A Vulpine Spanner in the Works
Chapter 21: Traps, Why Did It Have to be Traps?
[Ninya]
Before our second attempt to enter the dungeon, Peter and Dyne requested for Kashia to make them shields, something she easily agreed to with a smile. While both fighters weren't as versed in fighting with shields, they reasoned that it would be better to have some method of blocking any further dart traps than to have nothing at all.
As for myself, I came to the realization that I should stop trying to conserve my mana for our delving like I was used to doing and cast [Reinforce Armor] on myself the moment we entered inside. I was still thinking with limits in mind when I didn't have any due to Kashia.
I needed to take advantage of it.
So, after finished regearing ourselves for our next excursion, we went into the dungeon once again. As we made our way down the steps, we copied our path from earlier to avoid the trapped steps until we arrived back in the hallway. From there, the sounds of rattling bones echoed down the hallway.
Peter and Dyne readied their shields in front of us until we got a view of a squad of skeletons charging us. These skeletons didn't take that long to clear like the first time and we cautiously made our way to the split in the path.
Though, one thing that Lukrut quickly took notice of was, "The bones of the skeletons from last time are missing."
"Considering that this dungeon is full of undead, perhaps some magic here raised them once again." Dyne theorized which made me blanch.
Great. On top of the dungeon being filled with traps and monsters, even if we defeated anything here and left, the foes we felled would be revived and waiting for us.
"We'll just have to watch our backs in case something tries reviving behind us." Peter recommended, which we all heartily agreed with. Who knows how long it might take for whatever revival was going on to bring back anything that we defeated?
With that, the four of us arrived at the split. This time, Lukrut and I stayed between Peter and Dyne with shields raised. We went down the right path with Dyne and Lukrut watching our rear and while Peter and myself watched the front.
The rattling of bones echoed behind us and I heard Lukrut fire off an arrow. "Robed asshole tried pulling that trick again." He answered. At the same time, another robed figure stepped on a pressure plate in the middle of the floor, causing the tubed section of ceiling to lower and fire out three darts.
Peter made quick work of blocking the darts while I cast a [Firebolt] that slammed into the robed figure, igniting the dark robe to reveal a moaning zombie that fell to the floor twitching until it stopped moving.
"Got another robed guy on this side." I announced.
"Nice work, you two." Peter complimented with an excited tone, then added, "Let's keep moving this way. Make sure to keep your eye out for the pressure plate up ahead."
We gave off a chorus of agreement before moving forwards once more. Lukrut and Dyne, along with Peter and I, hugged the wall as we stepped past the trap and went forwards a couple yards more until we reached a new junction in the hallway.
One path went forwards while another split off left.
"Ideas on which path to take?" Lukrut asked as he kept his eyes open for any unseen danger.
"Let's keep goin-" Peter was cut off as a skeleton, consisting of an upper torso while the rest of its body consisted of a tail-like spine, rushed forwards from the left hallway in a mixture of crawling with its arms and slithering with its spine. It was an extremely grotesque sight to witness.
We didn't get much of a chance to react as it slammed a hand onto a new pressure plate, causing the sound of stone grinding against stone to echo from behind us.
Quickly turning, we saw what was once a smooth wall now sliding open to reveal a dimly lit room with a multitude of bones clacking.
"Son of a bitch!" Lukrut shouted in frustration, voicing all of our thoughts aloud.
Peter and Dyne quickly took position, with Peter moving to cover the door, while Dyne keep his shield up towards the previous hallway in case another undead decided to trigger the dart trap on us.
I quickly shot off a [Firebolt] at the crawling skeleton, but was not prepared for it to jump to the ceiling, its tail acting like a spring to launch it from the ground. Then, the clawed bones of its fingers dug into the ceiling and it crawled at us from upside down. I fired another blast of fire at it, but the creature jumped aside until Lukrut's arrow struck it in the skull.
It quickly crumpled to the ground in a pile of bones, the magic animating swiftly dispersing. We then changed our attention to the newly opened passage where Peter did his best to hold off the new squad of skeletons back.
The tight passageway aided in this as only two skeletons could fit through it if standing shoulder to shoulder.
Lukrut drew back another arrow and I readied my flame, then we shouted, "Peter, duck!" Our leader quickly followed the command after pushing a skeleton back into the others, then Lukrut let his arrow go that pierced through two skulls and I immolated that of a third.
