29 Paying (1/2)
”Diamond dragon scales!” Lyle exclaims, he furiously flips through one of the books, ”The books are written in the dragonoid language! We stumbled on something amazing! Mr. 'Good Luck' I'm gonna kiss ya, your nickname is a perfect fit!”
”Please don't.”
The book crumbles on his careless touch and he yelps, all heads turn towards him in surprise.
”Lyle... It's okay, the book will regenerate,” Lina says in a soft voice.
”Oh, yes, right,” he laughs at himself.
The book turns to dust that quickly disappears into nothing. A few seconds later a black goo appears on the shelf, it slowly reforms into the shape of a book. Eventually it regains color and texture, finishing its regeneration.
Ciel motions for us to assemble.
”The rotten grass, I'm almost sure it's undead corruption,” she says.
”You are not sure?” Alissa asks.
”No, I only crossed some small corruption a long time ago, we were passing through the remains of a nest of a White Arachne. These arachnes are quite weak so I never really had the opportunity to fight one, the adventurers would always kill them before the temple found one.”
Lina's Trivia: Monsters mutate quite often, ironically the God of Destruction uses evolution, i.e. gradual change, as a way to bolster his forces. One of the rare mutations is the monsters acquiring the knowledge to become ”undead”. They find a way to dissociate their soul and body from the influence of all Gods, they become something ”unnatural” to our reality, detached from the cycle of mana. They can absorb any matter to survive, live forever, disrupt life and matter just by existing, and need to be completely annihilated to truly die.
”That is actually worrying, if the family of dragonoids that guarded the gatehouse became undead then they would be very difficult to deal with. No, they would be impossible to deal with,” I say.
”Indeed,” Ciel says.
”Yeah, I agree, you shouldn't underestimate those dragonoids,” Hana says.
”I will scout ahead, we need to know what exactly is out there,” Alissa says.
I take a moment to think about her words.
”I will go with you,” I say.
We stare at each other. She doesn't want to risk me and I don't want to risk her.
”We are stronger together,” I say with more resolution in my tone.
Her stare slowly turns into a smile.
”Tell the others what we just discussed,” I say to Ciel.
”Make sure to come back before dinner, whatever is out there you can properly scout tomorrow,” Ciel says, her tone leaves no room for questioning.
”Yes, mom,” I mutter and walk away.
”I heard that!”
I walk away faster.
I left a single earth elemental to guard the entrance to the castle, for us I summoned a Shad and Holly to help us with vision. I will ride Alissa during the trip.
”This is nostalgic, just the two of us,” I whisper.
”Not really a pleasant memory, you were too close to danger before Hana,” she whispers back.
I can fell her pout even though her fox mouth doesn't move. I just smile and hug her fluffiness harder, I love this fox form of her so much.
Before meeting her I was scared out of my mind, I was lost and incredibly lonely. I threw myself at her and she opened her heart to me. She's my anchor and I'm her light, we will live together and die together, that I am sure.
”Hey...” A very peculiar thought occurred to me, ”Can you feel pleasure in your fox form?”
Alissa stops, her fox face looks at me, slowly the corner of her lips rise into a frightening smile full of pointy fangs.
”Yes,” she answers calmly.
”Ok... Let's keep moving.”
I will continue that train of thought another time.
The smell of rot gets stronger, the cave opens up and we enter a dead orchard. I summon another Holly and tell it to fly about, if she finds another living being she must return to us immediately.
With the second Holly's vision I can see how big the cave has become, the orchard turns into a hedge maze that we contour. When the second Holly starts to fly over the maze a stone statue of a dragonoid archer releases its arrow towards Holly.
She immediately doubles back towards us. The arrow misses narrowly and with the corner of Holly's vision I can see the statue drawing another arrow.
”Stop! Go back to the entrance!” I tell Alissa.
”Ok, what's going on?”
”Holly got attacked by a statue.”
Her fox eyes spell confusion.
Holly leaves the maze just as another arrow flies past her, her small size is a real advantage against projectiles. I see the statue returns to its normal position, with a drawn bow pointing upwards.
