Port Kalaria was different from either of the two cities Shiina had seen before. The most obvious was the stonework. Instead of grey stone and wood, almost everything seemed to be yellow stone or brick. The air tasted different as well. She'd been surrounded by the salt of the sea the whole time, but here it was mixed with a fishy bite.

  The rocky cove of Gaius had given Shiina a chance to see how big the city was again as they sailed out. In fact, the city had seemed even more impressive, hemmed in by the mountains on either side. Kalaria's breakwaters however made the city look smaller. It was a crescent of buildings, leading into a thin strip of green farmland, and surrounded by the dusty yellow of the desert on both sides.

  "Doesn't look like a great place to live," Delilah said. "They've got barely any farmland."

  Ife chuckled. "They're probably wealthier than most cities. This is the best commerce port for over a hundred miles on either side. If people upriver want to trade, it goes through here."

  Zanya nodded. "Don't expect much in the markets though. This is just a waypoint between the real rich folk."

  As they got off the ship and started to walk inland Shiina noticed more details. Windows had shutters of baleen or driftwood, and thick lines zigzagged between roofs to create canopies and laundry lines. Wells were also common as soon as they got far enough inland.

  Gaius had been primarily about its glass and crystal. Port Kalaria seemed to be more about the sea. Goods from all over were shown in markets, but the local stuff was fish, shells, whale oil, and sea monster items.

  "Do they really hunt sea serpents here?" Shiina asked after seeing a spear made from an extra long spine barb.

  "No," Zanya replied. "The dungeons here are creature dungeons. The Belly of the Whale is the most famous. But there's others."

  Delilah grimaced. "Creature dungeons are the ones where you have to walk through flesh tunnels right?" Now Shiina remembered. Apparently those were the dungeons that seemed like giant monsters. She'd always wondered if people living near those dungeons could just hack out meat whenever they wanted. Judging from the stalls selling chunks of 'greatfish' the answer was yes.

  "Yeah." Ife sighed. "We'll have to do one run to get travel funds. But if we're lucky we can visit the Bloody Cove instead." Her ears shifted towards Zanya. "Do you remember the guild scheduling rules here?"

  "No. I don't even remember the name. The guilds here aren't united like they are on the Eugradi continent," Zanya said with a shrug. "We'll have to visit the guildhouse today to check."

  As they continued down the streets Shiina let her attention drift to the people wandering by. It was only fair, since they were staring at her being pulled along by Delilah. And there were a lot of people here.

  The average citizens here seemed to be dog and catfolk, both tending towards sandy yellow black hair. Of course there were a number of humans and halflings wandering about, but there were also a couple of lamia and Shiina saw an arachne tout trying to get people into her silkworks. It was the first time she'd seen other 'monstrous' races around.

  There were also two different styles of dress. Half the people leaned towards vests and loose pants. Clothes similar to what the sailors had worn. Meanwhile the other half seemed to like loose robes with scarfs or head coverings. It didn't seem to be different based on race or class though. Shiina made a note to ask Zanya why later.

  The guild building here was a small affair, dwarfed by the taverns sitting next to it. It at least looked clean to Shiina's eyes. The request board had been organized by someone and there were only a few people inside. A couple of clerks and a man in armor.

  They moved to the open window, Ife taking over the lead. "Excuse me, we're new in town and wanted to know the rules for dungeon runs in this city."

  The secretary gave a slight bow, her cat ears flattening forwards. "Of course. May I see your guild certificates and get your current levels?"

  Shiina pulled out her documentation. As the others produced their papers she took a look over their guild marks. Delilah was a copper tier like her and had a copper tag to prove it. Zanya's paperwork had her listed as a 'hummingbird' tier warrior along with a rainbow feather encased in resin. Meanwhile Ife's bronze capped scroll certified her as a Rank III traveling wizard, with the number of 'verifying dignitaries' longer than the declaration itself.

  Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  "Our current levels are twenty six for us, seventeen for Shiina, and sixteen for Delilah," Ife added.

  The woman marked that down. "Given your rank Lady Ife, you can enter any dungeon you desire. We handle delves at the point of entry. You only need to consult with the guild for paths requiring level thirty or higher, which I don't believe you'd want to attempt with your current party."

