A Dungeon’s Survival

Connie

Him.

It was him. Prism and Noctis had returned, and my newest familiar had given his report. From the sound of it, their bounty hadn't been as great I'd been hoping for, but that wasn't the detail that'd caught my attention. Instead, it had come when the Shade Lurker shared a recorded memory with me.

The alchemist.

His was a face I wouldn't soon forget. He was Lawrence's mentor and was among the first people to enter my Dungeon. I had little to defend myself with back then, and his immense power had made those defenses look like little more than props. Truthfully, almost anyone would have been more than a match for me at the time, but he was the first person to make me fear for my life in this world, and my familiars had failed to break into his house.

I really hope this doesn't come back to bite us. Avoid that man at all costs, and never try to get into his house again. Understood?

“Blur.”

“Yes, master.”

I said that with finality, but in truth, I would have loved to get access to the treasure trove of knowledge that almost certainly existed within those walls. Sadly, it wasn't worth the risk. Maybe one day, one far off day, an attempt might be possible, but for the time being, that was an individual I didn't want to provoke. In fact, I didn't even want to think about him, so instead, I turned my attention toward the books the two had acquired.

So, what do we have here? Actually, hold on.

In total, there were seven. That wasn't much, but it was more than double what we already had, and depending on the contents, they could prove invaluable. It just depended on what they were.

Hey, we're about to go over the haul. You're fine with us keeping the books in your room, right? I quickly called out to Archie.

“Ah, they've returned? Yes, wonderful! Of course, you can leave the matter of their storage up to me.”

Cool, thanks!

Even though I phrased it in way that implied he was doing me a favor by holding onto them, I knew he was ecstatic. My loyal alchemist had quickly fallen in love with books, and in a way, getting these was my attempt to pay him back for his help in dealing with the bear. If it hadn't been for him pushing past his terror and negotiating with it on my behalf, we'd have all died that day. For that, I owed him a great deal, and while the knowledge that the books contained had the potential to fill some of the gaps in our information, that was secondary. The main reason I'd sent the pair out on that mission was for Archie.

Okay, take them to the lab, I told my familiars, Oh, and be mindful of the water! Make sure they don't get wet.

Wordlessly, they moved to carry out my order. In the past, my core room had housed the boss monster I now had protecting my second floor, but without it, I'd ended up having to rely on water for my protection. It wasn't a great solution, but with some luck, should someone or something weaker than the bear monster make it this far, I hoped the small pond my core now rested at the bottom of would be enough to buy me the time I'd need to launch whatever desperate counterattack I could manage. It, however, was not a place I liked having books around for obvious reasons.

Archie's lab, on the other hand, was considerably less wet. Sure, there were a couple puddles of unidentifiable liquid around, but–actually wait. Why were there puddles? Also, what was up with all that pink smoke?

Um, Archie? Is everything okay here?

“Ah, well, I believe it is. The mixture I was working on already exploded, I just haven't had a chance to clean up after it. I must admit, though, the smoke could have some kind of affect I am unaware of.”

Right. I'm making a library. This isn't a good environment for preserving books.

“Come again?”

Keeping books in wet or moist places can lead to them falling apart and molding. I probably should have thought about that before now, but I didn't realize how damp it was getting in here.

The plant and mushroom goblin's face twisted into an expression of horror at the revelation. In retrospect, I probably should have given him a crash course on book care, but like always, time was a precious commodity that I never had in abundance, and also, I hadn't thought to do so. With how he carried himself and his surprisingly large vocabulary, it was difficult to remember at times that he was less than two months old, or at least, he'd only been awakened for less than two months. I wasn't actually sure how old he was at this point. Time was hard to keep track of from inside a cave with limited interaction with the outside world.

Don't worry, I said in an attempt to reassure him while pushing my growing inability to keep track of time aside, The books we have are still fine. Moving them will just make sure they stay that way. Also, I'll make sure the library is attached to your lab, so you'll still have easy access to them.

“Right, that sounds reasonable. The condition of the books should come first, after all. I'm glad you caught this before it became a problem. You have my thanks, mistress.”

I felt a mixture of shame and embarrassment through our bond. I considered saying more in order to cheer him up, but in the end, I felt like it would be to his benefit if we weren't to linger on the matter. Besides, I had another way to raise his spirits.

I'll get started on that in a bit, but first, want to see what we got?

His face lit up immediately.

“That sounds wonderful.”

Good! Now, come on. I believe Prism has them in a bag.

“Blurg!” the slime confirmed as they spat out the only-slightly-dissolved sack they'd apparently stolen alongside the books.

Care to do the honors? I asked Archie.