”A trap to prevent other dragonoids from flying above. This maze has anti-air statues, they take life and shoot arrows at flying targets,” I say.
”Why would they do something like that? You don't put defenses like these unless you are guarding something valuable.”
”Indeed, but dragonoids have a rather ruthless society, perhaps it's a prank, perhaps it's a test. If it's not related to their culture it could be something a dungeon rarely creates.”
”A treasure chest!” Alissa seems ecstatic.
”Wanna bet Ciel is gonna side with Lyle when we tell them this?”
She snorts.
”No, that would be a dumb bet.”
”Heh. Anyway, let's go around this maze and continue scouting.”
I tell second Holly to circle around the maze on the opposite direction of us. The maze is quite wide so we reach the border of the cave while running around it. Aside from the inside of the maze we scouted every single inch of this cave, then we meet up on the other end of the maze.
We continue forward and pass a creepy statue garden, it has all sorts of statues of dragonoids. There are butchers, robed cultists, soldiers, actors, bone armored robed cultists, alchemists, mages, robed cultists stabbing themselves, merchants, nobles, executioners cutting heads off, cultists sacrificing other dragonoids, farmers, scholars, cultists eating other dragonoids, cultists raping other dragonoids, tall piles of dragonoid skulls, and a very large and mean looking dragonoid.
We do not talk about the statues, the increasing creepiness makes us not want think any more than necessary about this place. The only thing we paid mind is the corruption, the smell of rot was gone but a very faint smell of acetone fills the air.
After the statues we reach a water park. It literally has water slides, they look incredibly fun except for the black and bubbling slimy water. The air is filled with suspended particles that sparkle when our light touches them.
Alissa takes great care to avoid the deadly water. The smell of rot returns faintly and the smell of acetone increases. It also starts to slightly burn our lungs, it's damaging us. After 10 minutes smelling this ”acetone” I see it reduced my HP by 1 point.
After the ridiculously large water park comes a grassland followed by a grove. At the border of the grove I tell Alissa to stop.
”What is it now?” She asks.
”Holly found something, seems to be a dragonoid. Her vision is being disrupted greatly, I think it could be the undead.”
”Her vision is supposedly very sensitive, makes sense for it to be disrupted by the corruption of the undead.”
”Yes.”
”Where is the undead and where is it going?”
”It's deeper into the grove a long way to our left, it's moving away from us. I couldn't see anything else since Holly turned back as soon as she sensed it. I believe that one had a green glow, wind type.”
As Holly moves towards us her vision quickly improves. It was like an analog TV having interference, the image distorted and got grainy. Holly even suffered some damage just by getting close to it. We are much tougher than her so we wouldn't take instantaneous corruption damage just by meeting an undead, but it would be detrimental to our health if we fought it.
”Let's return,” Alissa says.
”Yes, Ciel would kill us if we went deeper.”
”With the way Lina is changing she would join Ciel.”
This time I'm the one who snorts.
”Undead, huh...” Lyle is in deep thought.
”It's dangerous to stay here,” I say.
”It would be very tough to kill a single undead dragonoid,” Hana says.
”Even worse is that out there is probably a family of undead dragonoids that were supposed to be protecting the entrance to this place,” Alissa says.
Lyle purses his lips.
”We are not leaving,” Ankara says with decisiveness.
”Why?” I ask.
”This place is too valuable, we have to stay here and compile the books in this small library,” he says.
”Let a Glutton eat your words, you can come back here later,” Hana says.
Lina's Trivia: Gluton is a slime-type monster that eats anything related to plants or animals (including humanoids). Hana's expression means ”screw that”.
Ankara narrows his eyes in annoyance.
”We are staying here, if we come back later this place will be filled with other scholars and soldiers to subjugate those undead dragonoids,” he says.
”Oh, so that is what you are worried about, that someone would steal all your glory,” I say.
His composed face breaks and he glares at me with anger.
”You should know your place, boy, show some respect,” Tankar says through gritted teeth.
”What are you on about?”
”It is Mr. Gartania and Sir Tankar, not 'you',” he spews.
I can barely discern his expression, he never takes off that helmet.
”I, do, not, care, I'm not your fucking squire,” I look at him with disdain.
