Entry Requirements for Central Park’s Giant Wasp Dungeon (as of one week after the Tutorial appeared):

Group of 4-6 people All entrants must be at least Level 50 in a Path other than Human Being below Level 50 if you have completed a Path other than Human is fine A map will be provided for each party member if requested Entry is first come, first serve; Reservations are not available Entry fee is $50 per group or 1 monster core per person If you pay in cash up front, you may give monster cores after exiting the dungeon and have your fee reimbursed. The City of New York takes no responsibility for anything that happens in the dungeon, including death or disabling injuries (signed waiver is required before entry) A healer may be available at the entrance; please inquire before entering the dungeon about healer availability Operating Hours: 8:30 AM to 6 PM, all days The dungeon can currently support 7 groups at a time, to a maximum of 10 groups a day. If your entire group is not present when a slot becomes available, your position in line is forfeit. These numbers are expected to increase with time The Dungeon resets its daily entrance numbers at 9 AM. You can’t sneak in early. Don’t bother.

The first couple of days, the slots weren’t all filled. By the third day, that wasn’t a problem anymore.

At first, most people paid in dollars, though many of the repeat groups would pay in cores since there wasn’t yet anywhere to really use them. Eventually, some would come to regret that decision, as monster cores would be worth more than the individual entry cost once the glut from the Tutorial was used up. Others simply considered it the cost of doing business, getting the chance to run through the dungeon more often for a chance at the big prizes.

This early, the small, single-level dungeon would usually only drop a couple of cores per run - but each run would only take an hour or two, and there was a 25% chance that there would be a chest with an item after the boss. The items could be sold for hugely varying prices, but especially early on, it was a hard choice whether to keep something that could help you survive or immediately get several hundred dollars per person.

Once he found the bathhouse, Serenity bought the single-day pass (for one monster core, which included free laundry and armor maintenance) instead of the week pass (which would have cost an Etherium). The prices seemed high, but Serenity wasn’t really very solid on what they should be at this point in his life.

A quick scrub later (with assistance to properly reach all of the hard-to-reach spots on his back and wings), Serenity entered the mixed-gender soaking area dressed only in what they called “comfort shorts”; he’d have called them swim trunks.

It was a vast area filled with relatively small shallow pools; Serenity could see that they were all different temperatures, with some that steamed and others that seemed to have a cold fog hovering near icy water. There was a vast range of people to match the wide range of temperatures, though Serenity noticed that the extreme ones had few people in them. The vast majority of the sixty or so people he saw were human, but he noticed about a dozen that were either inhuman or otherwise unusual (should he count a woman who looked human except for being green as human or not?).

Serenity found Raz before he found Katya. Raz was sitting at one end of a warm pool, while the other end of the pool had three men grouped near a woman, standing outside the pool she was in. It took Serenity a moment to realize that the person the men were clustered around was Katya.

Katya’s voice was what gave it away. “Go. Away. I don’t care what your name is and I don’t care where you work. I’ve seen you ask for a date with every woman in here, and I’m not interested.”

“Aww, come on! It’s just a-”

“She said to leave her alone.” Serenity couldn’t believe he’d gotten right behind the man before he noticed Serenity was there. Serenity hadn’t even tried to be quiet.

As the man turned, he caught the man’s scent. He wasn’t human, he was dhampir, as were the other two with him.

Why am I suddenly running into dhampir? I’m sure they’re more common here, but isn’t this a bit much?

“Hey, don’t interfere! She’s just about to admit-” The braggart stopped talking as one of his friends elbowed him and hissed something Serenity didn’t catch. He paled and looked at Serenity’s feet. “A-ah, yes, sir, I’ll-I’ll just be going now-”

The trio hurried out of the soaking area to the sound of Katya’s laughter. “They never even got in a pool! What did you do to get them to leave? All the staff’s been able to manage is to get them to stop bothering their current target, and you’re not even any taller than they were.”

“I’m not sure.” Serenity slipped into the water. It was warm and felt good, but he’d have preferred hotter. Well, maybe he could try something higher up. He supposed there were downsides to his high Heat resistance. “How common are dhampirs, anyway?”

“Hard to say. They look human, and it doesn’t even show up on a normal Status check. It has to be an in-depth one or you have to have another dhampir-” Katya stopped and stared at Serenity. “You’re not telling me that idiot is a dhampir, are you?”