Peter quickly followed up by smashing his sword's cross guard into the knees of a standing pair of skeletons, knocking them to the floor.
A pair of three pings echoed from Dyne's position and I glanced over to see three darts falling to the ground after hitting the druid's shield.
Gazing past him, I saw a new robed figure seemingly command a squad of eight zombies our way. In response, I changed my attention to the zombies while Lukrut continued aiding Peter.
Then, I cast a [Firebolt] at the zombie in front, igniting it, but unlike before, it continued charing forwards. I shot two more bolts at it before it finally went down. That wasn't good as it told me that these zombies were much stronger than usual undead.
That also meant that Dyne would have a much harder time holding them all off on his own once the arrived.
The time between casting those three spells took eight seconds. It would be about half a minute before I could take all of them down, and I didn't think that Dyne could hold them off on his own.
Yet, instead of remaining where he was, Dyne moved forwards and stomped on the pressure plate to the dart trap above. The trio of darts quickly fired out and staggered two zombies, which slowed down the other zombies behind them. But it didn't fully stop the charge.
Firing a few more bolts while Dyne stomped the trap in pace with me, we ended up taking down three more zombies before Dyne swung his mace at the skull of the nearest zombie, making it swerve away into a wall. He followed this up by bashing his shield into a pair of zombies which pushed them off balance.
This left a final zombie that was about to try and latch its teeth into Dyne's neck, making my eyes widen in surprise.
[Firebolt] would barely put a dent into the thing. And my other spells would either hit Dyne or have the same effect as the first choice. What do I do?
Celecia-Ninya, try it…
As that familiar voice faded away, my mind was quickly filled with the image of a spell configuration which I copied with my own mana.
A moment later, a blue bolt of [Foxfire] burst from my staff and slammed into the head of the zombie, instantly igniting it before the undead burnt down to ash.
Woah… That was awesome…
I didn't have long to think about what just happened as I fired off another bolt of blue fire at the zombie that was pulling itself back onto its feet from its collapsed position on the wall. Another azure immolation left behind a second pile of ash.
By the gods, I really could cast [Foxfire]! That thought was swiftly followed by me wondering how I was even going to explain learning it? I couldn't just say that Grandma, Kashia's mother, and a goddess at that, decided to just give it to me.
The sounds of crunching pulled my attention back to the fight as I saw Dyne smash his mace down onto another fallen zombie's head, ending it. His right boot was covered in the rotten mush of the other zombie he had stomped back to death.
Moving to the side of Dyne, I spotted the robed zombie and fired another bolt of [Foxfire] at it, letting the undead join its ashen brethren.
Taking the chance to pull back to Lukrut and Peter, we found them finishing off the last of the skeletons together.
Once the danger had passed, Peter called us all to come inside the hidden room. We did as he asked and were pleasantly surprised to find that, other than the skeletons that had made the room their temporary mausoleum, the only other thing inside was a simple chest.
We used this lull to take a quick breather since that fight was a tough one.
"Hey, Ninya?" Dyne asked.
"Yeah?" I replied while resting my back against the stone wall of the room.
"When did you learn that new spell? I haven't seen you cast it before, but it looks similar to a few of the spells Kashia's used with blue flames."
"I-I'm n-not sure myself. It just came to me at that moment and I tried it." I stammered out, hoping that they wouldn't be too suspicious.
"Well, good thing it came to you then, else I'd probably be missing a good chunk of my neck. Thank you." I smiled at the appreciation and gave him a nod back.
"Wait, you learned a new spell?" Lukrut said before patting me on the shoulder, "Nice job! Which spell is it?"
"[F-Foxfire]." I answered with a blush creeping up my face.
"What are you becoming so bashful for, that's great! From the aftermath that I saw, you've learned something pretty powerful which is perfect against a place like this." The archer said while playfully shaking my shoulder.
"We are here to get stronger, Ninya. This just means that it's working." Peter said to reassure me.
"Thanks."
"No problem, Ninya. Now," He turned to look at the unopened chest that rested at the end of the room, "think we should try to open that?" He asked.
"Might as well. Though, we should probably check for traps. Considering how many we've encountered at this point, it's best to not leave anything up to chance." Lukrut answered. Dyne and I gave our approval of the sentiment.
