A woman in a red leather jacket and blue kimono walks into the building, she knows exactly what she'll find in here of course... In fact, as she wanders past the various items to come into the back anyone nearby might note the well-read book in the woman's hands. She'd look around, searching for a man in a black coat. She'd call out into the empty warehouse, voice carrying fairly far despite the low tone she speaks in. "Oi! You in here Luard? I realize that I don't drop by that often, but bored enough to hang around for once. I'm sure you must be thrilled."

Wherever a citizen voices concern, the hero of Earth will be there! So long as he doesn't have any conflicting appointments, and luckily, today he had none! The burley man with the bushy head of hair walked swiftly towards the location he'd heard rumors about. His cape flutters behind him as he comes to a sudden stop before the building. "This is it then? I wonder what sort of monster decided to make this place its den. Hmph! I'll show them not to scare my precious citizens! BWAH- oh! Right... I should be quiet." He notices another person approaching the building and quickly ducks into cover. Odd, maybe this place was populated after all? He quickly follows the woman, making sure to keep several paces back, remaining well hidden and most importantly, silent.

That sound... She's paranoid enough to reach behind herself, pulling a knife from a sheath attached to her lower back under her coat. Logically speaking it's most likely Just Luard, but even so... "Huh, feels almost like I'm being followed right now. But I can't quite be sure, bah. I'll deal with it as it comes if needed." The woman looks behind herself, checking around the room for anyone else who might be in it. No is too apparent, but she can't shake that feeling. Either way, she'd pull the open the door and begin walking into it, knife spinning in her hands absently as she checks the room she'd just entered for a black coated figure. Assuming she found him, she'd go on to speak a bit. "Oi, think we got someone else crawling around here... I could just be going crazy, but I've got a pretty good sense of these things usually ya know? Either way, I'm not sure what they want so, for now, I'm thinking leave it alone."

Hercule freezes as the woman readies a blade and looks around. He instinctively presses his back against one of the many shelves in an attempt to remain hidden. As she continues to walk, he allows himself a moment's reprieve and catch his breath. This place was certainly out of the ordinary, what with the strange gems and puddles. "This looks like Red Ribbon junk... no. I can't come to any conclusions yet. I better be careful though." He whispers to himself as he notices the strange puddle of... something. Shrugging it off, he continues to follow the woman with the knife... against his better judgement. Sticking to shadows and corners as he trails her through the maze and to the door.

After passing through a small workspace, Shiki would finally arrive at the front, windows barred off to hide themselves from prying eyes. In the center of the room is an intricate, red circle, runes inscribed all around the border. At each of its four corners is a gem, one blue, one yellow, one green, and one golden. In the middle of the circle lies another, crystal clear gem, while the others all seemed to have a faint light within, this one is a blank slate if anything. A tall ma wearing a long, dark cloak stands in the middle, hand touching an inner circle near the clear gem. A thin, blue pulse of electricty seems to surge along the ground, leading from the four colored gems to clear the one in the center, forming... Something around the gem, a thin veil of clear liquid would begin to form around the crystal, only for the figure's concentration to break, energy halting as Luard stands with a sigh Well, I suppose now's better than never. Not the best manners, but unfortunately I haven't had too much success anyways. As Hercule was much less hasty, he would be in a better spot to look around the small office, a few desks, likely from its past, are lined with various objects, for the most part chalk, papers, books, inks, pens, all sorts of deskware, in addition to a single bobblehead of some anime-style girl, rather hard to tell which one at this point. Anyone who checks the same room as Luard might notice the thin gel would begin forming around the clear, central gem, slowly taking a corporeal form as it is ignored

Runes... Some of which Shiki knows, the exact use escapes her for now but given what she does know most likely. "Some attempt at creating life? Or that's my best guess... Hmm, I'm thinking that this gel is some sort of..." The woman's eyes light up, looking the gel over and attempting to see if any there's any lifeforce contained inside of the substance. "I'd guess it's a shot at making some kinda lifeform but what do I know, anyway figured I'd stop by tonight since I haven't really got anything to do." Not ever really, the odd fight with lowlifes aside she's been pretty bored as of late. An absent look around the room would reveal the gem inside the circle to be taking some sort of shape... Shiki raises an eyebrow at it for a moment before shrugging casually and stowing her blade away. "Huh, that one in the center meant to be doing this or is it acting up? Hopefully, it's not about to explode or something. I might not care about dying all that much, but talk about sorry ways to go out yeah?"

