His piercing gaze penetrates the door frame as he continues inspecting it alongside his internal contemplation. "Hmm doesn't seem like it's reinforced, perhaps he believes the external guards will be enough... but I'm not naive enough to believe that." Thinking upon this issue he continues inspecting the door before concluding. "For a high-ranking mage of the Atrasal Society, there should at least be something here." With that thought prompting his gaze to sharpen and squint as he examines the door, he then begins to summon magical energy from his body and focuses it upon the door. Deprendo Incantatio. Orpheus chants under his breath as waves of ethereal energy emanate from his palm, the waves ripple outward and consume the door, seeping through the wood and permeating the room.
Closing his eyes, mysterious shapes begin to appear before him as if he is peering into the very elemental make-up of the world. Casting his gaze upon the door he witnesses an odd emanation separate from his own energy. The door is layered in resounding energy vibrating off sequentially in a self-repeating pattern, similar to an image of sound waves. Gazing at the door, Orpheus grins in satisfaction as he mutters to himself in a low voice. "Well, an alarm spell, a bit simplistic but then again it is quite effective... If I were to open this door and enter, the caster would be immediately alerted to the presence of an intruder." A smile widens upon his face as his meagre respect of Arnas Ekron quickly plummets into the black void of irrelevance.
Lifting his gaze back to the door he focuses his energy into a wider area and filters into the room as he grasps the flow of magic within. With his eyes closed, he gazes at the appearance of ethereal chains waving in the air like snakes protruding from the walls. Casting his gaze again to the walls from left to right he looks upon a familiar emanation of magic similar to sensory energy. Looking upon these glistening forms of magical energy within the room, Orpheus speaks again under his breath. "Restraining magic accompanied by a magical sensory organ, hmm... I'll admit that's pretty clever." Chuckling at this moderately impressive feat of magical ingenuity, Orpheus begins to think to himself. "If I were to enter, Arnas would immediately be alerted, I would be restrained with magical chains and the sensory magic would reveal to him exactly who has infiltrated his room." With his thought finished and his smile along with soft laughter fading, his expression changes to one of complete confidence.
Creaking his neck from left to right he speaks in a soft tone once more. "Most mages would have a tough time with this... Haha yes, most." His gaze suddenly holds firm as he withdraws his palm from the door and stenches both his hand to the left and right, palms facing up as if praying. Inhaling a deep breath and focusing all his magical energy inwards, he begins to chant in a soft tone. Praestrigiae Indespectus. With those simple words, his visage slowly fades away until he is completely imperceptible to the human eye. Praestrigiae Secretum. Focusing his magic inwards, he layers himself in ethereal energy spurned by the second spell causing all aspects of his presence to disappear completely such as sound, mass and even the appearance of his magic vanishes from the spectrum.
A familiar sensation is felt from his body akin to exhaustion as he utilizes substantial mana for the spells, he then begins to calm his breathing and chant once more. Subcinctus Egomet. After softly speaking those arcane words his sense of location immediately shifts as the image of Arnas's study dawns in his mind. Immediately his environment changes to that of the very study he pictured. Appearing in the centre of the room, he begins surveying his surroundings, with his spell's in effect he remains completely imperceptible. His gaze fills with the image of magical energy surrounding from the ethereal chains on the walls and the sensory organs as well. In front of him is a large wooden desk with several pieces of parchment stacked upon it, to his left and right are bookshelves with many arcane books stacked neatly. To the right of his desk is a small table similar to a crude alter with several runic carvings upon it.
Orpheus waits for a moment, after determining that the coast is clear and the flow of magic in the room is at a safe minimum, indicating he hasn't been discovered yet. He then steps forward with confidence whilst his very feet produce no noise from his completely erased presence. Moving towards the desk he turns to the left and gets behind the desk, standing next to the simple wooden chair. He then places his two palms upon the desk he immediately inspects several parchments as he muses to himself.
Amongst the sea of words written, his gaze immediately moves to several bunched together before pondering to himself "What's this, a letter from Merchant Branigan, I apologise Court Wizard Arnas Ekron, but your request to make use of the trade routes to ferry goods from the Atrasal Society is ill-advised, the trade routes are subject to bandit and goblin attacks, once the brigands have been dealt with, then we will take your request under advisement." Reading the letter quickly he begins to softly mutter the words upon the page but no sound comes from his lips. Brushing aside the several pages as if the wind were wafting in, Orpheus continues to inspect several others whilst muttering the contents. "This one here is a request order for goods from the Atrasal Society..." He softly mutters as peruses the list of goods, after a few moments he slightly grunts and mutters again. "Potion Ingredients, Amethyst and Hermatite ore, Sodalite stones and... that's strange a large order of Lapis Lazuli crystals, a case of about two hundred." Orpheus voice shifts as he ponders this strange occurrence.
