Rok took a deep breath, staring down at the diminutive white figure before him. With the level of earnestness that he had said his statement, Rok was already expecting something to be very, very wrong. After all, anything that could force a Titled to act so seriously was something worth worrying about, at least when it was in what was essentially in his own backyard.

“And what exactly do we need to talk about? Also, who on Vol is Aby?” His voice took a confused edge at the end of the statement; Rok racked his brain for anyone by that name, though he expected it to likely be some noble contact of The Mapper’s taking an interest in his dungeon, another in a growing list claiming him to be ‘inadequate and unfit for the management of a Dungeon,’ a complaint he’d seen so often that even if he wasn’t slowly growing to like, or at least tolerate his post he’d stay for no other reason than to spite these people.

That, or it could be one of those mysterious ‘benefactors’ which had been trying to draw him over to their side, offering sweet gifts in return for small favors that the crocodilian wasn’t so inexperienced as to not realize led to entrapment and potentially even indenture. He doubted this, though, as the Mapper didn’t really strike him as the type to endorse that sort of behavior, leaving him resigned to wonder for a while longer until the mousekin himself deigned to enlighten him.

And honestly, that might be a while. The Mapper seemed awfully distracted at the moment, but Rok couldn’t fault him for that. It wasn’t often someone is Titled, in fact, it was just about never. It made sense for that to be the case be Titled is to be acknowledged by the System and Vol itself as the literal best in the world at something. It didn’t matter what it was, most anything someone could dedicate themselves to could earn a Title, but it was nigh impossible to do so.

Regardless of how specific it was, and Titles could be very specific, there was a standard to be upheld, one that an individual starts striving toward from the moment they hit S Rank, a path they determine on advancement that very nearly nobody reaches the end of. Which meant that, whatever it was that the Mapper experienced in there, calling it enlightening was akin to calling a Wild Trench inconvenient or a Rogue Dungeon a nuisance. Rok was sitting across from a force of nature now, and he had no clue how to take this.

This specific force of nature was still getting used to his newfound advancement, however, and while Rok hadn’t noticed it at first, the Mapper was a mess. Not in any physical way, no, if anything he looked even more pristine and wonderful than ever. His white fur now seemed to burn with a radiant brilliance that lit up the room, and his every minor action radiated power.

Too much power, in fact, as the duo both noticed at about the same time that Rok’s office had started taking on a rather rocky texture, wood staining grey and turning porous and craggy as it soaked in the residual mana of the Mapper’s blessing. Even Rok felt himself advancing, a feeling he’d not had in years, not this strongly at least, and it made him a little uncomfortable. He tried to push the sensation to the back of his mind, at this pace his ascension to S rank may not be quite so far as he had thought, and that made him both elated and nervous; it was entirely the wrong sort of feeling to be having in a meeting of this magnitude.

“Ah, I do apologize for this, Sir Rok, you must forgive me for making such a mess of things just moments after returning.” He began, sounding truly concerned, which in itself was an issue. “I simply find myself too eager, too frightened, and too upset to delay this conversation any longer. I will give appropriate compensation, in the coming days or weeks.” Rok nodded his head at this, unwilling to decline that offer just on principal. He said nothing though, waiting for his guest to continue.

“Oh, I suppose you might be a mite bit curious about my Title, seeing as I’m currently turning your desk into a tree, accidentally, might I add.” Rok looked down, and it was indeed true that his favorite ironwood desk had started growing warped and gnarled, losing its polished sheen as branches slowly wormed their way out, the iconic razor leaves already starting to make tiny nicks and scratches on the underside of the stacked paper, spilling a few as they grew. He shuddered to imagine what was going on within the drawers, already thinking of the best way to ask Kelly without too badly upsetting her.

“Anyways, while I don’t expect this… aura to last too much longer, you now look at The Cataloger of the Carnivorous Caverns, first of his Title.” That was surprising to Rok, not the Title itself, it was very obviously related to dungeoneering, but just how broad it was. It was widely known that, the longer a Title, and the more specific it was, the more focused its applications, which wasn’t exactly a bad thing, but it meant that everything that individual tried to do which fell outside the scope of that Title was simply worse, or actively impossible.

