>>6325007A mute sorcerer? Now you've seen it all. Most spells required you to utter an incantation of sorts. Mumbling it was fine. In fact, it was often preferred, unless you were one of those weird types that liked announcing their attacks before doing them. But the vocal component was crucial. There did exist instances where foregoing these incantations was possible. Your Bolt Axe was one such example of an item imbued with magic that you could call upon without the need for ritual. But you saw nothing like that on Gyles. The man was somehow calling upon sorcery without an incantation, and with minimal effort at that.
He was supposed to be your prey, and you hadn’t forgotten that. If need be, you would strike him down and reclaim the Ichor Scroll. But for now, you would hear…err, ‘read’ him out and figure out his deal.
>“Fine. What do you need us to do?”In response, Gyles gives you a thumbs up. He retrieves another piece of parchment from his sleeve, along with a writing contraption of some sorts. At first glance, it looks like a quill, but even without dipping it into a glass of ink, he’s able to scrawl a message on the parchment with lightning speed. You’d never seen such dexterous writing before. When he is finished, he hands you the paper, and you begin reading.
>Thank you! ^_^>To reach the secret room, we require a badge. If you do not currently possess one, then we will need to defeat the Floor Guardian and earn merit badges.>I overheard your conversation, but do not be fooled. This creature is what is known as a ‘Grand Royal Owl.’ It is a being whose feathers render it utterly immune to the effects of magic. Your spells will fizzle before they ever reach it.>Once we receive the merit badges, we must head to the warp panel, but do not step on it. I will use the badge to reconfigure the panel, forcing it to send us to a floor of my choosing. That is how we shall reach the secret room. Grand Royal Owl? Reconfigure? Secret Room? What the hell was this guy’s deal? For a foreigner, he sure as shit knew a lot about this place.
>“How do you know all this? And what exactly is in this secret room anyway?"Gyles snatches the paper back from you, and begins writing on the back of it. Though he nearly fills the entire sheet, his scrawlings are completed in a matter of moments. He must have had plenty of practice.
>Extensive research conducted both on Fodlan and in Morfis have led me to these conclusions. Fear not, I am correct in my findings.>As for the secret room, it is a lost mystery, even to the Sages and Yasha who rule this place. But I believe it once served as the Office of Xenophanes. And holds the answers I seek.>I know Cyril the Dragonslayer has sent you to collect my head and the Ichor Scroll. I cannot part with the former, but once we reach the secret floor, I will no longer have need of the Relic. You may take it, along with my badge. 