Dogmatic Dungeon Dominion

Daniel looked at his watch and then quickly at his tablet before standing up at such a speed that Penn jumped up with him, worried. Daniel ran back and forth from the monitoring equipment, transferring the last recorded data to his tablet.

"Is everything okay, Daniel?" Penn asked, walking up behind him with concern.

"Oh, yes, sorry. We're just running behind, and I wanted to ensure all your data is synced up before we do the match tests," Daniel hurriedly responded, flashing a quick apologetic smile over his shoulder. Penn gave a relieved sigh. 

"I'm glad it wasn't more serious," Penn replied, tidying up the table and chairs. As Daniel stepped backward, his small and delicate frame unknowingly bumped into Penn, who had walked up behind him to see if he needed help. 

"Oh," Daniel gasped, looking up behind him at Penn's calm forest-green eyes before turning away with flushed cheeks. "Let's head over now."

Penn chuckled as he followed behind Daniel's flushed neck, giving a slight nod to the inspector and the esper.

***

They walked down the hallway, where they reached a group of rooms titled 'Match Test Room 1', 'Match Test Room 2', and so on. The room they entered was wide and cozy. Though below ground, the walls were lined with faux digital windows that imitated a bright afternoon sun looking into a beautiful courtyard garden. 

In the center of the room, two comfortable, laid-back chairs stood side by side. Each chair had its own small dungeon core on the inner armrest, and wires connected them to the monitor that stood between the two. On the other side of the room was a two-way glass designed as a fancy mirror, and an oversized U-shaped couch rested in front of it.

"You will be in one of the two chairs while each esper takes turns being tested with you," Daniel described, pointing in front of them at the pair of loungers. The couch is where the espers waiting to be tested will sit until their turn. I'll be on the other side of the glass with the Department Director of Guides and our testing technicians to monitor everything."

"Are there many scheduled for today?" Penn asked. His face remained calm and stoic, but he chewed his inner cheek nervously. Daniel looked down at his tablet. 

"Including me, we have ten hunters scheduled for testing today. Each test will check the proficiency of guiding over a period of fifteen minutes for each of the awakened. Six of the hunters are B-rank, and the remaining four are A-rank."

"Including you?" Penn asked, surprised. He raised an eyebrow as he looked back at Daniel from the chairs, who smiled back at him.

"Of course. I'm in the same rank as you and am not paired with any specific guide, nor am I bonded with one. It'd be nice to have a high proficiency since we'll be working out of the building together," Daniel spoke fast, his ears tinged red, though he never looked up at Penn to meet his eyes. Penn inwardly smiled at the thought of guiding someone with a sanguine temperament like Daniel. It was a pleasant contrast to his own phlegmatic self. 

"That would be pleasant," Penn replied in a more chipper tone than Daniel had heard from him before. Daniel smiled warmly at Penn, grabbed his elbow, and directed him to the chair closest to the faux windows.

"Take your seat here. I'll finish setting up with the staff and then join you. To help you feel more comfortable, I'll be the first to do the match test alongside you," Daniel explained, gently pushing the more prominent man into the chair with a wide grin—his hazel eyes creasing with mirth as his hand lingered a moment longer. 

Daniel shuffled off through a door to the right of the couch, leaving it open as he talked with the staff on the other side. Daniel emerged from the observation room, walking over to a kitchenette in the corner with a hot water dispenser.

With a swift hand, he grabbed a simple orange pekoe tea bag and placed it into a large square mug, adding hot water, three scoops of sugar, and two dashes of milk. Once stirred, he carefully walked over and held out the mug to Penn with a knowing smile.

"How—" Penn went to ask, but Daniel cut him off with a small giggle. 

"I saw what you made in the HR office while filling out paperwork," Daniel responded as he slightly bent over, tucking his golden curly fringe behind his ears and gently blowing on the tea to cool it down.

Penn's jaw slackened in shock, completely astonished at the sudden forward attitude of the secretary. He couldn't comprehend why they were facing each other at such a short distance.

A scent wafted past Penn with Daniel so close. It smelled like a forest after rain, with milky soap and a slight wisp of freshly cut jasmine. Penn couldn't help but freeze with the drink held in both their hands as Daniel blew on it a few more times. Their eyes momentarily met, and Daniel's lips parted with a soft smile before standing straight and sitting in the other lounger.

