that allows the drainage of health via direct skin-to-skin contact. This drain would become stronger as the hold is sustained, and can drain an indefinite amount of life force as long as contact is not broken. The spell may only be cast once on an opponent; a leeched opponent cannot be leeched again.

The Tome would take some time to read, however, and would require Koko's attention to learn from.


Meanwhile, a few dozen feet away, the doors to the Tower re-opened as another challenger arrived. A cloaked man, with little noise, ran into the Tower, only leaving a whooshing sound as he sprinted around with impressive stealth; Jeremiad, professional criminal. It wasn't his first time here; once a month, he raided the lower floors for pocket money. But once a year, he challenged himself; how many people could he rob in one trip?

He quickly saw his first target; a young caster, shivering slightly as he looked about the halls. Too easy; looks like he was luckier than usual. He began following him as closely as possible without giving himself away. If his victim ever suspected him, he'd stand still, and his magic stealthing cape would render him almost invisible.

Koko Magenta

---

The young mage didn't notice the figure lurking behind him, but he was rather interested in the large tome he had found. He stored it for now but he would definitely want to check it out later. He heard the doors to the Tower open again behind him and he instantly scurried to a hiding place. He watched a blonde man pass by him and remained hidden in the darkness while he walked by, but soon Koko became aware of his placement outside of the light and squeeked loudly in fear and jumped from the dark corner. He was now exposed to the blonde figure, which made him even more fearful. He got into a feeble fighting stance that seemed to make him look only more fragile as he observed this new presence.

"Don't you dare try to hurt me! I-i'm tougher than I look!" He made a weak punch into mid-air as if to show off just how much he didn't know how to fight hand-to-hand. Only after he made himself look like a fool did he realize just how much larger the man was than him, and he instantly got onto his knees with his forehead on the ground. "Please forgive me sir, I didn't know what came over me! Please don't kill me!

Lance was half expecting a massive bear or ancient colossally sized spirit to immediately grab him and rip out his innards upon opening the door. But an even more daunting task lay out in front of him...hallways. In the back of his mind, he was cursing himself for not drawing his swords to be ready for something. But, level one was level one, he guessed. He drew them now and stepped inside, cautious of every step he took. Maybe a little too cautious. He was overly observant navigating his way through the halls and he had a slower pace because of it.

It also carried it's blessing. Lance could immediately tell something wasn't right. He noticed he wasn't alone upon entering and was glad to have two blades of security poised in front of him, ready to defend against whatever.

A large squeak caused him to immediately step into combat position, feet shoulder width apart, swords crossed in an X in front of him as he turned towards the sound. A young blonde haired mage stepped into the light, as if running in fear from something in the dark. His blue eyes immediately fixed upon Lance's, and stepped into an insecure stance of his own, throwing a weak punch in the air as if to intimidate him.

Lance eyed the boy with caution. He'd heard the legends of what kind of creatures lived within this tower, ready to feast upon those who dared to rise up to the challenge. And while he'd never heard of a trickster being who took upon the image of a frail looking mage to lure victims in, he didn't dismiss the possibility. So when the boy dropped to a knee in surrender, he didn't exactly loosen his guard. It actually heightened it.

He looked around to see if he could find any other threats before looking at the boy once more. "Who are you?" he asked with command in his voice. At the same time, he didn't know if the boy was actually just another challenger entering the tower. He certainly didn't look the part. But he guessed that maybe the uniform he wore came from the Bretanians. He wasn't sure, but maybe...just maybe...he could be here looking for the same kind of reward he was. "Where do you come from?"

Koko Magenta

---

As the young boy began to calm down, the man in front of him seemed confused. Fair enough, as it was their first meeting. Koko stood up slowly and looked rather uncomfortable as he answered the man. "Koko Magenta is my name, from the Bretanian Royal Magic academy. The Tower is my final challenge, but its.... so dark." He covers his mouth with his hand to muffle his own squeak as a rock could be heard falling down a dark hallway. He instinctively runs from the sound and hides behind the man, seeing something move where it came from. He becomes self-aware after his initial fear and takes a step away from the stranger. "Sorry..."

Jeremiad was following the young mage rather closely, until another challenger came in and approached Koko. At that point, he decided to back off; he was stealthy, but more people means more eyes to spot him.

However... that said, he DID say he was going to rob as many people as possible today. Meh, how hard could it be?

Jeremiad placed himself in the shadows, and whispered a few words as the shadows consumed him, cloaking his every move (Invisibility). He tiptoes towards Koko, and very carefully puts his hand into the boy's satchel. It wasn't easy; he'd done this hundreds of times before, but Koko was so on edge a fly would probably spook him. However, with a quick swipe, he managed to take the mage's Sigil Tome. As soon as he drew his hand out of the caster's bag, he sprinted away; the darkness of the Tower silencing his footsteps as he ran away with a quiet snicker.

