Lexie noticed the levels changed as they progressed through them. The dungeon began as rough rock caverns, bare rock walls with sandy floors. There were tumbled rocks and boulders. After the second safe space, there were more stalactites and stalagmites, and Lexie noticed strands of webbing clinging to the walls and ceiling. The floors were coarse gravel.

"The dungeon seems different now," Lexie remarked.

Waylon said, with approval. "Good eye, when the dungeon's running, there will be a lot of spiders through here."

The whole place had the air of an amusement park closed for the season. It felt deserted. Besides the odd slime.

The fourth safe space was different from the previous three. They had felt like part of the caverns, even if they weren't inhabited by monsters. The fourth, though, was completely different. For one, it was larger.

For another, there were picnic tables and an information booth, a (currently closed) food stand, and two vending machines dispensing buffed drinks and snacks.

Waylon walked into the information booth.

"Hello! Hello!" said a deep voice from behind the counter. Lexie didn't see anyone. Then, a small scale covered head with bushy eyebrows and long thick whiskers popped up.

"Kobold," she said.

"Yes," said Waylon. "TBN*Kobold here is one of the dungeon staff." Indeed, the small creature was stood on something behind the counter now, a stool, or a platform maybe. She couldn't tell from where she stood. It wore a lime green vest with reflective binding at the hems and on the left breast was a logo of a cave.

"TBN*Kobold, this is Lexie. She's helping out during the season. You probably won't see her, she'll be handling the town office, but I thought I'd bring her around and introduce her."

"Pleased to meet you!" said the kobold in its incongrously deep voice. It hopped up on the counter and proffered a small, clawed hand, which Lexie shook. She got the impression TBNKobold wasn't very old. She wasn't sure how you could tell these things about a kobold, but TBNKobold was full of energy.

The kobold was sinuous, with a blocky head and long body stretching into an equally long tail, and relatively short arms and legs. In addition to the vest, TBN*Kobold wore some kind of toolbelt with a short leather apron. Lexie wasn't sure what all the tools were, but very handles, stuck up from slots, and the large pockets bulged with contents.

In a moment the kobold had hopped down from the front of the counter and was selecting a handful of pamphets from a rack on the wall. Lexie caught Waylon's eye. He just smiled.

"Here is some information on our dungeon," TBN*Kobold said, handing her the stack of glossy printed material. "This is sites of cultural significance in the dungeon, as you can see, we have ancient tombs--" here the creature unfolded one of the pamphlets and pointed to a picture of a decaying crypt with bones scattered on the floor nearby. "And runes and sigils of unknown origins--" Here was a photo of dark red symbols etched into rock. They appeared to have a faint glow. "And here we have an entire abandoned village." The kobold showed her a photo, taken from a height, overlooking a collection of stone houses what seemed to be a vast cavern.

"These are just some of the popular sites in the dungeon. There are many other unique and exciting cultural features to find and explore as well! And here," the kobold switch pamphlets, "Is some information about our partnership with Albatross Bay adventurer's guild, and our goal to promote healthy and sustainable dungeon tourism. We've been mana neutral for nearly a decade!"

"Really?" said Lexie, nonplussed.

From the corner of her eye she caught Waylon's grin.

"Oh yes," continued TBN*Kobold. "We take mana convservation very seriously. We do use magic for effects, but many of our most impressive features are strictly engineering. We're in the process of rolling out a new spawn system that's going to reduce our mana costs by up to twenty percent, we hope to have the system online by opening--"

"That's just a few days from now," Waylon interjected, gently grabbing the conversation from the enthusiastic Kobold, who Lexie imagined would continue to highlight the dungeon's mana friendly features. "That's why I brought Lexie through. Harlan and I will be manning the outpost as usual, but Lexie's never seen a dungeon--"

TBNKobold looked up at Lexie with big glistening eyes. "You mean our dungeon is your first*?"

"Yes," said Lexie.

The little creature was overcome with emotion and hugged her leg. "I'm so sorry that we aren't properly open and you couldn't have the full experience, it must seem very boring now. Nothing to fight, no traps...."

"No!" said Lexie, "I killed some slimes on the way in!" She fumbled in her pack for the loot which had dropped from the third slime she killed.

