Catch Me If You Can [EXAM - Eli Validus, Akeya]

Clover was an easy town to work in. The people were friendly, nice, and trusting. Way too trusting, at least in Eli's experiences. A friendly offer of a game for fun, a few easy wins by his opponent, and suddenly a few jewels on the game for fun doesn't matter. A few more wins, a few higher bets, and suddenly he's walking away with a good stack of cash for his time. And most of them even smiled and waved as he walked away with the money, convinced it was just the result of some fun games. That was the secret to swindling, at least when you plan to stay there for a while. Take enough money to make profit, but not enough to make a fuss. He'd made bigger scores in other cities, but those almost always ended with him on the run. He planned to stay in Clover for a while, at least until the populace started to recognize him. Then he'd be on his way, gone before they realized what he did.

It wasn't like everyone was happy with his games after all. A few of his playmates got pretty upset after the match, even though they lost nothing more than some pocket change. In fact, it was mostly the people who lost the least who complained about his methods. They had no proof, obviously, and he wasn't gonna give them any. To him, someone unable to realize such a simple scam deserved to lose the money. It was better in his hands then theirs. They could consider his compensation, for teaching them a lesson about life and their place in it. They could have loss a lot more to someone less kind and generous as he was.

Still, the unwanted attention could get him, and he didn't feel like dealing with that. He'd been sure to avoid any of the Blue Pegasus members roaming the city. There was nothing to gain from them, expect maybe them recognizing his description and coming after him. No, it was best to lay low now, get some easy cash and move on. Besides, what where the chances anyone from that guild would actually be any kind of threat to him. They wouldn't waste their big guns on a small time swindler, it was a ludicrous idea.

As the hustle and bustle of Clover Town continued an unusual figure was perched upon one of the tall towers that pierce the sky throughout the settlement, observing the town below with eyes that might as well have been planning the best way to raze the entire thing to the ground and steal everything worth a damn. Of course the people of Clover Town had already learned that this was an unlikely thing to occur: this creature might always be thinking of the best way to gain an advantage, but she also knew that she was better off not harming the people of Clover Town and that as long as she kept up the appearance of being one of their heroes she would have a place to safely recuperate and research in between her 'hunts'. Akeya looked down upon Clover Town, her tail pressed against the construction supporting her Amazonian frame and her wings half-opened, helping her keep her balance upon this tower as she studied the humans that surrounded her. She was behaving more and more like a dragon, looking more like an actual dragon who had decided to perch upon a cliff than a human who had climbed up and was now enjoying the view. The humans of Clover Town had already become used to it, so they rarely looked up any more... which was good since Akeya wanted to see who still looked up, and what they were doing if they weren't paying attention to her.

Thanks to her tattoos she no longer had to fear the light of day, so she could safely use her eyes, as good at observing from a distance as those of a bird of prey if not better, to watch the people far below. She preferred to observe without being observed too closely herself, so the fact that she had eyes much better suited to looking at things from a distance was a real blessing for her. The humans of Clover Town were a healthy and friendly lot. While the town had not been without its sorrows in the past it was still a town which housed one of the most well-known guilds of Fiore, Blue Pegasus. The extra reputation, income and protection from the guild meant that the people living here had it pretty good. They didn't have to fear being attacked by monsters because Blue Pegasus would take care of it. Tourists and new inhabitants would come because of Blue Pegasus's reputation. Having the mages of Blue Pegasus constantly earn jewels from missions and then spend those jewels in the town also stimulated the economy. The fact that there was even a half dragon in Blue Pegasus only served to increase the reputation, especially since the half dragon was a female like Akeya. Humans would travel quite far just to look at something they found strange.

Akeya suddenly narrowed her eyes as she began to notice a pattern on the streets below. Well, maybe calling it a pattern wasn't correct. As she studied the town below she noticed that a certain scene was repeating itself throughout the town, moving in a rather zigzag pattern throughout the settlement at the kind of pace that could be sustained by a human. There was one human, a full grown but still young male with blonde hair, who would approach somebody and invite them to a game. Seeing how it was a nice day and the people of Clover Town were a friendly lot they would pretty much always accept, and the young blonde would play with them before moving on. The problem was that the kind of games he was playing, and what she could see from his actions, included betting jewels on the outcome. And yet he had been doing this for over half an hour already. Even if you only used small amounts of money for your bets you wouldn't usually end up walking all over town constantly starting new games and every time walking away looking completely content with the outcome. Especially since this kid didn't look like he was particularly rich. He was wearing good clothes, but so was almost everybody in Clover Town, and his coat had sleeve ripped off. And the arm underneath was... strange. It didn't look like a living arm, and to Akeya's magically enhanced eyes it seemed to be holding a lot more magic power than an arm would usually have.

