[letter from the desk of Baron Howard Tailor, council member for Northridge; among many screwed up drafts]

To His Royal Majesty, King Brave,

I pray to all the good gods that His Royal Majesty is still in good health, and look forward to all future meetings and correspondences.

It is with great consternation that I find myself writing so soon after my most auspicious recent visit. I was myself accosted on my return trip from the capital on the road immediately after leaving Far Reach. The ruffians seemed of great number but, as this wasn't the first time our official delegation has been targeted in this region, I ensured I had protection.

Nonetheless, I still had to rely on a talisman to ensure my own safety; a process I do not plan to repeat any time soon. I seek royal consent to police our roads and to detain any travelers who have no business with either city, between Far Reach and Northridge.

With honor and loyalty, I remain the kingdom's servant on the edges of the wilderness to the north,

—Baron Howard Tailor of Northridge.

[a brave young noblewoman's journal]

Miss Felna finally said I could go outside! She was being such a bore about it, but for being a dungeon, this isn't the worst home I'd lived in.

Don't tell anyone, but there is a blacksmith in here that [line blotted out with ink]

I shouldn't have written that. It's not seemly of a young noblewoman. But honestly! My uncle had sent away most of the young noblemen back home, the nice-looking ones at least, but even they didn't show off their chest like a… I will stop.

Miss Felna is an ACTUAL priestess of Sandwalker. She promised to teach me all the prayers and devotions. She calls me kitten! Furthermore, she also talks to the dungeon, which I thought was weird, but there are worse things to talk to. Like my uncle. [a tiny caricature of a cat kin being sick is drawn here]

I got to ride on a dragon for the second time today. A promise was required, again, that I wouldn't tell Miss Fife.

Flying in the sky is the most joyous feeling I've ever felt! There is nothing to hold me back up there. Freedom. Miss Penelope is so nice, but I don't think I wish to ever make her upset with me. [a tiny picture of a dragon flying is here]

Tomorrow I'll be helping Baroness Christine with her work. Miss Felna said I could help with that, and it would be something I could do for the dungeon, too. I don't know how working for the city will help the dungeon, but Miss Felna said it does. I have so many questions, and I think they will have a lot for me. Good night, journal.

—a brave young noblewoman who shall remain nameless

After the previous few days' events, and then rising to find Howard on some sort of coffee-fueled rampage, Christine had regretted informing Travis that she would see Elanor. Glancing over at the young woman—whom she considered a spy, still—Christine mentally reiterated that she didn't want Elanor within any building that had the city's records in it. "Why can't this city be peaceful for one day?"

Millie, who was already auditing the city books while looking for the last set of numbers that Liz had concocted, shrugged her kobold shoulders. "A city with a dungeon as part of it is never likely to know peace, even if Travis is the nicest dungeon in the kingdom."

"World. I consider Travis the nicest dungeon in the world. There cannot be another like him or our kingdom would not still be independent." Sipping at her drink, Christine checked over her own work. "How are the books looking?"

"There are holes everywhere. Every single report from Captain Brolly has been modified from what he submitted. The numbers indicate that he has been embezzling funds from the city." Finishing off her work of marking the latest reports, Millie slid them across to Christine with her own notes. "If I didn't have his copies of the reports, I wouldn't have noticed."

"Because," Elanor said, "I was meant to notice them. Harold talked about the plan on the way here from my uncle's estate. I don't know what comes next, but that was the start. I'd learn about the city's bookkeeping, and then be told the mistakes that were made, and you would be the one to have Baron Brolly Windchime revealed for the charlatan he is."

Raising her eyebrow, Christine was mildly impressed at the noblewoman's openness. "And what do you plan now?"

"I'd like to go back to my parents. Mommy and Daddy were upset about sending me away—but they would do it again in a heartbeat. So, my current plans include making myself as useful as possible to you, Felna, Northridge, and anyone else here to secure myself somewhere away from my uncle." Without waiting for word from Christine, and despite her being a Baroness, Elanor walked over to the table where Millie sat and asked, "What can I do to help?"

It almost felt too easy—suspiciously so. "And if this was actually the plan all along, to ingratiate yourself with us by ousting your no-longer-needed spy?"

"Then give me a job you can trust me to do."

Regretting her statement in hindsight, Elanor nonetheless pushed the broom along the shop floor, chasing dust bunnies into a corner where she dealt with them via a minor spell she'd learned from her nanny.

The little chant that went with the spell rolled off her tongue despite her not being a cat kin, the tiny trickle of her mana—though—overflowed and a tornado of cleaning magic poured into the room like the exact opposite of a mudslide.