Placing his invisible hand upon the page lightly touching the word Lapis Lazuli, his mind shifts to serious thoughts about this particular substance. "That's an odd request of the Society, Lapis Lazuli is a substance that is perfect for enchantment with illusion-based magic... I suppose it would be also efficient for countering illusion spells as well, but still, an order of two hundred is staggering." Shifting his gaze to the right, he further contemplates this strange piece of information. "I'd understand if these are for the royal family to protect them, but this large quantity is concerning, why does he need so much... then again there is a lesser-known use for this particular substance... it can be used for enchanting mental manipulation type spells, usually low-level ones, but still." With several thoughts welling in his mind he slowly rises to an upright posture after inspecting several other parchments.
Finding nothing he then reaches for the small drawer below the desk, grasping the left side handle with his left hand he pulls it slowly. Opening the draw, he gazes upon several parchments along with a single book, grasping the book with his left hand he begins to inspect it. With his gaze cast upon the book's spine, he sees that the spine has been cracked indelicately and a string bookmark folded into the pages. Looking upon the cover he mutters the title of the book in a low voice even though he produces no sound and doesn't need to. "The Histories and Legends of the Great Magus Kings Volume One." Curiosity begins to peak within Orpheus's mind as he opens the book to the bookmarked page.
The appearance of an elegant drawing can be seen on the left side page, illustrating a black-cloaked man holding a staff in the air as he stands upon a hill, several bowing worshippers are drawn below him. At the top of the page is a large title, Orpheus chuckles to himself as he begins to read the page. "The Magus King Hagavard of the Black Abyss... such a pretentious name, also known as the Conjurer of Death and the Swirling Scourge of Death." Reading the several titles of the undead necromancer he killed not too long ago, Orpheus chuckles nostalgically as he recollects upon the sight of his blade in the man's back. Swaying his head from left to right he continues reading the next page, ignoring the large paragraphs denoting the man's history and deeds.
On the right page, he witnesses a crude illustration of a staff, intricately carved with a stone housed on the tip. The image of the staff brings memories of the powerful staff he wielded as the spitting image of it appeared before him, he then continues reading the page. "The staff of Desolation, wielded by its absolute master the Magus King Hagavard, using its supreme power to command a legion of undead composed of the corpses of his citizens and enemies, his army wreaked havoc and seized the land for himself, declaring himself it's absolute ruler, his kingdom stretched from the Dread Forest and bordered the Atrasal Society." Intrigued by the words he continues reading. "His power was absolute yet his reign lasted for only half a century, his populace revolted against him and allied with the Hero Oromus the Holy Knight, who slew the Magus King in single combat with his sword Heavens Wrath." Orpheus still muttering to himself, grunted slightly as he examined the pages.
Closing the book as his gaze turns to the doorway and then back to the opened draw, he then places the book carefully back into the drawer and closes it. Standing straight he immediately slumps down upon the chair behind him and places his feet on the desk in a comfortable fashion. With his neck leaned back against the backrest he stares deeply into the ceiling will internally pondering. "What pretentious names... Heavens Wrath, Oromus the Holy Knight huh... well I suppose Mavrath is a bit pretentious as well." After musing on the several names, he has just learned; he chuckles in a self-mocking tone.
Still relaxing on the chair, a stare's off into the distance whilst continuing his train of thought. "Seems like there is nothing here... nothing to indicate whether or not he stole my staff, all there is, are some shady trade deals with the Society and some research into the staff's history." Leaning further back into the chair he sighs in unsatisfaction and gives off a bored air about himself. A few minutes later he lifts his head forward and darts his gaze from left to right, before muttering to himself again. "But if there is nothing here, why this much security, is it just for the grimoires on the bookshelves, I mean they are pretty valuable but still..." With confusion in his voice, he leans back onto the chair and attempts to wrap his brain around the problem.