Lance raised a brow as Koko introduced himself. The story seemed plausible. He'd heard of the school and recognized the uniform. Perhaps this was another challenger of the tower. He lowered his guard a bit.

The sound of rocks falling was enough to spook the young Koko as he ran behind Lance in fear. Lance just stood there, unable to do anything but watch the boy realize what he was doing and step away, apologizing. He chuckled inwardly.

"Koko, huh?" Lance eyed the mage. "So why would a school as prestigious as Bretanian send a young mage with high potential to his ultimate doom by sending him to the unconquered Tower?" He caught the slightest movement on the boy's uniform as it jostled slightly. It seemed...ordinary...and yet so unnatural. He'd put the random placement on wind, but any that blew wasn't strong enough to move clothing like that. Also, the wind was moving in a completely different direction than the direction the uniform swayed with ever so slight movement. Weirder things have happened and he'd dismiss it for now. But just in case, he'd become more aware of what was going on around him.

Koko Magenta

---

Koko wasn't sure what the man meant by his question, and it made Koko think about the implications but the answer was what he was dreading in the near future. "Well, it's the same challenge for every apprentice at the end of their training to reach the tenth floor. So I have to... uhm...." His voice drifted off into obscurity as he realized what kind of task he had gotten himself into. He didn't even notice the pilfering of his spell book and just shuffled uncomfortably in place as he felt a great amount of anxiety of what would befall him in the future.

It was then that a creature approached them, from behind the blonde man. Koko snapped to attention and frozen in fear as the creature got closer. He pointed at the creature to alert the man as he reached back to grab his sigil book, but grabbed the other book instead. He had a strange moment where he did a double take on the book and found his sigil tome missing, which confused him. With the monster getting closer he threw out a random destruction sigil in desperation and sent an explosive force through the hallway hoping to end the thing quickly. He jumped at the sound of his own attack and hid behind the man again, letting out a squeak as he did so.

"Jesus!" Lance cried and barrel-rolled to the left just as the blast whizzed past him, singing some exposed hairs. When he got up, he realized his fedora was no longer on his head, falling off in the blast and landing not too far from his current position.

"Don't they teach you to be more aware of what you cast? You nearly hit me!" Lance turned irritably towards the young mage, picking up his fedora and frisbeeing it towards him. "Hold this." He then turned to face this new threat.

The arachnid was massive for it's kind, spindly legged and black, but it stood a mere two feet tall to Lance's six foot five stature. It's multiple eyes could be seen by the reflection of the light as well as tiny follicles of hair on the head. None of that was as menacing as the set of fangs the creature held it it's mouth, ready to stab into flesh. Lance smiled...cruel and knowing. "Hello beautiful."

Jeremiad could have sworn he has home-free, but as the mage blasted in his direction, he couldn't help but react. "Oh, shit!" He yelled out as he rolled out of the way, the blast wave knocking him off his feet and causing him to falter and land on his face.

Although he wasn't really wounded, he knew he'd given away his presence. Incapable of recasting his invisibility until no one was aware of him, he decided to just escape the old-fashioned way, his soft, supple cloth shoes muffling his steps as he sprinted quietly into the darkness of the Tower.

Once he managed a bit of distance, he decided to take some time and actually find some damn loot around here. He drew one of his trusty Treasure scrolls and whispered its magic. With a satisfying *poof*, he found himself placed in front of an obsidian chest.

"Oooh, baby! I hit the jackpot tonight!" he thought to himself. He had heard about these things; they contained relics of immense power, created at the Beginning when the Creator granted the first humans impossible tools and weapons to create the world as they pleased. These tools were revoked when the Tower was erected, but they still lay here, and HE had just found one of them.

"Now... How to open it?" The chest had no hinges, no locks, it was almost a box. He tried jamming his knife into the one slot he found, but it was no use; whatever lock this thing had was NOT a normal lock, no way he could pick it. He'd heard that magic could open these, but to him, "magic" was just a five-letter word.

"Welp, shit. I'll find a way to open it soon enough," he thought. Maybe he'd find a key nearby? He left a mental note of where the chest was, and continued wandering in search of some way to open the damned thing.

Koko Magenta

---

Koko stayed back as the man finished the arachnid off with his swords, his fear planting him strictly away from the danger. He had noticed another voice when he had cast his spell however, and was curious about it. He paid little attention to the minor detail however as the man had just finished his battle and Koko did a little cheer for the warrior. He seemed rather pleased with his work, but turned and point dramatically down the hallway. His finger swished in place and a glowing sigil of light floated from his figure to hover above their heads, providing them protection from the darkness.

