It was the early morning the day after the meeting. The sun was still mostly blocked from reaching the main campground by the surrounding forest, but a few rays shone through the trees, causing the morning dew still dotted across the flora to glitter in the sunlight. Katherine didn't pay attention to that at all, as she stood with a scowl on her face watching her two Dungeon scholars shuffle up towards her. They were late, and carrying a frankly disturbing amount of notes and equipment with them in several different packs. 99 percent of which she was sure they weren't going to need. They were going to have a discussion with the Dungeon, not spent a month excavating its walls and making notes on rock shapes.

Still though that was just what could be expected from Dungeon scholars.

"You're late." She said.

"Apologies, Hallmaster." Florian said. "We wanted to make sure we were prepared for anything that might come up, so we had to bring almost half of our notes." He frowned apologetically. "It took quite a while to narrow it down to something we could carry without slowing us down too much."

Katherine blinked. This was not even half? She looked at the several bags and pouches hanging off of both of the men. How had they even managed to do this? They'd been at the camp for less than two weeks! She shook her head, that wasn't important right now. They had always been an obsessive group, and this was just par for the course, and not the main reason she was annoyed this morning. That would be the man standing to her left.

Bishop Nicomedes hadn't spoken much in yesterdays meeting, but once he did he'd shifted the entire thing to focus on him. And now they were doing exactly what he wanted by going in and having the Dungeon help decide how to best proceed. It wasn't that it was a bad idea, in fact quite the opposite, she just didn't like how it felt like she was being manipulated somehow. She was supposed to be in charge here, dammit.

"It's good to be prepared." The man said, and she was sure it was an attempt to annoy her on purpose. She schooled her face, she wasn't some young inexperienced child. While she wasn't anywhere near as old as that old bastard, she'd still been a Hallmaster of the Guild for over two decades. She wasn't going to be controlled by her emotions, and let her annoyance at an old man keep her from following a smart idea.

"That’s true." She said. "But it's also true that you could have been prepared that you would need this much equipment. If I'd have known I would have sent some people over to help you."

"Ah, yes of course." Florian said. "I'll be sure to remember that, next time."

"Good." She nodded firmly. "Then let us be off."

She started walking, the two scholars following behind. After a moment she also notice Nicomedes following as well. She turned to face him and raised an eyebrow. He only smiled in response.

"I thought you said that this was Guild business, and so you’d keep out of it." ...That might have been a bit too adversarial.

The Bishop however just nodded his head with a smile. "I said so, so of course that is what I'll do. Whatever agreement you and the Dungeon come to, you will have my support. Walking you there is merely the polite thing to do."

This old fox. Katherine grumbled inwardly. Now he seemed to be the bigger man, always helpful and even seeming to respect the Guild's authority. And he still would likely get everything he wanted. She didn't let any of the frustration show on her face though, and instead just nodded.

"Then your presence is welcome." She said. The four walked in silence the rest of the way, until Katherine stood in front of the opening in the ground that would lead them into the Dungeon. It was strange thinking of how different it would be inside, considering this part hadn't changed at all since she'd first seen it. She shook her head, and walked the final steps forward until she hit the wall from the [Blacklist].

Dungeon Access Blocked!

You have been put on the [Blacklist] for this Dungeon. As this wasn't done intentionally the Dungeon may still choose to grant you access upon your request.

Still below Tier 6 then. She thought. In a way that wasn't surprising at all, in fact the fact that she had even considered it was in itself a surprise. Or at least it would be in the case of other more normal Dungeons, who took months to advance even in the early Tiers. She turned to Nicomedes, who nodded and stepped back a few steps. Best to avoid giving the Dungeon a wrong impression, and thought her request into the System.

I, Katherine Veraltz, hereby vow to the Great System that I will offer no harm upon this Dungeon or its inhabitants throughout my visit, unless they try to take my life first. In return I and two Tier 3 comrades would like to be given access to the first Floor for the purpose of having a discussion about the future of its Challenge.

She sent the mental message with a thought, and turned to the scholars while she waited for the Dungeon to respond. They were still standing a few steps back beside Nicomedes fumbling with their packs.

"Could you step forward so the Dungeon can sense you?" she asked. "And Bishop, if you would take a few steps back. We wouldn't want to give the impression that I'm lying."