"How should we go about doing this?" I asked.
"Let's try a cautious approach." Peter said, "Ninya and I will stay in here and use my sword to pry the chest open from a distance. Dyne and Lukrut, you two stay outside in case the trap for this chest shuts the door behind us. You two have more of a chance of reopening the door outside compared to all of us being trapped in the room."
"Sounds like a good idea. Let us know when you're about to open the chest." Dyne replied to which Peter gave a nod back. Then, Dyne and Lukrut went outside near where the crawling skeleton activated the pressure plate to open this room's door.
Peter had me stand by the far wall in case the chest had a trap that could affect multiple people near it. Then, he unsheathed his sword and stuck the tip into the crack of the chest and slowly used the blade to push the lid to the metal box open.
Both of us were on edge as we listened for any little noise that might alert us to a trap, yet none came. It was upon finally pushing the rest of the chest open that Peter's face became a look of surprise, before changing to interest as he slowly moved over to the chest and took a deep breath.
Then he jabbed his hand into the chest at lightning speed and ripped out a sword sheathed in a scabbard wrapped in crimson scaled leather. The cross guard of the sword looked like a pair of large gray fangs that curved back to the hilt.
The hilt itself was long enough to fit both of Peter's hands while also being wrapped in more of that crimson scaled leather that also covered the scabbard. The pommel of the sword ended in a large gray fang that could make any hit with that section of the weapon a deadly puncture wound.
Finally, Peter put a hand on the hilt, causing it to slightly flash red, before he pulled out an onyx blade that gleamed in the blue light of the torches. Then, much to both mine and Peter's surprise, the blade turned red like heated metal before a crimson flame covered it.
"Guys, you can come in." Peter called out which got Dyne and Lukrut to reenter the hidden room to witness our leader swinging the sword to test it out.
"What is that?" Lukrut asked in fascination. Peter stopped swinging the sword and the others were able to get a better look at the enchanted sword.
"Looks like Peter found an enchanted blade of flame." I answered the archer while thinking about what I knew of such weapons.
They were generally rare, both from a materials standpoint as well as a crafting standpoint. Typically, making enchanted weapons took high end materials that could survive constant infusions of concentrated mana over long periods. Such materials would either be rare to find or require hunting down extremely dangerous creatures to harvest.
Following that, you'd also need a skilled enough craftsman in both forging and enchanting to assemble all of these materials into a proper weapon that took a lot of time and effort. There were craftsmen who attempted such an effort and ended up killing themselves because the weapon they were creating exploded. One small mistake could either spell a huge amount of time wasted or death.
It's why weapons like these were either commissioned by the rich, inherited, or found. Technically, Peter was holding a retirement in his hands. Then again, looking at the staff that Meepo had created for me in my hand, so was I.
"By the gods. You definitely lucked into a good find." Lukrut said with a chuckle, "Now you've got a proper weapon to fight these undead with."
"Indeed, he does. That will become very useful to you in the future. That is, if you don't try selling it." Dyne remarked in agreement. Peter looked at the sword before focusing on us again.
"Are you sure about giving this to me? I mean, the profit we could split alone from this would probably set us up for life." I smiled at our leader's generosity. Even with that amazing weapon in hand, he still thought about us more than himself.
"You're the only one of us that uses a sword here. You keep it." I said before adding, "After all, acquiring better equipment will also help to make us stronger. That's why we're here."
"Besides, Pete, we'll now be able to start giving you a name like Ninya, the Emerald Mage here!" Lukrut joked. "Peter of the Smoky Scabbard!"
"Peter the Hot Stabber." Dyne added.
"Peter of the Flaming Sticker?" I piled on. The three of us got to enjoy watching our leader chuckle before he sheathed the blade and tied his new sword to his belt. Then, he tied his old sword to the opposite end, not willing to part with it due to understandable sentimental reasons.
"Guess we should continue on. Thanks, everyone." We all quickly left the hidden room and looked down the split hallway in our path.
"Should we continue going down the same path we started and seeing where it ends?" Dyne asked.
"Sounds like a plan. I'm not excited to encounter more of those crawling skeletons anytime soon. They really creep me out." I admitted with a shiver. The way the spine of that thing moved completely bothered me. It reminded me of the way that a worm moved, and I never pictured a human skeleton with an excess spine grafted onto it moving in that way until today.