“Not if you don’t want me to.”

Katya splashed some water on Serenity. He retaliated and accidentally splashed Raz, at which point it devolved into a wet free-for-all with water going everywhere.

It was a good way to relax. By the time the three of them left, thoroughly scolded by the bathhouse staff, they were all cheerful.

The Whale of a Time Inn was quiet when they arrived. The entrance was huge; it was more than twice Serenity’s height and half again as wide as it was tall. It was decorated in blues and greens, with paintings of various marine creatures and people on the walls. There were a few people scattered in seating areas near the fireplace and the bar, but everyone was talking quietly.

Katya waved at the receptionist, who waved her over to the desk. “Hale’s in the usual suite. He said there should be three of you?”

When Katya nodded, he handed over three keys. They were actual physical keys, though Serenity noticed there was part of a spell diagram on them. This was an expensive place if they could afford spellkeys to secure the doors.

The impression was only heightened as Katya led them to the restaurant in the Inn. It was easily the equal of many restaurants Serenity had eaten at on Earth, with a wide range of food choices and options including several varieties of lower-Tier monster meat, which he was certain had to be imported or raised at great expense locally. It was highly unlikely that Dire Boars were native to Tzintkra.

He’d never thought of combining Roc - notoriously dry and slightly bitter - with a spicy white sauce, but it went well. The sauce countered the dryness, while the spice somehow made the bitterness cleansing instead of astringent.

Katya charged the meal to the room before they headed up the stairs.

Hale was waiting for them in the common area of the suite. It was clear he’d been drinking, but the first words he said weren’t about that. “Did you get the dungeon reported, Katya?”

“No. They needed a curse broken, and - things got away from me.” Katya sank into one of the plush chairs across from Hale. “What’s wrong?”

“Money. Well, money and Zan.” Hale didn’t meet Katya’s eyes.

“Zan first.”

Hale scoffed. “Turns out it’s the same problem. You know how Zan was Assistant Treasurer last year? Well, Keth killed himself while we were gone. Or rather, it looks like he did. I don’t believe it. I think those shadowed mercs Garrett joined killed Keth to distract us, but I don’t think we’ll ever be able to prove it. Not that it matters. Thing is, all the money Keth was saving us on contracts? It’s gone. And it looks like Zan took it. He even admitted it. Apparently, he spent it all on assassination contracts on Garrett. ”

Katya clenched her fists. “What’re you doing about Zan?”

“Father’s taking him before an Adjudicator.” Hale continued staring at the floor.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Hale didn’t answer Katya.

Katya’s voice softened. “Hale. Talk to me. I know there’s something you aren’t saying.”

“Zan arranged the bid for the Sailikin Parcel exploration. He told us he delivered the money, and he did - the first installment. It was supposed to all be paid up front, but he arranged not to, to pay a third of the price four times, a month apart. He kept the rest and says he spent it on more assassins. The second installment’s due in a week. Without the money Keth was saving-” Hale stopped, staring into the distance at nothing.

Katya pulled a book out of her bag. Serenity recognized it as the book from the dungeon. “How close are we?”

Hale whispered, “Zan was laughing at how he made us pay for letting Garrett kill Zekia.”

“Hale. The dungeon had a collection of religious writings from before the Tzintkra War. With maps. We can’t cash that in in a week, but maybe -” Katya set it on on the floor next to Hale and hugged him.

Serenity couldn’t take it any longer. This wasn’t anything he needed or wanted to see. “Come to the Guildhouse in the morning.”

Both Katya and Hale turned to Serenity in confusion. Serenity could see tear streaks on Hale’s face.

“Guildmaster Irene said she has a task for me, and I could bring any other Rising Phoenix people who need work. I don’t have details yet, but-” Serenity stopped and shrugged. “If you need the money from the book, maybe I can come up with another way for you to pay me once I have a way home.”

He didn’t really want to hire mercenaries, but at the same time he’d do it if it would help save Earth. It wasn’t like he’d gone into the dungeon for the book, anyway; it’d just been a way forward.

Serenity noticed that Raz had already disappeared into one of the rooms, so he picked a different one and closed the door. There were some things he didn’t need to hear, and this definitely sounded like one of them.