Tankar clenches his mailed fist in anger.
”That's enough! Both of you!” Lyle yells and hits his fist on the table.
Ah shit, I gotta calm down. I'm not used to dealing with this amount of self-importance.
”The undead are very far away, we can keep an eye on them, can't we?” Lyle says and looks at me.
”The corruption is too strong and damages us. I will not let any of my women stand guard in the middle of that nasty air, I will use summons and let them at the border of the corrupted air. This should give us 30 minutes of early warning if the dragonoids come to us.”
”Then that's enough, there's no need to run away now.”
I'm conflicted, the maze, or safety, the maze, or safety. I look at Ciel, her eyes show a hint of excitement ever since we mentioned the maze. Ah, fuck it, we will stay.
”Keep in mind the price of your glory,” Hana says to Ankara, she shares my disdain.
I let a sigh escape.
”I will agree to stay but only if I get whatever is inside that maze, no questions asked,” I say.
”I wish to explore that maze,” Lyle says earnestly, eager to change the topic.
”Now that's pushing it,” Hana says.
Lyle drops his shoulders.
”I will stay with the books, that maze smells like a treasure chest,” Ankara says.
”Me too,” Delwyn says.
”I would like to go to the maze,” Gwinevere says.
”We could split, no problem,” Lyle says innocently.
”Bad idea,” Ciel says.
Alissa nods in agreement. Lyle looks like a dejected puppy.
”Look, we are not taking any of you, it's too dangerous,” I say.
Lyle seems hurt but without him we can use [Gate] to return instantly if something goes bad.
”I'm sorry but I'm not taking any chances, we will explore that place but only if we are alone. That way we can easily run away if danger comes either to us or to you.”
Tankar scoffs.
”I'm more than enough to keep the undead away if you decide to prance about that maze,” he says.
Death-flag.
”Suit yourself,” I wave my hand at him, ”We will leave two elementals here anyway to help.”
”Then you are going tomorrow?” Lyle asks.
”Yes, tomorrow morning.”
Ankara spoiled the mood again so we end up eating dinner separately. After that I immediately bring Alissa to bed and seek her tongue, her tail ruffles the sheets as it wags below her.
I will never get tired of this, of her taste, of her feeling. I easily get hard and I slide my hand past her bush, she immediately opens her legs and receives my finger with a moan. I play with her until I feel her little bean grow on my hand, I pull her pants halfway and penetrate her.
She breaks the kiss as she cannot contain her moans anymore. I shove the gag on her mouth, this time it's one of her sexier lacy panties, such an erotic sight. Her orange eyes lock into mine and the sounds of the world drowns.
She takes off the gag and whispers something in my ears. I stop for a few seconds to process what she wants.
”You sure?” I ask.
She nods.
”I trust you,” she says, her smile is adorable.
I pull out of her and pull out two leather belts, I tie one to her arms and the other to her legs. Then I stare again into her eyes and smile, I wrap my hands on her throat and choke her.
She struggles and tries to break free, those leather belts were made for Hana, she's not getting away. She eventually kicks me with both her feet and I fall from the bed, my ass hurts.
This woman is gonna be my wife, I love her and she loves me.
”You bitch, you are gonna pay,” I growl at her.
Her eyes turn into fear and she tries to crawl away from me.
”P-please, no, Wolfy, no…”
”Quiet.”
I grab the gag and straddle her, I shove it deep into her mouth. She chokes and tries to spit it out but I pull out another belt and tie it around her mouth.
She has accepted that she is not a slave anymore, she's free but she willingly binds herself to me.
”A breeding sow does not need to talk,” I spit at her.
She struggles again and tries to break free. I put points into [Enhanced Strength]. This time her kick misses and I pull a rope and tie it around her folded legs. Alissa is not that strong, she focus on being fast and precise, it's rather easy to overpower her.
Now she can't struggle anymore, she's completely immobile. She whimpers behind her gag.
There's still something on her that wants to submit, though, she wants to be forced by me. She desires so much to serve me she wishes she didn't have free will.