/* :todo: Retrofit slime kill with loot drop */

"Oh!" said the kobold, perking up. "There's always a few of them left over. We do try to gather them up, but they're mostly harmless. And the dungeon is warded to stop any of them getting out, so we don't worry about it too much."

The kobold thrust the stack of pamphlets at Lexie, who slid them into her pack, and hopped back behind the counter. "Let me see, let me see, I know we just got a box... Ah!"

It hopped back up with thin copper disk. On the front was enameled the same cave mouth logo that decorated TBN*Kobold's vest, and engraved above it, in ornate gothic lettering: MY FIRST DUNGEON

Below were the words: Albatross Bay

The kobold pinned it to Lexie's flannel shirt, right below her guild badge.

"I'm so glad we could provide you with your first dungeon experience!"

Lexie looked helplessly at Waylon. "Everything looks good so far," said Waylon.

"Yes, yes. We're just waiting for the new spawn system to go live. We should be testing in the next few days, if you'd like to come back for a fuller experience."

"Maybe, if I'm not working," said Lexie. She wasn't sure she wanted to fight more slimes than she had. Or whatever else might spawn. She remembered the strands of web.

"I'm not sure Lexie's ready for the full dungeon experience yet," said Waylon. "She's not actually an adventurer."

"Oh!" said the kobold, its eyes widening in surprise. "I''m sorry, I just assumed since you're working at the guild."

"It's alright," said Lexie. "No, I'm just working at the guild during the adventuring season to help out, I've just moved to town. I've unlocked the farmer class."

"Congratulations!" said the kobold. "That's a very honorable profession as well! Are you on your way down to the office?"

/* :todo: retcon - tourist level is 25, and fast travel every five floors */

"No," said Waylon. "Wasn't planning on it."

"I thought you might be here for the meeting."

"No, just showing Lexie the dungeon. Why, what meeting?"

The kobold looked around, as though he was trying to find something other than Waylon to look at. Lexie wouldn't have been st all surprised if he suddenly exclaimed, "Look at the time!" and hurried off.

Instead he said, "Uh, planning meeting I think."

Lexie was not familiar with kobolds, or their body language, but this one was a terrible liar. There was definitely something it wanted to conceal.

It seemed Waylon picked up on it too. "Maybe I should stop in, make sure I'm up to date on everything. If you don't mind, Lexie. I don't know if you have anywhere you need to be."

"I'm good," said Lexie. Curious what the kobold's reaction would be.

"Oh I'm sure it's just boring routine business," said TBN*Kobold looking miserable. "Nothing important."

"Even better," said Waylon. "I won't be interrupting and I can introduce Lexie. Ifyou don't mind, I think we'll skip the rest f the floors though."

TBN*Kobold had given up trying to dissuade Waylon, and just nodded, whiskers drooping.

"So, the normal way of traveling in a dungeon is the way we just did. Make our way through the levels. Some dungeons will offer a way to jump past levels that you can unlock at certain points. For instance here."

Lexie followed Waylon out of the tourist office. By a nice bench, with a couple of stressed looking potted trees, Waylon pointed out a stone circle set in the ground. It was obviously not naturally occurring, but didn't seem to be anything special.

"Stand in the circle," Waylon instructed.

Lexie did, and immediately a status message passed through her consciousness.

Fast travel Albatross Bay Dungeon Level 20 unlocked, please claim your amulet at the tourist office.

"I got a status message," Lexie told Waylon.

"Yep, now we'll go back and get your amulet from TBNKobold." Bck in the office, TBNKobold handed Lexie an amulet crafted from a thin disk of what seemed to be the same kind of stone that made up the circle. A leather thong ran through a hole on the disk. It was engraved with the same logo that marked TBN*Kobold's vest.

"Do you know how to use this?" said TBN*Kobold.

"Not a clue," said Lexie.

"Okay, so this is basically a key, locked to you, that will let you fast travel to any floor with a circle that you've stood in. When you come in the main entrance, there's an alcove to your left, with a circle in it. You stand there, and think the floor you want, and you'll teleport. You can leave the same way, if you've stood in the circle on the first level."

"She hasn't," said Waylon. "I didn't think of it. Didn't expect to find anyone in the tourist office today."

