“Whoa,” Kedryn said in awe as he took in the white room that had no beginning or end. “This is just like the Matrix!”

Moments ago, he had been discussing their next steps in the rescue operation with Glade, and then he was here. There was no flash of light, any indication of a spell being used, or the loss of consciousness he had experienced before when being teleported. He had simply been walking the halls of the labyrinth one moment and then… here.

If that wasn’t an incredible display of power, he didn’t know what was.

“Welcome Bei’Kedryn Serevlir, of House Serevlir, to my labyrinth,” came a voice that sounded just like Alfred in the old Batman animated series.

Turning around, Kedryn found a dark silhouette of a tall, reedy looking man standing out against the backdrop of white, like a walking ink stain painted on a vast canvas. Only, this ink spot radiated enough power that he could feel the hairs on his arms begin to stand on end.

How someone was supposed to address such a being, he had no idea. His first go around with Adjudicators had very nearly been a disaster of unequaled proportions.

Kedryn almost snorted with laughter as he imagined what Bragden would do if he were here. Thoughts of a dying old dwarf from either an ulcer or a brain aneurysm while muttering something about slagging branded filled his mind. Croon would have broken out into song by now with that awful accordion of his. But it was the thought of Glade’s likely interaction that helped him the most. Knowing his commanding officer, he had either ignored the all powerful being or simply grunted at the Adjudicator while glaring menacingly.

Whatever Kedryn decided, it had to be better than those.

Putting on his most charming smile, he bowed.

“Good morning, your Adjudicatorness,” he said, immediately regretting his choice of title. It had sounded so much better in his head. “I mean, Acumen,” he stammered.

Beads of sweat dotted his forehead as the silhouette looked down on him, its expression lost in shadow.

Finally, it spoke. “I am… pleased that you were able to remember my name so readily.”

“Thank you?” Kedryn said, confused if the Adjudicator was being serious or not.

“Yes, I was most curious to learn that both you and your… companion… remembered my name after your initial arrival. Not many have the capacity to recall a name of power after hearing it only once,” Acumen said.

If Kedryn didn’t know any better, he could have sworn he detected the barest undertone of respect in that voice.

There was a drawn out moment of awkward silence as Acumen eyed him up and down, like a seagull assessing if he was food or not.

“Sooo…” Kedryn said, breaking the silence. “What happens now that I made it to the first gate?”

“Is that a formal request for information?” Acumen asked, cocking his head to the side like some overgrown owl.

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“What do you mean by a formal request?” Kedryn replied carefully. There was little doubt the Adjudicator's response was more than what it seemed.

“Any namer who enters a labyrinth associated with their sponsoring Adjudicator may request a single boon in the form of a question,” Acumen explained. “All they need do is call speak the name aloud upon entering, much like you have done.”

“Seriously? Kedryn blurted, stunned at the revelation. He had spoken Acumen’s name more so out of reflex than any real intent, but apparently that didn’t matter. A boon associated with the Adjudicator of Intelligence was no small thing!

Kedryn felt more than heard the long suffering sigh coming from the shadowed being at his less than decorous response.

“Right…” he said, mentally kicking himself for his ill timed outburst as his mind began to churn through the extensive lists of questions he had gathered in these few short weeks. How to fix his fire attunement was at the top of his list, but there was also the mysterious origins of Storms’ Rest that had been nagging at him for weeks. There was a story there that kept calling to him, like it was important to learn.

Then again, he could go straight adventurer and ask where he could find powerful treasures to push his magic to higher levels. Maybe he could combine that request with finding their other team members? Not only would Glade be happy, but the could grow their strength at the same time!

Seconds turned into minutes, as Kedryn tried, and failed, to come up with a single perfect question that would give him the best shot at maximizing this opportunity. The problem was, the parameters of what he could ask for were unclear. Were there limitations? If so, would he get a chance to ask another question or would he have wasted the opportunity? Could he ask for things, such as magic items? Or was this only a question-answer based boon?

There was simply no way of knowing unless…

“My apologies, but could you define what restrictions, if any, are in place regarding this boon?” Kedryn asked, deciding it was best to simply ask for clarification.

“Is that a formal request for information?” Acumen asked.

“No,” Kedryn sighed, shaking his head. Of course, that would have been too easy.

Time passed as he weighed and measured his options. But the more he debated, the more he realized that this was not necessarily once in a lifetime opportunity. So long as he could get regular access to Acumen’s labyrinth that is.

That thought led to the realization that he still didn’t know what a labyrinth was. Both Helmund and Bragden had explained a great deal already, but neither had known about the eight gates. They had only learned that little tidbit of information because the arrogant efl escorting them had bragged about it. What else were they missing?

Hoping that he wasn’t about to waste his question, Kedryn gazed into the darkened void of Acumen’s face.

“I would like to understand the purpose and workings of labyrinths,” he said. After a brief hesitation, he added , “Please”.

Acumen stared at Kedryn for a long, drawn out moment.

“Is that a formal request for information?” the Adjudicator asked.

Taking a deep breath, Kedryn nodded before saying, “Yes.”

“Curious,” Acumen said. “Of all the subjects forecasted, labyrinthian delving had a less than 3% chance of coming up.”

“Is that… bad?” Kedryn winced, wondering if he had asked the wrong question.

“It is neither good nor bad,” Acumen stated with indifference. “It is simply a mild annoyance that requires adjustment to existing prediction models. Your chance variance is much higher than your attributes would suggest.”

“Wait a minute, what is a chance variance!?”” Kedryn blurted out, his eyes going wide with the realization. He hadn’t been thinking broadly enough when debating what question to ask. Imagine what he could do if he understood the mechanics behind his status page and attributes!

“Your requested boon has already been finalized,” Acumen said. Kedryn choked down his response, giving a reluctant nod of understanding.

“To understand the roles and purposes of labyrinths, you must first understand the purpose we Adjudicators play within the grand design of eternity,” Acumen began as both the room and the Adjudicator faded from view. “As well as the bounds we must operate within.”

Kedryn’s eyes widened. What, exactly, had he gotten himself into?