Orpheus continues to ponder several scenarios in his head before enlightenment suddenly hits like a lightning strike. Rising from his chair suddenly he walks around the desk and stands in the centre of the room, waiting a moment he looks from the left to the right. "There must be something here, something hidden by magic, but why can't I see the residue of magical energy... unless." Orpheus mutters to himself before casting his gaze to the bookshelf to his right, walking towards it, he grabs its right side and pushes it across the wall. After exerting himself and moving the bookshelf he glares at the wall behind it. Magical energy emanates from the wall in the shape of a square roughly thirty centimetres long and thirty centimetres wide.
Orpheus smirks at the sight before placing his right palm in the centre of the square, his gaze grows narrower as he concentrates his mana in a single point. A few seconds go by and his hand jerks back as if feeling a static shock, Orpheus clenches his fist over and over before understanding the object before him. "Mana seal, these things are annoying, a lock tailored to the casters own magical energy." Whilst gazing at his retracted palm, he sighs in disappointment as if his plans had suddenly met an impassable mountain. Orpheus moves the bookshelf back, then turns around, he then begins to pace back and forth in the centre of the room whilst muttering gibberish for a few minutes.
After a short amount of time goes by, Orpheus begins heading towards the exit, reaching for the door handle with his right hand, the handle begins to radiate a rattling sound. He recoils his hand immediately from the rattling door handle and immediately steps back a few feet. With a loud click, the door unlocks and starts to open, Orpheus now standing in the centre of the room gazes at the opened door with curiosity. Passing through the door are two people as different from each other as the day would be from the night.
Orpheus moves off to the left side of the room as they pass across him and make their way to the desk. One of the people was an elderly man in a white finely tailored wizards robe, greyish short hair and pronounced beard. His light green eyes portray a youthful vigour in comparison to the mass of wrinkles upon his face. This was none other than the Court Wizard Arnas Ekron who immediately moves towards the desk, he hunches over with his palms to the desk. Behind him is a young woman in her early twenties, reddish fiery hair, light blue eyes the colour of a clear ocean and being five and a half feet tall wearing a similar white robe. Orpheus identifies her as Leila his former classmate and friend from the Atrasal Society, a person unfortunately from his not so distant past.
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Leila closes the two doors behind her, places her hands interlocked in front of her and makes her way to the centre of the room. Orpheus continues to observe the events, whilst invisible and slowly moves towards the left corner just behind the desk and leans his back against the wall. His gaze casts to the surroundings as he witnesses the magical chains and sensory organs in the wall vanish without a trace. Orpheus places his gaze to the floor as he internally ponders this event. "The magic is being dispersed, why... perhaps Arnas's presence is dispelling them, I'll admit that's somewhat impressive." Orpheus thinks to himself with a bland smile as he continues to observe the two people.
Arnas hunched over grabs a parchment from his desk, turns around and faces Leila as she stands straight with her hands folded. Arnas lifts the parchment in his right hand and begins to speak whilst blazing a hostile expression to the relatively expressionless Leila. "This is unacceptable, how dare this lowly merchant deny my request." With the blazing inferno of his tantrum, Arnas opens the parchment with both hands and begins parroting the words. "I apologise Court Wizard but your request is ill-advised... what because of some goblins and road thugs, this lowly merchant mocks the Atrasal Society." Scrunching up the parchment violently with both hands he flings it to the floor. Leila remains expressionless as if this situation was all too familiar.
Arnas turns back to the table, grabs another parchment and then immediately hands the crumpled-up paper to Leila. Leila reaches out, firmly, grasps the parchment in both hands and attempts to tug it away. Whilst pulling on the parchment she feels a minor resistance as Arnas leans in close and speaks with a menacing tone. "You will go see the High Merchant and convince that fool to accept my request!" With his aggressive tone and piercing gaze, he looks cruelly at Leila, who looks back with not a single note of anxiousness as Arnas continues. "You got it, now leave, for I have important work to do." Arnas immediately turns away and moves around the desk, towards the chair.
Leila looks back at Arnas with her patented expressionless face, before saying two words in a dignified tone. "Of course." After speaking she nods her head slightly as Arnas stands just in front of his chair and casts another hostile gaze. Orpheus observing these events begins stepping towards Arnas as the elderly man slowly leans back. Orpheus puts forth his left foot and slowly pushes the chair back towards the wall, just as Arnas sits down. Arnas then falls through the air and lands hard upon the stone floor, injuring his backside and spine. With the loud thud, Orpheus chuckles at this sudden misfortune of the Court Wizard, as he lays upon the floor with his back to the chair.
