[Rina]

Following the way back down and towards the other way, it's highly unlikely that Schezo would be in the same general vicinity. Try as she might to spot him there is just no trace of him to be found. Curiously, there is one torch left behind, mounted on the North wall, which should appear to be towards Arle's left. However the girls interpret this, the two squares going forwards East, as well as the two squares towards their right leading South, are illuminated. Doesn't seem to be much in hindsight, but it's something.

This wasn't there before when Schezo headed down this route, so maybe the dark wizard found a scrap of wood lying around and ignited it. Why did he leave one here, when he could've just simply took it along with him? Maybe he wanted to help them out when he's not around and left some kind of waymarker. Who knows? Curious questions aside, thanks to the extra lighting from the torch and Diacute, the girls should be able to see that there is a crack on the wall to the right of where Arle stands. While the labyrinth is riddled with small fissures with age, this one seems to have juuust enough give to be able to be broken down.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

"...You know what, maybe I shouldn't have suggested we split up." Rulue commented rather dryly as she inspected the place. "I thought it was a good idea because we would cover terrain faster. Shame only Schezo had the map." she admitted, sighing in sullen defeat. It wouldn't take her too long to notice the crack on the wall. "...Wait. Could this...?" Rulue pondered as she went to analyze the wall. "Hm...hold up. Haganshou!" Rulue would then punch the crack in the wall.

5lvSC7f3p_1d20+4 (Haganshou @ Wall. Have a roll just to be sure.)1d20+4

[Mari]

"It's alright. I'm sure he'll be happy to see us when we find him~" Arle replied somewhat enthusiastically as they moved to catch up with the dark wizard. instead of a dark wizard, however, they discovered a quaint little hole in the wall just begging them to explore it. ...Could Schezo be inside the wall? It seemed unlikely, but Arle certainly wasn't going to resist the urge to at least check it out before they moved on. ...Damaging the wall inside the building you're currently standing in? Hoo boy. If you thought the life sphere's buildings were spooky, wait till that one comes back to bite you Arle. The mage decided to stand back and let the tough girl handle that, not wanting to pull a Rosalyn and use an explosive spell in close proximity to the wall. Besides--Someone had to be ready if a gaggle of monsters decided to hop out and jab those hams. "Diacute" Arle murmured.

Arle Damage: 20% Shield Damage: 0% Status: Diacute (2)

[Rina]

Wham!

Rulue gave the wall a good strike...but it only merely made the crack marginally bigger. Arle would come to notice the crack grow a bit upon impact, but that's the extent of what happened. Perhaps she missed the mark on breaking it down in a single stroke? She COULD try again; they're not in a hurry. However, the longer they hang around here, the more likely they'll lose Schezo's trail. There's two pathways, but who knows which way he could have gone... Is he still back where he wandered off? Did he go down the other way? Is it possible he's actually in this wall? Or...something else? Oh yeah, using explosives might cause some rather unpredictable results, ranging from ceiling debris to getting caught in your own explosions due to how much room these hallways have.

Wall dilemma aside, if the girls kept quiet, there is a sound coming from one of the hallways. They resemble the tip-tap sounds of shoes on pavement, but unless one listened closely, it's hard to make out which way they're coming from.

...
...
...

Investigate with your ears?
(If so, make a WIS roll to listen in.)

[TheSpatialWeeg]

"....What."

Rulue's odd flat reaction to the wall not breaking down as she expected...it showed that it...aggravated her, for a lack of a better word. Gritting her teeth, she decided to flick the 'Overkill Switch' on and began to stare the wall down. Like those bulls in cartoons, her nostrils exhaled steam as she glared at the crack...

jqw0Xk2Op_1d20+5 "Fuujin Kyaku!"

