Edge Cases

The Guildmaster was only mildly surprised to hear of the abundant mana concentration, and the way the deviation had rapidly swung right towards the end; if anything, the most surprising part for her was the weakness of the monsters they had fought in the final waves. A Platinum-tier dungeon was expected to have Platinum-ranked monsters spawn during its formation — but then, this adventuring team had been in lower Bronze, and it was a miracle that they had survived a horde of upper Bronze to Silver monsters to begin with.

Then they told her about the bonus rooms. The existence of a bonus room was not a surprise to her; the scouts had discovered at least one of them before retreating, a strange, inset door in the corner of a room that they wouldn't have noticed had they not been practiced with the anti-perception skills the Guildmaster liked to use. What did surprise her was that there were four of them; it was another abnormality, and it was a significant one. The most they had ever found in a dungeon was one.

"None of our scouts made it into the bonus room they did find," the Guildmaster admitted when asked. "They couldn't find whatever mechanism was needed to unlock it. Maybe you'd have better luck, but..."

Their team was still Bronze ranked, she was thinking. Derivan glanced at Sev.

"About that," Sev said. "We're almost Silver now. Half of us are, anyway."

The Guildmaster paused. "You're still low Bronze on the Guild records." She frowned, then narrowed her eyes slightly, like something had occurred to her. Her voice was entirely too casual when she spoke. "That fight put you in Silver? It shouldn't have been enough to do that. What happened?"

Sev hesitated, trying to structure his thoughts. "We need to talk about our classes first. It's relevant, I promise," he said. He explained the rest of what had been in the boxes: their classes, and the 'intelligent monster' that had shown up and taken Derivan's place in the selection process.

"Three of you have rare classes?" The Guildmaster twitched. "Fuck, I wish we'd known that. We would've promoted you sooner."

"Really?" Sev asked, blinking. She snorted.

"You have better heads on your shoulders than Jerome's team does," she said. "And if you all have rare classes you can fight a tier up easily."

"What about the monster?" Vex asked, his tail twitching nervously. The Guildmaster snorted.

"You're all terrible at lying," she said plainly. "But you tried to be honest while protecting your teammate, and that counts for a lot. I figured that out earlier and ran all the diagnostics I needed to, so I believe you're not a danger. I will tell Elyra a modified version of this story." She glanced at Derivan, raising an eyebrow slightly. "You won't make me regret protecting you, I hope."

"I will not," Derivan said firmly.

"Good," the Guildmaster said. "Be careful around anyone Platinum-ranked. I'll have an enchanted amulet made and sent to you; wear it, and it'll make it harder for anyone to perceive what you are, even if they have the necessary sensory skills."

"You're taking this surprisingly well," Sev observed. He seemed a little shocked, but also pleased.

"I've seen some shit in my time," the Guildmaster said with an edge of sarcasm, and smirked slightly when Vex and Sev stared at her in surprise. Misa just grinned wildly, like she'd found a kindred spirit. Then the Guildmaster slipped back into formality like nothing happened. "Trust inspires trust in return. You were worried, but you told me the important details anyway, and trusted me to do the right thing with that information. The Guild as an organization wouldn't work if we didn't put some trust in members that have earned it."

"So not Jerome, to be clear," Misa said, grinning.

"Not Jerome," the Guildmaster agreed, and they laughed, the room feeling a little lighter for just a moment. Derivan was, admittedly, surprised — but... trust could be a simple matter, Derivan supposed, as long as those involved were willing. It was good to know that the Guild was what it purported itself to be.

"You still haven't explained how your team went from low Bronze to Silver over the course of a single fight," the Guildmaster added after a moment of silence, arching a brow at them.

"There was still excess mana after the bonus rooms were created," Derivan started, hesitantly taking up the story when the others glanced towards him. "It initially went to the mana crystal we were cultivating and upgraded it to a grade 6 crystal."

"This I saw," the Guildmaster acknowledged. "I wondered how you managed a grade 6 with only a few hours' worth of processing. That crystal will help a lot of villages."