Stepping back to the wall, he turns to Leila who is sporting a slight smile as if she is about to burst out in laughter but easily controlling the urge. Arnas grunts loudly and quickly ascends to his feet, grabbing the desk with his right hand to support himself he casts another hostile gaze to Leila. Leila immediately diminishes her smile before returning to her expressionless appearance. Standing straight Arnas gazes at Leila and begins to speak with slight pain in his voice. "You think that's funny huh... well after you get back from this simple job, I have got some ancient texts for you to translate, now go, leave my sight." With his narrowed eyebrows and hostility, he waves his right hand, prompting Leila to exit. Leila immediately nods and begins to turn around before stopping suddenly.
Her spectacled gaze casts to the corner of the room as she takes off her circular glasses, revealing her freckled face. Orpheus looks back as if he had just been spotted by Leila's piercing gaze. Leila flashes a confused expression as she gazes at the accumulation of residual magical energy surrounding the room. Peering at the corner she witnesses an odd sight, a large dark spot as if a void were no magical energy existed. The large darkened void appears almost six feet high and a few feet wide, she stares for a moment before placing her glasses back on and leaving the room.
Arnas sighs before turning to the chair behind him and seats himself in a comfortable but slouching manner. Orpheus steps forward next to the desk and casts his gaze towards the closed door, before muttering to himself. "Did... did she just see me, but how, that shouldn't be possible... I should be wary of her in the future." Sporting a confused tone in his voice, he looks back towards Arnas, the elderly man slumps back onto his seat as if tired. Orpheus gazes at Arnas as impatience begins swelling up from inside and he sighs. "Damn looks like he may stick around for a while." Orpheus states as he casts his gaze to the left and then to the right, surveying the room once more.
He turns in the direction of the exit and walks forward, stopping just in the centre of the room he turns to the bookshelf. With his eyes darting across, he examines each spine and commits several titles to memory. After a few moments, he begins humming in a rhythmic tone as his head bobs from left to right, going from each book to the next. The humming can be heard by himself, but the moment the sound waves reach the magical barrier surrounding his body, it immediately dissipates into silence.
Orpheus hums for a few moments before he begins softly singing to himself, the soft music coming from his lips, fills him with a strange sense of nostalgia with every lyric uttered. "No matter how far you roam... You will always find your home... Because the path is shining bright, even in the deepness of the night... As your steps move further away, your heart is here to stay... No matter how far you roam... I will always be your home." He sings to himself as he peruses the vast selection of reading material. The song he half muttered to himself provides kindling to the fire of the past surging from within, after singing the chorus, the faint memories begin to emerge. The faded image of a woman appears in his mind, her appearance and features are dim as if his memory were heavily censored by the degradation of time. The memory of a sweet and caring voice humming the same tune as her hand stenches forth and caresses his face.
The memory continues to flutter in his mind before immediately being dispersed from a loud thud. Orpheus turns his gaze to the desk and witnesses Arnas withdraw a large book from the left side table drawer. Opening the book to the marked page, Arnas's eyes grow wide as if peering into the abyss of greed and lust. Arnas then begins stroking his right hand upon the page, with his left hand cradling the book as he mutters to himself. "I can't wait to gaze upon this magnificent artefact." Arnas says with a wide grin and gleeful expression as if gazing upon the greatest object of his desires.
Orpheus moves towards Arnas, passing across the desk and peers at the book. Seeing an image of the familiar staff, he steps back and begins thinking to himself. "Hmm this could mean he is the culprit that stole the staff, but it's not conclusive yet... you're lucky you're just a person of interest and maintain a high position if it weren't for that... I would have already got what I needed." His thoughts spur a feeling of impatience directed towards the limitations of secrecy, with these bubbling emotions, he quickly sates them for the time being.
Whilst pondering his next move, Orpheus turns his head back to the bookshelf and with a short lingering gaze, the sparks of enlightenment ignite within his mind. He turns back to Arnas, who is still gawking at the image of the staff, Orpheus leans forward and places his right palm gently on the desk. With his face moving closer to the seated Arnas, he moves his left index finger and points it at Arnas's right hand, grasping the pages. His eyes lock to the man's right index finger as he jerks his hand in a slicing motion, whilst chanting. Sculpo. Suddenly a deep cut opens up on Arnas's finger with a meagre amount of blood spews outwards, staining the desk with droplets. Arnas grunts in pain before dropping the book onto the desk and clenches his right hand. Arnas gazes at his sudden minor wound with confusion, before turning his gaze to the sharp edges of the book.
