The smile on the man's mouth is mostly amicable, but the squint and glint to his eyes under the myriad glow of the crystals shadows his face in all the wrong places for Zelos to find the expression calming. "Quite a fine day indeed, eh lad?" the man laughs. "Though I guess that's more subjective than anything when you're buried underground with no other light than a bunch of ether crystals around, huh." He pauses here, shrugs, and scoffs. "Scratch that. A bunch of ether crystals, and the powerful light of a blade's own ether lines and core, sure."
Something about the situation runs a quick shiver down Zelos' spine. Being stopped in the middle of their path by a babbling old man is already a huge red flag, but the fact that Anna had reassured them that these mines were supposed to be abandoned for years due to their concentrated ether sets a stone of dread at the base of Zelos' gut. They've got three humans to worry about in this group--because, blade eater or not, Anna's still human--so they cannot afford to stop here, the urgency palpable from the moment they entered the mines, but this guy, he doesn't even try to look concerned.
Something's off. Something is very, very dangerously off.
As naturally as he can make it seem, Zelos straightens his posture and moves slightly so that the capelet Sheena got him at the start of this mess can hide his core crystal better. "Yeah, but that still ain't a replacement for sunlight, old man," Zelos jokes, successfully pushing down and hiding most of his anxiety from his mask. He licks his lips, shrugs. "Don't worry, though. If you're lost, you--"
"Any of you folks familiar with ether crystal mining and trading, huh?" the man interrupts, walking over to one of the crystals protruding from the wall, setting a hand on the smooth surface of the rock like it's nothing. Alarms immediately start blaring in Zelos' mind, anxious energy bouncing in his core as he slowly inhales and exhales. The man grins. "I'll let you all in on a few secrets of the trade, then: the point is always to get the purest, most powerful crystals to sell. Knowing where to get 'em and who to trade with is what gets you quick gold in the first place. And the rarer the wares, the better the reward."
Subconsciously, Zelos takes a slow step back while maintaining the easy, calm face. Oh, that's bad. That's really fucking bad. In a desperate attempt to gain some sort of an upper hand on the situation, Zelos taps into the ambient ether to try and feel for any other signatures, but the sheer amount of concentrated ether in the air blocks most of his senses like a thick miasma that chokes at him from within. He tries anyway, though, reaching anywhere and everywhere for anything that may feel strange or out of place or even the slightest bit dangerous.
He has to try, damn it. He has to do something before this gets out of hand.
Before them the man hums, drops his hand from the ether crystal he'd been patting at. Sighing, he nonchalantly reaches for his back pocket and pulls out both a cigar and a lighter. "And I've gotta say," he says, lighting the cigar, "that there ain't nothing rarer than an Aegis out there, that's for sure."
YOU KIDS WANNA BUY SOME ETHER CRYSTALS
Something about the situation runs a quick shiver down Zelos' spine. Being stopped in the middle of their path by a babbling old man is already a huge red flag, but the fact that Anna had reassured them that these mines were supposed to be abandoned for years due to their concentrated ether sets a stone of dread at the base of Zelos' gut. They've got three humans to worry about in this group--because, blade eater or not, Anna's still human--so they cannot afford to stop here, the urgency palpable from the moment they entered the mines, but this guy, he doesn't even try to look concerned.
Something's off. Something is very, very dangerously off.
As naturally as he can make it seem, Zelos straightens his posture and moves slightly so that the capelet Sheena got him at the start of this mess can hide his core crystal better. "Yeah, but that still ain't a replacement for sunlight, old man," Zelos jokes, successfully pushing down and hiding most of his anxiety from his mask. He licks his lips, shrugs. "Don't worry, though. If you're lost, you--"
"Any of you folks familiar with ether crystal mining and trading, huh?" the man interrupts, walking over to one of the crystals protruding from the wall, setting a hand on the smooth surface of the rock like it's nothing. Alarms immediately start blaring in Zelos' mind, anxious energy bouncing in his core as he slowly inhales and exhales. The man grins. "I'll let you all in on a few secrets of the trade, then: the point is always to get the purest, most powerful crystals to sell. Knowing where to get 'em and who to trade with is what gets you quick gold in the first place. And the rarer the wares, the better the reward."
Subconsciously, Zelos takes a slow step back while maintaining the easy, calm face. Oh, that's bad. That's really fucking bad. In a desperate attempt to gain some sort of an upper hand on the situation, Zelos taps into the ambient ether to try and feel for any other signatures, but the sheer amount of concentrated ether in the air blocks most of his senses like a thick miasma that chokes at him from within. He tries anyway, though, reaching anywhere and everywhere for anything that may feel strange or out of place or even the slightest bit dangerous.
He has to try, damn it. He has to do something before this gets out of hand.
Before them the man hums, drops his hand from the ether crystal he'd been patting at. Sighing, he nonchalantly reaches for his back pocket and pulls out both a cigar and a lighter. "And I've gotta say," he says, lighting the cigar, "that there ain't nothing rarer than an Aegis out there, that's for sure."