The large man crouches as he tries to remain out of sight, and safely out of mind. However it is becoming increasingly difficult as he continues behind the woman. His eyes catch typical desktop tools, save for the bobble head. That one made him question the type of person he was dealing with. As he approaches further, he notices the man and the strange markings. He'd only seen something like this one time before, and it didn't bode well then. Gulp! "Here's hoping these fellas don't get the drop on me." He tries to find a vantage point to watch as he whispers under his breath.

Shiki would know most of the language from the book, at which point it would become obvious that the runes form an incantation of sorts, or rather a command, roughly translating to "change, shape, renew, consume the old to bring forth new form." Luard casually glances back at the gel, which begins to thicken much more rapidly, forming a bluish slime Shiki and Hercule might remember from the front of the warehouse. Shiki would recognize a faint life force contained within the stone, which seems to flow out into the gel around it. Its notably weaker than that of the other gems in the area, perhaps because the spell was incomplete. Though that wouldn't stop the slime creature from finishing taking shape Even if it were to explode they're completely harmless. Worst it'll do is tire you out for a day. This one might not even be capable of that. Though the slime takes quite a while to get off, even with magic. Luard glances up, noticing a bit of Hercule's hair sticking out from the doorframe, the new visitor his apprentice mentioned? They seemed to be doing their best to avoid any trouble, perhaps a spy? Doubtful, its unlikely anyone who might target him would end up here, so then they're probably just scared. Luard raises his voice and shouts towards the door You can come out now, I'm not planning to do anything. Wouldn't risk hurting anything in here after all. Besides, whatever questions you may have I can probably answer. Luard sighs and takes a few steps out of the circle, paying no further heed to the newly formed slime that slowly inches its way towards him

Shiki wasn't quite sure about not hurting the guy... But blowing up the lab of a Magus is never a good idea, not if one wishes to remain free of gaining more enemies at any rate. "Hmm, what he said pal! I like a good fight and all but I'm not gonna start hacking away for zero reasons or something." As for the runes, she'd look at them curiously... Hmm, surely an attempt at making something yeah. And much as Luard said, it hardly seems liable to do much damage. Heh, makes sense given this is the man's workshop after all. "So this stuff can make somebody tired huh? I'm taking a guess at what it does but... Consuming the old, so burning up the contents of those gems to try and make something." Of course given who else is here she won't mention what she thinks said gems are made from, that's just a quick way to start a fight against "vile villains" or some such crap. Instead, she'd glance at the martial artist again and raise an eyebrow. "Anyway, name's Shiki Ryougi, and my acquaintance over here is Luard. I'm curious though, what brings ya out to a place like this? Smart money says looking into those rumors about ghosts and such, but why'd you go and do that?"

"Aiyeeh!?" Hercule goes stiff as he's called out, but quickly assumes his usually serious demeanor. They just got lucky on seeing him is all. No need to get frazzled over a pair of magicians playing tricks. He steps out of cover with his hands on his hips. "Ahem! Well ya see, I was just doing my due diligence to make sure the citizens of Earth weren't being terrorized! I heard a bunch of nasty rumors circulating from this very building. So you were right on the money, little missy!" He takes a step towards the pair as he continues to assess the room, and by extension, the situation. "And you there, Luard was it? If you're keen to answer my questions then you can go ahead and tell me what this facility is for. Oh, and I'd like to know who you're working for or with." His eyes narrow on Luard with a cold stare.

Luard nods to Shiki, overall the magic really isn't too terribly complicated, at the very least she's getting the concepts down quite easily Just like all life, these failures attempt to consume the life energy of other beings. Of course, they're not very good at it. As he says this, the slime makes it a few more inches, before collapsing in on itself, last wisps of energy fading away and leaving little more than a sticky puddle and empty gem along the ground. Luard straightens his coat and glances over the newcomer, strange that they'd look at him in such a manner, probably mere distrust. Or distaste. Either of which is no concern for Luard. This is my research lab, in which I perform my own experiments into the nature of life itself. I work for no one other than myself, with no one to answer to whatever may come forth. For the most part I work alone, though I have recently begun an... Unorthodox apprenticeship, so I suppose you could say I work with miss Shiki here. Luard stares Hercule directly in the eyes, his own seeming rather empty and cold, more as though he was looking over a particularly strange specimen than an equal being.

