He breathed out slowly with a nod just as slow, “Correct.  I haven’t even seen it.  I was only just recently hired to take care of it.  I work well in the darkness given the prey I usually hunt, and my particular set of skills were wanted in its extermination.  Whatever it is, it does well to keep itself hidden, this will be my first night seeking it out.”  His focus returned to her, turning his head to attempt full eye contact as he continued,
 
“And I seek out aid because for something like this, something where it’s a monster I’ve never physically encountered before, I figure it’s smarter to have someone else there.  Think of it like checks and balances.  I’m a vampire hunter, there’s always the chance I’ll slip into treating it like an every day hunt; fresh eyes can help keep that from happening.  As for me having no issues with you being a novice,”   How best to explain that?  He looked forward, his eyes narrowing in thought as he mulled his words over in his head, “An expert would want to do things their own way, perhaps not even take in any input I might give.  A novice has yet to develop any bad habits and is usually more hungry to learn and take direction should direction need to be given.”
 
He smiled, “That’s not to say I was specifically seeking out a novice or someone so fresh to the task, but I have no prejudice against someone new.”   As she talked about living in the lower levels he realized even more how perfect of a fit she was.  Her knowledge of the bowels might come in handy should it retreat back down.  In the best scenario possible they would be able to corner it and make their ending blow.  His eyes softened, a gentle smile forming at such an innocent reason for learning a new skill, but as she displayed how much power and control she had over that particular technique he was happy to see that she hadn’t kept it merely as a novelty.
 
“With any luck you shouldn’t need to use that, but I know you know it goes without saying that it could do well in a pinch.  And don’t count yourself short, some of the greatest fighters I know don’t use a lick of magick.  The problem some people have with psionics and magick is that it can become a crutch.   And more often than not when you don’t have spells, or magick or what have you to work with, you’re forced to look at things in a different way…a way you might not have done before.”
 
He stopped at a tavern, pulling the door opened for her to go through should she like, “For now let’s sit and discuss.  We’ll need full stomachs and complete hydration.  I have a few ways I’d like to go about the hunt tonight, and I’d like your input.”  After all, should she stay for the full hunt then it would be her skin on the line as much as his: she deserved to have a say in how the night would go.

Aries itched her face. "Huh. I think it's kind of strange and more than a little intimidating that a normal hunt for you is for vampires, but alright." She flushed with a bit of pride when he said why he was happy to have her along. "Aw, thanks. I really dislike being in leader positions, but I'm always happy to listen, and very open minded! I hope."

As they went into the tavern, Aries chose a seat and sat down. "Well the thing is about magic, I need to know it– I'm not actually really a fighter by trade. Mostly I just use my archery for hunting for food. I'm actually a researcher– it's why I came here to Tarishitar. I tried getting into the Mage College, but they didn't accept me…

"So I brought my gifts here. I was given the basics for an incredibly advanced math– I've never seen anything like it– and I've been deriving the rest since. I've got some plans for some home defense stuff involving it, it's gonna be awesome. I can accurately hit a target from a mile away, if the weapon is powerful enough to shoot that far." After a moment's though, she added, "Not that I'd ever have need to do that. Unfortunately, I can't use it in our battle, cause the math can take… A LOT of time."

He moved with her into the tavern, sitting across from her at the table she chose.  It wasn’t too loud in here, but neither was it anywhere near silent.  For them it would be easy to go unnoticed aside from the servers and right now they appeared like any other patrons.  His stomach was already churning with the promise of food.  In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually had more than a handful of food at a time.  It seemed he was always on the go, and his body kept itself healed enough that it took him longer to notice when he was growing too malnourished.
 
As she spoke his eyebrows rose.  Not to say math was unknown to him, but he’d only learned what he needed to that would apply to his lifestyle.  Most would likely find it simple, others abstract.  That subject had always been a bit tricky for him, the numbers mixed up in his head and he always ended up finding unorthodox ways to do things that to others would have been as simple as counting on their toes.  None of his brothers had any issues with it though.  His lips parted, “You can do something like that without the aid of enchantment on your weapon?”  Maybe it was time to try his hand at mathematics again.
 
If put to the test and given the right materials he might be able to accomplish such an act, but he also didn’t have the same strength that humans did and gave himself a bit of a push with psionics to aid him.  He’d like to see it in action.  He nodded, “It’s all right, we’ll likely be much closer in combat tonight.  With luck it’ll be completed before dawn.” 
 
