After a week of observation, Benny had gained some trust from at least these two people who kept sticking close to him.
"Haaa, I guess I should tell them my plans for now and see how it turns out," he thought.
"So, I guess we have pretty good synergy in battle, huh?" He opened awkwardly. The guy couldn't make conversation when opening up to others, so it was incredibly awkward how he started talking between these two because of his reclusiveness and being socially inept.
Meredith and Gustav only looked at each other as if trying to understand what Benny meant. They must have grown accustomed to how he did things. Currently, they were circling around a makeshift campfire in the second floor sanctuary. They didn't want to go back to the first floor sanctuary for now since the place was too gloomy with people still sulking in their negative thoughts.
They were actually improving their armor with the scorpions' carapaces and sharpening their weapons' edges. They could still use them, but the weapons might reach a breaking point in the future.
They listened to what Benny was about to say. He spoke, "I guess I should tell you my plans then, and what I think we should be focusing on."
"First, I'll start with what I've been doing before I met you all again some time ago." He then began elaborating on what he'd done. "So I was actually observing the monsters' whereabouts. What I mean by that is where they came from. They can't just infinitely spawn out of thin air, right? So have you ever thought about where these monsters came from in the first place?" He paused and let the new information sink into their minds.
Gustav answered, "Well, you do have a point. Even in already conquered labyrinths, nobody actually knows where these monsters come from, even after all this time. Naturally, we always assumed they just magically spawn from somewhere. But from what I'm hearing from you now, this isn't the case, right? So you have a clue about their origins then?"
Benny thought about it. It was also what he'd assumed back then, if only he hadn't experienced it firsthand when he'd managed to enter the sub-space leading to the monsters' lair. Although it was just the first floor, he'd also confirmed that other monster lairs on this floor had that magically unseeable distorted space that seemed like it wasn't there in the first place.
"Yes, that's right. This labyrinth, at least this one, I don't know about the others, seems to have a place of origin where these monsters came from." When the commotion before had created a gap in security near the area he suspected was the monsters' spawn point, he'd actually gone to confirm it on the second floor lairs where the monsters were mostly concentrated. And indeed, there was one just like on the first floor.
"Of course, this isn't just baseless assumptions on my part. Whether it was a hallucination at that time or not, it was too real. What I felt, breathed, and saw was mostly real. You see, in my insanity back then, I actually rode on the back of a monster, a mutated rat on the first floor." He began retelling the events that had transpired. "I had waited for them to return home to that distorted space I had found that seemingly was there but wasn't there at the same time. At first, I wasn't able to enter the space, so I thought about what if there was a condition for us to be able to enter that space. So that's why I resorted to that crazy experiment of mine."
"I know it sounds insane, but guess what? I managed to enter. I proved my deductions that there was indeed a condition. And the fact that no one was able to discover such facts means no one bothered enough to observe and wasn't able to find those unfindable distorted spaces just floating around. Because the first time I tried, I just went through the distortion without even noticing it."
"It was only when I let one of those rats go home that I was able to discover this phenomenon, unique probably to this labyrinth and possibly to all labyrinths."
"When I entered that place, it was separate from this one. It was huge. The trees and canopies were towering, and the air I breathed had the smell of forest. So I followed the rats' trail, and there I saw beneath a valley below the cliff where I had crawled into a bush, a civilization of these rats. Guess what? They have their own people there. They have clothes, they have houses, they communicate, and most of all, they have some form of hierarchy. Of course, I went back as the rats went out. Thankfully, I was indeed able to get out."
"So after that, I wanted to return inside that space, but sadly I missed my chance to jump on the back of another mutated rat. It was then, when I approached the distorted space to try it once again, that a message popped up in my mind. It gave me a choice if I wanted to proceed. It was only a yes or no, but I didn't take my chances since I didn't know enough about where or how I might arrive at that place again."
"So my plans were actually ruined, and that's how I ended up confirming that the floor we're currently on also has distorted spaces. But it's harder to get since it's pretty guarded. You see, I have plans to fully conquer the first floor and use it as a base I could always return to without constantly worrying about encountering the mutated rats. But now with my current knowledge of things, I don't know how possible that would be. To be honest, I don't think destroying that sub-space or killing off those rats would even let you conquer it. There are just too many unknowns after that, so that's why I'm stuck."
The two listened to Benny intently. His thoughts were all over the place like the ramblings of an old, insane man. But they listened carefully to his story and his plans and piece the new information themselves. Afterward, they were left with more questions than before. First, though, they wanted to witness this distortion that Benny mentioned.
"Well, I don't know about any of this, whether what you've experienced so far is true or not," Gustav said, a little skeptical that this might just be delusions of insanity. But if this was true, then it would change how they viewed labyrinths, and they might be able to use this to their advantage. "But since I want to trust you and your vision, Benny, there's only one way to find out if you're insane or not, right? Show it to us so we can all confirm it. Otherwise, I might just lose my mind here too."
Gustav said this calmly. It was a bit dismissive and skeptical, but Benny wouldn't discredit that because he was also skeptical of his whole experience so far. What if it was just dreams? At least now there were people other than him who could verify whether what he'd experienced was true.
"Then let's return to the first floor and wait for an opportune moment to go to the distortion."
So once again, they slowly retrieved the monsters' meat and additional materials they'd left at the sanctuary, also to check on the people's conditions there and to finally see if Benny was indeed telling the truth.
Deep within, all three of them hoped that this was indeed true.
The walk back to the first floor was quieter than usual. Each of them was lost in their own thoughts about what Benny had revealed. If he was telling the truth, it would fundamentally change everything they thought they knew about labyrinths. If he was delusional, then they were following a madman deeper into an impossible situation.
Meredith broke the silence first. "You know, Benny, even if you're completely insane, you've kept us alive this long. So either you're a very functional crazy person, or there's more truth to this than we realize."
Gustav nodded slowly. "The thing is, it would explain a lot. Why some labyrinths seem to have endless monster populations. Why certain areas are more heavily defended than others. If there really are entire civilizations hiding in pocket dimensions..."
"Then we're not just fighting monsters," Benny finished. "We're dealing with organized societies with their own goals and purposes. Which makes conquest a hell of a lot more complicated."
As they approached the first floor sanctuary, they could hear the murmur of voices from within. The other survivors were still there, still trying to figure out what to do with their lives now that escape seemed impossible.
"Should we tell them?" Meredith asked.
"Not yet," Gustav decided. "Let's confirm what Benny's saying first. If it's true, we'll need to think carefully about how to share this information. It could give them hope, or it could break them completely."
Benny just nodded. Either way, his secret was out now. For better or worse, he was no longer alone with the knowledge of what lay hidden in the labyrinth's depths.
The question was: what would they do with that knowledge once they had it?