Noel quickly made his way over to the Artisan building. Coming from all the way from Mercurius, the male had been running for a time longer than he was used to. His smokers lungs were getting worn out.

A situation had unfolded ten minutes previous, that included Noel standing amid the square in front of a royal palace named Mercurius. A robbery had taken place in the thick crowd on the square. Noel was in the crowd as it happened, witnessing the bare minimum of the robbery. The old lady in distress was loud enough for Noel to jump into action, not wanting to succumb to bystanders effect--he'd push himself through the crowd to get to the old lady.

The Lamia Scale wizard was keen on proving himself in places such as Crocus--a place he was convinced was dogshit. Mostly because he wanted to reinforce in his mind, that this place was a bad place to live in. To justify his hatred for this town. Though in ironic sense, he'd help out this town from fires from time to time, albeit rarely getting recognition for it.

Victim is an old lady, maybe seventy-years old. The robbers took a magic artifact which was in her purse. According to her, there were multiple suspects at play, two keeping her busy and one stealing her bag. It looked like a planned hit. Luckily her calls for help that were being shout into the cosmos were answered by Noel. Her worried expression was a perfect reflection of her desperation. This item was valuable.

"It was a Lich! The one that took my bag!"

"I'll get it back for you, don't worry!"

Unbeknownst to Noel, this lady was a Lich racist. He'd hear enough to know that he had to be quick, so he nodded and pushed himself out of the crowd and towards the general direction she pointed at. As he moved, her voice was starting to get drowned out by the crowd--leaving the Lamia Scale unable to hear the last bit of crucial information.

"It's always the Liches, they're always behind this!"

Noel began yelling at random civilians in the area. Hoping if they had an idea where they had run off to.

"Has anyone seen any Liches!?"

Badabing badaboom, he'd wind up with a few clues leading him to the Artisans building, where a skeleton like figure had been spotted sitting on one of the benches in front of the building. Noel thinking he was real clever, began to creep up to the lich from behind the bench. When he came close enough for the Lich to hear him, he'd speak.

"Split me the profit, or I'll cause a scene."

The skeleton turned to face Noel, who was unable to read any facial expression, or any body language, leaving him unable to tell what was going on. He'd squint his eyes, as if he was looking into the sun, listening to the skeleton talk. While partially fascinated by the way he could visibly see the jaw bones move. The skeleton explained how Noel could not have the wrong person--that he was correct in assuming that he robbed the old lady. A look of doubt tinted half his face, not very convinced by this

The chance of two skeletons appearing around the same place? Near zero if you'd ask Noel. As the skeleton began to elaborate on his innocence; the Lamia Scale wizard kept his distance. From what he could tell, the Lich was being honest with him--and more importantly, he shared his hatred of Rune Knights!? He'd interrupt him mid speech to insert his own thoughts into the dialogue of the Lich.

"You... you dislike the Rune Knights too?"

An eyebrow began to be raised by Noel, followed by half a smile. Maybe after all these years of fighting the good fight alone, a friend could be made--one that shares his disdain of the lousy Rune Knights?

Noel returned back to topic, and explained himself while leaving details out.

"Some old man was robbed on the square in front of Mercurius just now, said it was a Lich who did it."

Quickly it had become experiment time for Noel, who preferred learning new things in the field. He'd watch the Lich as he spoke, looking for any change that could be spotted with his naked eyes. It was a test, should the Lich react funny to Noel calling the victim a old man instead of old lady, he'd be scott-free according to his own judgement.

"Crocus is known for its bigotry, so it wouldn't surprise me if--"

He'd click with his tongue and shake his head--this man was innocent. Noel moved a few feet closer to the Lich, placing a hand on his own neck

"My name is Noel Raion."

The Lamia Scales fame was higher than the average, but given his long imprisonment, he shouldn't be of special note to the Lich. The same hand that was pressed against his neck now extended to the Lich. A handshake was offered, the universal gesture of greeting/meeting people.