"I agree. If there are more of those things in this place that move fast like that, I think we'll have a tougher time than we already are." Said our archer whose eyes were glancing at the pile of bones that was said monster.
"Then it seems we've made our choice." Peter said as he took the lead with his shield out and his flaming sword drawn and lit. Behind us, Dyne kept his shield ready for any further traps. Thankfully, we only found one other pressure plate in this hall that we avoided before rounding a corner to our left and down a hall with a room at the end.
As we cautiously approached, Peter held his hand out for us to stop at the threshold of the room. He then peeked inside before pulling his head back.
"There seems to be a large armored zombie inside that looks inactive. It's guarding some kind of chest that's behind it. Do we want to try taking it on or should we go back the way we came?" Peter whispered to us. Personally, I was willing to try our luck, considering that Peter ended up pulling out a flaming sword from the first chest.
"I'm willing to try." I whispered. The others whispered their agreements.
"We'll likely need to lure it into the hallway if Ninya and I are to get a good shot, but based on how large it is, that may just make it impossible for you and Dyne to maneuver. We could try initially fighting in the room, and lead it out if the need comes to it." Lukrut planned out.
"Dyne," Peter began, grabbing the attention of our druid, "we should try to take out its legs to begin with. It'll lower the thing's movement and make it easier for Lukrut and Ninya to pick it off."
"That's doable. I wish we were fighting by some soil. Would be highly helpful to be able to entangle it with [Twine Plant]." Dyne replied.
"Maybe we should look into bringing jars of soil with us when we come down here next time." I thought aloud.
"That's…not actually a bad idea." Dyne pondered in agreement. From there, we broke from our huddle and entered the room.
It was over twenty feet long and thirty wide, but the space meant nothing to Lukrut and I if we didn't know how fast the creature was. And, from getting a good look at the ten-foot-tall monstrosity armored in gray metal and wielding a stone club, I wasn't sure if the bulk of the creature combined with the weight of its armor would actually slow it down.
When the four of us had fully entered the room, the armored zombie's eyes, once hollow and dark, now glowed red with an unnatural life. It gave out a roar before stomping over to us.
Peter and Dyne went to work rushing the creature, trying to slashing its leg or break its knee. At the same time, Lukrut decided to try taking out the creature's eyes with a pair of well-placed arrows, eliciting a roar of rage from the zombie.
It reached for the arrows in its eyes, but I quickly send a blast of [Foxfire] at its hand, setting it alight in blue flame that slowly consumed it. Yet, the creature's hand was relatively slow going in turning to ash, letting me know that its strength was even greater than prior enemies.
The monster then swung its club in a rage, forcing Dyne to stop smashing his mace into the zombie's leg and instead blocked the strike with his shield, launching him off his feet and into the wall with a thud.
I sent another blast of blue flame at the undead's head, smothering it in azure as Peter's sword finally sliced through the creature's leg, dropping it down to a knee. Unfortunately, this caused the creature to swing the club at Peter who had to dive out of the way to avoid getting crushed.
Lukrut continued firing more arrows through the thing's eye sockets, exiting from the back of its skull and bouncing off the stone walls behind. But whatever magic kept this creature animated was much stronger than normal since it just roared in rage while crawling towards Lukrut and I.
"This thing seems pretty pissed." I remarked as I fired another blast of blue.
"No shit. Here I thought undead were meant to be mindless. But this guy?" Lukrut fired and arrow through its mouth and out the back of its head. "Seems to be holding a real grudge for us." We quickly back away as Dyne smashed its elbow with his mace in only his right hand. His other arm hung uselessly at his, likely broken from the hit taken earlier.
Thankfully, that seemed to work as the bone was shattered by the mace, forcing the giant's arm to bend backwards under the weight of the club.
"Just die already!" Peter shouted as he charged the creature's back and impaled his flaming blade through its back and out the front of its chest. The fire of the blade then seemed to burn brighter, causing the metal of the giant's armor to become a molten red.
This seemed to do the trick as the monster quit focusing on Lukrut and I and instead on its chest where the fire quickly started mixing with the blue of mine, engulfing the creature.
Peter and Dyne quickly backed away as this happened and we all took a moment to watch our handiwork as the zombie was broken down into a mixture of ash and metal. It let out one final anguished roar before the dark spell animating it broke, rending the thing silent.
