“Come, sit,” Lanivia said, waving her hand in front of her. An instant later a chair appeared on Talia’s side of the table, and all the books disappeared from the table, replaced by a full tea set. “Let me tell you why you were invited here.”
I slowly pulled out the chair and sat down, my eyes never leaving Lanivia’s face. The lich just laughed. “You’re a cautious one aren’t you. Can’t say I’m surprised, based on your background.” She poured two cups of tea, passed one to me, and then gently took a sip from the other.
“How much can you possibly know about a nobody like me?” I asked, gingerly taking my own cup.
“Oh, please. I may spend most of my time on my research, but I’m not completely out of touch with the world. It was big news around the pro circuit when one of Lady Beh’neth’s daughters abandoned the competition for dungeon lord a few years ago,” she said casually. I felt a lump form in my throat, I wanted to tell her I wasn’t who she thought I was, but lying to a lich was typically a VERY bad idea.
She glanced at me casually, “Relax, I can understand why you’d want to leave. I don’t know why the Arachne cling to such archaic ideas as survival of the fittest.” She shook her head then took another sip of tea. “I know you’re not big on dungeons anymore, but please listen to my complete offer before making any decisions.”
I took a tiny sip of my own tea to clear my throat, “Fine, that’s fair,” I replied.
“Good! Now from what Bella has told me, in addition to my own investigation, you’ve been unable to use martial skills or magic since you were a hatchling, but… this is more than offset by a prodigious mental aptitude. You specialize in strategy, trap-making and detection, beast-taming, and a couple other fields. Most people would have trouble learning any one of those skills, never mind all of them. I’m sure you haven’t heard this very often, since adventuring groups almost always prioritize martial skills and magic, but you are exceptional.”
She paused, and appeared to calm down a little. “Anyways, your mental fortitude makes you an exceptional choice for running a maze, puzzle, or trap-based wing of a dungeon. If you won’t be able to win a straight up fight, but in a prolonged battle of wits? You’ll be hard to beat.”
I slumped in my chair, and idly fiddled with my cup. “So why me? There are plenty of trap experts in the world.”
Lanivia nodded, “That’s true, but very few of them have experience in dungeons, either in defense or raiding, and those that do are typically snapped up. This dungeon is about to compete in something new, dungeon vs dungeon combat, and I wanted to have an edge. Someone that has experience both defending and attacking dungeons, and specializes in tactics would be perfect for that. Someone like you.” She put down her tea cup and looked me square in the face. “I know you haven’t had good experiences working in dungeons previously, but I promise it’ll be different here. My employees are not pitted against each other to get results, the only thing I care about is repelling adventuring groups, and now opposing dungeons.”
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She patted me on the hand. “I know you’d prefer to be in an adventuring group, so I’m willing to give you the chance of being the vanguard when it’s time to go on the offensive. You have some time, give it a thought. I’m even willing to hire you on a trial basis. The fact that you were willing to come all this way means some part of you is willing to give it a try. If you don’t like it, you can leave.”
I took a deep breath, “I’ll think about it. Can I give you an answer tomorrow?”
The lich smiled, “Of course, feel free to stay here and explore. Let Bella or Kass know when you’d like to speak to me again.” She stood up and waved her hands. The tea set disappeared, and the books returned.
“I hope you make the right choice, my dear. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Lanivia said with a smile.
“Thank you,” I replied, before standing up to leave the table. George was behind me, just standing there; It was rare for him to behave for such a long time.
“Oh, sorry, I put your pet into a timestop so we could talk,” Lanivia said from behind me. “Let me release that for you.” Almost immediately the big spider started shuffling about, slightly confused. I felt a chill down my spine, for a moment I’d forgotten I was having a discussion with one of the most powerful magical based races in the entire world.
George followed me without complaint as I trudged back up the stairs. I didn’t know whether it was because there was some sort of spatial shenanigans, or if I was still shook up from meeting with Lanivia, but it didn't seem as long or dark as before. As soon as I took my first few steps out of the stairway, and back into the atrium, I breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed like things were winding down for the day, there were only a handful of Centaurs talking among themselves in one corner, so I hurried over to the door to the living area Kassandra pointed out earlier. The area beyond was a riot of noise. There was a fairly large dining area to my immediate left, completely filled with people. Ahead of me was a branching hallway, leading to what appeared to be dorms and private rooms, and to my right there there were a dozen or so moderate-sized lounges, equipped with plush furniture and crystal viewing screens. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I finally noticed Bella, standing not even two feet away, waving from the window of the nearest lounge.
She yanked open the door and pulled me inside; Kassandra was lounging on a couch, watching a dungeon run broadcast. “How did it go?” Bella asked excitedly.
“You could have warned me that your boss was a lich,” I replied, collapsing into a nearby chair. “She makes quite the first impression.”
“And…” Bella prompted.
“I told her I’d think about it,” I sighed. “I honestly wasn’t expecting much on the way over here, but she knew why I avoided working in dungeons, and still managed to make a pretty tempting offer. I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet.”
“Well, you don’t have to decide right now,” Kassandra said, jumping off the couch. “I figured the boss might rattle you a little, so I booked this entire room for the rest of the night, and ordered a little food for us all. We can sit here, relax, and make fun of amateur adventurer groups making stupid mistakes. Relax a little.” She walked to the side of the room and pulled out a small cart covered in finger foods and drinks. “I know we just met, but I figured you could use a girls' night. We can introduce everyone tomorrow, if you decide to stick around,” she said with a wink. She grabbed a plate of cookies, took one, and passed the rest around.
I shoved one of the treats into my mouth and sunk deeper into my chair. It was a long time since I just relaxed with friends, it was nice to decompress. I could make my decision in the morning.