I turn the squirming whore around, her ass and pussy are completely exposed to me. She jerks her head and manages to see me pulling my cock out with the corner of her eyes.
”No...” I can hear she mutter from behind her gag.
She wants to feel helpless before me. She wants to be raped by me.
I penetrate her, her dripping pussy betrays her acting. Hana might be depraved but Alissa might be the bigger degenerate. This is the small, blurry, curious spot in her heart, she fantasizes on me cheating on her and then raping her. Perhaps I am the biggest degenerate since I am thoroughly enjoying this?
I don't hold back. All I want is to inflict as much pain as possible, I want to make her suffer and crumble beneath me. I choke her and she moans in pleasure and cries in pain.
That's not enough. I pull out of her and bring out our scented lube. I push a finger inside her asshole and cast the strongest [Clean] I can muster, her whole body shivers in response. I spread a generous amount of lube on my cock, then I aim it at her second entrance.
She jerks her body again to look at me, now there it is, genuine fear.
”This is your lesson, you whore.”
I push my big fat cock inside her small virgin asshole. She screams in pain, blood drips out her and a towel appears below us to catch the drops of blood. I pull it out, I cast [Heal] on her ass, [Clean] on my dick and apply more lube. She's not bleeding anymore but it doesn't mean she's not in pain. I penetrate her again.
She whimpers with every thrust. I feel her asshole tighten and pulse with every heartbeat, this amount of tight puts Lina to shame. I steel myself and pound her harder, her cute small ass turns red as her ass cheeks clap on my thighs.
I choke her harder and I see her struggle to breathe, I leave just a bit of room so she doesn't pass out. I bite her shoulder and with my free hand I pinch her clit, I pull on it hard and she yells in pain, the sound passing through the gag. Tears roll through her face.
I cum inside her in a way I never came before, it fills her insides and overflows. I stay like this for a while, her ass drips with my cum and her pussy drips with her wetness. Slowly I break my hold and she gasps for air. I remove her gag and she coughs.
I lay on top of her and hug her, my dick still inside her.
I look to the side and Hana is on her fours being fisted by Roxanne, looking at us with begging eyes, she wants to be next. Ciel and Lina are frozen in confusion, disgust, fear, and extreme arousement.
I pull out of Alissa and push it inside Hana's mouth for her to clean. Then I move behind Hana and Roxanne leaves. I clean Hana's asshole while she tongues Alissa's, trying to take out any remaining cum.
”Fucking whores, the both of you.”
I penetrate Hana, for her I put less lube. She yelps in pain and holds her mouth. Every thrust she cries, she cries while smiling, her tears wet the sheets. I don't heal Hana so the smell of blood starts to enter my nose.
Instead of feeling disgust I feel pleasure at the smell of blood, I will make Hana bleed and cry. I increase my speed and her asshole tightens so much I need more lube. I clean most of the blood and apply a generous amount of lube.
Roxanne is fingering Hana while they kiss. Every few seconds Hana moans and cries, breaking their kiss. During these moments Roxanne smiles like a maniac while she appreciates the show.
I grow tired and stop holding myself, I feel it come and Hana tightens purposefully. I cum a huge amount again and a mix of blood and cum overflows out of her.
I pull it out and flop down on our huge bed.
”Uh... The taste of blood ruins it,” Hana says, a little apologetic.
Alright then. I cast [Clean] on myself.
I look at Alissa, her face is back to normal but it's wet with tears. I untie her and she immediately pushes me down, her mouth devours my dick.
With lots of enthusiasm but still with delicacy she stimulates me perfectly, she pays proper attention to that special spot, the frenulum. A small strip of flesh that's especially delicate and sensitive, she applies special attention to it.
Her words ring in my head ”I am your whore, your cock-sleeve, your sex toy. Hurt me, **** me, show who owns me”. I let it repeat in my head, the perfect sexy whisper on my ears turned on the beast in me. I close my eyes and cum on her mouth, she doesn't slow down her movements and not a single white drop can be seen, she swallowed it all.
”Thank you for the meal, master,” she says with an innocent smile.
She casts [Clean] on her mouth and lays down besides me.
”Wow...” That's all I can say.