"Oh, yes, I'm just getting ready for the opening." There were boxes of pamphlets still to place, and some dungeon themed tchotchkes to set up on display shelves.

"If you don't mind, we'll take the back stairs down to the meeting."

TBN*Kobold just nodded its head.

There was a door in the tourist office with a sign that said:

OFFICE STAFF ONLY

Waylon opened the door and Lexie followed him through. It appeared to be more store room than office. There were additional boxes stacked against the walls and pushed to one side a small, kobold sized desk, with piles of paperwork overflowing an inbox.

"Why are the doors human sized if the staff are kobolds?" asked Lexie.

"Kobolds manage the dungeon, but they aren't the only ones who work here," replied Waylon. "Human sized doors are enough to accomodate most of the staff species. And it's a courtesy to visitors. Otherwise we'd be crawling through kobold sized tunnels right now. They're a very polite species, think highly of manners."

Through the back of the store room, or "office", half hidden behind a towering stack of boxes, was another door. Waylon opened it, and this door led into more cave, similar to the rough hewn walls of the dungeon they'd traversed so far.

They were in a small room that appeared to be a landing in a stairwell. Carved rock stairs spiraled away, leading both up and down. Waylon chose down.

They didn't need their lamps here. The lighting was dim, but every few meters, a faintly glowing stone was set in the wall at about knee height. The stairs were illuminated well enough to see them.

Waylon chose the stairs leading down.

"I don't think he wasnted us to go to the meeting," said Lexie.

"He most definitely did not want us to go," agreed Waylon. "Once he found out that wasn't why we were here. Which makes me wonder why."

"Me too," agreed Lexie. "If it were just routine stuff, he shouldn't care either way if you want to go, right?"

"I would think not."

Lexie's legs began to aches in a whole new set of muscles. She'd thought farming was hard work, but she was going to hurt in places she didn't know she had tomorrow.

The stairs went down for what felt like forever. After 25 flights, which Lexie knew because at each landing, there was a number label on the door, Waylon opened the door. This opened into what appeared to be an abandoned closet. There were a few shelves, and a broom, with cobwebs strung between the handle and wall, leaned in a corner.

Waylon turned the handle and they stepped out into what Lexie recognized as a safe space. There was a water feature, in this case, a cheerful stream meandering through the cave. There were rocks conveniently sized and placed for sitting and eating or resting. There was a large boulder, similar to the one obscuring the bathroom entrance at the first safe space Waylon had shown her.

Looking a the door, while the inner appeared a completely normal door, the outer appeared to be formed from rough rock, and there was no handle Lexie could see.

"Over here," said Waylon. There was another circle in the ground. "Stand in the circle."

Lexie did, and received a status message.

TRAVEL STATUS UPDATED FLOOR 50 Albatross Bay DUNGEON FAST TRAVEL NOW ENABLED

"Now we'll be able to shortcut back to the exit," Waylon said. "I don't know about you, but I'm good with not walking back up fiftly flights of stairs."

"Yeah, I'm good with not doing that," said Lexie.

The dungeon had changed considerably from the rough hewn, cave like levels on the early floors.

/* :todo: Fix: The tourist bureau should be on level 10, add a fast travel point to the office from that location. Or, you know. Just to the tourist bureau. 10 levels of dungeon is plenty for this chapter. Resumer from.... leaving the tourist bureau. */

Leaving the tourist bureau, Lexie remarked to Waylon, "I didn't think dungeons had tourist bureaus."

"I'm gonna say most don't, at least not like ours. The relationship between Albatross Bay and the dungeon here isn't completely unique, but it's unusual. Dungeons are a valuable natural resource, but a dangerous and unpredictable one. It wasn't that long ago the Albatross Bay dungeon was like that. Then the kobolds took over. One thing you can say about the kobolds, they're a business minded bunch. They've made a lot of changes."

"How come I haven't seen any kobolds in town or anything?"

"It's... complicated." Waylon sighed. "Here, you go first. Just think of the entrance and the portal will activate. You'll have kind of a psychedelic visual experience, streaming colours and flashing lights, butthat's normal and its over in a couple seconds. Just wait until it stops and orient yourself, then step out of the circle."

"What happens if I step out of the circle before that?" asked Lexie.

