Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

"That'd help my competition a lot." Ali giggles. "On that note, I haven't talked to them in years. Nothing like competing businesses between competing students, eh?"

Her claws are untouched, undisturbed.

She waves you off.

...considering most everything is brick and only the paths used for the public are visible by sight alone, you may need to look for something... blending in.

 

I head to the main clearing before checking anything.

 

"Well, a couple of my friends reccomended your place, so clearly you're doing something right!" The fire guardian says happily, "I hope nobody killed your competitors though. That'd be a pretty grim way to boost business, though I'm sure you get plenty already."

 

From the ground, there doesn't seem to be any hidden path, and nobody's leaving through that route that would give it away.

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"If they were killed, I'd fold in memoriam. I couldn't keep going knowing that..." Ali sighs. "I hear the banker was one of those killed, though, so we're trying to find his apprentice."

 

I look around, focusing on things that I might be able to touch or tamper with.

 

From here, you can't see anything plausible, except maybe one of the many wall torches.

 

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't talk about such subjects," The fire guardian says apologetically, "How much for the tea?"

 

"One Erdust'll cover it." Ali says.

 

I start on one of the walls, feeling around on the bricks of the walls, and when I get to the first torch, I look at it up close.

 

The bricks... feel like bricks. The torch is tightly fixed to the wall, connected to a pipe that keeps it filled with oil.

 

I tamper with the torch a bit, lightly moving it until moving on, feeling along the wall to the next torch.

 

The torch just feels like hot metal, and the wall just feels like bricks as you get to the next, identical, torch.

 

The fire guardian gets up, taking an erdust out of her pocket and heading over to Ali to pay.

"The tea was lovely. I might have to come back here again soon." The fire guardian says, smiling.

 

Shifting it slightly, I move on again, repeating my actions across every torch.

 

Ali takes the coin, heading to the back room with it.
"Thanks! Stay safe out there."

You end up wasting an hour, a few passersby giving you awkward looks as you go.

 

"I will. See you around!" The fire guardian says, heading back to the weapon rack and collecting her claws before exiting the cafe.

 

Moving on, I try to find some stairs to go down to (possibly) the first floor.

 

Ali waits before peeking outside, nervous.

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You don't need stairs. There's a giant clearing. The second floor consists of balconies along the wall, a middle pathway connecting the two.
(Though there is a giant staircase that you can see from just about anywhere on the ground or second floor)

 

The fire guardian seems to be looking around the desert, before taking off.

 

I take the staircase to not alarm anyone to the second floor, looking around.