“It would be my pleasure.”

With those words, he opened the sack and froze.

“Are these clothes?” he eventually asked.

“Yes,” Noctis confirmed.

“I was under the impression that you'd brought back books.”

Archie was clearly confused and disappointed. I didn't want to let that continue, so I interrupted, I didn't tell them to get clothes, but I did ask them to pad the other stuff they got.

“Ah, I did not realize you'd sent them after other things as well.”

Yep, and I think you'll be just as happy about what's in there as the books themselves.

His eyes lit up, and I watched as he unwrapped something from within the clothes. He picked it out and began carefully examining it.

“A potion?” he asked.

Not quite. By the way, Noctis, I don't think you mentioned it when giving your report, but did you get enough?

“Yes, the other supplies you requested were more plentiful than the books.”

Perfect.

What the glass container held that Archie had mistaken for a potion was actually an entirely mundane dark fluid, but that didn't mean it wasn't useful.

How do you think books are made? I asked the Trenti.

“I would assume through a complicated mixture of leatherwork, artistry, and a method I cannot fathom that is used to produce the paper.”

I mean, your not wrong, but I was more so talking about the words inside the books, the writing.

“Ah, yes, that would be the artistry I mentioned.”

I mean, yeah, but–ah forget it. Ink, Archie; it's ink. That's the liquid people use to write with, and there should be enough there for me to be able to start reproducing it. With that, you can start taking notes and, if you want to, even write your own books. There should also be some feathers in there. Quills hadn't been used for centuries in my old world, so I'm not sure how to properly use them, but with them, you should be able to write, draw, and do whatever else you want with the ink.

Archie's green eyes sparkled with wonder as he held up the small bottle of liquid and fished out a quill.

“How marvelous,” he said with awe.

I couldn't help but to let out a mental chuckle at his reaction.

Lay them out for me, so I can absorb them. I'll make you as much as you want. I'll also get you some proper stone tables set up in the library once it's carved out. Consider this my thanks for everything you do.

“I don't know what to say. Thank you, mistress. I will make sure to put these to good use.”

Don't worry about it.

After that, he laid them out, and I absorbed them.

[You have absorbed 19 units of Ink! Ink has been unlocked as an item for you.]

[You have absorbed 18 Quills! Quills have been unlocked as an item for you.]

With that done, it was time to get to the good stuff. Slowly, Archie reached into the bag and pulled out a book. It was plain and without any identifier that could be used to tell the contents. Without anything else to go by, he opened it up, allowing us to both read it.

Um, Noctis? I asked my newest familiar after a brief moment.

“Yes?”

Do you remember the types of books I asked you to look for?

“Of course. I recorded the memory. You wanted books about magic, crafting, professions, catalogs of information, informative documents, and stories of adventure.”

Yes, so what is this?

“It is both an informative document and a catalog of information,” he said with a hint of pride.

Okay, maybe this is on me. By informative documents, I meant documents containing information about what's going on in the local area, and by catalogs of information, I meant things like lists of monsters, plants, or anything else helpful for that matter. Noctis, this is an inn's ledger, the records of their finances. It's useless to us, going to be missed dearly, and its absence is almost sure to be noticed. Please say you didn't get a bunch of stuff like this.

I stared at the Shade Lurker as he practically withered under my gaze. I wasn't entirely sure as to his level of intelligence since he wasn't technically an awakened monster, but after making him a familiar, he seemed to have gained a similar degree of awareness as those I'd awakened, and on a personal level, he seemed pretty smart. It was just that the only other frame of reference I had for familiars was Prism, and as much as I loved the adorable, little bob, they could hardly even communicate. Then again, maybe I was being unfair. I had only summoned the ghostly monster less than a day ago.

That had been a strange process, too. I'd learned some things about my Bond Familiar ability in the process, such as the fact that I couldn't convert a monster that I'd modified with Monster Customization into one. I'd also learned that, in addition to it being possible to convert unmodified monsters, ones I'd used Aspect Extraction on to give extra abilities to could also be converted. I'd found that out when the System had let me convert the Shade Lurker I'd thrown everything other than Flame Gel Excretion on.

There were other things I hadn't been able to test out, however. Since Noctis had seemingly gained sentience in the process, I hadn't dared to test out unbinding him as a familiar out of fear for what might happen. Another thing I'd been unable to test was his exact degree of self-awareness and capability to reason, and that was important. It dictated the capacity in which I'd be able to utilize my familiars. That was why I was being so critical and probing of my newest, permanent monster. It wasn't that I was trying to be mean to him or even that I was mad. I just needed to understand what I was working with.

“I apologize for my failure, master.”

