She found a shop that wasn't the small-town inn and tavern she imagined. Though there was a room of tables and tankards, the main attraction was a display of swords and bows and armor. The shopkeeper, a young Human man, was busy counting coins.

Selen said, "These weapons all look alike."

The man completed a counting-stack and looked up. "They're from the dungeon. Here to try your luck?"

"I'm here to drop off mail." She regarded her muddy clothes and feathers. "And get clean."

"Give me a minute." The clerk put his money away but for a small payment to Selen. He also had westbound messages and a small box. "Haven't seen you here before."

"I haven't been outside the city much and I just learned to fly this year. So there's one of those dungeons in town?"

"Sure is. You're welcome to see, down by the quarry entrance."

"And you produce lots of weapons and gear for visitors?"

The man shook his head. "No, most of this is made by the dungeon. Copied from objects lost there." He took two bows off his display rack and showed an identical scratch on each.

Selen blinked. "That sounds more profitable than charging people admission to the dungeon itself."

"Charging...? No, you can walk right in. So long as it's not already in use and you don't take more than one shard. Harvesting whatever else you find is good business, but of course it's hit or miss or you could just get yourself killed. The Baron gets a share of course."

Selen hadn't investigated these living dungeons yet and really wanted to, but she was still too flimsy a bird to trust herself in one. "I might peek in," she said. "How much for those goggles? I saw the Aves wearing them."

She ended up with a shower, and a sturdy set of tinted-glass goggles with a leather strap that wrapped around her head. Sunglasses! But there was little industry in this town, just a pottery shop and a smithy in sight. Getting free items from a magic maze sounded like a boon but it might be suppressing any real mass production.

She hiked and glided downhill into the colorful cliffside area. Workmen were cutting stone from it. There was also a little stockade guarding a tunnel entrance. The half-height wooden gate showed a tag system and no sign of anyone currently using it.

She went through to the tunnel entrance. It looked like an ordinary mine, from here. She'd heard of traps and monsters and a bizarre intelligence constantly creating and changing its threats in a symbiotic dance with explorers. These things fed on bloodshed and magic.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

For now, Selen backed off, not ready for the challenge. "Someday, though."

She stopped in at the quarry instead. The technology here was somewhat at right angles to her own. Men (well, mostly Kobolds) were tapping at the cliff with chisels. But one of them was stabbing into it with a jet of water, using a wand with one of the crystal shards worked into it. She stepped closer and watched. When the lizard-man paused she asked, "Why do people in the next village west of here, import magicite from the Grandbridge area, if you can get it right here?"

The miner lifted the goggles he wore -- identical to her own -- to peer at her. "Depends on the spell. Ours are best for sonic effects. Better to use other sites' gems for my work."

"The dungeons create different types of gem? Neat. And what about the wand; does that do anything itself?"

He snorted. "No, we only know how to strap a gem to a stick and chant at it."

"I'm a beginner. Seeing how people really use magic is more useful than sitting with a book." Some instinct had told her not to boast about using a whole library.

"Fine. You may watch."

Selen pulled her new goggles on and watched him work, adjusting the tuning of the gem in a way she didn't understand yet. The element called frost could create water, and people had the concept already of using a water jet in industry. It could probably be focused better, though. Zahar had rarely mentioned magic as part of his machine-crafting work and treated it like a completely separate field.

She thanked the quarryman and headed back, hopeful for the prospect of people advancing their technology quickly from here. This society was close to something like an industrial revolution. Probably a good thing, but it was happening without her. It didn't seem to need her.

#

She got back to Grandbridge without trouble and with a little profit for her family and herself. Now that she was both a Mage and a Craftsman, formally, she had more things to work on besides her actual job. And since she'd begun to strengthen herself physically, it was time to do some other training.

For that, she worked out at the Dungeoneers' Guild. (Intentionally, this time.) She'd paid a small fee for regular access, thinking of it as a gym membership. Uncle Meteor approved, though Bluemoon grumbled about it being "her adventurer phase".

The Guild had a room just for fighting practice, where she'd worked with a staff and padded armor to get better at dodging. There was a regular, a Vulin girl in homemade patchwork armor, who liked to hop around on some balance beams to launch startling attacks from all angles. Selen sparred with her, asking, "Have you been to any dungeons yet?"

The fox-girl breathed hard, leaning on her staff. "Last month my aunt snuck me out of my parents' house to go to Whispering Glen. Oh, my folks were not happy. But I was with my aunt's team, and we came back alive."

"I poked my beak in there and said nope, not yet."

"Good call, if you were alone. It's a weird place. There are shambling things made of crystal that crumble to sand when you beat them, and puzzles of musical tones."

"Puzzles? Are the dungeons intelligent?"

She shrugged. "Smart enough to challenge people. Some are more fighting-oriented, or packed with traps or magical things. The magic stuff is beyond me."

"I need practice with spells. Want to try dodging a basic zap spell?"

"Sure!"

Selen charged a bit of lightning energy between her hands, then chased the girl around with it. The Vulin said, "I thought you were going to throw the spell."

Selen wasn't sure how. She tried shifting the Mana, tuning it from lightning to wind, and pushed it out of her grip as though squeezing a bar of soap. A puff of air flew out and ruffled her opponent's fur.

"That's it?"

Selen shrugged. "I need more practice. Safer than lightning anyhow. Try dodging the next one!"