Little... The woman grinds her teeth, a dark tone entering her voice as she stares at the man. "Shiki Ryougi. I have a name and am not overly fond of being referred to as a child." She'd then laugh a bit at his question, cold stare or no this man is about as far it gets from being threatening to Shiki. Even so, she'd allow Luard to field the questions as he sees fit in this case... She's more interested in her "hobby" than dealing with people, even more so when those people in question annoyed her beyond all belief. Luard's bit said she'd chime in for a moment. "What he said, and these little tests are pretty harmless all things considered. So far the worst thing I've seen done here is annoying stuff getting into clothing." Well, that's the worst thing she's seen done in the lab to be sure... Outside of it is another story entirely, but Shiki's not one to blab needlessly about projects. Hell, they'll be lucky if he doesn't catch on from "Life of other beings". Course, that would also be a decent chance.

The large man crosses his arms as he mulls over Luard's words. It certainly sounded odd, but it was still too early to make an informed decision on where to go from here. However the emptiness in his eyes certainly didn't earn him any points. "Alright, not with the Red Ribbon army. That's a start. So ya study the ins and outs of life. Why're you playing magic tricks then? And what are those rocks?" The man grumbles slightly as he looks around. "Wouldn't you need people or animals if ya wanted to study life anyways?" He grins at Shiki as she barks back. "Sure thing Shiki, but you'd do well to mind your tone. Getting all up in arms over something that miniscule is kinda lame..." He then mulls over her words. What with all the talk of explosions a few moments ago, harmless seems to be outside the realm of possibilities. But again, there isn't enough to go on yet.

Tch, she'll take it for now. Besides, there are bigger issues to worry about than someone like this... Outwardly, however, the woman would simply shrug and nod. "Yeah sorry, I can get a bit carried away sometimes." Hmm, seems like this one is playing at something. Fishing maybe? She's not too sure about what exactly he wants, but it's likely not anything she'd enjoy dealing with. "Don't ask me on that one, I just hang around a bit and study some. Not exactly too involved with it ya know?" Red Ribbon army... That sounds like an important name, she'd raise an eyebrow and mull over the word in her head for a moment. "And what's this about a Red Ribbon army? I've never heard of anyone like that before, but then again I don't claim to be a big fan of history either."

Luard glances back up at Hercule, naturally they wouldn't quite understand what he was referring to, but there's really no need to worry about it too much, that's for sure I do know what I'm doing, fetter better than your own researchers. that much is certain. As for the rocks, they're the crystallized remains of another beings' fading life force. I do trust that much makes well enough sense. Or if it doesn't do feel free to inform me

Never heard of the Red Ribbon army? The oddities don't stop. "Well you see, the Red Ribbon army created a bio-android called Cell. He once terrorized the entire world before me and my students put an end to him for good! Bwahahaha! This playing with life thing sounded up their alley." Hercule turns his attention back to Luard as he speaks. Wait, did he just say those rocks were made from a being's life force. That caused the blood in his body to run cold for a moment, but he retained his seriousness throughout the small wave of shock. "Ahem. So you're saying these things are made from the soul of someone deceased? Or at least on their way out, that right?"

Cell huh? Sounds impressive, perhaps there's more to this man's skills than there first appears to be. "Hmm, perhaps I should have a match against you at some point? I mostly prefer to fight with blades, but I guess I could use some martial arts for a change." Upon Hercule's second statement the woman can't help swearing up a storm, frigging hell Luard have you no sense of tact? When the murderer is lamenting your lack of care in dealing with people it's an issue... Oh well, Luard can take care of himself, right? "At any rate, I'll be going now... Like I said, I'm not too involved in these little tests so I can't help ya much." She'd walk off with a shrug, closing the door on her way out... And hanging around for a bit to listen in on things, assuming she didn't hear the sound of a fight however Shiki would then soon depart, walking away with her hands in her pockets and a shrug.

Luard continues observing Hercule. For a moment he almost thought he saw a chill. Oh well, whatever it is it can’t be that important. Admittedly the place isn’t so well warmed, so it’s likely something along the lines of a draft. Not at all. That implies my methods are so crude as to only work on humans. Quite a few of these were formed out of the life force of monsters. In addition, “Soul” has a religious connotation here, one I’d rather not deal with. Luard would hardly even seem to notice Shiki leaving, absorbed as he is in his own handiwork, Luard bends down to pick up a yellow gem from the circle’s corner For example, this one came from a highly-advanced parasite that fed off of raw energy. Of course, I prefer not to fight, but as it was attacking anyways I may as well let its energy go to use