His arms folded on the table, leaning on them slightly as he continued, “Even if we do finish this quickly, know that if you ever wanted someone to help you with your magick I’d be more than happy to assist in anything I could.”  He moved one arm back,scratching through his hair on the back of his head, lightly mussing it,
 
“For tonight though I don’t want you worrying about that unless you need to.  It’s weak to light, the flare from your fire breathing might work in your favor should it draw too close too quickly to you.  I believe it’s been travelling through the vent systems, something of its possible size would need to come out through one of the larger exits on this level.”  From his belt he pulled out his map, normally used for tracking people, right now he merely unrolled it for them to look at.  He rested a finger on its surface,
 
“There’s one here,” he slid his finger to another spot, “and here.  We have a few options: we split up and wait at each one on our own; we move through the vents separated; or we take our luck staying together and trying both.  All have their own negative possibilities…”  When the server approached their table he ordered himself a pitcher of iced water and a decently sized meal of fish and vegetables.  

Aries smiled. It was always nice to get someone interested in her work. She pulled out her journal and showed him some of the proofs she'd been working on. "It's called projectile physics; basically, everything falls pretty predictably, as long as it's not going TOO fast. The man who taught me this" she didn't want to reveal that there was another journal that she'd left at home, for some reason, "measured the acceleration to be 29 feet per second per second, but I've gotten it around 32. A couple of experiments have shown this to be a lot more accurate."

Aries was impressed with his offer for magic help. Not too many people were willing to give out their secrets of magic– at least, not that she'd encountered. She was almost entirely self-taught, learning from books and the like. "I really appreciate that, and perhaps I'll take you up on it at some point. If YOU ever want assistance in mathematics, you're welcome to ask!"

Aries looked at the map with interest, and listened to the possibilities. "Well, I'm a novice, so it might be better if I stayed with you… Then again, it might not be TOO difficult for me to signal you, as the vents likely echo pretty far and wide, and I can fend it off with my fire until you get there, if need be." She sighed. "I dunno, though; I just feel… Uneasy about us splitting up. You're the veteran here, what do you think?"

His eyes lifted back up to hers as she spoke, and they slowly widened the more she said.  Most of what she was talking about were things he never would have thought of, needless to say any form of ‘physics’ he would have learned would have been drastically different in comparison.  If he’d learned at all.  In a moment of pure rarity, a sheepish smile formed ever so briefly on his lips, “I might do that you know.  Take you up on that offer…”  It would be nice to advance himself, though he was still nervous that a lot of it would end up going over his head completely.  

What she said made sense, and he seemed to do a lot of that naturally just from having done work with different weapons in different conditions for so long, but he hadn’t thought about it in a mathematic way.  It was interesting.  Why had the school turned her away…?  It couldn’t simply be because she’d yet to advance herself in magick and psionics could it…?  If anything that would urge him to want to help her achieve that advancement in skill even more.  But, that was a discussion for after they were finished.

He gently shook his head, “Think nothing of it: that’s exactly why I wanted to ask you your thoughts.  You’re uneasy splitting up, and that’s more than enough reason for me not to do it.  All it means is we tighten our planning is all.”  When his pitcher was brought along with a glass, he filled it and took a long drink, letting the coolness of it ease his throat.  Forget eating, when had been the last time he’d had something to drink…?  He topped it off before continuing,

“If we’re to stay together then I think the best course of action would be to make it into the vents before nightfall.  Get the jump on it so to speak.  There should be a center point for the vent ways, it would likely be best to make it there as it has the most likelihood of the creature passing through.”  Aside from that, the closer they were to it, the easier it would be for him to try and sense it out.  Using smell would be difficult due to the varying scents that would be in such a place, as well as the fact that he wasn’t entirely sure what it would even smell like to begin with; but every living thing held an aura…and that would be how he’d scout it.  Still, that brought up another variable to consider,

“The only downside to that is that we’ll be much more enclosed than taking it head on outside.  We’ll need to be at our most vigilant.  It’s known to move swiftly and silently, being blind would only aid it in proper control of that.”  He nodded towards her and rolled the map back up, replacing it into his belt, “For now though, fill your stomach.  Pay no mind to expense, I’ll cover anything you’d like to eat or drink tonight.”

Aries's father had taught her one rule when you went out to eat: if someone you're not dating offers to pay, you get the cheapest thing on the menu. And so, she did as much; it was a rather hearty stew, and Aries figured she'd have gotten it even if she weren't getting the cheapest thing. She also got a large glass of water for herself.

