It took him a while to find the rats' nest. In the meantime, Benny did everything he could to improve himself. If he couldn't be found studying the movements, attack patterns, and weaknesses of the second floor creatures, he could be seen scouring the first floor for the rats' nest that seemed highly elusive. No matter how much he tried to follow the rats or their pathing, he somehow got lost.
The only explanation was that there must be some illusion barrier or something that always led him astray.
After some thought, he already knew what it was. It was definitely the work of the labyrinth, or possibly the rats themselves if they were sophisticated enough to create such effects.
After further evaluation and consideration, he didn't follow them head-on this time. He waited and watched only. After crossing what seemed like an imaginative line dividing his space from theirs, he saw something small ripple in the barrier that separated his area from their nest. He only noticed it after further investigation when a rat finally entered the space and the air distorted slightly.
No wonder he couldn't catch up to them. They probably went to another space or plane different from what he could see here.
It was also pitch black, so who would be able to notice such a disruption in the first place? Maybe those magically inclined, but definitely not him. At least not for now.
An interesting find, he had to say. It wasn't something apparent in other labyrinths, or at least there was no information regarding monster spawns inside labyrinths behaving this way. It could be that he was just crazy enough to investigate such things, so maybe this was the first time a space distortion had been discovered. Or it could all be a trick on his eyes, an assault on his psyche, or an apparent unique feature only to this particular labyrinth. He still had no clue what it was called or why it existed.
Such thoughts were things that had formed in Benny's mind, things he'd started to notice although he didn't realize he was doing it. He was beginning to change inwardly without it being noticeable to himself. Or it might have just been an effect from being confined in this underground world for too long that he'd developed such analytical thinking.
It couldn't be denied, since he also talked to himself a whole lot at certain times.
Now that he had this knowledge, what remained was figuring out how he could enter. His goal was to conquer their nest, so there had to be a way these rats navigated the place they called home. Or it could be an innate ability where they were born with the knowledge to navigate such complicated magical arrays of space distortion, an illusion that allowed no other species to enter besides their own.
"Such a complicated structure is not of our world or time, perhaps from some greater past unknown even to us," he spoke to himself. To find the weakness of such a place, he might have to investigate further than what he'd learned so far.
If only he had something to write all these discoveries on. Knowledge that maybe only he possessed, information he could probably live off of for the rest of his life. But his current situation was just as dire as when this accursed labyrinth had been sealed from the outside world.
For now, he'd have to store such information in his own mental capacity.
The despair was slowly returning to him, but it wasn't overwhelming. He also had hope that if he could gain enough knowledge, he surely would be able to get out of this place alive someday.
He spent the next several days testing his theory. He threw stones at the barrier, watched how they seemed to curve away or disappear entirely when they crossed that invisible line. He tried approaching from different angles, but the result was always the same. His path would somehow bend, leading him in circles until he found himself back where he started.
The rats came and went as they pleased, completely unaffected by whatever force kept him out. He watched them disappear and reappear as if stepping through doorways he couldn't see.
"Fucking magic bullshit," he muttered, but there was a hint of fascination in his voice rather than just frustration.
This was bigger than just finding a nest to clear out. This was evidence that the labyrinth operated on principles he didn't understand, with capabilities that went far beyond just housing monsters. If the rats had access to space-bending magic, what other surprises were waiting deeper in the structure?
The thought was both terrifying and oddly exciting. Here he was, a nobody guardsman from Tiamerith, possibly the first person to document spatial distortions in a labyrinth. If he ever made it out of here, this knowledge could change how people understood these places entirely.
But first, he had to figure out how to get past a magical barrier with nothing but his wits, some makeshift weapons, and a stubborn refusal to give up.
"Well," he said to the empty corridor, "I've got nothing but time."