With the immediate danger gone, we went over to Dyne to see him already chugging down healing potion after healing potion before he finally unstrapped the shield from his arm.
"How's the arm?" I asked.
"Definitely broken. I'll need some time before its healed into a usable state." He grunted out before casting his own healing spell onto his arm, illuminating it in green.
"That guy was one tough bastard, wasn't he?" Lukrut remarked as he joined Dyne at the wall he was sitting against.
"I doubt we'd be able to handle fighting that guy and a pack of zombies or skeletons together." Peter replied while sheathing his sword.
"But we did really well in teamwork, at least." I piped up, earning Peter tousling my hair.
"Certainly did, Ninya." We spent a few more minutes catching our breaths as we let Dyne heal. But our rest soon ended when the green light on Dyne's arm faded and he stood up.
"Well, want to try opening this chest up, then? We did fight a giant zombie for it." He asked with a smirk.
"That we did. Alright, let's take this cautiously again. You three each take an unoccupied wall away from the chest, and I'll use my sword to pop it open." Following his command, we all took a wall and watched the blond swordsman pry open the chest with his unenchanted sword.
It was a good thing he did so since the moment his sword pushed open the chest, a dart shot out from the within the chest's confines in the direction where a person might normally be standing to open it before harmlessly banging off the ceiling and hitting the ground.
"At least being cautious was proven to be the correct course of action." Dyne remarked in relief.
Peter then reached into the chest before turning to the druid and shouting, "Catch!" Before tossing a green and brown object at the man.
Dyne quickly grabbed it with his free hand which allowed us all to get a look at the new mace he was holding.
The head of the weapon seemed to be made of a dark metal covered in what looked to be green moss and had a multitude of spikes jutting out from the sides of it. The shaft of the mace looked like a straightened tangle of twisting tree roots. In a way, the mace almost looked to be more of a living thing than a weapon.
"Seems like a good weapon." Spinning the weapon in hand, Dyne gave a practice swing that shocked all of us when a mass of roots twisted out from the spikes of the mace and extended five feet forwards. "I think I'm going to like this one." He said with a grin.
"Great! We've got another enchanted weapon added to the arsenal. Doubt these zombies are going to stand much of a chance against you two in a melee." Lukrut congratulated with a cheer.
"We've had some good fortune with our finds. Hopefully, this continues with our exploration." Peter optimistically remarked as we rejoined at the door to the room before walking out into the hallway. It was when we were a few feet out the door that a cracking was heard at our feet and the floor fell out from under us!
"Fuck these traps!" Lukrut screamed as we fell into darkness together.
[Kashia]
Looking over at Momo sitting next to me on another chair I had conjured for viewing my team through a scrying spell, I gave him a raised eyebrow.
"That was pretty cruel to trap the exit just after fighting a miniboss and being smart enough to avoid the chest trap." I remarked to the skeletal lich who was currently in his Momon disguise. Narberal sat beside the skeleton in her adventuring clothes as she watched the spell with a lot of curiosity.
"They shouldn't have assumed that leaving the room would be guaranteed to be safe. Besides, that trap was in the original Tomb of Olaf Bludwriter. I don't get why you took it out."
"Considering how unfair that trap was for all of us Players who went through it, you and me included, I left it out on purpose." I responded.
"I think it develops a healthy appreciation for danger." Momo stated calmly with a hint of amusement in his tone.
"Healthy my ass. You'll turn them into paranoid wrecks by the end of the first level. I think you just like seeing more noobs fall to that trap like every other Player has." I retorted.
"You're the one who made the dart traps. They've spent this entire second run with shields at the ready." Momo concluded, his helmeted face almost begging me to argue against it.
Shit, he's right.
"The fact that you haven't said anything just proves me right."
I rolled my eyes and sighed, "Fine. You have me on that one." I admitted before getting out of my chair, "I'm going to go collect my team from that pit now."
[Lukrut]
Finding myself looking at the sky outside the dungeon made me groan in annoyance. "Damnit. That trap was bullshit." I complained while sitting up.
"Probably, but that just means you'll have to be more aware of your surroundings." Kashia's voice answered behind me. I smirked before looking behind to see Kashia sitting on her chair with her legs crossed. Then, I noticed the armored form of Momon next to her with Nabe sitting next to him.
