All through dinner the previous night, Levi had seen Cassandra and Gordon eying each other's level tags, and in Cassandra's case, her eyes flicked over to Levi's a time or two as well.

Cassandra Jackson:

Level 2

(Ranger)

Only other Awakened could see your level and class. Those without access to the system wouldn't know what you were looking at.

Cassandra had clearly told Irene enough to convince her Levi wasn't crazy, but Irene had no level designation of her own, so Cassandra was the only one who'd actually gone into a dungeon. And, if her level 2 status was any indication, fought her way at least halfway through it.

None of them had brought it up at dinner the night before, and discussion with anyone else had been set aside as Levi caught up with Irene, but now the time had come.

"I want to take you all to a dungeon," Levi told the room over a late breakfast. "Irene and Peter especially, but you're welcome to join us, Gayle, Cassandra."

"Dungeon?" Gayle looked utterly scandalized. "You want to take my daughters to a dungeon?"

"It's not like that, Mom," Cassandra said, then gave her a brief rundown on the difference between normal dungeons and the magical monster factory kind.

"Why would anyone want to go into a place like that?" Gayle finally asked. "It sounds terrible."

"It's actually a lot of fun." Cassandra grinned and pulled out a Destruction token to demonstrate. "You get magic treasures as a reward too."

For a moment Gayle stared at the slightly glowing magical coin. About a centimeter thick and a bit bigger than a silver dollar, deep amber-orange, it seemed to almost entrance her. Finally she blinked and shook off her wonder. "But it sounds so dangerous. You actually would choose to go into a place where you know you'll be mauled and eaten?"

"I'll ensure no one is mauled or eaten," Levi promised. "And we'll be meeting a couple of my friends. Don't worry, there's no reason for anyone to be hurt."

"Gordon?" Cassandra asked, casually.

"Yes."

"I liked that boy," Gayle said. "Pity you had to break things off."

Cassandra's face twitched. "Mom, that was a long time ago," she said uncomfortably. "We've both moved on since then."

"If you say so. He's still a nice boy. Very noble."

"I agree," Irene said, smirking at her sister. "He's a great guy. You could do a lot worse."

"I am not looking for a boyfriend! Been there, done that, moving on. I'm sure Gordon will be a good friend and valuable asset in our quest for supremacy."

"Supremacy?" Irene's temper flared, flipping from teasing to irate in a heartbeat. "Cas, this isn't about winning some virtual leaderboard, there are thousands - millions - of lives on the line."

Cassandra pointed her fork at Irene. "That's an exaggeration. I've done the research, Rene; there are maybe a thousand people who are in the system. If we assume less than half are involved in any online activities, maybe three thousand. And everyone I've spoken to is perfectly well aware of the risks."

"Can we just go to the dungeon?" Levi broke in, before the argument could escalate. Both women turned to glare at him, and he gave a pointed glance to Peter who was listening with obvious interest as he pretended not to while slowly eating his eggs. "No one's going to be killed today, except some dungeon monsters. Okay?"

They took the hint, thankfully, and subsided, Cassandra clearly not thinking the subject was closed.

Irene shook it off as though it didn't matter and forced a smile. "A family dungeon outing sounds fun to me," she said with exaggerated cheer. "Let's get everyone leveled up."

There was more discussion, of course, but this time they were careful to not escalate things too far. Levi spoke generally of dungeons and mana and leveling, and was sure to reinforce the idea of either leaving their phones off and in pockets or bags or not even bringing them into dungeons if they wanted them to survive.

He'd already told Laurence about the mana effect in one of their many long discussions, but Laurence wasn't here at the moment and he didn't want Irene to be caught off guard by losing her expensive phone.

Irene didn't mention the greater danger again, and Cassandra refrained from poking at the inconsistencies though she clearly picked up on them.

"I've picked out a local Beast dungeon," Levi told them as the meal was winding down. Apart from the acid-spitting dinosaurs, most of a Beast dungeon's inhabitants would be devoid of the additional effects that made Destruction, Control, or Dark dungeons so dangerous. Fire was its own thing - he didn't want Peter falling in lava - and Ice would be less dramatic even if there were one local, which there wasn't. "It should be a good place to get started. Beast dungeons tend to have more variety with less power, so it's perfect to get a feel for how this whole thing works without too much risk."

