I watched the three Guilders leave, one staying in silent contemplation while the others intermittently talked about our conversation and the layout of the bricks in the walls with an equal amount of enthusiasm. From what little I'd seen of these men it wasn't surprising, but it was still surreal to see them discussing something off hand that had just changed my world completely. The fact that I wanted to know about the Elorian Empire was a curiosity to them, but for me it was an answer that upended everything, yet at the same time changed nothing.

My Stories were at least in part based on real history. That was now as close to an indisputable fact as it could possibly be without meeting Morrígan's old Clan members. And the only reason it wasn't a hundred percent was because I hadn't asked about Morrígan or her Clan members by name. I wasn't sure exactly why but I hadn't been comfortable revealing too many of my secrets to these Guilders, regardless of how friendly they seemed or how curious I was about finding out what answers they might provide should they know. My questions had been more general in nature, centering around Eloria and only mentioning vampires tangentially. I hadn't even brought up the Aberrant. The fact that they hadn't known what had caused the conflict within Eloria was telling; the Aberrant war had been forgotten. Probably deliberately. And I wasn't about to open that can of worms while not being sure the reason why. Besides it felt wrong to tell them things that could be used against me. I didn't know how they would do that, but I figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

As the Guilders stepped through the portal leading out of my second Floor I checked on my [Quest]. I now only had three rewards left, as well as two more deaths unfortunately, before I'd finally be able to level up once again and start working on the next Floor. The next Story.

I shook myself. I shouldn't get overeager. There was still a not insignificant amount of [Quest] left, and there was no telling how fast it would be to fulfill those conditions. Especially since they worked against each other, as most parties that die won't be getting any rewards and vice versa. It could be satisfied with the next Challenge, or it could take a full week if not more. If I got too excited thinking that I was almost there, I might give in and start the next Floor without leveling if it took too long.

So it was a no to getting excited. Besides I had something more important to do right now.

I had a vampire to talk to.

With the Guilders gone I moved my attention down to the fourth, were Morrígan sat and waited for my return. I'd talked with her a bit while waiting for the Guilders to reach Krazad, to help come up with what questions to ask, so she knew what was going on. And she was unsurprisingly even more eager than me to hear what I'd learned. She shot to her feet the instant she sensed my presence, speaking in a rushed voice.

"What did they say?"

Eloria existed, but it splintered over half a millennia ago into several separate countries. It seems they think the conflict between the different vampire clans was the cause, though they don't seem to know about the Aberrants. Lariet doesn't exist anymore. It was split between the winners of the conflict, and even those borders seem to have mostly come and gone.

Morrígan stood in silence for a few seconds.

"That's... a lot." She said eventually. "I should be ecstatic that my memories aren't lies. That my life was real and not some fiction conjured up by the System." She took a deep breath. "But most everything I knew is lost forever. In a way I knew that already of course. My life is here now, not out there. I don't have any big desire to leave or even see the outside. Even if we learned some members of my Clan were still alive... I don't even know if I would want to meet them." She shook her head.

Take your time. I sent. Once you're ready we can talk.

"No, I'm fine." She said, raising her head. "Tell me what you learned. You said they didn't seem to know about the Aberrants? Do they know about the War?"

I don't think so. I sent. But from what they said I gather the only war they knew was the one that splintered Eloria, which was supposedly triggered by the conflict within the different vampire clans. They didn't mention anything about a war before that, and didn't even seem to know why the internal conflicts started to begin with.

"That's a bit suspicious..." Morrígan said. "The War was pretty important. They should have heard about it... How long ago did you say this was?"

It's been about 600 years or so since the Empire splintered according to what they said.

Morrígan shook her head.

"That's way to short of a time frame for this to just be forgotten. I've met people older than that. Hells that's not even twice my own age, and I wouldn't have called myself particularly old when I... When I put my family in prison and..." She paused.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"What did I do after that? Did you find anything out?"

I'm afraid not. I didn't ask about you or your family directly.

"...Why not?" Morrígan asked with a surprising amount of venom in her voice, giving me pause. That was also a strange question to ask.

I didn't want to reveal to much of my connection to that time, or to your Clan.

Morrígan growled in frustration and threw her hands up in the air. "That shouldn't be a..." She paused and took a breath. "No, I shouldn't get mad. It makes sense from your perspective. You're a Dungeon after all, and a young one at that."

What does that mean? I sent, growing even more confused. Morrígan sighed.