...and proceeded to kick it, hopefully actually bringing it down this time around, because boy oh boy, was she really fuming right now. So much so, she didn't seem to notice the footsteps nearby...1d20+5

[Mari]

Arle watched what Rulue was doing, curiously considering what was on the other side of that wall. She wondered if maybe Schezo could hear the banging from wherever he was. ...Perhaps? If he was close by, she'd expect to hear him acknowledge the noise. However, if he was far away maybe he would just ignore it in hopes that it wasn't his problem. Or maybe he'd be drawn here to see what was going on? ...That was more what she would do, Arle realized, and she wasn't so sure about Schezo. RIght now though she didn't hear anything. Except--...Hold on. What was that? Arle thought she heard footsteps and rotated her head a bit, trying to locate its source. 

KxrBRnZzp_1d20+4 (Arle's Hearing)

However, the sound of Rulue's leg slamming into a wall startled Arle from her thoughts. Perhaps it was a bit difficult to hear over the shouting and wall kicking? She wasn't entirely sure she'd heard it properly, but maybe she could've picked up on it for the brief moment she had been focused. "...Diacute." Arle would incant quietly after she finished settling back down. She'd wait until Rulue was calm as well before trying to tell her about what she'd heard.

Arle Damage: 20% Shield Damage: 0% Status: Diacute (3)

1d20+4

[Rina]

And CRRRACK! The wall falls apart, revealing...a hidden passage! Looks like this area has some hidden surprises! But now's not the time to marvel, someone else is there...

As Arle listened in, she could make out the footsteps coming from the corridor to her right, which is towards the South according to the map they don't have. (Obviously disregarding the hidden passage, as some monster can't be hiding there, right?)

How far the sounds were is a little vague, but it was indeed approaching rather quickly. Could all those smashing sounds have drawn that being? She DID bust down that hole and opened up a passage to somewhere. As the footsteps approached, it... it sounded...metallic? Might want to get ready, as those sounds are getting louder... Is it a ghostly knight? Something else? That light emitting from Diacue could also be bringing attention to whatever's fast approaching. To top it off, that thing that's coming beckoned to them...

"Hey! Who goes there!?"

What's the course of action? Try to engage whatever's there? Hide away in the hole Rulue managed to break down? Do something unconventional? If one's ears were attuned to whoever is calling, then perhaps fighting won't be necessary... It might be someone familiar or harmless.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rulue was breathing quite heavily once the wall was revealed to be a secret passage. Was she trying to calm down or was it signs of possible mental exhaustion? Whatever it was, she'd only responded o the new presence once she'd hear a voice coming out of the corridor.


"..."

Her first instinct? Basically, shield Arle and get ready for a fight.

Goodness knows what exactly came over her to do so, but whatever the case, she protectively pulled Arle next to her as she glared at the corridor. "Who is there...?" she asked at the voice in the corridor, almost ready to throw punches if they were aggressive.

[Mari]

...Who did Arle know that wore metal boots around? Why, Schezo of course! She'd almost be inclined to say it must be him if she were only listening to the foosteps, but... that voice. It didn't sound like Schezo's. Before Arle could decide whether she wanted to avoid this fight she found herself being pulled to Rulue's side. One moment she'd been lost in her own thoughts and the next she was being babied. ...A part of her didn't understand, but the other part of her was really okay with sharing this moment with Rulue even if she didn't understand why she was being treated this way. A flustered little blush manifested itself on her face but she reluctantly leaned into Rulue's embrace after a moment, getting as comfortable as she could with the idea. A moment later, she decided to incant on Rulue's behalf. She knew Rulue couldn't use magic like she could, but that didn't mean having a mage in her non-existent pockets couldn't be a fine substitute! ...Right?

"...Diacute." Arle softly incanted, bestowing some of her power onto Rulue.

[Rina]

The sounds began to grow louder as the time passed, indicating that the armored being is ever so gradually approaching the duo. It seemed ominous at first, but the figure flinched at the sight of Diacute's light. The light, however, made those metallic steps hasten, as if trying to follow it. Did Arle bring attention to herself? Indeed she did. However, that is not always a bad thing. Once the figure came into focus, there's another gleam of light, this one from a basic Light spell.

