A voice comes from behind him, from somewhere in the armory. Whoever it is, the darkness shrouds their appearance, and their cloak makes it impossible for Victor to see them.

You seem frightened. This is not good, Victor. You need to be calm if you wish to advance.

A man steps out of the darkness, coming from behind a large shelf of bombs. There is no bow in his hand or on his back, but he could very well be the one who had saved the bard from both Orias and the Cursed Ones. His arms are crossed, as if awaiting a response from the bard.

At the sound of the man's voice, Victor jumped and let out a horrified yelp. He turned on his heels and almost stabbed the cloaked figure behind him when he realized that the man wasn't trying to attack him... yet. Lowering his dagger, Victor replied.

"Calm? Calm?! How can I be calm?! Two of your guys have already attacked me for no reason, and I keep hearing those hissing noises all around here, and it's dark and..."

The Bard ranted and raved for what must have been five minutes of the other man's time before stopping in mid sentence. He raised an eyebrow and queried the man in a quieter voice.

"Say... who are you?"

That is of little importance at this time. I assure you, however, that I am not the one who saved you today. And, by the size of me, you can easily tell that I am not the Goron you fought with yesterday. Nor am I the Zora. Or the human. In fact, this is the first time you have seen me in your time here. But forget that. Without visual impressions, you will soon forget who you have been talking to.

Unfolding his arms, the man points to the stairwell, as if directing Victor downwards.

Continue to the first floor, Victor. There is no need to fear anything that you encounter inside this castle. You have been summoned, after all. And we are far too... accommodating... to kill a "guest."

The man turns his back on the vagabond and walks through the door leading outside. As he pushes the door and steps out, he says one last thing.

Don't screw up your hearing.

His laugh echoes through the armory as he descends the outdoor staircase.

Remembering the monster's shriek that had caused him to go deaf for a short time, Victor took the man's statement to mean that there were more of those creatures around. Still, he was happy that no one would try to kill him again, and so he descended the stairway which the man had pointed to...

Any possible entry points to other levels of the castle are blocked off by the same beam shield that had trapped Victor in the fight with the guard the previous day. There is no barrier on the first floor, and the bard is free to move through the various rooms as he pleases. The disgusting hissing sound can not be heard on this level. Eithers the strangers have eliminated the threat, or the barabaric creatures were never there to begin with.

The stairwell continues to go further down, but any further and Victor would find himself in the basement levels. A hallway leads away from the staircase and to four branched paths. From the path heading southward, the lobby can seen, as well as Orias's crumpled figure laying unconscious in the courtyard. To the north is a large double door, which may lead to someplace important. To the East is the stairwell he had come from, and the West is a locked door.

Noticing the force fields, Victor began to wonder whether he would have to fight someone again or not. He took out his dagger once more, but lowered it when he saw that he was alone. Deciding that it was safe, the Bard began to walked down the corridor. Seeing the door to the lobby, he looked through and was pleased to see that Orias was still unconscious.Ignoring the room for now, he tried opening the locked door just in case, but wasn't successful. Having no where else to go, Victor advanced towards the large double doors...

Inside is an enormous hall, twice the size of the courtyard. A long table stretches from one end of the room to the other. There are around thirty seats at the table, and each one is occupied by a man in black. Turning to see the bard at the door, the hooded figure at the far end of the table stands and, much to the confusion of the others, bows. Then, pointing to an empty chair not four feet from where Victor stands, he utters one word.

Sit.

Victor's eyes widened as he entered the hall. Seeing the cloaked men, the Bard instinctively raised his dagger, but when the man at the head of the table stood bowed, Victor sheathed his weapon and bowed back at the man. Fumbling with a chair, he sat down and smiled. He hadn't had a chance to rest since the Inn. Once he was settled, he looked around at all the cloaked men, stopping on the man at the head of the table. Deciding to wait until he was spoken to, Victor sat quietly at the table, waiting for the man to speak...

