Pov Carlos:
In Duke Valen's mansion.
This new Undead Dungeon has only been causing me problems since it appeared, because of it good adventurers died in that special quest, after that I had to take care of a mountain of paperwork about the results of the special quest and the appearance of this Dungeon of the Dead- alive.
I had to post exploration quests for this new dungeon as we don't know anything about it, I even had to offer rewards for this dungeon's maps, aside from all these problems I still have to meet with the Duke twice a week to let that he knows everything we're finding out about this dungeon, it's a rule of the Adventurers' Guild that the decision to destroy or keep a dungeon near a city depends on its ruler, because of that even the Duke is having to face the same mountain of documents than me, but unlike me, he's used to it.
Today is another one of those meetings, I'm already in the Duke's office waiting for him to come back from a meeting with a foreign Prince who has been in this city, it seems like something happened but I've been so busy I haven't even had time to drink my beer, maybe I ask Lucas how much time I have after all it's his job to know things.
When I retired from being an adventurer to have a peaceful life with my dear Mari I only agreed to become a Guild Master to stop being pestered by requests from nobles to work for them, but if I only knew that life struggles and An adventurer's death would be replaced by endless struggles against mountains of documents.
Sigh
At the moment of my sigh the office doors open and a man with graying brown hair and a dignified serious face enters, he is dressed chic but at the same time discreet, on his face, I can see the dark circles under his eyes. eyes caused by overwork.
"Already sighing so early in the morning, Carlos?" (Duke Valen)
"The fatigue of facing this mountain of documents is different from the fatigue I'm used to Duke." (I)
"But from his face, it looks like I'm not the only one in trouble with my job." (I)
"I would say you're right, a few days ago something serious happened, now in addition to the Dungeon of the Undead I also have to deal with a problem between Realms." (Duke Valen)
"I guess I can't complain about not having time to drink beer in front of you, can I?" (I)
"It's always a pleasure to talk to you Carlos, as not many dares to chat so casually with me, but as you can see from my face I still have a lot of work to do so I'll try to finish early today." (Duke Valen)
"It's fine by me." (I)
The Duke sits behind his desk, where it's almost hidden by the mountain of paper I've brought, he pushes the papers aside so we can talk.
"Let's start with a report on what we've found so far." (Duke)
"So far I have permitted the best Grade B and A groups to explore the new Dungeon, as they are being cautious about not knowing what they will find, it was only possible to explore up to the eighth floor." (I)
"They found traps from the fifth floor of the Dungeon, as we hope all monsters are of the Undead type." (I)
"If all goes well the first group should meet with the tenth-floor boss later this week, the intermediate boss has been confirmed as a Skeleton Knight." (I)
"So far we've only been able to fully map the first three floors." (I)
"Does Dungeon have any kind of resources that can be exploited?" (Duke Valen)
"So far we haven't found anything." (I)
"How dangerous is this dungeon?" (Duke Valen)
"Until we face the head of the tenth floor I dare not assume." (I)
"You still think it's better to destroy the dungeon, don't you?" (Duke Valen)
"If it wasn't a Guild rule, I would have gone to explore and destroy that dungeon myself, but as it's close to town, it's your decision." (I)
"But I must remind you that we already have two Grade S Dungeons in this town, it's very dangerous to have another one, the problem only gets bigger when it comes to an Undead Dungeon." (I)
"I know that, if it was up to me I would also destroy this dungeon, but many nobles are being greedy and think that this new dungeon is an opportunity to further increase their wealth." (Duke Valen)
"Your reports showing that there's nothing worth the risk is what I need to get them to stop bothering me." (Duke Valen)
"Why do things have to be so complicated?" (I)
"That's the difficulty of being a Noble, you've done well to refuse to become one in the past, but my family has a duty to protect this town for generations, so all I can do is put up with these greedy nobles." (Duke Valen)
The Duke and I spent a few more hours talking about the Dungeon, when it was mid-afternoon I returned to the Guild, as soon as I entered my office on the top floor I found my lovely wife placing another stack of paper on my desk.
"Why do you have to do this, just Burn this paper." (I)
"You know this is your job, these are the new Dungeon reports, the registration documents for new adventurers, and this month's expense report." (Mari)
"All this needs your signature." (Mari)
I go behind my desk disheartened knowing that maybe this is another sleepless night, I sit down and look at my wife, I know she's just as tired as I am.