His face scowls in anger as he begins to voice his frustrations. "Damn it." Voicing his pain and anger, he starts to wave his hand lightly in a trivial attempt to endure the pain. He then attempts to grasp his finger with his free hand and apply pressure to the wound. Suddenly a loud knocking sound can be heard at the door, Arnas quickly turns his averted gaze to the door.
Several sequential thuds can be heard through the door as a voice rings out from behind the think piece of wood. "Court Wizard Arnas Ekron, his majesty requires your presence." The soft and pleasant voice behind the door reaches Anas's ears, spurring his immediate action. With his left hand, he grasps the book beside him and places it back into the drawer and closes it. He then quickly rises to his feet and makes his way towards the door, whilst clenching his right fist. He grasps the doorknob with his left hand he slightly opens the door, with his gaze peering out, a faint voice can be heard once more. "Please come with me." Arnas nods and prepares to exit the room, before leaving he leans back into the room and flutters his left hand and then shuts the door.
The moment the door closes the mystical chains and sensory organs awaken from their slumber and begin making their presence known, to Orpheus's sensory magic. Orpheus surveys the room once again before leaning over the desk and placing his left finger on a small droplet of blood. Bringing the drop of blood to his face, he starts to inspect it with a keen gaze, his right hand then immediately reaches for his belt bag and rummages for a few seconds. After a while, he pulls out a small empty vial and carefully drops the blood inside and seals it with a small cork. Inspecting the vial, he smiles faintly before placing the vial in his belt bag as he begins to think to himself. "Not much, so I should use it sparingly." With that thought, he leans over the desk and places his finger on another droplet of blood.
Turning to the bookshelf he walks towards it and begins pushing it aside to reveal the concealed mana seal lock indented in the wall. Raising his left-hand wielding the droplet of Arnas's blood, his gaze inspects it further as he mutters to himself. "You should be more careful with your blood Court Wizard... who knows what someone might do with it." Muttering in a low voice he grins as if his evil machinations are suddenly assured. Orpheus continues gazing intently at the drop of blood, his eyes pierce through the energy surrounding it, as he looks deep within. Suddenly he closes his eyes and calms his breathing, the image of swirling and spiralling energy appears in his mind as he fathoms the true nature of all existence. From a stone castle towering above everything to this meagre droplet of blood, from his perspective there was no difference. It was all energy granted form by the limitations of mortal minds; he concentrates harder as the mental image of energy swirls faster, with this he opens his eyes and gazes at the blood.
Upon his finger was a red droplet with faint sparks of ethereal energy emanating from it, suddenly appearing out of nowhere or more accurately it was there all along. Orpheus smirks at the sight, before beginning a new chant. Mutare Sanguis Magus. The droplet of blood perched on his finger immediately evaporates into shining and swirling ethereal energy, imperceptible to the untrained eye. The swirling blue and white energy levitate in his palm, he then guides the energy to the mana seal and presses his palm against it. The mana seal absorbs the energy and glows brightly, the emanating light changes to a darkened green and the indent opens like a safe.
The small opened latch reveals a small square indent in the wall, roughly sixty centimetres in-depth. Orpheus peers inside and witnesses five large pouches, filled to the brim with gold coins, to the left, is a small red notebook, ignoring the massive wealth Orpheus grabs the notebook. Opening the first page he reads a long list of items with two different quantities and total values neatly written next to each other. Reading the list, Orpheus begins to quickly shuffle through pages, whilst still analysing every word. Reaching the end of the pages, he closes the book and places it back into the wall indent. Pulling his hand back, the little cove seals itself automictically and becomes a seemingly typical wall.
Orpheus turns around and casts his gaze at the door right before chanting another spell. Subcinctus Egomet. Suddenly the ground and his surroundings vanish for a moment before he reappears outside Arnas's study, just in front of the door. Immediately appearing in a familiar environment, he surveys the hallway for a few seconds, before becoming satisfied that he is alone. Sighing in relief he calls his breathing and centres his body in complete relaxation, the energy concealing his presence melts away and he immediately becomes visible again. Satisfied with his appearance he begins walking down the hallway towards the foray once more.