”Yes,” she says.
Hana is sprawled on the bed while Roxanne plays with her hair.
”That was amazing to watch,” Roxanne says.
Lina and Ciel are naked, they are wet and their breaths are haggard, their hands glisten in their own juices. They just finished furiously masturbating.
”I'm not complaining but what's gotten into you?” I ask Alissa.
”I wanted to push things a little further because of what Gify showed us...” She starts.
Gify pops into the bed.
”Gih!”
”Yes, you. Gify showed us your heart and I have been thinking what it meant.”
”What exactly did you see?”
”Two seas divided by a wall, one is stormy and the other is paradise. Slowly the wall crumbles while storm recedes at the same speed. I want to make sure the storm is gone before the wall falls apart entirely. That storm, what is bothering you?”
For now there's only one thing that keeps popping in my mind every once in a while, something I push away immediately.
”Hmm... Whenever I think about fighting other people I hear the space mage we killed shrieking…”
The girls quickly recover from their stupor after my words.
”We all have painful memories, they eventually fade if we don't feed them,” Alissa says.
”I keep remembering Wolfy on top of the body of that woman with his hand missing,” Lina says, she frowns and looks down.
Ciel pulls Lina on a hug and smothers her on her breasts. Sha pats Lina and the face of the little dwarf melts on a smile.
”What do these memories make you two feel?” Ciel asks.
”Fear, fear of hearing any of you scream like her,” I say.
”Fear that I will one day find Wolfy looking worse than that,” Lina says.
I free Lina of her pillows and pull her into a hug. I feel her softness as our naked and sweaty bodies touch each other. My limp penis touches her ass and I feel her shiver, Lina's ass is certainly gonna be tighter than Alissa's.
”I think we all fear the same as Lina, it's just that we don't let those thoughts influence our mood,” Ciel says.
”We have to deal with problems as they come, to dwell on fear will only hold you back,” Hana says.
”But fear is what keeps us from doing stupid things,” Roxanne says.
”I know... I just need to get used to controlling it,” I say.
”Self-control is the thing you lack, we talked about this after you fought the Red Smile,” Ciel says.
”I have been getting better,” I smile wryly.
”Yes you have. There was one last thing, something unpleasant buried deep inside you,” Alissa says.
I know myself well, there's only one thing I'm trying to bury, to forget.
”Must be about home... Or rather, my former home.”
I grit my teeth, I do not want to be reminded of Earth again. Alissa grabs my face and looks into my eyes.
”If you ever need to get something out of you, we are here to listen to you,” she says.
I smile again at her earnest concern. I know talking helps but I don't want to talk about it now.
”I will be here to do the same,” I say and I kiss her lips lightly.
”And you too,” she kisses Lina's forehead, making her smile shyly.
”Anyway, what did you girls feel from Gify?” I ask.
”The same as Alissa, except 'paradise' was the warmth of the sun,” Hana says.
”Yeah, I felt incredible sweetness,” Roxanne says.
”I felt like I was being hugged really tight,” Ciel says.
”I felt safe and comfortable,” Lina says.
”Kweh!” Aoi felt big and strong.
”Did he show the feelings you have to each other?” I ask.
”He showed ours,” Hana says with a beaming smile, she pulls Roxanne into a hug,” I felt something clinging on my back very hard.
”I... Felt like a warm and comfy blanket was all over me,” Roxanne says with a blush, she averts her eyes.
The other girls just shake their heads.
I get erect between Lina's ass cheeks. She's spent for now so I grab Roxanne, who didn't get enough love today.
I cover her body with kisses while I caress it and apply some [Massage] to her.
”I will show you my sweetness, then,” I say.
I think about touching those horns and that tail again but I think twice. I need energy for tomorrow and she's gonna suck my lifespan if I go with the first idea.
She's already wet from playing with Hana so I immediately enter her. With every thrust I apply the smallest amount of force, sliding in and out with the utmost of gentleness. I oil her nipples and rub them with just enough strength so it would feel good and not tickle.
I kiss her lips and suck on her tongue, I guide it around and stimulate every part equally. I [Massage] her mouth with my tongue. I explore her mouth and made sure she was breathless before I broke the kiss and moved down to play with her nipples with my mouth.
