Dungeon Raider System
Chapter 737 - 737: Alice alone

Left to her own devices, Alice remained at the Dungeon Raiders headquarters trying to figure out the correct way to categorize Uriel's artifacts, but she found herself in a pinch.

Although the artifacts Uriel uncovered during his raid on what used to be the dungeon of the Alamo were properly documented, it was impossible to make anything out of that information since their context was destroyed when the floating islands crashed on the depths of the dungeon.

It would have been one thing if Uriel found them before that event, but this caused the records to be incomplete meaning most of the information would be lost.

She placed her elbows on top of a table staring at a vase with blue lines for hours before putting it away in a cardboard box only to take it back after realizing she didn't know what other items to pair up with it.

"This is an impossible task! I don't even know what this Anazasi culture is or where did they come from." She sighed deeply wishing Uriel left her at least some basic instructions.

She struggled for a couple more hours before realizing that she was still appointed in college, which meant she could use its resources to solve her conundrum.

She headed to the library and was greeted by the usual scoff from Gertrude who barely acknowledged her presence hen Alice pretended to clear her throat.

"Excuse me, I'd like to borrow a book." Alice said before swallowing a gulp of saliva. The old grumpy woman was an ordinary human, yet she somehow managed to intimidate even Uriel who was the strongest hunter Alice had ever met in person.

This alone was enough for Alice to wish she could dart outside, but she was aware that she couldn't possibly perform the difficult task Uriel put on her shoulders without help.

"This isn't a divination stand on a carnival but a library, I cant read your mind. Now tell me what you want or go back to painting your nails." The grumpy librarian said in a less than friendly tone.

"I want any book you have about the Anazasi culture." Alice said in a small voice, though her request seemingly piqued the woman's interest.

"Anazasi? If my mind doesn't betray me, there should be a book that goes in depth about their culture... Follow me." Gertrude stood up from her seat to help a student for the first time in her entire career. She would usually just grunt at people and point them to the book case where the book they wanted was located, but refused to either get it for them or even help them search for it.

Needless to say, she wasn't a great librarian by anyone's standards and she couldn't compare to the always helpful Mister Scofield whom was dearly missed by Uriel and by a large portion of the female students.

Gertrude walked slowly and made a point to show she was in absolutely no rush despite Alice being against the clock. Alice didn't know when would Uriel return from his trip, but she didn't want to fail on the first task her new employer.

They walked past the corridors and made their way across the differen sections until they made it to one of the bookcases destined specifically for the anthropology studies and then, much to Alice's surprise, they walked past it and into the literature area.

"I think we're in the wrong place." Alice stuttered earning herself a cold glare from the old librarian.

"This is what I get for trying to be nice. If you don't want my help you should have said it in the first place." Gertrude scoffed, yet still handed Alice an old book in a leather cover treating it with the same care one would a treasured possession.

"Gilgamesh?" Alice read the title out loud.

"So you do know how to read." Gertrude said with feigned shock.

"I know this story, it's a sumerian tale about a hero named Gilgamesh. The gods tried to kill him by..."

"I don't care, read it or not. Whatever you do, put it back in its place after you finish or I'll ban you from this library."

"But the Anazasi are from this continent, not from Asia..." Alice said, but Gertrude was nowhere to be found which was surprising considering how long it took her to get there in the first place.

Alice didn't know the reason why Gertrude thought Gilgamesh was in any way related to the Anazasi and simply assumed she was just ignorant, but she decided to at least pretend to make use of the book she fetched for her since it was the first time Gertrude was 'nice' to anyone.

With Mister Scofield gone the library was mostly a deserted place and Alice was the only one at the library which allowed her to focus on the book, though it did little good to her since it was in no way related to any native American tribe in the slightest.

After putting the book back in its place Alice headed to the only other place where she could find some answers and she knocked on Pangeotis' office.

"Mister Pangeotis', I'm Alice from the archaeology studies." She announced herself after the old Professor let her in.

"Are you here to go back on your decision to quit your studies?" Professor Pangeotis asked with a hopeful gaze that turned sour when Alice Shook her head.

"I'm sorry, but I can't go back. Not after what happened to Scoundrel." She let out a sigh and Pangeotis joined her.

"Such a promising young man he was, I was really looking forward to work alongside him." The old professor said, though his true intentions had been to reel him in and get Scoundrel to work under him.

"Do you know anything about the Anazasi?"

"Do I!? Get out if you're going to waste my time." Pangeotis rose up the tone of his voice in anger.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, but..."

"Did you seriously thought you could walk into my office and ask me if I knew something about a culture I've been studying for years and have many published papers and not take it as an offense? If it's not an insult, then what is it?" The professor scoffed at Alice.

"A desperate call for help, I really need help in sorting the artifacts Mister Sage has laying around before we move to Europe." Alice said in a helpless tone of voice which seemed to calm Pangeotis down, except it wasn't her tone what shifted his mood but Alice mentioning Uriel's stash.

"If you want to know about the Anazasi you should read my papers, but if you want help in sorting the artifacts then I maybe can give you a hand. In exchange for that, all I ask is you do me a little favor."

"What kind of favor?" Alice asked unblinking. She didn't know the old Professor as well as Uriel did, but her faith in humanity was shaky at best.

"You see, I have a friend who needs to get to Europe..."

"We don't have a zeppelin currently."

"Don't worry about that, he's got that sorted. The problem is, he needs strong hunters to work security and he has yet to find a party strong enough for his liking. If you could help me with that, I'll gladly sort any artifacts you want."