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[Hadin Todd]

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Disinterested and detached, he leaned his back into the corner on the far wall. With arms crossed over his muscular chest of black armor he seemed dark and brooding from the top of his hair in the same color to the toe of his soft leather boots. That would be, If you could see him. Having long ago learned the art of blending in there was nothing visible to the naked eye to suggest anyone or anything was occupying that space. White haired, white robed and all too pure for his taste, Lucas the Mage regarded his corner with a knowing look.

"Have you had your fill of observation, my friend?" Lucas regarded him evenly.

He didn't turn to look in the direction of the magic wielder.

"Watching does more good than speaking does." Soft and firm, his voice revealed his position as he pushed his weight off of the corner and stood rising to the full 6'4'' stature he commanded.

"You've been watching for the last fifteen years. What have you learned?"

Moving with a casual grace Hadin stepped to within an inch of Lucas only slightly looking down upon him. "I've learned that greed can do a lot to people."

"And what of compassion and mercy? Have you learned nothing of those whilst you spent your time in my shop?" Placing his staff of pristine white down onto the stone table he glanced at Hadin sideways as if sizing him and his next answer up.

"I've learned that if either exist, it's not in the city of Light."

A soft nod of Lucas head let him know he had heard clearly. "That is unfortunate. Come... It seems we have much to discuss after all."

[Hadin Todd]

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"In all of your time you've not caught even the slightest glimpse of what the human heart is capable of?" Lucas gazed at him out of the corner of his eye as his leathered hand ran the length of the stairwell. Age had begun to show on the man only recently as his movements slowed and his bones cracked and buckled under strain. Hadin's green eyes surveyed the various faces they passed on their way to the second Floor of Luna. Ever watchful, the jade green missed very little from the transaction just outside of the mage door to the conversation occurring over gold in the hallway as they finished their climb.

"I've caught much. But those acts of kindness you would deem as selfless I see as self-serving. Those who come in for your reagents, seek to resell them. Those just outside the bank walls hawking their wares will bleed every last penny possible from those who would genuinely require them."

"And yet those are normal day to day activities."

"Aye, they are."

"Then you would have people not utilize what they could from others as long as they give in return?"

"You asked if I had learned nothing. The fact I have learned that people want only to use others for their own ends instead of the bleeding hearts you would have me take them for, is what seems to be the issue."

Opening the heavy door into the antechamber atop the bank in Luna, Lucas turned on his heel as slowly as he had climbed the stairs.

"Then you have learned all you can in my employ. It is time you searched elsewhere. Go from these walls. Go where the air is open and the halls not so crowded. Perhaps you will learn more out there..."

"And when I have only learned more to solidify my position?" Hadin lifted a brow and regarded the old man with a hint of laughter in his eye.

"Send word in your travels. If after your travels amidst the whole of Sosaria you see only the dark spaces then I will grant you a boon even the Gods would envy."

"I don't want your gifts, Lucas."

Hadin watched as Lucas' Dark eyes regarded him. Visibly thinking, he closed them a moment later and nodded once, his path taking him in the opposite direction of how they had entered... and away from Hadin.

[Hadin Todd]

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Unless he wanted a more aquatic view there was no place more open or less crowded than Yew. Sprawling trees with their cotton candy tops of green and overly large trunks of light brown spanned the distance. They weren't sparse enough to make the land barren and they weren't cloistered so as to be trapped in wall to wall woods. Southwest from the moongate he quickened his pace. Over the years in Lucas' employ many connections with other mage shops and libraries had been forged. Among one of the more noteworthy was Empath Abbey. Tucked neatly along the coastline the grey stone walls housed not only a wealth of knowledge and experience on the human condition, but many of those souls who themselves, had once sought refuge from the world outside.

In Hadin's mind at the very least, it was a start.

Swinging off of the chocolate colored mustang, he slipped to his feet and surveyed the structure before him. Clad in a dark robe, the figure at the rot iron gates stood gazing at him. Silent and stoic they stared at each other amidst the afternoon breeze. Like the surface of a pond the the air stood unbroken until the figure lifted his left arm, a figure pointing to the doors. Taking it as a hint, Hadin made his way forward.