Blinking in surprise, Elanor tried the cantrip again, and again a thundering rush of magic poured from her. In all, her two casts had scrubbed the floors and display counters of around a third of the room. "I don't know why this is working, but I don't care. If I can clean this shop up quicker, so be it."

It turned a whole day of cleaning the shop into an hour's work. There was the shop floor that she'd begun with, then there was a private set of rooms above that, and a storage area in the cellar.

She still had no idea why Christine had told her to do this, but she could see the floorboards had seen a lot of use, even if Northridge was a newer city. It had taken several casts of her little spell, when she'd seen the mess of soot in the rafters, but even that hadn't a chance to resist a superpowered mana cleaning cantrip.

Elanor was so focused on getting everything in order that a knock at the door startled her. A moment after she realized there was no one to answer the door for her, Elanor walked over and opened it herself. "Miss Felna!"

Pulling the noblewoman into a hug, Felna purred softly as she asked, "Working hard, Kitten?"

"Yes, but also no. I was using a little spell to destroy the dust after I swept the floor, but instead of clearing a little dust off the floor—it cleaned everything!" Pointing, Elanor gestured to the room behind her. "I've cleaned the whole store!"

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"The magic in Northridge is amplified by Travis and his bag of tricks." At a look of startlement on Elanor's face, Felna began purring a little louder to help calm her. "Do not fear it. Sandwalker assures me it causes no harm. Think of it as a present from Travis to everyone who works to build Northridge stronger and, thus, protect him."

Pulling out of the hug, and thankful for the purring that always soothed her, Elanor put the information together and came up with a theory for how things were working. "So everyone in the city are his minions?"

Felna couldn't stop herself: she laughed. "Oh dear no, Kitten. Travis, on his worst day, never considers anyone a minion. Even the newest kobold who doesn't know the workings of the dungeon isn't referred to by him as a minion. I have tried to tempt and trick him into treating me as a piece on a game board—but he hasn't fallen for it yet."

"Is that what you think you're doing?" Travis asked.

Felna smirked at having baited his response so well. "Shush, Travis. How long do you have until you finish that project that lets you talk to anyone?"

"It says four hours. Katelyn has twenty-seven people working on it right now, as well as herself. She seems to give a huge bonus to research speed."

"So, you'll be wooing every lady in Northridge within the hour? Kitten, I will fight to protect your virtue from this rabid beast of a dungeon." Reaching out, Felna carefully placed her paws over Elanor's ears.

Laughing, but not exactly understanding, Elanor twisted free of Felna's grip. "He wooed you?"

"Yes," Travis said, though only Felna heard him.

"He likes to think he has, but Travis is a lot like you—he's a big kitten." Felna stuck her tongue out, making sure Travis would see it from her own eyes. "He's a very virtuous gentleman, a long way from where he'd rather be, trying to make the best of a bad situation."

Felna rolled her eyes and laughed before Elanor could reply. "Travis is now trying to demonstrate he isn't a virtuous gentleman—by being a virtuous gentleman. He has some quirks, Kitten, but trust his word."

"You said that the spy—Liz—was working for Mister Travis as an agent-merchant?" What Elanor wanted was independence, but she also needed protection from her uncle and for that she needed to be useful. "He will require a new one. Someone to buy and sell for him, and to be a reliable voice in other places."

"She's not thinking—" Travis said.

"Therefore, it falls upon myself, as a brave young no—as a brave young woman—to offer my services to you, Mister Travis." Looking at Felna, Elanor didn't need to see the excited flicks of the woman's tail or smug expression to know she'd done something sensible. But then a worry hit her. "He, uh, can hear me, right?"

Indulging in a little laugh, Travis said, "Tell her we will work out together how she can be protected and do whatever she likes. I— Oh. Don't worry. Hang on, let me try this." Redirecting to make both Felna and Elanor a target for his voice, Travis said, "Can you hear me, Elanor?"

Jerking her head up and nodding, Elanor looked at Felna and asked, "Is that him?" When Felna nodded, Elanor felt even more astounded. Travis sounded nice, just like Felna had said, and now she would get to talk to him herself. "So, um… Would this agreement be okay with you?"

"It will be. You'll need some guards and more talismans. Some armor and training would be a good idea too." Travis was already pondering if he could give Elanor a class when the option literally appeared asking him which class to buy for her. "Oh. Oh, wow!"

The new research, for Travis, was amazing. "Can you help me look for someone to talk to?" he asked. "I can vaguely see around the ci—you—but I need more focus."