Sitting there on top of the tower the half dragon considered this. The fact that the boy wasn't being followed by a mob indicated he wasn't just robbing people blind, but his appearance and behaviour didn't give the impression of him being completely innocent. Even as she watched him he continued to seek out new games and walking away happy. Then again, it wasn't like she was a complete expert on these things. Maybe she was just letting her natural distrust take control. Still, it was strange how he would just keep playing, but also would only stay a couple of minutes with each person before moving on, never lingering very long after finishing his game... Honestly she could be wrong and maybe he was just enjoying himself, and even if he wasn't it didn't seem like he was actually causing too much trouble. So all things considered it wasn't that important. However she might as well check it out. She was using this day to keep an eye on Clover Town, and right now this was holding her interest the most. If there was nothing wrong it would only take about a minute and then she'd be back up here seeing if there was something else strange going on.

Kicking herself off Akeya fell down the tower until she disappeared into the shadows, slipping through the dark alleys until eventually she found herself very close to the blonde kid she was keeping an eye on. Pulling herself together in a nearby alley she materialized, the half dragon stepping out of the shadows and approaching Eli at a rather relaxed and peaceful pace.

"Greetings. I noticed that you have been winning quite a lot of games today. Are you sure you want to continue?"

Akeya narrowed her eyes at the last part, her innately intimidating and predatory nature showing itself as she basically stared Eli down. She wasn't sure whether he had been cheating or not, but with this kind of pressure on him she would be able to find out quickly. When feeling threatened like this while being accused of cheating most humans would rather confess and hope to avoid angering her further. And if they lied, well... you could tell a lot about what a person was thinking if you used your nose.

Finishing off the last game, Eli was already onto the next target. His goal was to move to the eastern end of town now; he hadn't been there in a couple hours, and by now the shifts should have changed and few people would recognize him. There was a certain jaunt in his step now, almost whimsical as he moved. Easy money came rarely, and most times Eli thought he had it the situation ended up with Emilia bearing down on him for his stupidity and a fight he really didn't feel like partaking in. Somehow though, that seemed like almost an impossibility in Clover, whether it be an unnaturally calm atmosphere he was starting to think was magically caused, or how despite several hours of this he'd yet to see a single guild mage. Normally he'd have encountered one or two annoyingly self-appointed defenders of the weak in a town overtaken by a guild hall, yet today none had shown their meddling faces yet. A sense of invulnerability seemed to overtake Eli. On top of the world and without a fault in sight, everything was going his way for once.

Something caught his eye in alleyway as he passed. A shifting of something; something he couldn't name or describe. His face never turned, all caught in the corner of his eye. Eli was used to being followed or watched, and old habits die hard. Never let them know you've noticed them. So when he heard the steps trailing out of what was once an empty alley towards him, he didn't even flinch. For normal people, they'd smarten up and get restricted now, defensive against the higher power come to chastise them. With his current mood however, Eli felt the opposite. It was a challenge, and he had to win now. Not that his mood really mattered for that anyways, with an ego as huge as Eli's he'd have taken the challenge any day. As the words flowed from her lips, Eli paused, seemingly caught off-guard by her tone and message. Painting on a confused face, he turned to face the half-dragon. "I'm not sure what you mean. I'm on a roll today; the god of luck seems to be on my side. Shouldn't that single me to keep going?"

A friendly smile overtook the confused one, masking the awe he felt at what was speaking to him. It LOOKED human, but it also looked a lot more. Assuming it was a she, judging from the voice, he had no idea where she came from or what she wanted, but a few things were obvious. Firstly, she'd been watching him, and clearly had some idea of what he was up to. Secondly, she motivated to stop it for some reason or another. While he couldn't explain where she watched him from, his intuition told him the second one was obvious. She was a guild mage, or at least someone with stake in the citizens of the town; another thief would have no reason to watch her, and something that inhuman wouldn't be just a random upstanding citizen. He strolled sideways, leaning against the wall beside him, never taking his eyes off her. "I feel you're being a little accusatory right now, and honestly I think that's all baseless. I've done nothing wrong so far, outside of play a few friendly matches."

His face was a mask, no hints of distress or dishonesty. If Eli was anything actually useful, it was a good showman, and part of that involved being a spectacular liar. "In fact, I find myself so offended I can't even stand the sight of you anymore. Good day." Ever the good showman, Eli couldn't resist the chance for an act either. Nothing would have came of this he just spoke it out with the woman, most likely at least. But that wasn't fun, and Eli's ego was raging right now. Without warning, Eli seemed to fuse with the wall, disappearing into it entirely. Shroud was a useful tool, letting Eli slide through the wall like Air. The opposite side was a large warehouse, seemingly empty at this time of day. He strolled through it, knowing she'd probably come after him now. It'd be fun finding him however. His magical presence was already practically non-existent, he doubt she even realized he was a mage before that. Out of her sight, Shroud would conceal his noises as well as his scent, seemingly vanishing in complete air. The chances of her realizing where he went were minuscule, but he slightly hoped she did, he could use the entertainment.