"Thanks for the food!" After getting a few bites, Aries followed up on what he said: "Isn't going in the vents kinda… Unhealthy? I've heard some pretty horrible stories about the people that are around them for too long. They get all deformed and stuff. It's… Sad.

"I mean, I'm fine with like, going underground and everything, I just don't want to like, grow a third arm or anything." She realized after a moment that that was kind of a messed up thing to say. "Sorry, insensitive. I'm just wondering if it'll be okay to go down there."

He arched an eyebrow when he realized that though her stew was a hearty one, it was the least expensive thing that the tavern offered.  Though he recognized and understood humility, so he made no mention of the fact.  He ate his fish, always mindful of bones and the like and both of his eyebrows raised at her concern with the vents.  This is what he had been speaking to her about earlier: using magick as a crutch, and he’d just been a shining example of it.  He’d been keeping himself safe from such dangers for so long, and without the fragility that humans had, that he’d actually briefly forgotten that she didn’t have such abilities.  Either way she would be safe and he shook his head to reassure her,

“You’re right to be concerned, but we won’t be in the vent-ways long enough for it to be particularly deadly or deforming.  Aside from that I’m quite adept at casting on others and will keep you under the same protection I use for myself whenever I have need to go to such places.  If you trust me that is.  Either way, I won’t keep us there longer than a half hour…any much longer would be a waste into our night and we’d need to go forward from there.”  It was then that he decided to tell her of the possibility that this could be a prolonged job.  She of course wouldn’t be expected to stay through the entire ordeal, even having her for just this one night would be more than enough,

“Truth be told they don’t expect me, or anyone for that matter, to get it sorted out in one night: I’m just a bit of an overachiever.  There’s a chance we won’t be able to rid the island of this creature tonight, and if that’s the case then know that you are under no obligation to continue.  You will be paid properly whichever you choose.”  He smiled before taking his glass and downing the remnants of the water.  From his pitcher he refilled his glass again and topped hers off as well, “If the vent doesn’t work out then I have an idea of what we can do…it’s a bit more technical than what I’d normally do and would need perfect timing, but it’s worth a shot.”  

He paused briefly, working through it in his mind one more time, “I won’t put you in a situation where you’ll have to be alone, but we can do a bit of an alteration of my other plan.  We stay together and wait at the mouth of one of the main exits of the vent, and I can project my consciousness to the other.  If the beast is there I can teleport us to that location together and we’ll have the element of surprise.  Though,”  His smile returned, wider than before, “that’s also on the premise that you’ll trust me to do so.”  After all, not everyone was comfortable with teleporting even on their own, much less with a person they’d only known for an hour.

Aries finished the stew, licking her lips as she did. She was doing her best to remember her manners, having been raised in a rather small village. Naota seemed to have caught on to what she was doing with the ordering of the stew, but he didn't say anything, for which she was grateful. 

After he mentioned that he usually had some kind of spell on to protect himself, Aries got excited. "Ooooh, is it Archcure? When I was a little kid, I wanted to be a healer for the military, but it was just a stupid kid's dream– you know how it goes. And anyway, my current passion is so much more fulfilling. But I've always been interested in playing a support role for people– enchanting, shielding, you know, stuff like that. That's what I really enjoy."

Aries almost laughed at his "if you trust me" statement. "I've been called naive to a fault; I trust you, don't worry. You already could have hurt me or kidnapped me or whatever if that's what you were planning. " 

And, of course, she had kind of figured that this might be a longer job; as a hunter, she knew pretty well that you couldn't always count on your target being where you expect it to be. "I'll stick with you to the end, don't worry. Although, if it DOES last past tonight, do you think you could pay me early? I think having the advantage of even novice elemental spells could really help later on…"

Finally, she added, "As I said, I trust you. Teleportation is fine." After a second of silence, Aries couldn't stop her curiosity. "So, uhm, I'm curious, what race are you? Like, from what you've told me you're a pretty advanced mage and stuff, but most humans that reach that point at least look a lot older than you. If you don't mind my asking, of course."

His eyes softened as he listened to her.  He didn’t think that her dream of being a military healer was stupid at all, but he’d let her finish before putting in his opinions.  As she spoke he realized how similar they were in that aspect: he always preferred to be the supporting member of a team.  When he had been younger he’d been part of a band that constantly raided dungeons, and he recalled it fondly.  That was so long ago he was still surprised he remembered it so well, he’d not even been twenty…But he was proud of the fact that despite his age he’d been able to keep them all safe.  Though it was much more draining on him then than it would be now.  Given his profession, most wouldn’t think that about him but he was largely a pacifist.  