Sigh
"When do you think all this work will end?" (I)
"Some things have happened unexpectedly, but soon it will be easier, it shouldn't take long for this dungeon to be marked for destruction, so there will be fewer documents to sign." (Mari)
"I've been having so much trouble over this dungeon that I don't even know what's been going on in the Guild these days." (I)
"Speaking of which, I forgot to talk to you about something." (Mari)
"Which?" (I)
"Remember I told you Diana had joined a new Group." (Mari)
"I remember." (I)
"They came here the other day to register with the Guild, Diana said they've already moved to the Trigan mansion, one of the Guild employees who passed by on their way back from a nobleman's house said they changed the name of the mansion." (Mari)
"The name doesn't matter to me, tell me more about Diana's Group, is she happy?" (I)
"Her group is quite varied, besides the Gray Elf I told you about earlier, there's a Human, two Dhampiros, an Oni, and the leader of the Group." (Mari)
"You didn't speak his race." (I)
"To be honest, I don't know his race, before I thought it might be a Dhampir too, but none of his eyes were red, he didn't have horns either, so he wasn't a Demon, he didn't have animal characteristics either, so he wasn't a Beast man." (Mari)
"Looks like you couldn't even see through it." (I)
"I was curious I admit, but it wasn't because of his race, he did well on all the survival questions." (Mari)
"This is new." (I)
The survival questions are divided into two parts, the first part has questions about how to survive in different environments and the second part has questions about how to survive monsters with strange powers, they are not questions that can be answered by reading books.
These questions are to know how the adventurer will do in adverse situations, an adventurer, at least one of the good ones, will face situations that other people are not even capable of imagining, being an adventurer is the most dangerous, exciting, and unpredictable profession of all.
When something abnormal, strange or dangerous happens anywhere in the world, adventurers are called, so it is mandatory for someone who wants to become an adventurer to answer at least one question from each of the two parts, why not this person will survive a long time.
Everyone thinks that being strong is all it takes to be an adventurer, people who have this thought are the ones who die most, the most important thing for an adventurer is the ability to survive.
"After they left I saw their answers, I'm with them here see." (Mari)
I take the sheets from Mari's hand and start reading, I was surprised, he was very detailed with his answers, the way he said he would defeat the monsters took into account even the environment they are in, besides that he presented good ways to survive in different environments, it's as if he's seen and lived in all these environments in some way.
"How old was this man, from your answers I can guess he traveled a lot, didn't you?" (I)
"..." (Mari)
When I ask how old he is, I see Mari make a strange face.
"Why that face? Is there something wrong with your age?" (I)
"The problem is that I can't identify his age, he looks like a child with one golden eye and one black eye, but his way of acting and speaking is someone older." (Mari)
"I talked to him and he was very friendly and easy to talk to, he was also calm, I walked him to the job change room and he took a while there." (Mari)
"So he must have a lot of jobs." (I)
"That's what I thought too, their mock fight was against a Grade B adventurer, I called Jonas for that." (Mari)
"Why did you do that?" (I)
"I wanted to see their strength." (Mari)
"Jonas started talking a lot of shit to the boy, it seems his looks are a sensitive issue for him, he's pissed off enough to lose control of his Aura for a second letting it float out of his body." (Mari)
"I've never felt anything like this, it's like thousands of different Auras crammed together, it was bizarre and chaotic, but somehow there was Armenian in that chaos and he managed to control that Aura, Jonas instinctively put himself into battle mode." (Mari)
"This is for him to learn not to judge people by their appearance." (I)
"I'm curious, how were the mock fights?" (I)
"Except for the Oni girl everyone else did very well, their leader doesn't seem to have much experience fighting other people, but his moves felt like some kind of martial art." (Mari)
"Notice anything else?" (I)
"They all looked like they weren't giving it they are all in combat." (Mari)
"It means they're smart, the more mystery an adventurer has the more secure he will be, so no adventurer talks about their jobs, titles, and skills to anyone outside their group." (I)
"You still haven't told me his name." (I)
"His name is Zenos." (Mari)