Magic Stuff:

As Akeya took a closer look at the blonde man she noticed that he was certainly acting very confident. He wasn't really showing any sign of cheating, so it wasn't like she had any form of definite proof of him engaging in foul play. Maybe she should just ignore him and be on her way. There were other things that she could keep an eye on, and even if he was up to no good it wasn't like he was robbing people blind and leaving them homeless. At worst he was getting his hands on some extra money on a good day, where everybody was basically just enjoying being alive and thus wouldn't mind having a stranger play some games with them and possibly lose a small amount of money in the process. If she had been on official business Akeya would already have dismissed the man, or at most kept an eye on him in case he was planning to increase the scale of his games to a more alarming level. She certainly wouldn't have bothered to approach him and try to intimidate him into confessing to having played the people that he had invited to some innocent betting games. So why was she doing it?

She wasn't entirely sure. A bit of a hunch, a feeling that the young male was showing off his good fortune a bit too much for it to be innocent. A curiosity how he could keep wandering around the town engaging in betting games for hours without ever having to slow down because he was running out of jewels to spend. Perhaps a sign of boredom, even though the half dragon could always find something to do that would prevent her truly getting bored. Maybe he just looked like somebody who could keep her interested for a while until she found something more important to do. Or maybe she was paying attention to him for an entirely different reason...

Regardless of her actual intentions it quickly became clear to Akeya that she hadn't just walked up to your average kind of person. With how she could release intimidation like a physical force, combined with that unnerving gaze of hers, any normal person would quickly become restrained and careful while in her sights. However this one acted like nothing was out of the ordinary, and hadn't even reacted when she had suddenly walked out of the alleyway and had headed straight for him. Even if he was innocent enough that he didn't have to fear people approaching him there was still the fact that an Amazonian half dragon just walked up to him and insinuated that he was deceiving people and taking their precious jewels. That kind of thing tended to get some kind of reaction even if it turned out that they really weren't doing anything suspicious, if only because a) half dragons are rare, and b) Akeya is not exactly a normal sight, not even taking her intimidation value into account. But this guy acted as if there was nothing out of the usual. He acted slightly surprised at the accusation, then looked confused as if he had no idea at all what she could possibly be talking about. At no point any kind of reaction to the half dragon's unusual appearance. He was cocky as well. He was doing a very good job of either being innocent or appearing innocent, but if anybody ever asked him to act like a humble and demure peasant he probably would be discovered within two seconds of opening that mouth of his. Two seconds before opening it, in fact, as his body language already spoke volumes.

Akeya listened to him silently as he first claimed that he didn't understand what she might be talking about, then switched to explaining that she was being rather accusatory without anything to base it on. While talking he walked over to a wall and began to lean against it, acting as if nothing was wrong in the world. The only problem with that being that there was little reason for him to actually walk over to a wall and lean against it. Could this be considered a bit excessively paranoid? Maybe. Most likely. However Akeya had never denied being a very suspicious person. Did he think that this conversation would last so long that he needed some kind of support, or was he purposefully showing off just how uncaring he was at being held up by her? If he was just innocent and wanted to be on his way, wouldn't it have been better for him to quickly state his innocence and wait for her to be satisfied before going on his merry way? Why would he bother to show off if he didn't have something to hide? Or was he just trying to impress her. She found that last part unlikely: his reaction to her didn't indicate that he saw her the same way as human males usually saw females that they were trying to impress. At best he was impressing her for the sake of impressing someone.

Right up until he disappeared through the wall.

Akeya was actually surprised at that, since she hadn't sensed any notable magic ability from him. His prosthetic contained magic yes, but she had assumed that was just so it could function. And she was a very acute sensor as well, so if she couldn't sense it she was used to assuming it didn't exist. It looked like she had been underestimating this guy severely. Although on his side he had also made a mistake. Two, in fact: for one thing, he had assumed that he would immediately lose her if he just disappeared through the wall. Two, he had insulted her. Akeya wasn't too easily angered by the mice when they blathered, but this man was giving the impression of being more than just a commoner, and beyond that she was very proud of every part of herself, including her appearance. She might not look like a human any longer, but dragons were superior anyway, and as a half dragon she just combined beauty with being very exotic, something which usually got people's attention quite well. To have this man state that he couldn't stare at her any longer... Akeya narrowed her eyes as she walked up the wall... and walked right through it. If Eli had thought that he was the only one who could do that he would probably not like what was going to happen next.

When the young blonde began to walk away he'd suddenly hear a cough behind him, the half dragon standing there as if she had been there all along. She was studying him curiously now, also sniffing so she could memorize his scent. Now that she was paying him really close attention she could see that there was indeed some magic in him. Which meant he was a mage, and deserved a lot more respect than just some commoner planning to lift some wallets. However even if he was good at hiding his magic she could still memorize his appearance and scent, and it didn't look like he had bothered to do anything about his scent, so from now on tracking him would become a lot easier for her.

"Have you ever been told that you like to show off?"