Chapter Two-Hundred Eighty-Nine

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Olander

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He hasn’t felt this apprehensive about a delve in a long time.  On paper, he should have nothing to worry about.  Looking around his suite and all the notes, though… that’s a lot of paper trying to reassure him.

He shakes his head, trying to clear it as he prepares his pack.  Knowing each and every piece of gear he’s bringing helps him focus on what has him so uncomfortable with delving Thedeim.  He’s not worried about dying, at least.  Even if the dungeon has been playing some kind of long game, even if it turns murderous on him, he’s confident he’ll be able to get out.

It’s the rest of the town that he’d need to worry about.  Thankfully, while his gut is telling him to be wary, it’s not screaming at him about danger.  Ironically, those are the situations he does the worst in.  If some dungeon just needs to be knocked down a couple pegs and quarantined, that’s a simple, if dangerous, task.  In a murderous dungeon, if he were to somehow fall, someone else would be able to take his place, or a group of people.  Either way, the threat will be handled.

The upheaval from Thedeim isn’t that kind of situation, unfortunately.  He can’t slash and fight his way out of accidentally destroying the local economy if he upsets the dungeon.  “Just a normal delve,” he tries calming himself, going over the myriad of reasons that won’t happen.  He’s hardly inexperienced with dealing with dungeons, even if most of his experience is with belligerent and murderous ones.  He won’t accidentally upset it by fighting.  The dungeon even wants to fight him, wants him to face the zombie Rocky.

He spent some time going over the detailed report on the zombie scion, and he’s very glad he did.  With any luck, he’ll get to watch a few adventurers have a match with him, so he can get a feel for what he’ll be up against.  No matter how many reports he reads, they won’t compare to getting to see the scion fight with his own eyes.  A lich that fights with its fists is a difficult concept to wrap his head around, but there’s far too many reports for him to ignore it.

He could go to the local Adventurer’s Guild and ask them directly, but why not go to the dungeon itself?  Which is why he’s preparing his adventuring kit.  He’s not bringing his full kit, much as he’s tempted.  His cover as an experienced adventurer will let him bring a lot of things, but his best armor and weapon will be dead giveaways for his identity, as well as some of his more potent trinkets.  No, better to bring his well-used things, the sort of stuff that bears the marks of use, wear, and repair.

The memories that come with them will also sell his cover, as well as help calm his nerves as he comes close to finishing his preparation.  He could go to the guild, maybe interview a few of the members before he delves, but that’d just be putting it off.  He has a mountain of notes scattered around and over the desk in his room.  No, the time for the accounts of others is over.  If he wants more, he’s going to need to get some firsthand experience with the dungeon Thedeim.

He’ll probably still visit the guild after his delve, though.  That kind of rowdy atmosphere is just the thing to help him cool down after a good delve.  He smiles at the rising sun as he exits the inn, enjoying the cool sea breeze.  The morning still has a bit of a bite to it, but the locals don’t let it slow them as they go about their jobs.

There is one last temptation to face before he enters the dungeon, and he is not strong enough to resist it today.  That troll definitely knew what he was doing when he gave Olander a sweet roll with his order the other day.  The thought of sweet cobble bread has been bouncing around his mind ever since, and it’ll be just the thing to give him the energy to have a productive delve!

He gets it fortified, of course.  One doesn’t turn down a good buff, no matter how overleveled they might be for a dungeon.  He’s had stronger buffs, but he can’t offhand remember having a better breakfast.  Hopefully the baker continues to level.  Considering the line as he leaves for the dungeon, there’s no fear of her stagnating.

He enjoys the treat as he enters through the gates of the manor, mentally noting the subtle change in the air that denotes a dungeon’s territory.  It’s only his training and experience as an Inspector that keeps his stride steady as he feels the attention of the dungeon settle upon him.

He’s felt malevolence, felt cold calculation, emotionless weighing of how much mana he’ll make.  He’s felt the joy of a toybox, the hunger of a murderous, but never something like this.  Warmth is the simplest way to describe it, with a strong undercurrent of curiosity.  Other dungeons always seem to wonder how much mana he’ll give them, but this one feels like it wants to see his reaction to what’s in store.

He tries not to swallow his current bite too heavily, but can’t hide the look of caution as the Voice crawls out from under the porch, making a direct line towards him.