Every thrust elicits a long and soft moan, slowly growing into intensity, her voice is pure sexyness. She syncs her body with mine, every shiver, every movement is filled with her sensuality. She's impossibly intoxicating.
With my free hand I find her clit and caress it, making her gasp and moan harder. As her body approached climax her back arched, her legs quiver and her insides tightened like no other can, squeezing another shot from me. I feel my mind clear, her hold over me wanes.
I leave the clean up to Hana, who picks up where I left off and gently makes Roxanne climax again. Now I'm finally spent.
I help Lina replace the broken tooth on Hana's sword with the use of [Manipulate Metal]. I think that soon Lina will learn this spell.
”Say, Hana, didn't you deal with snotty nobles like Ankara on your travels?” Roxanne asks.
”Yeah,” she stops massaging Roxanne's head, ”Well, most of the annoying ones wanted to dangle their little cocks in front of me to suck so the reasons I dislike them are different than why I dislike Ankara.”
Alissa lifts her eyes from her book.
”You swear too much, Hana, you should change this behavior,” she says with a slight disapproving tone.
”Hmm... That would be hard...” Hana turns her head away, ”After I learned [Taunt] these things became ingrained in my mind.”
Alissa rolls her eyes.
”But how did you deal with the nobles?” Roxanne asks.
”Mostly ignoring, if they try to brag you act dumb and uninterested, that squashes their motivation to talk to you.”
”Not like you had to try hard to act dumb.”
Hana flickers her forehead.
”Ow...” Roxanne rubs the reddening skin.
”You deserved it” Hana looks at her with cold eyes.
”I did,” Roxanne smiles, unrepentant.
”Anyway,” her warmth comes back, ”Others try to buy you, there's no way than just flat out denying them, if you leave any detail uncertain they will come back and keep insisting.”
”The only one you would sell yourself to is Wolfy,” she taps Hana's scales on her cheek.
”Don't even need to sell, I would have stolen him for myself if I wasn't a Blood Slave,” her man-eating gaze strikes me, giving me a chill. ”Ankara is the last kind, he's a little bitch, you gotta walk carefully with him. You must always keep your distance, you can't give him a reason to talk to you, you have to appear as unapproachable as possible, then he will leave you alone. Problem is, you can't really offend him, that just makes the stubborn idiot to come after you harder.”
”That's going to be difficult,” I say.
”Ankara would use whatever he has to get what he wants, I bet he's a schemer like Vanea,” anger flickers on her voice, ”The best way to avoid fighting him is keeping away from him.”
The best way to play a rigged game is to not play.
”You don't have to swallow your pride, Wolfy,” Ciel says, ”You just have to make sure you deny him without offending him.”
”Alright, I get it. I guess it's not really a good thing to have the group leader be hot-headed.”
Lina hugs me and smiles. From the few expressions she shows I know this one means pride.
”Better you than me, I would have blown off on him already,” Hana says, then she smiles bitterly, ”Father would always deal with these types when they started to get too annoying, I was never good at being delicate with the nobles.”
”I have a feeling that none of us is particularly experienced or comfortable in dealing with these kinds of nobles,” Alissa says, she looks to the girls and their expressions tell they agree with Alissa, although they do not express it openly.
”I guess this is just one of the jobs of a leader, no job is perfect,” I shrug.
Alissa gives me a sympathetic look, not even she wants to save me from this.
I heal Hana before we sleep. Alissa snatched Gify and curled around him. I don't think that nature spirits sleep but he started snoring in a cute high pitched voice a minute after that.
Tonight Roxanne clung to me with a silly smile, her tail caressing any part of my body it could reach.
Today is the 13th.
Roxanne wakes me up. When I open my eyes I see that her face and glasses are plastered with my semen, her expression is frozen in surprise as she couldn't predict when I would climax. I feel like I found my next fetish to indulge in.
My [Blessing Magic] and [Mana Control] increased by 1 (now 4+17 and 0+10). Yesterday's large area casting helped.
Alissa groans as she sits on the chair, I cast [Heal] on her.
