Chapter Eight: A Nerd

Three Days Later, Thorsday (Thursday).

Corwyn entered the guild and scanned the surroundings. He soon found the lobby area, complete with several couches and nice tables and spotted a red-head of hair.

'Werewolf spotted!' Corwyn thought as he walked over. 'Analyzing Target. Target Identity Verified'.

This new thought process would all be thanks to his new Rare item he'd found while checking up on the Guild on Thothsday.

Rare - Guild Glasses of Comprehension, Analytics, and Understanding

Comprehension: You comprehend and can make sense of information and data at stellar speeds and depths.

Understanding: You can understand and make sense of complex topics with great depth and details.

Analytics: You are far better at analyzing data and information into comprehensive details.

He'd made them for this specific interaction. He wasn't exactly sure what Rose would be covering, but on Thoth and Wodinsday he'd used the glasses and read through several books on monsters he'd also collected from the Guild and various public library institutions just in case there was a sudden pop-quiz or test.

Corwyn sat across from Rose, the woman jerking up at his sudden entrance. His legs spread wide, he placed down a thick file as he sat. He then adjusted his glasses and idly wondered if the light from the window refracted on his glasses correctly. His Analytical function was stressed as it calculated the angle of the light beam and his glasses. He also wondered if his lack of a suit and tie would negate the effect, before he focused up.

Corwyn leaned forward, lacing his hands together in a Gendo pose. "Greetings Ms. Fannett."

The woman stared "Eina-" She shook herself, "Mr. Hallows. Are you ready to begin...?"

"Indeed." Corwyn nodded firmly.

"Well, lets start with what you already know about the dungeon. It'd be best to get a base level out." Rose sat up as she gathered herself.

"...Wonderful. So I was right, there was a test." Corwyn muttered. As a student from Earth, he, like many others, had a sixth-sense for when tests were. He neglected to consider that this was a Practice-Test, as we all know there was no such thing as a Practice-Test.

"Eh? Sorry I didn't quite catch that."

Corwyn waved away, "No matter. Let us begin." Corwyn opened his folder, and he began.

....

"On the eighth floor we can see that Goblin and Kobolds spawn here as-well as the first through fifth. Referencing back to the anatomical map, we can use our former skills to develop strategy regarding these pests. However, they've been armed and the dungeon has regrouped these foes! The Kobolds and Goblins are now more team-orriented and such foes need to be considered not as dumb animals and simple creatures with savage and predictable attacks, but as actual intelligent foes. Goblins have been reported to have been riding Dungeon Lizards, using arrows tipped with Frog Shooter Saliva and Purple Moth dust, and actual battle strategy! This is evidence that to effectively combat these floors either an equally powerful party needs to engage the monsters, or effective tactics for disrupting team-work. Here are some of my cited source from these accounts taken from engagements reported by the Zeus and Hera families themselves. Despite the antiquated age of reports, the dungeon has since then reported no significant change and their validity stands." Corwyn slid over a small stack of ancient papers taken from the Guild Report Department, a defunct area where Adventurers were once required to submit reports on monster encounters to gather actionable data.

Rose stared dully at the paper, looking up at a still talking Corwyn, who was now ranting about the secondary, tertiary, and hidden effects of the Purple Moth dust and how it should be treated and handled.

"Corwyn." Rose said.

"Furthermore, Silverbacks are a foolish sort and can be led into traps and ambushes in the rocky alcoves. I'd be wary of them growing a brain as they use the surrounding rocks and foliage as primitive weapons."

"Corwyn."

"The Orcs are wonderful foes to practice on when getting ready to fight in the middle-floors. They are weaker versions of Minotaurs. Not only the Orcs are good practice for future engagements, but also the Killer Ants as they could be considered in likeliness to the Almiraj."

Rose leaned forward and took the file from his hand.

The man paused.

"Corwyn." Rose said.

"Yes?"

"It's been one and a half hours."

"...Oh, time goes so quickly. Are we just about done?"

"We've been done for half an hour."

"...I apologize. I took up your time. I'll endeavor to shorten my next presentation to concise notes and summaries." Corwyn cursed! He'd neglected that this test might be timed! He always went over time on presentations!