"Of course." Nicomedes said, backing up while the two scholars shuffled forward until they stood beside Katherine. She nodded and turned back towards the opening into the ground. All their cards were on the table now, it was time to see how the Dungeon would respond.

She didn't have to wait long, as barely a minute passed before there was a notification from the System that she had been granted temporary access. She smiled and took half a step forward, then paused as a second notification appeared in front of her eyes.

Quest Received! “A Challenging Discussion!”

The Dungeon Veos appreciates your willingness for a discussion, and hopes to be able to work together to create the best Challenge possible. He has asked that you move the discussion to the second Floor, as the Guardian there has an easier time with human speech, and that you provide him with one interesting item from outside his domain. In return you will be granted 1 [Health Potion] (Tier 1). Will you accept this Quest?

Time Remaining: 23:59:58

"Hah!" Korbin exclaimed. "First time I've been given a Quest to skip a Floor."

"It's not that strange." Florian said. "Dungeons provide skips for higher Tiered people all the time."

Stolen story; please report.

"I know that, I'm not stupid." Korbin said. "But how often does it come in the form of a [Quest]? Of course I wasn't talking about the normal skips to get people to the correct Tier for their Challenges."

"As scholars, what do you think qualifies as an 'interesting item'?" Katherine asked, interrupting Florian's response and changing the subject. Both men furrowed their brows in thought, and Katherine turned to look back at Nicomedes. He too seemed deep in thought, and was that an annoyed wrinkle in his forehead? Katherine suppressed a smile as the man noticed her looking and schooled his face back to a neutral expression. She turned her attention back to Korbin as he answered her question.

"It's too broad to give a definite answer." He admitted. "And probably done so intentionally. It's much easier to give out Quests where you as the Dungeon get something in return. And us going to the second Floor probably isn't enough to count." Florian nodded along with his fellow scholar as he was talking, then added.

"And since this isn't a Challenge, he won't be getting any experience from our visit. He might just have asked for any random object we have as a way of getting the Quest to work. You being a higher Tier than him also probably made it harder."

"So just any random object will do?" Katherine asked with a frown, but both men shook their heads.

"No not anything, but I'd guess it's pretty broad what's acceptable." Florian said. "Plus which the main point of the Quest is probably to get us to the second Floor, and not the object." He ruffled through his pack and took out a small handful of green stones, which [Inspect] let Katherine know were [Emerald Fog Shards].

"These would probably do the trick." He said.

"Alright." Katherine said. She and Korbin each took one of the shards, then she accepted the [Quest]. The three then stepped past where the barrier had once been, and down into the Dungeon proper. The tunnel down looked similar to when she'd been here last at first glance, but upon closer inspection Katherine could see it looked more artificial and deliberate than last time. The steps in the staircase were also made from what looked like marble instead of just being the carved rock of the walls. But the changes really began once they made it to the bottom of the steps, and into what Noracin had called the Dungeon's 'audience chamber'. She hadn't been quite sure what to make of that at first, but now that she was seeing it firsthand the description made sense. A circular chamber made of clean cut marble, with doorways in all directions. Above some of the openings were images carved into the stonework. The one straight ahead, where the entrance to the rest of the Floor would be if she wasn't mistaken, was an image of what she could only assume was a [Leatherwing]. Though the lack of detail meant it could just be a bat, though she doubted that. Florian and Korbin were even more interested than her, almost to the point of becoming incoherent as they tossed ideas back and forth fast enough they were slurring the words. Normally she wouldn't have minded, but they were on the clock today. She snapped her fingers to get them to focus, then signaled for them to follow as she headed for the [Leatherwing] on the wall. Then a surge of mana caught her attention and made her stop in the middle of a step. She frowned as she looked around the room, reflexively readying herself for combat. Nothing the Dungeon should be capable of should be able to harm her, but a century spent either in or around Dungeons had given her certain habits.