”It wasn't like that yesterday,” she says.
Lina seems to be looking at Alissa with a lot of worry.
”Don't worry, little Lina,” Roxanne says with an evil grin, ”You will definitely survive when Wolfy's fat cock rips your asshole open.”
Lina fidgets, her mouth moves but no word comes out. Ciel massages her eyes as she chews her food.
”I don't even feel disgusted. We are definitely not a normal family,” she says.
”Slowly we all sink into depravity,” I smile, I'm imagining we all having an orgy while we eat lunch. Hana would definitely season her food with man sauce.
Fortunately for us we chose a room far away from the others so they didn't hear a thing from us. We finish our breakfast and go find Lyle, his groups is finishing theirs.
”We will leave an earth elemental and a fire elemental, they will stay at the door so don't go out. I allowed you to command them during battle but the first order is to avoid it. I can see and hear through the earth elemental so if something bad happens I will know,” I say.
Lyle sighs and nods.
”Shame we couldn't see you guys fighting,” Gwinevere pouts.
I'm seriously unsure if she's a lesbian or if she simply enjoys carnage, maybe a bit of both.
”Then we will be off.”
They wave to us and we leave.
”You okay with leaving, Lina?” I ask.
She raises her head to me and her gloomy eyes brighten with a small smile.
”It's okay, I'm not letting you fight without me.”
Oof, my heart.
We walk fast and reach the hedge maze entrance. I summon two Holly's, they will go deeper to each side of the maze, then they will stay at the corners and follow whatever appears.
I leave a [Gate] ”coordinate” at the entrance of the maze. I do not want to directly teleport in front of the castle or anywhere in possible view of Ankara.
The Holly's can fly high and look over the maze, but oddly the more they look the less I see, I can't make a mental map of what I see, it seems to be illusion magic. Unfortunately I can't give [Mental Resistance] to my summons. This damn place is enchanted to hell and back.
As we enter the maze I summon a spirit elemental.
”Explore the area,” I order.
It crosses the hedge and immediately dies.
”What the…”
”What?” Alissa asks.
I touch the dead hedge row. The leaves crumble to the touch but they immediately reform in a black sludge. I approach my face to the hedge, I feel a very faint amount of mana emitting from it. I push my hand into deeper only to feel it touch something solid. I dig out the surrounding leaves and branches, I see a pure black wall, this is what's emitting trace amounts of mana.
”This destroyed my spirit elemental,” I say.
”No cheating for you then,” Ciel says with a smile.
”That's just more work for us…”
”Cheater no cheating,” she puts her hands on her hips.
I shrug with a smile and we continue.
Roxanne's distance approximations for spells and Lina's inherent architecture affinity give them both a good sense of distance so they are responsible for mapping. Hana and Ciel's senses are better for shorter distances. Alissa has the best sense of distance but she's at the front, behind Hana, she's going be sniffing for traps.
On a particularly long corridor huge bardiches suddenly materialize in the air. A second later they start swinging, it's the cliche trap of swinging weapons.
”That's exactly the same as the symbol on the dungeoneering guild,” I say.
”It's not a symbol by mere coincidence,” Roxanne says.
”Still, I'm not sure how I feel,” I say, ”A mix of disappointed and amused. I feel like I'm back into one of my VR games.”
”'VR'?” Lina asks.
”Er, I'll explain later.”
”I feel like I'm into one of my books,” Alissa says with a smile.
Hana frowns.
”You guys are getting way too distracted,” she says.
”Hahah...,” I laugh awkwardly, ”Anyway, no need for all of us to risk crossing. I will go with Hana and open a [Gate] for you all.”
I feel a slight displeasure from Alissa but she's learning to trust me more.
Hana keeps one hand over my shoulder and we both keep our shields raised. It's one thing to do this inside of a game, it's another to do it in real life where you can hear and feel the breeze caused by the bardiches cutting the air.
One by one we slowly pass by them. At the end there's no room to wait between each bardiche.
”We gotta run the last stretch,” I say.
”Let me carry you, I'll definitely survive a hit from one of these, no big deal.”