“Ah, Olander!  Come to officially accept the quest?  From that pack, looks like you’re here to do more, too.”

He slowly nods, trying to find his footing with the Voice.  “Yes.  I’ve heard a lot of things about delving you, so I figured I should get a look around before joining Berdol for the official inspection.”

“Cool.  You want a guided tour?”

Olander eyes the rat cautiously.  “Is that… normal?”

Teemo shakes his head.  “Nah, but you’re not normal either.  I don’t know exactly how strong you are, but the Boss says he doesn’t have much that could challenge you.  He figures the best way to keep you from being bored is to show you around a bit.”

He fights the urge to squint at the rat, suspicious of how self-aware the dungeon is.  “What would that involve, exactly?”

Teemo shrugs.  “Mostly me following you around, pointing out things the Boss thinks are cool.  Oh, and helping you get around.  The Boss has a lot of territory, so it’s easy to miss things if you don’t know what to look for.”

“I’ve read the packet… though they did say it might be out of date.  That’s the whole point of doing the official inspections, right?”

Teemo smirks and nods.  “That’s what they tell me, yeah.  So, is there anything in particular you want to see?”

“I think I’d most like to meet as many scions as possible.  The packet says over a dozen scions, but…” he trails off as Teemo nods.

“Yep, Boss has a lot of them, though a few are still out on expedition.  I don’t think it’ll be difficult to meet the ones still here, though.  I’d suggest starting with either Poe or Tiny, since they’re the closest.”

Olander takes a moment to recall the information on the scions.  “That’s the raven and spider scions, correct?”

“Yeah.  Tiny is over in the hedge maze, while Poe is just up on the roof.”  Teemo points, and Olander can see Poe peering over the edge at him.  The cold calculation that’s missing in the presence of the dungeon itself is there in full in the look the raven scion is giving him.

“...I don’t think he likes me much.”

Teemo just scoffs and waves off his concern.  “He’s not nearly as mean as he looks.  I’ll head on up and meet you there?  You can have some fun with the encounters in the manor, or head straight for the attic.  There’ll be a boss there, but I don’t think you’ll have much trouble with it.”

He heads for the porch before stopping and turning back to Olander.  “Oh, and don’t forget to take the quest from the porch!  I know you said you accept, but the aranea are making it an official quest.  If any others catch your eyes, feel free to accept them, too.  Just take the plank with you.  Simple.”  he parts ways with Olander with one more wave before vanishing under the porch, leaving Olander alone with only a few other early delvers.

With little else to do, he approaches the porch, letting him read what’s on the multitude of hanging signs.  A subtle glance upward lets him see the aranea stationed in the rafters.  A few are looking through peep holes to see the gates and approaching delvers, while others tend to the dangling threads holding up the plaques like strange decorations.  He browses them for a couple minutes, surprised to see ones even suggesting delves in Hullbreak or Violet.  None catch his eye, until one drops down to dangle right in front of him.

Prize Fight Rocky

That’s the one.  He stares at it for a few long moments, wondering if he should accept or not.  He wants to, no doubt about that, but he’s walked into enough traps over the years to be suspicious of something he wants so badly.  Because if Rocky is as strong as the locals believe, Olander the retired adventurer might not be victorious.  He could take the loss without worrying for his life, in theory, but could he personally accept that?

Could he let a challenge like that pass him by, let a chance to truly cut loose slip through his fingers just to try to avoid politics?  He takes the plaque, already knowing the truth inside himself.  Blowing his cover is worth it to have a real fight, to have to try, to strive for victory.  Accepting the quest pop-up is hardly an afterthought as he pockets the little piece of wood.  It looks like he has a little over a week before he’ll get a chance to really get the measure of this dungeon.

Until then, there’s delving to do.  He can’t keep the smile off his lips as he explores the manor, even with how massively outclassed the denizens are.  Even with the vast disparity in power, they manage to keep his interest.  Though the first encounter could have been straight out of the Dungeoneer’s handbook, they quickly step it up with the encounters constantly coming from new, unexpected angles.  He doesn’t need to use any skills to deal with them, yet if he were to slow, he’d start taking hits.

This dungeon knows how to challenge someone!  If this is what the lowest of the dungeon has to offer, what about the scion made to fight?  He eyes the timer as he climbs the ladder to the attic, wondering if he’ll be able to wait that long.  The anticipation is already more painful than any delve he’s had in a long while.