"I have a lot of questions for you."

Sparkles started to ignite in Noels eyes, sparkles of general interest--Noel was previously employed as a doctor, he had a lot of questions about this physique. During his tenure, others have remarked him to have an ADHD like personality when stumbling upon interesting subjects.

"What happens when you eat or drink?"

"How old are you?"

Noel moved back a foot, pressing his hand against the bottom of his chin, curiously inspecting the Lich while firing a flurry of questions. One after another, it didn't matter to him if the Lich replied to them immediately.

"Do you have a functioning phallic?"

"Can you procreate?"

"What's your opinion on milk?"

"Do you grow hair?"

"Your bones, do they protect the various organs of your body, and produce red and white blood cells?"

"Do you even have organs?"

"Were you born a Lich?"

Amid the middle of Noel shooting off questions, if the Lich didn't mind, he'd sit next to him and face the Artisans building. He'd have long forgotten the predicament that led him here.

"Would you like to fuck with the Rune Knights with me?"

The Lich seemed quite hostile towards Noel. He talked about attacking Rune Knights in the past. Ironically, Noel has been known for standing at their side when shit really hit the fan, but not again today--nor in the future. Noel interlocked his fingers and let the palms of his hands rest against his belly while he continued to listen. Noel pursed his lips, crossing his legs while returning his gaze at the art building.

"Well, mon frien. I don't think we see eye-to-eye on this issue. Instead of senselessly beating Rune Knights to a pulp--"

Noel made sure there weren't anyone around that could overhear him before he continued talking.

"I desire to dissuade young magicians from joining the Rune Knights. I don't think they have a raison d'être"

He'd scratch his chin, the Lamia Scale wizard thought he had an alternative drive to stop the Rune Knights from existing, through different ways.

"To elaborate further, I don't wish senseless violence upon them--however if that is a means of stopping new talent from coming in, I'm all for it."

Noel looked back at the Lich, trying to peek into his soul beyond his eyes. Maybe there were answers there.

"Purely hypothetically speaking, if it were my wish to stop the Rune Knights from existing right this second; I'd apply a technique called divide and conquer."

It was at this time that Noel was searching for the responses of the Lich.

"Thing is, that'd require an industrious amount of effort. I'm way too lazy, passively influencing the opinions of common folk is a strategy I'd like to see succeeding."

Noel bobbed his head a little, as he'd delve further into explaining the intricacy of his thought process.

"If most people are of general opinion that the Rune Knights suck, they will stop supporting and respecting them."

The wizard brought his hand forward, weakly pointing at the Lich.

"Let's say you, Lichman McLichface, become a hero. Someone seen as a savior, your opinion weighing heavy by your followers. Maybe you say a bad thing about the Rune Knights, a well crafted lie--something like, 'Apparently, most squires are miserable and the captain-commander pays no care towards the squabbles of his underlings.'"

Noel interrupted his own dialogue to estimate the reactions of the Lich, giving him opportunity to talk too.

"Maybe you have a better plan of attack? Something that requires less energy and is more effective? Because in my eyes, attacking the Rune Knights and unleashing violence upon them will just create more of them."

Noel certainly managed to get the attention of the Lich--it took some explaining, but he believed that he was perceived as a strategic person. Someone worth listening to. The way his speech was influenced by his natural bravado could be seen as a very charismatic move. The Lich gave a hearty objection--making a point about how people won't be able to perceive him as a hero, as he naturally is perceived in a negative manner.

"If you can overcome the obstacles of what you're describing, people will admire you more than they would with another. Everyone loves an underdog story--even though I doubt it'd be appropriate in your context."

Noel interjected the Lichs dialogue with his own, he'd explain a bit further before continuing to listen to the Lich.

"For example, a convicted arson joining the fire brigade will get more respect than a regular fire brigade member. Only the naive will think otherwise, gotta disregard convincing those anyway."