”The casual way you put yourself in harms way concerns me.”
”I swore to myself I would go through the depths of hell to save you, ” she hits her chest with her fist.
”T-that does not mean you gotta hurt yourself so casually!”
Her resolve moves me a little.
”You got a better solution?” She looks into my eyes and raises an eyebrow.
Well...
”No…”
She grins. She stores her shield and sword in her [Item Box], then she picks me up princess-style. I store my sword inside my ”Items”.
”You actually do like when I carry you like this?”
”Yes, I have no shame.”
She laughs, then she breathes twice. The bardiches open up, she runs. Hana is capable of moving faster than me, her longer legs give her even more of an advantage.
The sound of bardiches cutting through the air gives me chills, stale air blows in my face. She stomps the ground loudly and the sound of air being cut increases, the bardiches are cutting closer, she's not fast enough.
A blade appears on her side, I cast [Telekinesis] and hold the blade in place for a second. Another blade appears, I can't cast it again fast enough. Hana hunches over and jumps.
I fall on the ground and roll, I regain my balance and land on my knees. I skid and scrape my gloved hand on the ground. I look back and Hana is sprawled on the ground.
She lifts her head up with a shit-eating grin that makes me mad as hell. Her brigandine has a huge gash on the back, I see a glimmer of the metal plates below the cloth.
”You okay?” I ask.
”Yep, the fur padding absorbed most of the shock.”
I breathe in relief. I open a [Gate] for the girls. For this small distance this spell uses very little mana.
”You got hit,” Ciel says.
Roxanne runs her fingers through Hana's armor and frowns.
”It's fine,” Hana says, she pats Roxanne's cheeks.
Roxanne lightly punches her, not that she could have felt it due to the armor. Lina pulls out a sewing kit and does emergency repairs on the cloth.
We enter another particularly long corridor, a few steps in Alissa stops. She looks down and stomps her foot in the ground.
”It's hollow,” she says.
I have to strain myself to notice the difference, the concrete slabs that make up the floor must be quite thick.
”Well, prepare to run at any moment,” I say.
”I will keep an eye on the back, it could be another challenge like the bardiches,” Ciel says.
”True.”
”Hana, I will have to go in the front, there's a big chance that there's a button or wire somewhere,” Alissa says.
Hana nods and we slowly move forward.
Half way in Ciel's idea was proven correct, the first hollow slab we stepped on suddenly disappears into darkness.
”RUN!” She yells.
I realize I should have let them wait and use [Gate] like last time...
The slabs fall with a noise of stone scraping on stone, a few seconds later we hear a muffled sound of stone breaking.
Half way along the corridor the slabs stop falling. We stop for a second to understand what happened. Alissa taps the slabs again.
”These ones are hollow! Don't stop!” She yells.
The moment we start running again the slabs just behind us start falling. It was a trap in a trap, made for us to waste time looking back.
I lift Lina by the armpits and start running faster. Roxanne slows down, Aoi jumps from Roxanne's shoulder to my back and curls around my neck, she gives a small lick on my cheek.
”I will just float, damn stupid traps,” Roxanne mumbles.
Her bat wings materialize, then she crosses her legs and slowly floats after us. With our two snails neutralized we manage to pick up speed and run faster than the falling slabs.
Alissa slows down near the end of the corridor and stomps the slabs again.
”Those are fine.”
I slow down and catch my breath. I kiss the forehead of the cute small animal cuddling on my chest and let her down. A minute later Roxanne lands behind us. Aoi gives me another lick then runs back to Roxanne's shoulder and gives her a small lick, eliciting a smile from Roxanne.
”Weren't you supposed to be training your body?” Ciel asks with a bit of sass.
”Ye-yeah...” Roxanne purses her lips, trying to remain expressionless.
”The only way to get that one to exercise is by rubbing her tail,” Hana says.
”But if we had to do that regularly either you or Wolfy would die,” Alissa says.
Roxanne pulls down the brim of her hat in embarrassment.
”Stop picking on me,” she says, muffled by her hat.
”We are just giving your jokes back,” Alissa says with a smug smile.
”So it's revenge then,” Roxanne narrows her eyes.