I had a natural curiosity about all of the dungeons and their subsequent curses. I wanted to visit the Mirror Labyrinth before we left. It was a dungeon that apparently had adopted the labyrinth name. That likely meant it had a lot of confusing passages and didn’t focus as much on monsters. It was only about thirty minutes when we found ourselves boarding a ferry. We found out at the Traveler’s Guild that there was actually a ferry that left for the Mirror Labyrinth four times a day. That’s right, a ferry.
As it turned out, the great labyrinth was in the middle of a river, in a small islet that was isolated from the rest of the world. It was for this reason that a city didn’t sprout around the dungeon directly since there simply wasn’t the size to support it. Instead, a city was built nearby, and a travelling service to and from the island was established.
This got me excited and asking about a shipwright. Perhaps I could knock out two birds with one stone. Regrettably, the ship was built in Kingsport and was transferred via the Traveler’s Guild. So, I would have to depend on Faeyna to get that order set up and make the referral. Her job tonight other than to sell the goods on her person was to get a place and establish contact with the shipwright recommended to us by Mary. We’d meet her tomorrow, presuming everything went well tonight.
The ship rocked along the river for nearly thirty minutes before it finally docked on a small island. I was surprised to see that the island wasn’t filled with people. In fact, the place felt surprisingly barren.
“No, bazar?” I asked the ship’s captain. “I really thought there would be people selling stuff. Even if the island is small.”
It was true that the island was exceptionally small. Other than a large cave head, the entire place was only about 500 square meters. That still allowed room for countless tents, gates, guards, and so on.
The man shook his head immediately. “Too many people this close attracts monsters.”
He pointed down. “In the depths. This river is filled with strong creatures. There is a reason the city was built in the distance and not along the river.”
He shrugged. “There is a reason we make so many trips. As long as the groups are small, they don’t seem to mind. It’s when people try to congregate that they… um… get hungry. Your group of six is about as large of a group as I’ll carry though. You’re lucky no one else had reserved.”
“Ah, yes, thank you.”
“How long will your journey be? A week or two?”
Most expeditions to the dungeon aren’t planned on a daily basis like with me. Anyone who wanted to enter would need to plan for several weeks or even a month, even if they didn’t plan to dive very deeply. It was simply the cost of dungeon diving. These were expeditions requiring a great deal of thought. Well, with a portal that entered and left dungeons, I didn’t possess this restriction, but that wasn’t a skill I advertised.
“Not long…” I said. “Just getting our feet wet, so to speak.”
The man nodded and said no more. We finally docked at a small wooden dock only large enough for maybe two small boats. We had arrived. It was time to see the next dungeon.