Gathering Intel

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"Stupid? He's a full-on idiot!!" The gray-haired male glanced back at Aamon as what remained of the Aqua Serpent sank back into the channels depths. "Might as well have gotten chowed up by monsters if he's gonna be so damned careless."

No one said anything as the wolf eared male made his way over to the previously thrown individual, frustration in every step he took. It was a weird situation. Aamon could feel the hostile intent, but he didn't feel any immediate danger coming off the werewolf like with the monsters, even when the man was stomping towards him with such violent movements. Fists curled up like he wanted to slug Aamon in his jaw but without any indication that he would, orange eyes narrowed in a mixture of annoyance and frustration, clenched teeth that gave a pissed off vibe. This person was one of the few people so far that the white-haired youth couldn't quite figure out based on looks alone.

"If you wanna off yourself, then do it on your own damned time," the man said, getting up in Aamons face. "Weaklings like you shouldn't be in the dungeon in the first place. Don't get in the way of those who are actually strong!! If you're gonna be here, then stay out of the way."

Spinning on his heels, the wolf man walked away, dropping one last "pathetic" as he walked back towards the group, leaving Aamon standing where he was.

It was kinda interesting in a way. As those around him made sure he wasn't seriously injured, even Riveria asking him more than once if he was alright, Aamon couldn't help but actually agree with what the wolf had said. Though having been harsh with his words, he hadn't said anything that was out of line. In fact, the youth kinda thought the werewolf had reacted pretty decently given the situation, if only a tad aggressive and overbearing. Someone who had no knowledge or experience within a set environment put themselves into a dangerous situation, causing those around him to react on his behalf in order to ensure the others' survival. Something that could have been avoided if the one stepping into danger had been more cautious.

No matter how it was sliced, Aamon was at fault because of his own weakness and carelessness.

"Don't worry too much about Bete," Tiona said, cutting into the youths thoughts. "He's a stinker."

"Heh, a stinker?" Aamon cracked a genuine smile for the first time since his arrival in the Dungeon. Yet another emotion was added to the growing liston available feelings, amusement.

"Oh, so you CAN smile," Tiona commented, smiling back, leaning forward slightly.

"Maybe a little."

Dusting himself off, Aamon checked himself over briefly before falling in line with the rest of the group. Though they had paused briefly during the Aqua Serpent, the journey to the surface continued.

"So, how big IS the Loki Familia anyways?" Aamon asked, walking in step with the energetic Amazon. "In comparison to other factions."

Tiona tilted her head slightly as she thought about it, though she didn't think for too long. "Pretty big."

(("Gee, that was truly a life changing number.")) Aamon let out a sigh, understanding more about the young girls personality than he initially planned to. Though she was a simple creature, sometimes keeping it too simple was more of a hindrance than a help. (("Maybe try a different approach?"))

"What are levels?"

It seemed like a relatively simple question, one that anyone could answer for him.

"Levels are certain markers you reach after gaining enough experience," a voice cut in, drawing Aamon's attention. It was the one-eyed woman from earlier, Tsubaki. "You can think of them as ceilings. When you train in the Dungeon for a long time, you hit a roof that you can't break through. When that happens, you can freely choose to level up to raise that ceiling and go to the next stage of development. That's the simplest way I can put it.

"Levels are ceilings....."

"You can think of them as that," Tsubaki said. Holding out the dark naginata Aamon had woken up with, Tsubaki eyed the white-haired youth with a singular red hue. "As for the weapon, I'm done looking at it for now. Though I'd like to look at it later when we get to the surface whenever you find the time. I have a few tests I wanna run with it."

Taking his naginata, Aamons eyes narrowed in confusion. "Tests?"

"To put it bluntly, that weapon is made of a material I've never seen before. Its craftsmanship is on a whole nother level that I haven't seen matched." Tsubaki turned around. "I wanna study it further and see if I can replicate the designs. If you'll allow me to do that I'll obviously provide compensation."