Once they were done eating, Levi grinned at Peter while Gayle and Irene started cleaning up. "I've got something to show you, before we go," he said. "You know the dungeon monsters we've been talking about?"

Peter nodded eagerly.

"Well, I'm a Tamer, so that means I have some monsters of my own."

"Really?" He was almost bouncing with excitement.

"Really. They're in the yard back of the house, hiding where no one will try to hurt them, but you can meet them if you want. They’ll be coming with us to the dungeon to help keep us safe."

"I do!"

Levi led the way out back and quietly called for Skarm to come out first. The gremlin trotted over, looking between Levi and Peter.

"Skarm, this is my son, Peter. You'll protect him like you protect me from now on. Peter, this is Skarm, my first minion."

Skarm grinned and bowed, his tail sweeping dramatically.

"Cen? Two?"

The centipedes emerged from the hedge, then Becca bounded out because she wasn't going to wait and stay behind. She purred and leaned against Peter with her side, almost knocking him over, and he laughed and ran his hands through her fur. "He's beautiful."

"She. Becca, Cen, Centoo, and Gremlin Two. Guys, this is Peter, like I told Skarm, you'll be in charge of watching out for him too from now on."

Two nodded seriously, as the centipedes approached.

"Can I ride one too?" He looked eagerly between Cen and Levi.

Cen reared back, affronted, but Levi shook his head. "I'm afraid he's not strong enough to carry you."

Cen sidled from side to side, not eager to admit weakness, but unable to really deny it.

"But I'm sure we can find something big enough for you to ride. And if you'd like, once we're in the dungeon, I'll help you catch some for yourself."

"Yes! I want to. Can we? Please?"

"That's the idea." Levi looked up to see the women watching. "Ready to go?"

Irene nodded and stepped forward, looking over his team. Frosty slowly peeked out from the roof, both shadevines in her care, while Flomper was nowhere to be seen.

"Come along, everyone," Levi said, and the spider jumped down to join the procession. "It'll be a bit of a walk, but let me know if you get tired and we can pause to rest."

"We're not driving?" Gayle asked. "Won't people talk when they see us walking down the road with so many creatures?" Gayle asked. "I don't care who you are, this is a strange procession you have."

"You can drive part of the way if you like, but it's out in the forest a good way upriver, so it'll take some hiking to reach. I'm sure no one will bother us."

After some discussion, it was decided that the women would take Peter in Irene’s car and meet Levi at the campground nearest the dungeon, and they’d set out from there. He’d keep the minions with him and collect Gordon and Laurence.

Then there was unexpected shopping, and packing of water bottles and snacks, to such an extent that Levi wondered if they’d be underway before dusk at this rate.

Finally, after Gayle had a long chat with the ranger, Irene double checked their supplies - most of which Cen and Centoo were carrying - Levi finally led them off into the forest in the general direction of the Beast dungeon he'd picked out for their initiation.

"There are six basic classes," he explained, mostly to Peter, as they walked. "I'm a Tamer, as I mentioned, and I've also been a Fighter in the past. Aunt Cassandra is a Ranger, and that means she can throw things at the monsters or use a bow and arrow."

"Or a gun," Cassandra pointed out.

"Laurence is a Mage, which means he uses magic and can fight with spells."

"Gordon didn't tell me magic was an option," Cassandra said, sounding betrayed. "What else are you hiding?"

"Plenty," Irene said cheerily, and stuck her tongue out at her sister.

Peter giggled. Levi noticed that he had Two on his shoulders, giving the gremlin a piggy-back ride of sorts. Skarm jogged alongside Centoo, not adding to the weight he carried, but sticking close, and tossed the occasional scowl at Two.

The biggest problem with navigating by mana ping was that Levi only knew direction, not interference in between. The forest was deceptive, full of hills and streams and huge patches of bramble too thick to push through. Twice they came to a drop too steep, and had to find a different route.

“Are we almost there?” Peter asked. “I’m tired of trees.”

Levi sent out a ping to confirm. “Very close. One more hour should do it.”

“I’m not sure if I should be excited or scared,” Irene confided.

“Both.” Laurence nodded with a serious expression, stroking his chin as though he had a beard and great wisdom to share. “The answer is both.”