The wizard wasn't sure his point was made across, he'd leave it at that for the time being though. The tall male scratched his chin listening some more to the Lich.

"No man--no, I'm not sure how your situations fold out exactly, but imagine your brothers got killed on duty by some terrorists. Or your sisters, mother, father, daughters, sons, your neighbor--it takes very little to set people off. Most people follow the philosophy of an eye for an eye; ignoring that the entire world will end blind."

Suddenly a wary figure approached the duo sitting on the bench. Noel turned to face the person that approached them. As soon as he turned to face him, his other buddy became apparent as well. The Lich didn't respond, eagerly awaiting Noels reaction no doubt. Both parties were testing his reaction. He'd want to chuckle, but kept it in and wore a serious/concerned expression on his face instead. Noel got up from the bench, and stepped closer to the Rune Knight who at this point were estimating his chances of success in combat against the Lich. What the knight most likely didn't realize was that Noel could also be a threat. The Lamia Scale wizard actually was close enough to land a physical blow, but instead opted for something different--he'd place his arm on the top part of his shoulder. His expression changed,

"Do you feel in charge?"

The other Rune Knight didn't have clear vision of what was going on, so he begun walking up as well.

"What? I don't understand what you're sayin--"

Noels brows furrowed, his fingers clinching the fabric of the knights shoulder pad. He'd speak with a deep voice.

"I'm Crocus' reckoning, here to end the borrowed time you've all been living on."

The other Rune Knight had unsheathed his weapon, at the same time Noel moved back again and let go of the Knights shoulder.

"This is something a villain would say, no? Does he look like someone who would say something like this!?"

He'd chuckle loudly, making the knights out to be fools for anyone who'd have witnessed the event unfolding. The Lich presumably was still holding his blank expression

"Didn't think so, now leave."

The duo left pretty embarrassed -- the other Rune Knight had sheathed his blade again, and to save their ego they just called Noel a crazy person to anyone who would ask them about it. Noel sat back down, crossing one leg over the other while subtly checking whether they really had left or not. Intimidating two measly Rune Knights wasn't a biggy for a tall muscular man such as himself.

"It totally is what you would say, isn't it?"

"My name is Noel, by the way."

The Lich had finally showed Noel an emotion besides anger and blank. It had brought a smile to Noels face, and it further empowered his ability to act in moments of need. At this point, the male was a master of improvisation.

So this Lich wasn't a inhumane killing-machine after all, he enjoyed Noels little charade. The Magic Knights had left, so Noel had reclaimed his seat on the bench and introduced himself.

"Aha ha-ha, I've nailed the villainous accent pretty well I see."

Not too long ago, Noel had long conversations with very shifty figures. Guild masters of evil guilds, ambassadors of wicked places and the like. This was something he was used to hearing and, could imitate it pretty well.

As the human male extended his hand to the Lich, the Lich did the same--while introducing himself as Odin; a man born as a human--he'd wonder how much of his true self remained after his transition to a Lich.

"That is very interesting. Was the change voluntary?"

No sex for Odin, but the burning question that remained on Noels mind was knowing whether or not he voluntarily became a Lich.

"Hmm, well, it was fun talking to you Odin. I need to get going, good luck on whatever it is you will do next - I have a funny feeling we'll meet each other again, so until next time friend."

As a parting gift, the male snapped with his fingers. He'd activate a spell called Self Exertion. Noel stood up before activating it, and begun doing perfect cartwheels and random flips in between away from the scene and into the distance, where he'd eventually be a gray speck in the eyes of Odin before disappearing into the urban life of Crocus.

This was an interaction he wouldn't speedily forget, one of the rarer ones that might shape the way Noel will stand in life moving forward. But with the events today, he was convinced that this town truly was a shit-hole dressed with whip cream and decorations in order to mask the scent of shit.

used spell: Self Exertion
-- exit