"It means Dungeons are naturally suspicious of outsiders. They don't like to give out information just in case it's used against them somehow in the future. Even if it would be in their best interest to do so." She said, then shook her head forlornly. "I knew that. I should've told you about it when we talked about what questions you should ask. I know we didn't exactly have a lot of time to prepare, but still."

Why is that a problem? I asked. Isn't it just being prudent not to give away things that could potentially come back to harm you in the future? I can't exactly go anywhere. If someone learned something and wanted to use it to harm me somehow, I couldn't really do much about it, no? Better to be safe than sorry.

"It's not like I can't see the logic, it's just..." Morrígan said, then paused for a moment before continuing. "Look, I'm not saying you should start trusting anything and everything people tell you. Keeping some secrets about your capabilities is only prudent." She fell silent as she pondered what to say next.

"What I meant was that you shouldn't just dismiss giving out information as a whole. Just because it's something they don't know doesn't mean that telling them about it is a risk. But sometimes keeping it a secret could be just as risky. They'll still be curious whether you talk to them or not, and if you keep things from them they'll just make up reasons for your actions that make them make sense. And while they can't use that as information to defeat your Challenges easier, since they would be wrong, it could affect their attitude and relationship with you. If they think you're keeping things from them to make it easier for you to kill their friends, for example, they'll likely either leave or get angry. Neither of which you want."

We can at least agree on that. I sent. And the solution you're suggesting to keep that from happening is to just be open and reveal all my secrets?

"No, don't be so all or nothing." Morrígan said. "What I'm saying is this; building a proper rapport. A two way relationship between you and your Challengers is almost always beneficial to you both. And while keeping secrets is understandable, and revealing them can be risky, keeping everything as hidden as possible won't stop people from making assumptions. Which can also be risky if they make the wrong ones."

I thought in silence about what Morrígan said. I could see the logic in the words, but something about it felt a bit off to me. I wasn't sure what exactly, or even why it felt wrong, but something about the interactions between Dungeons and outsiders being safe for the Dungeon rang false to my instincts. They were saying to not let my guard down. Don't be open to cooperation. Stay vigilant at all times. Keep them out. Out. Out. Out!

I shook myself in frustration. Freaking great.

So that's what she'd meant. My instincts again.

I guess it there's some comfort to knowing that this is something all Dungeons go through. Though that doesn't make it any less annoying. Though I had to believe they were there for a reason beyond just making my life difficult.

If that is the case, and the people outside are so friendly, why is the first thing the System does warn us of the danger of outsiders? Why does my instincts scream at me whenever I think about making life easier for the Challengers? Even if it would improve the Challenge?

Morrígan blinked. "Though I could have guessed about your 'instincts', I've never heard that about the System." She said with a frown, then thought for a moment. "I don't know what to say to that, honestly. The System wouldn't just warn you for no reason. But it is also true what I said that most Dungeons benefit much more from a more direct partnership than just passively being Challenged and hiding." She paused, then sighed. "There are risks to both, and being more open might indeed be the riskier of the two. But keeping everything we know hidden is going to be very difficult. Especially if we want to learn more. In the end it's up to you; I'm neither a Dungeon nor the System."

I'll… I'll think about it.

We sat in silence for bit, neither of us sure what to say next.

Morrígan breathed out, then shook her head with a sad chuckle. "I really got us sidetracked there, didn't I. Sorry, I guess I got a bit frustrated when it felt like I had the chance of learning of my past, but I let it slip through my fingers. What do you want to do now that you know it's real?"

I let out a metaphorical breath as my thoughts moved on to an easier topic, then frustration mounted as I realized that this topic wasn't any easier at all.

What did I want to do with this information? What could I even do? I had to do something, surely, otherwise what would be the point. I could change my Story in two very different ways. I could let the Challengers discover secrets of the past that had been discarded like I'd been doing, the only real change being making it more obviously tied to the real world. It sounded nice, but again my instincts protested. And for once I could understand why. It would almost certainly draw in unwanted attention. Attention from those who'd rather the Aberrant remain forgotten.

But then why had I been given this information, if not to share it?

The other option would be to make the Story more false, more something of my own creation. It should be possible. I'd made up Krazad completely, after all. At least I thought I had. He at least didn't have any memories of a life lived before the Dungeon. The only true connection was Morrígan, and she could pretend if I wanted her to.

No. That felt wrong. It would change the fourth and fifth too much. I couldn't accept it. Plus it felt like running away. A distortion of my purpose.

My Story was my purpose, and now I'd been given the chance to make one with real meaning and real connections to the outside world.

I couldn't hide that just because it might be dangerous.

Let's make it more real. I decided.