The door to the hallway swung open, and a small group of hunters filed in, chatting as they made their way to the couch. The group either nodded or threw a wave at Penn as they passed, and he offered a nod to each as he sat straight in the lounger. Once everyone was seated and no more guests filed through the doorway, Daniel directed Penn to sit back and place his hand on the dungeon core embedded in the arm of the chair. 

"Remember, this will take approximately fifteen minutes per person, so we'll be finished for the day in just over two hours."

Penn nodded while listening to the secretary's explanation, relaxed in the chair, and finally rested his palm and long fingers on the core. He felt uncomfortable at first, like the first time he touched it, the feeling of his mouth filled with cotton as his cheeks tingled and goosebumps formed on his body.

He didn't experience this feeling when he guided that hunter directly. Maybe it was because the core forced mana through his body. Perhaps it was similar to that reverse guiding that Daniel mentioned the precious day. 

Penn's eyes slid over the group that was too busy conversing to notice him and landed on Daniel beside him. His hand twitched when his eyes met Daniel's, who smiled slightly, though his eyes seemed to be laughing. It appeared the secretary had grown comfortable enough to tease him in their short time together. The corner of Penn's lip drew upward, though he tried to suppress the smile. 

Penn focused on the core, trying not to be distracted by the picture-perfect receptionist who wouldn't look away from him. He wanted to ensure the numbers came out consistently, and he also wanted to do his best to be grouped with someone as pleasant and easygoing as his trainer. 

After the fifteen minutes were up, Daniel tapped on Penn's cheek. Penn finally opened his eyes and looked past him to the monitor. It showed the wavelengths over time and the quality of mana purification. Overlaid on the stats was a 'Calculating…' prompt that kept flashing. Finally, it finished processing. 

"Eighty-four percent, that's a pretty nice number," Daniel commented proudly. "I look forward to our future guiding sessions."

"Treat me well," Penn slightly bowed forward in his seat as Daniel moved past the couch and back into the observation room. He tapped one of the hunters on the shoulder and pointed to the spot beside Penn on his way.

"Hello, I guess I'm being tested next," replied a tall, thin hunter. He looked like he was built for running—maybe a skill-based hunter specializing in speed. Penn smiled hello, and the afternoon continued like that.

At the end of all the testing, the other nine hunters' proficiency results ranged from sixty-two percent to seventy-seven percent. Daniel, the Department Director of Guides and testing technicians, stated that his results with all the tested Hunters' were decent enough to be assigned to him going forward. 

Daniel led him on a tour through the Guide wing of the association. He explained that healers and guides worked out of the same wing, but they worked on the first floor, where they had dedicated check-up offices, first-aid rooms, and more for emergency situations. Healers have to go through a mandatory nursing program at a minimum. Guides work on all the floors above, each dedicated to their ranks. 

Near the top floor was where they exited the elevator and toured the wide, clean, not-too-busy hallways. A floor dedicated to A-rank hunters and their guides. He led him to the end of the hall and opened the door to a cozy room that was laid out similarly to the testing room, without the observation mirror and genuine floor-to-ceiling windows into the actual courtyard.

There was an L-shaped office desk in the corner with comfortable seating, a theater couch with a middle armrest, and an oversized chaise lounge therapist couch for resting - with enough room for someone to sit beside it. It was an inviting office that looked like a high-end condo home office showroom. 

"This room is assigned for you, and every time you're assigned a group of espers, they'll meet you here. It's appointment-based, but some can come up with only a few moments' notice on the tablet attached to your desk. That's usually the most common appointment. Sometimes, emergency prompts for injured hunters will come to you in the first-aid ward."

"It's quite the stunning place. I feel a bit overwhelmed. I'm not used to such a homey space," Penn replied awkwardly. He walked over to the desk and noticed a small coat rack where the guide-standard lab coat hung with his Guide ID number embroidered. His thumb ran across the thread, and a strange feeling overwhelmed him.

"It's meant to be a welcoming, restful place. We'll be doing some trial runs here while you're doing your mandatory training - and I'll be with you until you're cleared to go solo," Daniel said reassuringly, giving a calm smile. Penn nodded and turned to leave, shutting the lights off as he closed the door.