Someone Titled for their skill at the sword would never again lift a spear, for example, and if it was for a claymore then even Rok could defeat them in a duel of rapiers. However, these Titles were also much easier to obtain and thus, more common. People skilled only in one specific weapon, good at performing one specific art, or only ever able to live in a specific area for the entirety of their very long lives, the curse that came with being the very best at one thing was that they could never again be good at anything beyond that.

And so, seeing such loose restrictions on the man was curious. Obviously, he’d be nigh crippled outside of Dungeons from here on out, but it was worth it. The Mapper seemed to be exceedingly generous, though, in sharing even more with the hulking man. “I haven’t yet taken the time to read the entirety of my logs, unfortunately, but it seems that I may have to take a page from the Dwarves’ book, and hole myself up within the caves! But, in all seriousness, I am unsure of what I have done for Vol to bestow such an honor upon me, though I was given a way to repay Him for it, beyond simply continuing what I love and exploring those ‘carnivorous caverns’ as they are so appropriately named.

“I’ll stop dawdling, though. It seems that my benefactors, the Fae Consulate if you weren’t aware” Rok was not but nodded anyway “are a bit less benevolent than I had initially thought. Or at least, they may be. I only advanced that final step when I considered that there may be more to the world than their teachings showed, and now that I am no longer bound through their Oath, something I find rather condemning since, by word of Vol Himself, I can no longer bring harm to any Dungeon, and even an Oath cannot force that, lest it be stricken from my very soul.”

That was alarming, for a number of reasons, but Rok let the man continue. “In fact, I find myself unable to even humor the idea of consorting with them. If it weren’t for the fact that publicizing my work, journals, maps, all of it, was and is both a crucial part of this honor as well as something that saves lives, I would not do even that, knowing full well everything I do will inevitably end in their hands.”

Rok nodded, idly noting that his desk had finally ceased growing, and his walls had settled into some strange state of being not quite stone or wood or dirt or sand, but still a bit of all of this. As the algae finally slowed in its own rapid growth, the mapper began again. “Truly, I feel foolish for not puzzling the signs together before now, even the so called Aberrants I had been sent to scout out had conformed to their doctrines. Add in my own desire to attain my Title, something I was promised oh-so-long ago, and I suppose I had blinded myself to the truth. I owe so many an apology, not that much of those may even still be around…”

The crocodilian had no idea how to weigh in by this point, this admission of guilt was startling from the normally cheerful Mapper, and the fact that his untamed Aura was still rolling off in waves which brought with them barely suppressed grief was plenty telling. He was also too busy having his own crisis, getting told that quite a large part of the Adventurers Guild’s teachings could have been, well, misleading or even deceptive. It was, in short, quite frightening.

“But we cannot let this hinder us now, can we, my good man? Anyways, that brings us to the second, and honestly, more important issue. It was only thanks to the kindness of this Dungeon that I was made aware of what was once obscured, or rather, its partner Sela.” Already, one of Rok’s scaled brows was raised, he was made aware that the Dungeon had a Fae, a Nereid specifically, but he was not aware that the Mapper had gotten her name. “She told me, well, not much at all, but I learned quite a lot, specifically about that precious little core you’re keeping watch over, Aby.”

That explained the name, thought Rok, as he scrunched his brows in confusion. “Yes, exactly that look my boy!” Shouted the white-haired enigma, inadvertently rattling the walls by using a bit too much power in his voice. “Dreadfully sorry, but yes Aby, the High Dungeon that is the mastermind behind that little hole in the in the ground. According to Sela, who was entirely honest, unless she had some means of fooling my Transcribe and Detect Intent spells, the little one named itself not long after it met her, simply deciding that it wanted to be like her, and here we are. Before you ask, no, Aby is not and is overwhelmingly unlikely to become Rogue, I asked the same.”

As dubious as that claim was, Rok was certainly inclined to believe it seeing as it came from the Mapper himself, someone now apparently Titled for his expertise on Dungeons. It may have happened literal minutes earlier, but Rok was of the opinion that, when the world itself decides there is no one alive better at a task than someone, it was to be taken seriously. But the Mapper wasn’t finished, and if he was entirely honest with himself, Rok was glad. Now that the surprise, shock, and disbelief had been tossed aside, the mass of muscle couldn’t help but admit that there was some pride there. According to the Guilds, this was his Dungeon, and if he was going to be in charge of something, it might as well be interesting, interesting enough to shatter his worldview even.