The surge was coming from the doorway directly to the the left of the [Leatherwing] door, and didn't seem dangerous or even hostile. She wasn't a [Mage], so sensing mana wasn't exactly in her forte, but even she could tell that much. What she couldn't sense instantly was what the surge was supposed to do, so she turned to her companions for answers, which they were quick to provide. Apparently they had theorized even before this that the way this Dungeon would transport people to later Floors was through portals in this chamber, and the symbols above each door were supposedly hints about the Floor the portal would lead to. A part of her was a bit annoyed that they hadn't told her any of this earlier, before she remembered that she'd avoided discussions with them on purpose, as they could get... lengthy. And she didn't exactly have a lot of free time on her hands at the moment. Once everything calmed down, she would make the time. But until then she would have to rely on them to tell her when something she hadn't learned yet came up.

She looked at the carving above the surging doorway. A skeleton with glowing eyes. Wonderful. Still though it was only a Tier 2 Floor, so they wouldn't be in any actual danger. She gestured for the scholars to follow and stepped through the portal.

What awaited on the other side seemed to be a tomb of some kind. Or at least the entrance to one. She was standing in a small circular room with only one doorway. A stairwell lined with torches descended into the darkness through it, and she saw what she thought was an offering plate atop an altar to its right. Above the table with the plate was a statue of a woman in armor, and wielding a large halberd. Katherine was tempted to stay and examine the place further, but the excited exclamations from her scholarly companions brought her mind back to what they were there to do.

"Look, are words below the statue!" Korbin exclaimed. "'Give thanks to the protectors'."

"There's more above the stairs" Florian said just as excitedly. "'The Protector's Rest' Is that the name of the Floor, perhaps?"

"Focus up, everyone." Katherine said. "We're here for a reason. We can deal with this later, if we have the time."

"Right." Florian said, gathering himself.

"Of course." Korbin said. "Lead the way."

Katherine did so, but froze upon taking that first step down the stairs. She had received yet another notification from the System, and this one she hadn't seen before.

Entering Floor - “The Mausoleum of the Protectors!"

Light and Life Element Skill Mana Costs Increased by 15%!

Dark and Death Element Skill Mana Costs Decreased by 5%!

"How fascinating! He's figured out how to Name his Floors as well." Florian said as he caught up.

"We shouldn't be surprised at this point." Korbin said. "Veos is clearly a savant when it comes to... Dungeon-ing." He fumbled a bit over that last word, but Katherine still got his meaning.

"I've never seen this before." She said. "Dungeons can Name Floors? Is it the same as with the Named Guardians?"

"It's a more advanced application of a similar technique." Florian said with a nod. "And as far as I know it also requires the Dungeon to have some prerequisite perks or Skills. I don't know exactly what they are; Dungeons are a bit cagey when it comes to specifics about their own Skills."

"That's putting it mildly." Korbin snorted. He turned his attention to Katherine. "But coming back to what you were saying. It's a bit surprising that you haven't come across this before. Sure it's less common than Naming a Guardian, but about fifteen percent of Dungeons still do it. You should have at least heard about it."

"Guess it's never come up..." Katherine said with a frown. She was coming to realize since arriving here that she knew much less about Dungeons than she'd thought.

"Really? You've never had anyone call a Floor by a name before when describing a Challenge?" Florian asked, surprised.

"Ah, no of course I've heard people do that..." Katherine paused. "I guess I just never equated a name to a Name."

"That makes more sense. Still though it seems you should study up about Dungeons a bit more. I know it wasn't the highest priority in Aspenfield..."

"...but now it is." Katherine finished.

"You're always welcome to visit us if you want to study up." Korbin said.

"I might take you up on that, once things calm down a bit here. For now though we should get on with what we came here to do. We've wasted enough time already. Veos might be losing his patience watching us just stand around gawking."

***

I wasn't. Though to be fair I could see where the woman was coming from. It felt strange, having someone be on a wrong Floor for their Tier. Wrong, somehow.

Not in the way that the Aberrant had felt, not even close. More like... an itch in my mind that told me something wasn't quite right. I hadn't noticed it the last time Katherine was here due to my inexperience with what Challengers should feel like, but now I noticed it clear as day. I could deal with it, especially if I got to listen to some interesting stories in return, but I could see how other Dungeons would get upset.

Now that the three were on the move again though I sent a message to Krazad to prepare himself. These people were here due to them having recently lost five people to Stalker, and though they wouldn't be speaking to her anymore, I still wanted to give the best impression I could.

Lest they decide Challenging me just wasn't worth the trouble.