The man who had bowed, and who is more than likely the leader here, sits in his chair and begins writing something on a sheet of paper in front of him. A cloaked man sitting next to Victor nudges the bard, and hands him a small bottle with a blue concoction inside.

Drink it. It's just blue potion. You're of no use here if you're just going to pant from fatigue the whole time.

Taking the bottle, Victor thanked the man next to him and gulped down the potion. When he was done, he handed back the empty bottle and wiped his mouth on his sleeve happily, his energy having been restored. The Bard then looked to see the apparent head of the operation writing on a paper and, deciding not to intrude, turned to the man who had handed him the potion and asked:

"Do you know why I was called here?"

Of course I do. We all do. I'm surprised Orias didn't blurt it out when he attacked you. Don't worry about him, he's a traitor. The rest of us want only to ensure your safety.

The man relaxes in his chair and folds his arms. He seems impatient, as if he would rather be anywhere but in this room.

You remember that Zora, right? He says your friendly nature is what brought you here. Going by his story, you walked up to him out of nowhere and began prying into his business. Not that it's a bad thing. He saw perfect potential in you. The guy you met upstairs told you this was a hearing, right? It is... but you could say it's more of an assessment. That guy at the end of the table just wants to be sure that you're able to help our cause... which, to put it simply, is to bring the world out of the rut that Ganon put it in.

He yawns slightly, and begins tapping his fingers on the table out of boredom.

But we go a lot deeper than a typical Hyrule Liberation group. If all goes as planned, you'll find out everything very soon.

Victor smiled as the man explained the situation to him, and nodded his head in understanding. It seemed like these men were for the good of Hyrule, and the Bard was pleased to know that only Orias really wanted to hurt him. Still, he wondered why such an organization was situated underground, surrounded by monsters, and why the members chose black cloaks as their... uniform. For a moment, Victor considered asking the man next to him all these questions, but he thought better of it. Hopefully, the leader would explain everything, and more. And so, settling comfortable in his chair, the Bard continued looking at the figure sitting at the head of the table, waiting patiently to be addressed...

After a few minutes of complete silence, other than hushed conversations between some of the men sitting at the table, the man at the head of the table stops writing and folds his paper, shoving it carefully into an envelope and placing it on the table in front of him. He holds up his hand for silence, and when all of the cloaked men are silent, he begins to speak. His voice is deep and calm, with no more than a few different tones to it.

My friends, I have called you all here today to greet our guest. Doubtless you have noticed the young Hylian. He is, after all, the only person sitting here at this time who stands out amongst us. Victor, we have given you many reasons to fear our organization, but do not worry. I can assure your complete protection while you are in this city. Our master is unable to be with us at this time. I can tell by the look on your face... you have many questions that you seek answers to. Tell us about yourself, Victor, and ask us about what it is that confuses you.

Victor struggled to sit up straight as the man spoke, and when he finished the Bard smiled in appreciation. He was eager to get some of his questions answered, and so he cleared his throat and looked straight at the other man. As he spoke, Victor attempted to mimic the other man's deeper voice in order to sound more important- his voice cracked on several occasions.

"Uhh... err, yes. I think the most important question right now is: why, and how, are you situated in a cave underground? Isn't this organization for the good of Hyrule?"

As if Victor were joking, the entire group of mysterious men begins to laugh. Realizing how belittled Victor must feel while being laughed at by so many people, the man at the head of the table calls for silence again.

It is a good question for one who knows nothing of us. Why are we situated underground? Although we do not seek to involve Harkinian in any way, he would have our enterprise here shut down immediately, for a reason that may seem great in his eyes but is truly unreasonable. How are we situated underground? You are standing in the remains of a dead city of the past. A natural disaster hundreds of years ago caused the city to sink below the surface. We have yet to learn the secrets and history behind this place, but in time we will know all.

It has been a long time since I was tasked with explaining the situation. Are you lost yet? Do you have more questions?