  "Er then how will we get to be the lead team?" Shiina asked. First come first served was bad, but doing it at each dungeon seemed even worse. Her companions seemed similarly put off.

  The guild woman laughed. "Oh that shouldn't be a problem. Most of our adventurers are travelers like you looking for quick coin. There's not many people here that run dungeons full time. There's no glory in gathering shellfish, bone, and flesh chunks. The guard comes by once a week and does runs on the dungeons that need cleaning."

  Ife frowned but nodded. "Well hopefully that's true for us as well."

  "Excuse me." Shiina turned her attention to see the armored man had walked over to them. "I couldn't help but overhear you have two sub twenty adventurers and two close to thirty. Might the lower level ones be a healer and trapfinder?"

  "Perhaps you should introduce yourself first?" Ife asked with a sharp smile.

  The man bowed, tail wagging slowly. "Apologies. I forgot I was not properly representing myself." He stood up and flipped his caplet over his shoulder showing an embroidered sea monster skull, mouth wide. "I am Augustus, a captain in the city guard. I was here to schedule a posting for a team that closely matches yours, if my assumptions are correct."

  Shiina turned to face the man, curious. The others seemed similarly intrigued. "How so?" Zanya prompted.

  "As mentioned, the city guard does a lot of work keeping our dungeons clean, so our troops need to be able to confront both monsters and men," Augustus said. "We have a squad of trainees that are up for a dungeon run, but there's no appropriately leveled healer or trapfinder in the group."

  "Wouldn't it be better to have an overleveled healer?" Delilah asked. Her expression fell a little. "That way if something goes wrong...."

  The man shook his head. "We want high levels supervising. But if the healer's too good they might get careless. And if the trapfinder's too good they won't feel a need to run protection duty. They aren't children to babysit, they're Kalarian guards. They need to learn to handle risk."

  Shiina slowly nodded. Delilah's experience with dungeon training had been pretty messed up. But Shiina had seen plenty more adventurers go through and learn the basics. Sometimes what they learned was 'you aren't cut out for adventuring' no matter how skilled they were on the practice grounds. Some of those people had died, but a lot more had figured it out before they got killed.

  She turned to face the others. "I suppose it'd depend on the details." Ife stepped forwards to help negotiate.

  "There's seven guards in the group, all around level sixteen. Dungeon is sixteen average. Pay is four hundred each. Gear and items found go to auction." Augustus reached into a pouch and pulled out a contract. "You're allowed to put your personal and group safety first, though losing more than four people is grounds for default. The guard is in charge of the operation but you may refuse any demand that you feel is especially dangerous. In case of unresolvable dispute pay will be based on the amount of the dungeon cleared."

  Ife took the contract and quickly looked over it once, then twice. "Seems reasonable. Delilah do you have any issue with it?"

  The half elf shifted on her feet a few times before shrugging. "It's a squishy dungeon, but I suppose it's fine in the end. We're bringing over double the standard party size. I'll do my best to keep everyone healthy."

  "Alright," Zanya said. "It's settled. Let's sign and confirm."

  "The city thanks you for your aid." Augustus' tail wagged happily as they each wrote their name on the contract. "We'll meet at the Serpent's Nostril half after first light's bell. You can meet the group and plan how you're going to work with them."

  Shiina pulled out her shields and knife to give them a once over. This could be interesting!

  So I should probably move this earlier for my fellow mimics, but I only really got it all figured out myself now. In any case, I'm sure you've noticed, being outside a dungeon is really overstimulating.

  We mimics are awesome. We don't need sleep, we need a lot less food, and we can focus all around us. But we're specialized to sit in a dungeon room that doesn't really change for long periods of time. It's super easy to zone out for a week, or even a year, and just not worry about stuff because nothing's happening. Maybe there's a patrolling skeleton or something but those are easy to tune out.

  As I'm sure you've noticed, the outside world is a lot more chaotic. After a bit of time you can get used to stuff. Especially sounds, like birds and insects. But the shifting lights, and movements can really get to you. We may not need to sleep but I think being on edge all the time isn't good either.

  So if you want to take a mental break, or enjoy reading or something, I suggest a thick blanket or box. Without sudden movements to draw your attention you can easily focus on something, or nothing if you want.