"It would have kept going, but there was... some sort of override. The excess mana was shunted to a summoning." The Guildmaster's eyes widened fractionally at this, but she said nothing. "It called down a Mana Abomination with a title — ."

"It called down a boss?" The Guildmaster stiffened, then cursed. "Jerome is a fucker. The only one close enough and he just... okay. What level was it?"

"We don't know," Sev said, and the Guildmaster frowned.

"You didn't see it?"

"No. We don't know," Sev repeated. "We saw it, but the system labeled its level with three question marks. We don't know what level it is."

"...100 is supposed to be the level cap." The Guildmaster paused, but Derivan saw something in her eyes that was strange. A flicker of hesitation? And there was something else, too, that bothered him. Nothing specific he could pinpoint. "If there were three—"

"It was not level 100," Sev stated with an air of finality. "It was higher. Possibly much higher. We almost died."

"That should be impossible," the Guildmaster argued, but there was a trace of uncertainty in her voice. "There aren't—"

Derivan realized what he'd been missing. What she'd been missing. She didn't seem surprised, just worried.

"You already know." Derivan spoke suddenly. "Something happened?"

The Guildmaster paused in the middle of her speech. Slowly, the uncertainty bled away, leaving only a tired-looking woman. "I was hoping it wasn't true."

"What wasn't true?" Sev asked, looking between Derivan and the Guildmaster. "What?"

"We had a problem," the Guildmaster said with a sigh. "One of the scouts came back delirious, shouting about monsters above level 100... none of the other scouts saw it, so we were hoping it was an illusion. Some kind of trap."

She paused, then stared keenly at all of them. "I don't suppose you'll tell me how you're so sure?"

"Derivan was level 86 at the time," Sev said. "100 would have shown up, if that was the level."

"...Was?" the Guildmaster blinked.

"We broke his level," Misa said with a shrug. "The system thought he was a monster and that was stupid. So."

"You realize you're the most abnormal adventuring team I've met." The Guildmaster rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I'm starting to think I should be worried about Jerome instead of you four. Is that how you beat the boss?"

Derivan shook his head. "It was too strong for me. We worked together to stall until Sev was able to cast [Divine Communion]."

The Guildmaster frowned and cast her gaze to Sev. "So you cast [Divine Communion] and your god helped you out?"

"In a manner of speaking," Derivan said; the Guildmaster looked at him, surprised that Derivan answered instead of the cleric. "You should know that the last time Sev spoke of his god, he almost died, and the person he spoke to could not register or remember the name. We do not know the specifics of the effect, yet, and so we are being cautious. The one he spoke to could not remember the name he spoke."

"I remember hearing about this. I didn't think it was related." The Guildmaster breathed out, then nodded. "Good of you to warn me. Give me a minute to prepare myself." The Guildmaster seemed to search through the air for a moment, consulting an invisible status screen. Then she used a Skill, and the air around her rippled.

"Okay. Go ahead."

"The name of Sev's god is Onyx," Derivan said carefully.

The Guildmaster blinked once. She frowned. "Say that one more time, please. Just the name, nothing else."

"Onyx," Derivan said. He felt carefully at his soul, but nothing seemed to be happening, and nothing about his status had changed.

The Guildmaster tilted her head. "Why did you— Ah. I see what's happening." She sighed. "Ugh. This is going to nag at me. I hate this kind of magic."

"Don't you... use this kind of magic?" Vex ventured. He was watching the Guildmaster with slightly narrowed eyes — the mana was doing something strange, again but this time parts of the effect were bouncing off the Guildmaster.

"That is why I hate it, yes," the Guildmaster deadpanned. "I can't correctly associate the thoughts you've presented me with. I know you were trying to tell me the name of a god; I also know that, for no particular reason, you brought up a type of rock. The link between these two facts should be obvious, and I know it is obvious, and yet I cannot hold on to the association even burning my best skills. It is infuriating."

The fact that she could even string the two facts along next to one another was already displaying an adeptness with perceptual magic that couldn't be matched by most — Vex understood this, and was suitably impressed. Misa's brows were furrowed, not quite understanding how it was that the Guildmaster couldn't make the obvious connection, but taking her at her word.