"Alright mister....well whatever your name is. I will hire you as my guardian while I am in the Tower, at the payment of three-thousand Pents upon my safe exit of this evil place." This technically wasn't cheatings, as the mages hadn't said he had to get to the 10th floor alone. The man seemed strong and with an offer like that from one of his family's reputation, he was sure the arrangement would work out for both of them.

The arachnid charged first. Lance was ready, jabbing forward with his right handed sword. The overgrown spider caught the blade within it's mouth and bit down, holding the blade within it's jaws. It began to back up, dragging Lance with him. He nearly lost his grip on his sword upon the initial tug, yet held on while his eyes wandered for a plausible solution. As the spider tried to drag him into the darkness, one of it's legs was within swinging distance for his other sword. He aimed for the joint and timed it perfectly, hearing a sickening crack! as the leg was sliced off. A loud shriek erupted from the mouth and the spider let go of the other blade. Lance had the momentum and he was going to use it, stepping forward and unleashing a left diagonal slice along the spider's neck. The head detached and fell to the floor, bouncing a tiny bit before laying still. The spider body had fallen on it's back due to the unbalanced positioning of it's remaining legs, which were twitching and curling up. The spider was dead.

Satisfied, he turned around toward Koko and retrieved his fedora from him. Upon grabbing it, he brushed hands with the mage and felt a magical aura he hadn't felt in years. He had minimal instruction in magical arts and didn't really care for it besides when it crossed with alchemy to create the consumable shards that enhanced his power in a variety of ways. He did, however, know about magical auras and how to sense them to some extent. Sensing auras was one of the first things taught to a mage and how they work. While Koko would probably see into his own magical aura clear as day and constant, Lance could see auras in flashes, as he was relatively weak with magic. But he had the knowledge of what the auras meant. He knew it was based off heritage as each family's magic is in tune with their blood...or at least that was how he was taught. There would be fluctuations deviating from that heritage line as the magic users came into their own and learned their own abilities with the influence of instructors. Even then, Lance could see a glimpse of how other instructors and friends as well as his own studying developed his aura into it's own unique entity. However, the basic magic line, no matter how covered up it may seem, was there and Lance recognized it. He'd come into contact with this heritage line before. The question was when?

Flipping the hat upon his head, Lance processed the boy's request. Coming up with a plan, he spoke calmly, "I will not accept that request. In fact..." he walked over to the remains of the spider, examining the body for possible tools, weapons, and ingredients. "...I want you to lead me to the tenth floor." He grabbed one of the venomous fangs and yanked it out, placing it in his backpack. Perhaps I can use this to make a Poison Shard later, he thought as he yanked the second fang and held it out to Koko for him to take. He could probably use one as well.

Koko Magenta

---

Koko was a little confused as to why this man did not want the money, but it still seemed that he did wish to travel together in the Tower and that was enough for Koko. When offered the spider fang Koko took it hesitantly, as he was not an alchemist and was not used to touching fresh ingredients. Then again, he could use it as a dagger if things got rough so he stashed the item carefully, so he wouldn't stab himself when reaching into his pack. He still wished to know where he sigil tome went off to, but he could survive on the sigils he could remember off the top of his head so it wasn't that much of a concern. His family had hundreds of said tomes in their library, all made for their family specifically. It was actually illegal for anyone outside of their family to own one of the family tomes so he was sure it would turn up eventually.

"We should get moving then, if we are to make it to the tenth floor." Getting impatient with all this waiting around Koko grabbed the mans hand and started walking in the original direction he was going, not sure if it was the safest route but it was just as good as any other. His sigil light followed them, and a sigil of protection that Koko placed in front of them, which should stop any initial attacks from the front magical or otherwise. Two sigils drained still only the smallest of measureable energy from Koko, he could hold up the spells for a whole day without rest but they would still limit his combat potential as more time passed.

"What was your name? Mine was Koko Magenta if you forgot too." Koko was horrible with names, so it might take a few tries to remember it. He felt he would have that chance as the two of them were going to spend the next couple weeks fighting their way to the tenth floor or even beyond.

Jeremiad had run off into the maze that was the winding path of the hallways of the First Floor. After a bit of quick sprinting, and recuperating his stealth, he was lucky enough to find a treasure room; looking through the keyhole, he saw there was a few items on pedestals, pristine and waiting to be taken.

"Heheh... Time to make my profit." The thief intended to at least break even on his trip: that meant 600 gold coins to pay for entry. With giddy glee in his little giggle, the professional robber took out his knife, and began picking the rather simple lock. Not even a minute passes, and he's in; he takes a Gilded Battle Axe (-3 Attack, Guaranteed Critical Injuries), 92 gold, and a Scroll of Tranquility.

Once he loots the room, he continues his hunt for valuables.