"Dungeon Travis, of course I will." Northridge could sense a greater purpose in Travis, and couldn't help but sympathize. Every time he himself obtained some new ability, he couldn't wait to test its extent and use. The easiest target, for Northridge to locate, was his keeper of knowledge. That the librarian kept several pet lizards to keep the rat population down made it possible for him to narrow Travis' focus on the woman. "Do you need anything further?"

"No, thank you. Please, let me know if there's anything I can do for you." When Northridge waved off his offer, he turned his attention to the woman. "Excuse me, but Northridge said you are the least likely to completely freak out and run screaming."

The voice, coming out of nowhere because it was entirely within her head, didn't freak out Llewellyn. She supposed this was a validation of Northridge's hypothesis. "I dread to ask, but what manner of creature are you that can speak to me in this way?"

"R-Right. Introductions. It's easy to forget that not everyone knows me. I am Travis, the dragon dungeon." Being able to hear without a kobold nearby was new, too. Travis was excited at how useful this one bit of research had become.

"Oh." Many, many questions now raced through Llewellyn's head. She reached out for a notebook she perpetually kept with her ever since a city's genius loci had first talked to her, and began writing. "I'm Llewellyn, it's nice to meet you." She wasn't sure what else to say. The dungeon spoke far more normally than she'd ever have expected, almost like a regular person. "Do you require a book?"

"Sorry, not—" Travis stopped himself. "Do you have any books on the laws of the kingdom?"

"Some, but they change regularly, and the King is always the highest law." Standing up, Llewellyn walked through to where she kept professional references, and found several volumes. "Would you like them delivered?"

"Please. You know your way to my dungeon?"

It was such a normal conversation that Llewellyn could scarcely believe she was having it. "I'll bring them right away."

That gave Travis a chance to investigate and make a list of the research he had unlocked and what he still needed to do.

Flush: When a cost has both gold and other resources, increase the gold required by 20% and reduce the other resources by 10%.

Spicy: Any trap using lava can hold twice as much, this increases the cost of lava and also increases the lava effects.

Reaper: Double the XP for all kills.

Questing: Gain 10% of next level in XP per quest completed.

Advanced Questing (requires Questing): Increase Questing bonus to 25%.

Timesink (requires Reaper): Gain bonus XP over time for having adventurers in the dungeon.

Persuasion: Can bind one non-dungeon creature (or adventurer) per Tier as a dungeon monster.

Helping Hands (requires Persuasion): Friendly, non-dungeon creatures can gain bonuses as if they were dungeon creatures.

Allies (requires Helping Hands): Friendly, non-dungeon creatures can commune with the dungeon heart.

Dungeon Order: Allows monsters to become Priests.

Dungeon Mages: Allows monsters to become Mages.

Dungeon Soldiers: Allows monsters to become Soldiers.

Dungeon Kobolds: Boosts kobold performance.

Crafter (requires Dungeon Kobolds): Allows kobolds to become Crafters.

Allies had been the big one, for him. Six hundred days of research, but the bonuses to kobolds and Katelyn's own huge rate as a boss and a wizard seemed to have been almost as much.

His earlier offer to Northridge, of support to him and his residents, could require a much bigger investiture now. Giving all the crafters in the city a class that would let them make more with less, giving the guards similar combat specialities to Fife, and the various magic users gaining expanded spells would all be within scope of that.

Putting all that to the side, he looked over what he wanted next.

Gold is King (requires Flush) 300 days: Replace any cost (for anything but mana) with 100x the amount of gold.

It would mean less worrying about rare resources. Travis could just, he hoped, use gold to pay for things rather than mithril or adamantine. He hoped he'd even be able to use it to replace divinium and platinum.

He also had all the various specialist classes, which were six hundred days of research ones. If he didn't have so many kobolds now, it would take over a year.

The passive XP gain route had meant that a whole other set of research had been blocked, too. He could have been getting huge bonuses for killing adventurers fast. The realization that there were probably passive bonuses in the classes too had led to him promising Fife that he would get Tank soon, though, so that made it his next research target.

After a little focus, though, he realized something was off. "I haven't gotten the bonus experience for quest rewards. I wonder—" Sure enough, among the mass of resource notices he had, was a one-time pile of experience tokens.

It seemed strange, at first, that the dungeon system would save them like this, but then he realized what it meant. "Use them earlier to gain a little experience, or wait for when they are worth more? Is that it? If it is, I am better off saving them for when I need them. Levels don't"—Travis paused, hating to have to say the words—"matter until they do. Right now they don't matter so much. I'll save it."

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This story is released under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. If you are paying money to see this or the original creator, Damaged, is not credited, you are viewing a plagiarized copy of the story.