"No, no. It's...good. It was good." And it was. Rose was reminded of her own tutors as they explained the Dungeon to her in detail. "There aren't many Adventurers who spend so much time on their studies." Rose explained.

"...That's foolish. To delve into the Dungeon without having studied every nook and cranny...this is real-life we're talking about! Everything must be considered." Corwyn stroked his beard. "I've only covered up to floor eighteen, and even then I'm considering studying the floor's unique environment. There might be hidden treasures in the forest, and not to mention the gold-mine that is the Great Forest Labyrinth. There's an entire world under our feet, and people don't want to take the time to study everything that wants to kill you? Madness I say."

Rose laughed, a genuine and joyful giggle left her throat.

Corwyn looked up and found himself taken aback by the woman laughing to herself. 'Damn, she's pretty.' Corwyn thought to himself, stunned.

"S-sorry. I've had the same thought, you're the first person to share that opinion." Rose smiled.

"Opinion? Talk about fact. Something wants to kill you. What do you do?"

"...Run?" She said.

"Well yes, but this is the Dungeon we're talking about. The Dungeon wants to kill us. We've ran. Our ancestors ran. They survived, now we have to live with the fact that the Dungeon still wants to kill us. Thanks to Babel, the Dungeon can't chase us. So, now what do we do?"

Rose blinked. "Plan. Plan how to kill it." She said.

"Correct!" Corwyn slapped his thigh. He then snapped his finger and pointed it at her. "That, that is what we should be doing. Planning and plotting how to kill the Dungeon. Yet, for whatever reason its not happening. We treat the dungeon like a farm, like a mine. Yet, it's not. It has been repeatedly stated it's a living creature that wants to kill us. We have a shackle in the place of Babel, and the creature is now our slave. But, how long will that last?" Corwyn posited.

Rose blinked, "Babel won't break. The gods put it there."

Corwyn shook his head. "Nothing is forever. Not the gods, not this world, not Babel. From that rational, its a matter of betting who lasts longer. The dungeon, or the gods. In these situations, I'm a glass half-empty guy, so I'm going to say it's the dungeon."

Rose blinked, "Glass half-empty?" She asked.

Corwyn sighed, "Imagine a glass of water." She nodded. "Is it half full, or half empty?"

"Half full?" She guessed.

"Its an expression of optimism or pessimism. An optimistic person who looks at something and sees the positives would say the glass is half full. A pessimistic person who sees the negative in things would look at the glass and think its half empty."

Rose nodded in understanding, "Oh." She tilted her head and frowned. "When do you think Babel will...fall?" She asked.

"A year? A decade? A century? A thousand thousand years from now? Its not of a when, but of an if. Its easy to think the Dungeon is taken care of, but is it really?" Corwyn sighed, "Then again, I can just as easily prove myself wrong. Technically the sun can blow up, or a nearby star can go super-nova, or a super-volcano can blow. There's a thousand and one ways the world ends, but do we see people trying to stop them? Nope." He popped the 'p'.

Rose stared at Corwyn, before snorting in amusement and chuckling to herself.

"What?"

"Nothing..."

Corwyn stared.

"You're...different."

"...I'm going to take that as a compliment." Corwyn stood and collected his documents.

"I'll come back with a shorter statement on the floors. Perhaps detailed drawing of anatomical critical points on all the creatures in the first twelve floors? I have a theory that cutting off or not damaging 'Drop-Items' while fighting creatures will increase the chances of them actually dropping." Corwyn said as he chopped his folder to orient the papers.

"Well, I'll be off. Thanks for your time Rose." Corwyn waved and walked out of the Pantheon.

Rose's eyes followed him, before she straightened herself and rose from her seat. She collected her own notes on the dungeon and entered her clerk booth.

"Rose, who was that?" Misha asked, a mischievous expression on her face.

Rose frowned, "An adventurer."

"Oh, he's your new guy? From the Goibniu familia?"

Rose sighed and nodded.

"I saw you laughing with him." Misha stated, that gleam in her eyes not making Rose feel safe. "So, another one."

Rose's frown turned irritated to an extreme. "I will not do that again. It was a mistake." She turned away from her co-worker and focused on the come and go of Adventurers.

"He made you smile." Misha said. "He must have something you like about him."

Rose ignored the annoying woman. 'He'll die just like the rest of them.'

She hated how her heart panged at the thought.