"Ah! Oh thank goodness it's just you and not more goblins..."

It is indeed, Schezo! In his hand is the map for the dungeon, though there appears to be much more scribbles on it than when they last regrouped. Perhaps an exchange of information is in order.

"Did you find anything in this dungeon? I've done my share of exploration, but it seems I've reached a dead end in trying to find routes deeper."

[TheSpatialWeeg]

--Oh, the figure turned out to be Schezo! Rulue let out an audible sigh of high-end relief. “I can say the same…” the Fighting Queen admitted, scratching the back of her neck a little. “Schezo...I think we should regroup…?” she told him...and got her next words stuck into her mouth for a while.


“Erh...m...It...it was...kind of a boneheaded move to suggest that...I’m…...sorry…” she spoke, looking away for a moment. The apology came out rather awkward, but it was still very much genuine. Maybe it came out like that because she never thought she needed to apologize to Schezo for their past transgressions? I mean, he did tend to insult Satan a whole lot when she was still head over heels for that loser, and by that point, Rulue was also very-- ...oh, he asked about their findings.


“...Well, we found some scribbles and a triangle...thing.” she said... “Arle has it if you want to check it out.”...then she points at the mage in question before turning her face around to see...nothing. That apology seemed to make her a tad more uncomfortable than what she expected. Oh well, at least you're trying to be nice, Rulue.

[Mari]

Nothing more tense than the unknown! Arle seemed to relax at the sight of Schezo though, offering him a smile in greeting. "Rulue's right. ...To be honest, I didn't want to split up to begin with--so we came back looking for you~" Arle offered in reply, only to hesitate for a moment as Rulue put her on the spot. Rulue, what were you doing? She hadn't... "...A-Actually, it's all in my head." Arle would sheepishly explain rather quickly, not wanting Schezo to get the wrong idea. She had only memorized the patterns, not written them down anywhere where they could simply be observed by others. Seemed Arle's head had just become valuable. Hopefully, she can understand the puzzle or they'd all be screwed over. The mage could already feel the pressure. "--Though, there was more hallway down the way we went. I guess we should head back that way to keep exploring. " Arle offered.

[Rina]

So the girls were worried about him, huh? Schezo exhaled a mental sigh of relief. He thought he was just playing third wheel on this mission, and hopefully what he has to tell would help them a little more.

"Right, I do need to show you what I have discovered on my own while you two were on the other side of this maze. Here's what I have so far."

Schezo rolls out the map in his hand with a bit more map scribbles than last time. There isn't much to go around, but it does have extra leads on where to go now. There's also the matter of those scribbles the girls saw while exploring, as well as that strange triangle that was found. Is there some correlation, perhaps? That piqued a curiosity from him, and he pressed for more information about the strange drawing.



"A drawing, you say? Could you perhaps describe what you saw?"

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Oh, wait, she was the one with the triangle. Oops. Rulue took a good look at the map before picking up the triangle key. "Well, this obviously has to fit in somewhere, and the unorthodox shape either means it's meant for a wall or a special door lock." The fighting queen pondered. "These locked doors you've seen--did they have normal locks?" she asked the Dark Wizard. Her mind then went to the hole she managed to break with her fist. "...Hm, actually...maybe something around here could be of use." she said as she moved to enter the passage they happened to find, beckoning the two to follow her.

[Rulue goes to the secret passage's entrance she happened to open.]

[Mari]

"It was like someone was playing tic-tac-toe with shapes and colors. I saw a square, a circle, a triangle... But one of them had scribbles on it too instead of shapes! There was black, blue, red, yellow..." Arle began, worming her way in to begin sketching out a crude example of the ground she and Rulue had covered, as well as marking the areas she'd seen the drawings in. As she did this though, she noticed Rulue beckoning her. Oops! Best not to get left behind. She shifted to take Schezo's hand and alert him to the gesturing he might've missed. "C'mon..!" she softly encouraged, giving Schezo a little tug before allowing her grasp to relax and fall from him as she bounced after Rulue.