Aamon wasn't too sure how to respond as the woman walked away, merely staring at her retreating figure. The only thing that brief interaction did was to further increase the abundant questions he already possessed. He hadn't actually thought too much about his own weapon, seeing it as a mere tool meant to cut down monsters within the Dungeon, something most adventurers carried on them. To be told that the naginata Aamon woke up with didn't match up with the norm of what a presumably experienced Dungeon diver was used to illicited all kinds of emotions and inquiries that the white-haired youth wanted answered.

Just like his own mysterious past, however, it was highly unlikely that he'd get any answers any time soon.

Gazing at the pitch black weapon, Aamon noticed that the blade of the naginata had vanished from the end, transforming into a fancy looking staff. Swishing it back and forth, even spinning it and flicking the end downwards like he had before yielded no results, the blade refusing to appear. After a few attempts, Aamon abandoned the goal and stuck it back onto his back, where it levitated in place, unmoving.

"Is there anything that you DO remember?" Tiona asked, waiting until Aamon was done with his inspection. "About yourself?"

"Nope."

"Well, if you do, I want to be the first one to know," Tiona leaned forward with a smile. "I'm definitely curious."

Aamon grinned, her smile very near infectious. "Okay. You'll be the first to know then."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"It's a deal. I'll hold you to it then." Tiona clasped her hands behind her back, moving ahead of the youth. "Don't go forgetting it Belph."

(("That's not my name but I suppose it's too late to correct her.")) Aamon shook his head. (("That's on me."))

Moving along, the young amnesiac moved to the center of the pack, assuring that he was surrounded by all sides by adventurers just like before. Having learned from his mistake, Aamon steered clear of the rivers edge and any significantly sized bodies of water that could house dangerous lifeforms. He merely returned to watching and listening, learning about what he could as time ticked on, absorbing information like a sponge in liquid. He freely conversed with those who struck up conversations with him as well as breaking the ice and starting conversations with others. He made sure to use his time with such a large group to its maximum efficiency, asking questions to numerous individuals so as to not be an annoyance.

His persistence definitely paid off. He managed to learn more about Levels, monsters, and how it all connected with the Dungeon.

As Ais had said in the beginning of gathering intel, the further down you went, the stronger the monsters were.

Levels referred to how strong you were at a given moment, measured in numerical stats that were plastered on your back. As you fought stronger and stronger monsters, heading deeper and deeper into the Dungeon, you gained experience based on what you went through and how hard you struggled. Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, Agility, Magic. When these five categories were sufficiently high enough, one could achieve what the adventurers referred to as a Rank Up, where the person in question chose to bump up to the next level, making their metaphorical ceiling into a floor and creating a whole new ceiling. From the sound of it, the process of gaining experience and Ranking Up was extremely difficult and tike consuming, the strongest adventurers being at levels around 6 or 7.

In essence, it all came down to hunting monsters. The more you hunted, the stronger you would become. More challenges equaled more opportunities to gain stats.

There was just one added addition that needed to be fulfilled to level up.

You had to be given a blessing by a god or goddess. This was the part that confused Aamon to the point of not asking questions.

How was one supposed to get a blessing from a divine being?

From the way it was explained, it sounded like the easier part of the entire procedure, easier than dueling monsters and risking ones very existence. But how was one supposed to make contact with a powerful being such as a god, make silly dances and throw in some worship? Make offerings and hope a blessing fell from the sky?

It was highly possible that Aamon was envisioning things differently or missing some vital piece of information, but he stowed it aside.

The main crux of it was that if he didn't have a blessing then fighting monsters no matter how weak wouldn't give him experience to level up. Thus, fighting in general until such time arised would be a foolish undertaking.

(("I'll just have to figure things out as I go,")) Aamon shrugged it off as he continued moving with the group, the same group that had just passed Floor 27, making its way up to 26. (("No other way to move, I suppose."))

The only thing Aamon could do was wait until they reached the safe zone known as Rivira, get situated, and piece together everything he had learned. Arranging everything until it fit together could help him figure out the situation with the gods and goddesses, leveling up in the Dungeon, how to go about making his life easier, and .uch more. He could also talk with some of the Coalition, making allies and those willing to help him get back onto his feet.