It was unusual and dangerous, and that was when Rok realized that he was excited, it was that heart pounding nervousness and fear he’d felt before leaping into Rogue Dungeons or subduing a Wild Trench but that was excitement nonetheless, the sort he’d thought he’d never feel again over a quarter century ago. It was because of that, that he was a little more focused when the Mapper once again started speaking.

“While there are quite a few implications with this, we will have plenty of time to discuss them later, I feel like I may take up residence on your island for a while, if you would have me.” Rok vigorously nodded yes to this, partially due to not having any desire to turn down a Titled but also because he could genuinely use the help, in a number of ways. “I see, then I am even further in your debt.

“However, there is one more thing you should be aware of, that you shouldn’t share with others quite yet. It may not be as immediately impactful, or dangerous even, to reveal, but this is something that has the potential to revolutionize, well, a lot. And harm a lot more. As you are well aware, Aby” Rok was still unused to hearing the Dungeon referred to by an actual name, and so took a second to catch up “grows elemental crystals. I’m not to sure about the hows and the whys yet, though I’m inclined to believe that it has something to do with the mana coral that is positively littered throughout its domain, but I do know that its doing things with them that have never been tested successfully before.

“Tell me, Rok, what would happen if you were to bury an elemental into the flesh of your arm?” Rok winced at the idea, he had no idea what would happen but he knew that anyone who even suspected such gross misuse of an elemental crystal would rip him apart to get it back. “I feel much the same as you do, now that I’ve seen the results for myself.” The Mapper had apparently taken his reaction to mean something else.

“I’m sure by now you’ve heard reports of a drake within the many halls, probably one of the more troublesome critters no doubt, and that it has a peculiar affliction where it has some crystalline growths imbedded within it. Not too dissimilar from other Crystal Beasts, honestly, so that is likely what it has been labelled. You might also have heard of a few fairly odd crabs that take up residence on the same floors, also crystalline, though these ones are harmless more or less.

“As you might have gathered from the sudden change in conversation, they aren’t Crystal Beasts, and their growths are anything but natural. Without taking a piece from that drake, something I still regret, I wouldn’t have even realized. Somehow, they’ve gotten elemental crystals within them and, to be quite honest, I’ve not a clue what this means, how it happened, and if it’s even safe to replicate. Judging by the dozens of crab-shaped statues of earth and gem, however, I would venture to guess that no, it isn’t, and that Aby’s own… liberal use of mana to heal its creations is the only thing that kept the lucky few alive long enough to adapt and build up some sort of resistance to the mana poisoning they were no doubt at risk of receiving.

“Even then, that ‘adaptation’ is far from perfect, and those crystals are just about the largest weakness on any creature that I’ve ever seen, not that there’s currently anyone nearby with the strength to exploit that. But, they also are huge boons, from what I’ve seen. I’d strongly advise that you keep this, along with Aby, and knowledge of the Fae, under wraps for now. Any one of these pieces of knowledge would be, if I were to hazard a guess, not good to reveal.”

Rok was silent, digesting the monumental amount of information he’d just been assaulted with, before nodding. Then, he stood up, his warped chair sliding back, displacing the much livelier water within his office. He looked to the Mapper, finally done feeling shocked, confused, and timid, and spoke. “This is… quite a lot. Thank you, truly. I’ve had enough of this Volshattering conversation for the evening though, and I think you might have as well? What do you feel about heading to the tavern, or really anywhere, for some food and more importantly, celebration? I happen to recall that somebody in this room is currently the newest Titled on Vol, and he’s been quite defeatist despite that fact.”

The Mapper looked shocked at Rok’s sudden, abrupt change in temperament, before his face split into a grin, and he nodded like an eager child. “That sounds wonderful, my friend, if you’d allow me the honor of calling you that? I must ask you, though, to take me to the very best eatery in this wonderful town you run, whether it be your own dining room or an imperial kitchen, I trust your judgement!”

Rok smiled in return, giving a gruff nod before trudging through the watery room, followed closely by the Mapper. As they walked into the lobby, they heard a rather surprised squeal by Kelly, the siren managing to make even shocked confusion sound absolutely musical, before Rok gave an urgent look to the Mapper and started sprinting towards the door onto dry land, hoping his new acquaintance was sharp enough to follow.