Under the library. Of course, it was under the library. Where else could anything be?

Mortimer said that each dungeon had a level classification on a scale from 0.42 to 9.75. So, the second level was low enough that a moderately experienced party should safely speedrun through it in under an hour, and just high enough for containing quality materials at reasonable rates. Mary really wished that this time, she would have to fight neither bloody ponies nor murderous ducks.

Surprisingly, they didn't pick the entrance to the library that Mary was familiar with - instead, Mortimer led them to a side entrance, with a row of descending stairs in front of them.

“Why aren't we going through the main entrance?” Mary asked.

“We don't need to access the library, only the dungeon beneath it,” Paolo said. “So we don't need to.”

“And if when not absolutely necessary, I highly prefer to avoid it,” the Creep said. “The librarian creeps me out.”

Well, Mary couldn't exactly blame him.

The party descended the stone stairs with caution - they were evidently made for legs longer than your standard teenage human, and the steep slope all but promised a nasty fall to anyone not constantly vigilant. The grey walls on the sides were, of course, perfectly polished - it was probably the only part of the library that was clear to the point of being a viable mirror. Curiously, Mary placed her palm on the wall - and it moved against it frictionless.

Does anyone care to guess if the stairs had any handrails?

The door at the end was really more of a gate than a door, made of twisty-looking cast iron. It was shut at the moment but opened immediately when Mortimer pushed the handle. Mary tried not to think about the red stains all around them.

“Okay, Paolo, start with the suit, and I'll explain the rules to Mary,” Mortimer said, and Paolo nodded, already making a small cut on the back of his wrist, and started slowly levitating his blood in the air.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Mary asked. The pale boy seemed to be fully concentrated on the task, as his skin lost whatever little colour it had before.

“We've done it before, and I trust Paolo to know what he's doing - if he says he can hold it for an hour, that means he can hold it for an hour. Also, the moment I see that the probability of our whole trio completing the run safely diminishes, I'll intervene.”

The leader sighed while trickles of blood flowed up his arms. “This won't be a regular dungeon raid, the kinds you've done before. We need to hurry, and we have a seer on the team. That's one of the two main ways of pulling stuff like this off - you have to either use some form of precognition or be simply way too overpowered for the dungeon you're raiding.”

“You mean, like when I went looking for the book before my trial?” Mary asked.

“Exactly. Or earlier, when you rescued the rat.” Wait a minute... “Anyway, back then, you went slowly, taking care not to make a mistake, exploring and so on. Today, we do things differently.” The boy raised his hands, clenched them into fists, then twisted the palms down and moved his fingers a couple of times, like a pianist warming up before a performance.

“Rule one - you don't have to care about defence - my eyes will shield you from most, and I'll warn you about anything they won't shield from.” So, Mary had to trust the Creep with her life. Well... he did kinda save it once already... And hadn't she planned to stop calling him that?

“Rule two - we need to maintain a steady pace - I'll be looking ahead, but processing what I see takes some time, so I have to prepare in advance. If we deviate from our initial route more than I expected, we'll be left alone until I manage to prepare a new path through time for us.”

“But wait, can't you see what we'll do? I mean, if we slow down... I mean, don't you know if we'll slow down now?”

Mortimer smirked. “Well, in theory, I could. But it isn't something as easy as taking a look or casting a spell - the future isn't set in stone yet. I mostly feel it as an ever-changing probability, but it isn't technically correct either. Now, I can, for example, strongly commit to writing down the entire encounter and leaving the note in a set place, in, say, three hours. However, this would obviously influence the way I live through the next three hours - and in consequence, change the encounter's transcript. But then, the causality is starting to become cyclic, and...” The boy trailed off. “The short answer is 'no'”, he finally said irritated, as he noticed Mary's yawn. She felt the closed eyes judging her.

Heck, was Mary really that sleepy? She always thought herself better at feigning interest... “Sorry,” the girl said sheepishly.

“Anyway...,” Mortimer continued, with the annoyance not entirely gone from his voice. “Rule three, and most important - do what I say, when I say, without hesitation. If I say to cast a fireball into an empty corridor, don't ask why, or the murder of spiders could get enough time to get out of their den. If I say to throw something away from your person - you do just that. It may be a curse trying to set in, or it may contain some hungry acid that would eat through most of your clothes and flesh in seconds. The point is - you won't have time to question me and get out of it unharmed.”

So, more trust, is it? Well, she didn't exactly have much choice, although...

“Wasn't murder a group of crows, not spiders?” Mary asked.

Mortimer shrugged. “It is, but since everything down there wants to murder you, it is common to refer to a group of anything like that.”

Let's pretend it makes sense for the moment...

“And the last, but definitely not least rule - don't run unless we tell you to. I'm not only talking about running away - you'll always be better off (and safer) with your party than without it, even if the situation is dire. And note the talking part - some monsters may use illusions to scare you, but I haven't met any that could reliably replicate a specific human voice. The smarter ones may also try to pretend they're running - if we aren't with you, don't give the chase. It'd be a trap.”

“But how-”

“Okay, everyone, it's done,” Paolo said as the blood finished forming around Mortimer, and he woke from his trance. “Shall we?”

Mortimer nodded and walked through the door at a steady march. Mary was really glad there wasn't going to be just running in this so-called 'speedrun'.