I sighed mentally. I was being harsh, but I needed him to understand.

It's fine. I'm sorry. I'm not mad; I just want to know how capable you are because there are things I need done that none of my other monsters can do.

If possible, I want you to be my eyes and ears outside of the Dungeon. That can only work if you don't get caught, though, and between this and getting noticed by that alchemist, your cover might already be blown. There was a reason I told you not to grab anything that looked too important. People will notice if anything like this goes missing.

“I'm sorry.”

Once again, it's fine; everyone makes mistakes. I've certainly made plenty. It's not about how many you make, though. It's about how you fix them and how you learn from them. Once we're done looking through these, do you think you could sneak this back to where you found it? Without getting caught, of course.

“It will be done.”

Good. That's all I can ask. That aside, good work. Even if the rest of the books aren't useful, just having the ink and quills is massive for us.

“Ahem,” Archie interrupted.

Yes, Archie?

“I don't think you need to worry about the rest of the haul being useless, mistress.”

He was holding up a book. Much like the first, it lacked anything on the cover that would give away its contents.

What is it?

“According to the front page, it seems to be a spellbook.”

I froze, my mind halting as his words sunk in.

A spellbook?

“Yes, that seems to be the case. I flipped through some of the pages, and frankly, the contents are beyond my current understanding. I believe this could prove invaluable to us. Also, there is no doubt in my mind that Pee will be thrilled to take a look at it. I'll have to study it with her later.”

Noctis, I'm sorry for doubting you. You've outdone yourself. Setbacks aside, your mission was a resounding success. Congratulations!

“Thank you, master.”

Without a second of delay, I moved my vision over Archie's shoulder in order to look down at the book. Sensing that, he opened it to the first page.

“This spellbook is the property of Octavia Loremaster. If lost, kindly return to her,” it read.

Underneath were more words scattered across the page, each with different handwriting. They were names, some familiar, some not.

“Chris was here!”

“Be more careful with this! Izzy~”

“Boulder.”

“A spellbook is any good mage's life. Keeper a closer eye on this. Sincerely, Randy.”

“Flur was here!”

“You owe me a drink. Lance~”

“Muri.”

“Uh, sorry if I'm not supposed to write in here, but it seems like a tradition. Lawrence.”

“Please keep better track of your belongings. Sirius Toadskill~”

There were many others, at least twice as many, and after reading all of the notes, I suddenly felt sick in a way I couldn't biologically explain for a chunk of crystal.

This doesn't feel right.

This was clearly an important possession, not just for the information within but also for the sentimental value it held, and it had been stolen on my orders. I felt disgusted at myself, but at the same time, it was so valuable to us that, even if I could have, I wouldn't have done anything different if it meant getting our hands on the knowledge within. It could be game changing. That didn't make me feel any better, though.

Um, Archie, I eventually managed, could you do me a favor?

“Certainly. What do you require of me?”

If I get you ink, a quill, and paper, could you create a copy of this? I don't feel good about taking it, and once you're done, I want to have Noctis put it back.

It was the best compromise I could come up with. I knew we needed it, but the thought of robbing someone of such a valuable possession felt wrong on a level I couldn't even put into words.

“I'll get right on it after this.”

Thank you.

After that, we looked through the rest of the books. It seemed the first two were the extremes. None were as useless or as dangerous to have stolen as the ledger, and none were as valuable as the spellbook. That wasn't to say they weren't useful, however.

One was a collection of what seemed to be fairy tales, like from my old world and not stories about the actual fairies that existed here. Two were collections of more historically-accurate events, and one was a biography about some famous warrior. There were things to be learned about this world from all four, and all of them were perfect gifts for Archie, but after the way the spellbook had made me feel, I couldn't not feel guilty about taking them. In the end, I asked Archie to make copies of them all for his personal use and our records. That way, we could return the originals as well.

That just left the last one. While not as important as the spellbook, it still held value to us. It was a farming almanac for more mundane crops. It also contained information about the act of farming itself, more than I personally knew about the subject. I wasn't sure if unawakened monsters had the mental capacity to read, but either way, that was going to Rose, even if I had to read and explain it to her myself. It was perfect for the one in charge of our agriculture.

It's a start.

The seven books, six without the ledger, weren't going to be enough to replace Fabian, but they were helpful. We were still going to need to diversify our sources of intel, but this was the first step in doing so. The rest could come in the following days, and with Noctis, the Shade Lurker I had added to our ranks on a whim and named after the Amplexus Noctis, translated to Night's Embrace, a shadowy dagger I'd been fond of in a video game I used to play, the road to doing so became possible. All things considered, the great book heist was a resounding success.