"For now, let us proceed assuming that the name of the god is not relevant, and let us hope that you can tell me more."

Derivan nodded. He began to explain what happened — the space they were brought into once Sev had managed to cast the spell — but he had scarcely begun before the Guildmaster held up a hand.

"Stop." The Guildmaster rubbed at her temples; Vex was watching in alarm. Whatever the mana was doing around her had spiked in intensity. "This is not going to work. I am walking away from this with the assumption that a god is involved in some way, shape or form. I need you to tell me if the god is an aggressor."

"No," Derivan said.

"Understood." The Guildmaster frowned, grumbling. "At least the magic allows me to remember this much. Infolocks are... rare. Not really known to anyone except the few Platinums digging into our history. It's some sort of system-level censorship. There are limits to it, but for the most part, they shouldn't be tested. Your friend..." The Guildmaster's gaze went to Sev, and she frowned slightly. "...The backlash is not normally nearly as severe as what happened to your friend; there may be something more to what happened. But there is backlash, often to your health and occasionally in the form of skill restrictions. Be careful sharing information, if you find that those you try to share it with cannot listen."

"Why isn't this more well known?" Vex asked with a frown. The Guildmaster raised an eyebrow.

"Ever tried telling people they can't talk about something?"

"...Good point."

"Just to clarify, there are monsters that use perception magic, and prevent you from alerting others to the threat. That's not the same as an infolock. You're safe to try to communicate that any way you can." The Guildmaster hesitated. "From the story you've given me... do you need to investigate this dungeon?"

"Yes," Derivan said.

"Shit," the Guildmaster muttered. "Okay. I can work with this. You've given me a lot, and I can probably work it into our negotiations to get the Guild to send an envoy... You're practically a Silver team and you can fight a tier up. That's the only reason I'm even considering this, just for the record."

"You're going to let us delve the dungeon?" Misa said, excited. The Guildmaster held up a hand.

"I'm going to try to get you on Elyra's research team," she said. Vex flinched slightly at the words, but said nothing. "You might be called on to participate in the negotiations. Keep an eye out, be on your best behavior, and sell to them why you might be useful. They probably won't call on you for delves, but that's the closest I can get you."

"That's... probably good enough?" Sev said, exchanging glances with the others. If they could find a way in... But it was a bit early to think about that.

"Well. Thank you for your time." The Guildmaster stood, evidently ready to leave; she offered them a small smile. "It is rare for adventurers to be quite as cooperative as you four. I hope to see you in the higher ranks soon. Preferably before Jerome makes it back to Gold, and then to Platinum." She smirked a bit. "Though if I have my way, it will take him quite a while."

"I just hope he doesn't stir up too much trouble," Vex said softly; something about his countenance suggested nervousness, his tail swishing slowly and dragging across the floor.

"It will not involve you. He does not know that you are the adventurers that found the dungeon, and we have been sure to keep that information secret." The Guildmaster offered Vex a reassuring smile. It didn't seem to help much, but the lizardkin stood up straighter anyway. "Be ready to be involved in the negotiations. It will happen soon. Likely tomorrow."

A woman left the room. A slow exhale followed the sound of the door clicking shut, as each member of the team let out a breath they didn't realize they had been holding.

Vex broke the silence first.

"If we're going to be involved in negotiations with Elyra..." Vex ventured cautiously, taking a breath. "I may be able to help."

"Oh?" Sev glanced at the wizard.

"I was born to a noble family in Elyra," the lizardkin explained; he didn't look happy about it, but he did look determined. "There is a chance we can use my family name to press for our involvement. But I'm not exactly on the best terms with my family, so it might be a long shot."

"...We'll see if we need to," Sev said softly. "But thank you for sharing."

Vex nodded silently. He still seemed nervous, but he seemed to be calming down, now that he'd gotten that truth out there.

"Let's get some rest, shall we?" Sev suggested. "It's been a long day."