Chapter 10: Guide

Rays of sunlight streaked through the windows and lit up the thousands of dust particles within my room. Then came the stench of mouldy floorboards tainted with decades of rot and neglect, followed by the blaring pounding of the door on the bottom floor.

Even at dawn, morons came to get a fix of their favourite booze instead of doing anything productive.

"Damn, I must've spent at least two hours going through all those guild documents."

A sore feeling in my hand reminded me of how tedious acting as a god was. For one, I had to put on airs and graces whilst coating my words in divine eloquence suited to my 'stature' and also had to sign my name at least one hundred times. Doing something like that again is to be avoided at all costs.

But at least now I was a part of an 'official' familia, meaning I could exchange magic crystals for valis and enter the dungeon with no issues.

Coming up with a name for the familia was probably the hardest part of it all if I had to be honest. Not possessing one of my own didn't help either. In the end, I had to steal a name from Lordran, hence the Londo Familia was born.

"I guess it's time to hand these things in."

My eyes locked onto a pouch brimming with the jagged edges of magic crystals. The composition of the crystals themselves were unknown to me and the way they dungeon produced also raised many questions.

Though my one primary concern was that overly powerful goblin which assaulted me.

I could never forget the familiar sensation of the abyss which oozed out of its pores and culminated into a disgusting smoke ready to ensnare all livings beings with its glib promises of strength.

Was the abyss the true source of power for the dungeon? If that was the case, it would make sense why the gods were actively combating it. Though, did they truly realise what they were up against and did this world have a flame of its own?

Questions like this whirred through my mind in a violent tempest before I had to detach myself from them. Thinking about bleak topics such as that would only prove detrimental to me in my current state.

I hopped out the window, and I went back to the guild building.

This time, instead of being empty with only one worker manning the post, the interior was jampacked with adventurers looking to cash in their magical crystals and many other workers at their own booths.

While in line, ten minutes ticked by, and I soon found myself at the very front, face to face with an employee.

"I'd like to cash in my stones." I said.

"Let me see your adventurers card and then I'll begin counting."

I presented my card and then employee grabbed the pouch and began counting. She pinpointed the type of monster each crystal came from and calculated their worth based on it.

"Didn't you just become an adventurer today? How did you get crystals from monsters found on floor five?"

"How else? I went down to floor five right after getting my card."

"I don't know whether to praise you or scold you for your lack of concern for one's wellbeing. Have you met with your assigned guide at least?"

"A guide is unnecessary. I have more experience in areas similar to the dungeon than I'd like."

"That isn't for you to decide, Arthur." She glanced at my card. Yes I registered myself as Arthur. I had no choice in the matter and it was the first name that came to mind. "Too many newbies end up dying because they overestimate their abilities. You know what, I'm gonna call your guide over right now, this is just unacceptable."

Great.

The employee left, much to the annoyance of the adventurers waiting behind me, and returned with a certain man who recognised me instantly.

"You!" He called out, finger pointing towards me. "You're the one from before!"

"No need to state the obvious." I shut him up, "Let's just get this guidance session out of the way already."

I followed behind the hot-headed guide and shot an irritated stare at the employee who forced this upon me.

"No need to worry about your money. I'll have it delivered to your assigned room once I've finished counting."

Asshole.

The two of us entered a small conference area and sat down on two comfy couches separated by a wooden table in the middle.

"Don't ask too many questions." I warned, noting his expression, which appeared to be on the verge of exploding with queries.

"I have every right to know." He snapped back. "First you go in as an unregistered adventurer, reach floor five, find five dead bodies, leave the dungeon relatively unscathed and now you've joined the familia of some unknown god who just descended."

"I know that already. What exactly is your point?"

"The point is uh." he paused, realising how idiotic and unreasonable he was being. "Wow, you're right, there is no point to this at all. Look, how about we just start from the beginning? My name's Hans Velder, what's yours?"

"Arthur, no surname." I shook his hand.

"Well, it's nice meeting you Arthur. Anyway, now that introductions are over let me explain what my job is..."

He described the duty and role of a guide for adventurers and, sure, in the case of an actual newcomer, a guide would be quite useful. But for me, this was just a waste of time.

"And that leads me to my last point. What do you know of the massive horde which ravaged floor five last night?"

"Excuse me?"

"Ahh, sorry for assuming you knew about it. Last night, around the same time you were in the dungeon, all the monsters from the floors above suddenly went into a frenzy and charged down to the fifth floor. They slaughtered a whole party before level two's were dispatched to deal with it. I was just wondering if yo-"

"So that's why floor one was empty." I lied through my teeth.