Core of Knowledge

“A dragon?”

Pos nodded. “Yeah. My painting was of a red dragon on a pile of gold. A big pile of gold! Big enough to make any dwarf jealous. Next thing I know, the thing turned its head to look at me…and I almost piss myself. It felt like I was looking at a real dragon!”

Claudio of House Campisi winced at the dwarf’s description before putting his head in his hand. The Guild Master of Viaggia looked tired, and older than Pos remembered. Pos knows it was a trick of the mind because it has been only five days since he last saw the old human.

“Yes, that’s how I felt as well. The paintings felt real.” Tatala added.

The Guild Master look up at the elf with a raised eyebrow. “What was your painting?”

“A bamboo forest,” Tatala replied. “Looks like a simple painting at first, then like the dwarf, the leaves on the painting were swaying and I felt a relaxing breeze. I did not imagine it.”

Claudio shook his head. “I don’t think you did.”

A silence fell on the group before Pos spoke up. “So, how did the dungeon do it? I never heard of an enchanted painting before.”

“No one had. Why would anyone even want to make an enchanted painting?” Heathon complained, the [Knight] was still sored about having to use the Recall Stone to escape the giant squid.

“Who knows,” Bazel said, “For all we know, it could nothing more than a fancy of this dungeon.”

“A dungeon interested in the arts. Yes, that’ll be useful.” Tatala scoffed, her voice bitter.

Pos frowned at the [Dragoon] as well. After their failure on the second floor, the leader of the exploration team had elected to return to town instead of attempting a second run. Bezal said that the team had their chance, and it was time to report to the Guild.

Pos was not the only one who was unhappy with the decision.

When the team returned to town, they met up with Heathon at the guild and the Guild Master immediately ushered them into a room for a debriefing. Now, the team was informing Claudio on what happened in the Tomb of Ten Thousand Techniques.

“Why the dungeon made it doesn’t change my question on ‘how’?” The dwarven [Warrior] said. “How did the dungeon make an enchanted painting? Everyone knows the dungeon cores can give out some great treasures, but I thought they can’t give out something that’s impossible for the rest of us to duplicate.”

“They can’t,” Fabiana confirmed, “which means it is possible to create an enchanted painting. We just need to know the right combination of Class and skill to do it.”

“Which are?” Pos’ question was answered with a shrug from Viaggia’s resident [Sage]. “Aren’t you the [Sage]?”

“[Sages] do not know everything.” Fabiana defended herself from Pos’ heated question.

Being the Master of a branch of the Guild of Adventurers means having to play peacemaker most of the time, so Claudio immediately tried to head off the argument. “There’s no such thing as a [Painter] class, so…[Wizards] maybe?”

“[Wizards] uses of spell scrolls, grimoires of magic, and most of them do create the scrolls and grimoires, but they don’t paint. The study of magic leaves room for little else.” Fabiana said.

“Maybe one paint as a hobby? Who else can create the scrolls and grimoire for you [Mages]?” Pos asked. He had never thought about the scrolls and books [Mages] carried around, and never once wondered about the Classed who created them.

“Anyone with knowledge on magic can do it. Most scrolls and grimoires are not magical, they just contain information on magic. Any [Wizard], [Sage], or [Magic Instructor] can write a book on magic, I did.”

“You wrote a book?” Heathon asked in surprise. Everyone looked at Fabiana, who just shrug.

“It is a requirement to advance to the [Sage] class. My first book was on my insight in magic. It sold well enough that I wrote another two books on the subject. They were… less well-received.”

Pos’ brows raised at that. Sounds like there was a story there, but he wasn’t all that interested in the life of the [Sage]. He was more intrigued in the requirements of her Class.

Most class advancement details are secrets, and few talk about them openly. Pos was surprised Fabiana being so open about it, which tells him there may be some hidden requirements for the [Sage] class that was beyond just writing a book. The dwarf filed it at the back of his mind before going back to what the team was here for.

“The Skill Scroll I opened was mystical, maybe the paintings were as well.” Pos said.

Everyone shook their heads, but it was Fabiana who replied. “If you are suggesting that the paintings are divine, then I can assure you then they are not. Skill Scrolls require divine power to create the Skill nodes, but I didn’t feel any divinity from the painting I saw. The dungeon core created it using mana, not divinity.”

“So it is a magical item, not a divine one. Are we sure there’s no [Painter] class?” Tatala asked. “I had never heard of anyone having one, but there are some strange classes out there.”

The Guild Master turned to look at an old female human standing behind him. Pos did not recognise the old human female, but she was dressed like a receptionist from the Guild. She shook her head.

“I have checked when the [Knight] arrived and gave us the account of what happened on the second floor. There is no record in the Book of Classes of a [Painter] class.”

“Then, it is not a Class but a Skill. We just need to know which one.” Fabiana said with a smile, but Bazel shook his head in disagreement.

“It could be that the Class is new and not recorded in the book. Many gods create strange Classes for their own followers and give them out individually. And not all of them are recorded. I know a [Runner] who received his class from Zraton, the Patron of Travellers. He told me there were only five Classed in history who had ever received it, and he may be the only [Runner] who is still alive. I won’t be surprised if the [Runner] class is missing from the Book of Classes.”

That was true. The Book of Classes was a compilation containing the sum knowledge people have on Classes. The knowledge within is important but it is a book and there was no way for the scribes to include everything. It is just not possible.

There is also the fact that no one, not even their [Priests], can claim to understand the Gods. It would not be surprising to Pos if one of them did create a [Painter] Class and forgot to tell anyone about it. Evidently, he was not the only one who thought so as Claudio turned to the receptionist.

“Contact the temples of any gods with an artistic domain. Check if any of them has a [Painter] class on their books.”

“That will make people suspicious. They will want to know why we are asking.” The receptionist warned.

“Let them ask,” Claudio said before giving everyone in the room a cheshire grin, “And when they do, tell them the truth.”

Silence descended on the room as Pos tried to make sense of what the Guild Master just said.

“Master, you want to tell people this dungeon may be granting Classes? Are you sure that’s wise?” Bazel asked.

“The dungeon is not granting Classes. Do we have no evidence of that? What we do know is that it is granting Skills and is able to create strange items.” Claudio gave an emphasis on ‘strange items’, “That is what we are reporting. The dungeon is creating strange items, and we have no idea how it is doing it. That is why we are asking. Not that it matters. When we tell people the dungeon is granting Skills like a [King] or [Lord], the paintings will be an afterthought. Every scholar and researcher in the Bright Kingdom would be coming for the Skills. Telling them the dungeon is also creating strange items is almost a non-issue compared to that.”

Pos blinked after Claudio gave his explanation and had to admit that the Guild Master of Viaggia had made a good point. Pos also found that he agreed with him, the Skills granting ability of the dungeon is what is going to draw adventurers to the Tomb of Ten Thousand Techniques. However, that led to another problem.

“Master, we need to be careful with the adventurers we allow into the dungeon. It killed two out of the first three adventurers that went inside, and my team was unable to beat it, despite outlevelling it by a hefty margin. This dungeon is a dangerous one.” Bazel warned.

“I understand Bazel, but there’s really nothing we can-”

“Time!”