He nodded instantly, “I’ll pay you each night that you stay.  In full, you won’t have to worry about that.”  Truth be told he had more coin than he could ever possibly need, that wasn’t why he took on the jobs that he did…though he’d make sure he was paid either way.  Doing a job for free was one thing, going back on your word and honor after already promising to pay?  That was another.  It was the principle of the thing.  “I can help you with those spells if you’d like, know that even after this job is over my offer will always stand with that.”  He liked being able to help others, and while he wasn’t as adept with working with those that had purchased a spell he had enough training in his own abilities that he was more than comfortable.

When she asked about him it caught him off guard.  His lips parted and his eyes widened in a way that could almost be called innocent.  When was the last time anyone had even asked about what he was…?  He’d met so many people over the last few decades and it was never a topic that came up, probably due to the vast diversity of Revaliir, but still: it was rare to be asked.  His fingers took a cleaned bone from the plate, moving it slowly between his fingers, twirling it over his knuckles with practiced dexterity as he thought on how to answer that very wide question, “Honestly?”  He paused for just a moment before continuing,

“I’m not entirely sure what I am.  I come from an adopted human family and was never even made aware of the fact until I was nearing thirty years of age.”  For a half second he thought back to his first reunion with his sister in the bamboo forest… “I’ve been told my mother was a human and my father was a demon.”  He didn’t mention the fact that he had an entire other being sharing his body with him…Minasé was dangerous and complicated, and he didn’t want to draw attention to the daemon seeing as he was dormant so far.  Bringing him attention always made it worse,

“You call me a mage, but I was never taught how to obtain my skills.  I was born with them, so really I was just taught how to control and manipulate them.  What you call Archcure is entirely different to me.  I’m able to keep myself safe from many poisons and debilitating things to an extent, so I was trained on how to extend that power to others.  A skill you would call Archcure.”  His lips pulled in and he moved his eyes away.  It was strange to be talking about himself this much, he wasn’t used to being the focus of attention in such an obvious way, or at all really.

His voice grew softer, more distant, “If you can believe it I’m nearing the age of sixty five.”  His eyes moved back to her, keeping her gaze now, “Somewhere in my early twenties I stopped aging physically…I’m not entirely sure as to why.  Every day I’m trying to move closer to finding out more about who I am and where I’ve come from.”  A small smile formed on his lips, his eyes softening again, “Luckily I’m a good guy.”  He was lightly teasing with that, trying to bring the mood back from being so solemn.

Aries was quite happy that he was willing to pay. "As long as you're paying me, I'll come along! To an extent, of course. I do have a life I want to live out eventually." Again, his offer for spell help was admirable, and Aries said "If I have problems with a spell, you're the first person I'll come to."

After she asked about his race, his expression changed pretty drastically. Aries was no savant at body language– in fact, she was really poor at it, and had a lot of trouble with people because of that. However, his body language was pretty obviously… Well, Aries couldn't put her finger on it. It was like a bunch at once.

She imagined, for a moment, finding out that you weren't human until you were thirty. She was still a few years from that; she would still be walking around thinking she was a human. It seemed almost… Cruel. Aries tried not to be quick to judge, though; perhaps his parents had their reasons.

And with the demon part, she saw it. Aries did her best not to react outwardly– after all, Naota was a fine person– but demons freaked her out. She'd met one only one demon in her life time, and that hadn't been a pleasant experience. Half demons, she'd met a few more, and they were generally unpleasant, although she'd known three or four– Naota included– to be decent. "I bet you've faced a lot of opposition because of your ancestry. I'm sorry." And it was true– Aries despised the ways a lot of the half-races were treated by the full blooded folks.

She listened with interest to his talking about magic. "How interesting. I mean, I've always had a pretty deep interest in magic, so it was natural that I learned how to do it ASAP… But to just, know it innately? What's that like?"

Finally, he divulged his age. Aries did react to this one. "Sixty five? Can I have–" She was about to ask, "Can I have a skin sample," but thought that might be weird. "Wow golly. That's… I wonder…" Aries mumbled to herself for a moment. "… Magically? But then…. Well I dunno… Maybe I really should ask for a sample… I'm not a biologist, but…"

After a moment, she shook herself. "Sorry, I was thinking of possibilities." Aries, after a second, realized that he'd been rather solemn. "Er, that was insensitive. If you ever want help finding out like, who you are, I could maybe help out. I mean, I'm not, like, super connected, but my investigative skills are alright, and I actually know a few scientists who keep up with my work, so if there were any questions in that rhealm that you might have…?"