"Don't," said Waylon. "There are probably good wards in place to stop you, but don't test it. Or all of you might not end up at the exit point."

"Oh," said Lexie. She was very careful to makesure she was completely within the circle before she visualized the exit.

FAST TRAVEL ACTIVATED

She opened her eyes as soon as the message scrolled through her mind. As Waylon said, the visuals were unlike anything she'd ever seen. It was like the world was in negative, with oscillating lines of coloured static. She closed her eyes against the dizzying effect, and found that even with her eyes closed, she could still see it. The effect made her nauseaous, like motion sickness, and was disorienting. She swallowed.

And then it was over.

With her eyes closed it was just unmoving darkness. Lexie opened her eyes and saw that she was stationary in the antechamber, and she stepped out of the circle.

A moment later Waylon appeared behind her.

"What happens if two people try and use the fast travel at the same time?" Lexie asked.

"I don't know the exact mechanics, but it works fine," said Waylon.

The sun was low and long light from the cave entrance threw the shadows in relief.

"It's getting evening. I promised to show you the path to the cliffside trail."

They walked back down the well maintained trail to the main road, and at the juncture, Waylon stepped over a fallen log on the other side of the road. Beyond the log, down a slight slope, and invisible from the road, was another well traveled path.

It wasn't maintained like the trail to the dungeon, but rather the result of regular use. Numerous feet had worn a smooth path through the forest, clear enough to follow easily, even in the dusk.

It wound through the forest skirting natural obstacles like boulders or dips, and the sound of the sea grew louder.

They emerged onto the clifftop trail. "You know where you are?" asked Waylon.

"The lighthouse is that way," said Lexie, pointing toward Perception Point.

"Yep, and your cabin and town are this way." Waylon set off toward the village.

The path to the dungeon was about ten minutes from the cabin. As they approached, Waylon looked over the newly planted field and said, "You're really settling in. Nice to see the place being taken care of. We're going to miss Martha around here."

"Did you know her too?" Lexie asked. "Sure, she always had unusual questions. Wanted to know lots about adventuring, the adventuring life, dungeons, monsters. You name it. Martha was curious about everyone and everything. People really warmed up to her too, it was a genuine interest."

"That sounds like my Aunt Martha," said Lexie.

/* :whatif: book 1 is the murder of aunt Martha -- or no */

/* :tofix: Lexie doesn't leave her pack at the guild, she takes it, with some supplies Waylon gives her */

"It's later than I thought. No need to come all the way back to town," Waylon said to Lexie at the point where the narrow path to her cabin joined the main trail. "Adventuring season starts next week, so if you want to stop in the guild one afternoon before that, Harlan or I can show you how to handle the paperwork and sign ins."

"Okay," said Lexie. "Thanks again for the job."

"Thanks for helping out," said Waylon.

"Oh! I better give you these," Lexie reached to unhook the hammer from her pack.

"No, you keep 'em," said Waylon. "Little bit of practice, we might make an adventurer of you." He winked and then he was off back, toward the trail, headed to town.

It was late enough that the sun was setting, painting the sea dark purple and orange and fiery red, and Lexie slid her pack off and sat on the porch of the cabin, looking at it for a while.

It had been a long day, between tending her crops and then her foray into the dungeon. She looked down at her slime spattered pants ruefully. She was going to need to sort out laundry sooner rather than later.

She reached into her pack for the the packet of monster cookies she'd bought in the vending machine.

/* Monster Cookies: A serving sized package of small cookies shaped like popular dungeon monsters. There are mimics, skeletons, slimes, spiders, and of course, dragons. Each cookie gives a fractional buff. Write the package copy.*/

She didn't need the buffs, not sitting on her own porch, and they weren't significant anyway. It was a dungeon vending machine snack after al. But she was hungry.

She opened the bag and popped the first cookie in her mouth. It was crunchy and sweet, with buttery whole grain flavour. It was the kind of snack you could convince yourself was healthier than other junk food while it actually wasn't. She crunched another cookie, this one shaped like a spider.

She felt something rub against her leg.

A slime, she thought. It must have hitchhiked out stuck to her pack or something. Lexie reached for the handle of the hammer as she looked down, then relaxed.

It wasn't a slime, or any kind of dungeon monster. It was a cat.