"Hey, Momon, Nabe. What are you two doing here?" I asked with a lot of curiosity. Were those two here because they heard of the dungeon?
"We were in the area and Kashia invited us to come watch all of you make it through the dungeon." Momon answered.
"Really? Guess you're going to be watching us get our asses kicked repeatedly by this dungeon." I said with a bit of embarrassment. I mean, it's one thing for Kashia seeing us be beaten by this dungeon since she was the one that had set all of our training up. Having two other adamantite-plates that were from outside of our group made me a lot more self-conscious.
"Yeah. We've already tried it twice and been taken out by traps each time. Kashia had to pull us out afterwards." Peter said in self-deprecation.
"At least we got further than we did before. And we got a new pair of weapons for our troubles as well." Ninya piped up, which was definitely a plus to this whole situation. With Peter and Dyne now wielding enchanted weapons, we'd definitely get even further through the dungeon than we did before. We just needed to keep an eye out for the traps since those were what ended up being our downfall each time.
That was when I felt an itch in my right hand which I began scratching. I don't know why it was that ever since we entered this dungeon, my hand has been constantly itching. Maybe it's just pure nerves acting out? Hopefully it settles.
"Perhaps, if we keep searching, we might find some items for you and Lukrut." Dyne optimistically stated.
"I don't think I'll need much at the moment." Ninya replied, "I've already got my staff which is good enough for me. Besides, most of my ability comes from my spells."
"Speaking of spells…" Kashia began, causing the Emerald Mage to turn and look to my beautiful sorceress, "Where did you end up learning [Foxfire]? I know for a fact that I never taught you how to cast that."
"I don't know. For some reason, I could just do it." Ninya answered nervously, yet looking at Kashia's expression, she had a mixture of curiosity and concern on her face. I didn't exactly understand what might be worrying about Ninya learning a new spell, but I also wasn't a magic user, so I didn't know exactly what was really entailed in learning spells besides studying.
But Kashia's expression quickly shifted between happiness and pride as hers and Ninya's gazes met. "You're doing a good job, kiddo. Keep up the good work." That helped cheer up the younger mage before Kashia went back to examining the rest of us.
"Third time's the charm, right?" I joked as I pushed myself back to my feet. "Can't keep those monsters waiting, can we?" The others quickly began to join me in standing and we all began to collect our gear.
"No, it seems like we can't." Dyne then went over to Kashia and asked, "Would you be able to make me some canisters to put dirt in?" The blonde beauty smirked before pulling out a bandolier already prefilled with dirt. "How did you-"
"I was listening in. Let's see some of that druid power of yours while you're traversing the dungeon, Dyne." The druid chuckled and gave a nod.
"I'll make sure to do just that." He then looked over to the other adamantite-plates "It was good to see you two again." Dyne said with a nod to the pair of adventurers. They nodded back and our druid made his way over to the dungeon entrance along with the others. I turned back to Kashia with a grin.
"You know, motivation can really help a person go a long way in difficult situations." I remarked to Kashia in a teasing manner. She replied with an intrigued raise of her eyebrow before motioning me over with her finger.
Coming over to where she was seated, she then said, "Come a little closer." By now, I was right in front of her, so I leaned down a bit to meet her at eye level. Then, she grabbed me by the collar and pulled me into a deep kiss for what felt like a glorious eternity before pushing me back. "Make it further than the last time, and we'll see what happens."
"Yes, ma'am!" I answered, perfectly happy with my new orders as I ran off to rejoin my team who were all watching the interaction with smirks.
"Have a good talk?" Peter asked.
"Amazing talk. Let's get moving." I answered before scratching my right hand again.
Making it back to the second junction was just as difficult as the first time. It seemed that all the enemies had been revived and we were forced to battle our way through the area once again, especially because the one damn crawling skeleton triggered the pressure plate to the door again. What had been confirmed, after the tedious exercise of killing the skeletons and zombies that assaulted us, was that the treasure chests did not get refilled after being emptied.
That, after a group discussion with the others, meant we didn't have to fight that giant zombie again since there technically wasn't a reason to do so. Yet, I had this innate feeling of disappointment upon hearing that. Don't get me wrong, I love adventuring. Exploring new places, facing dangers with friends, it was amazing. Yet, I never was one to search out a fight unless I had to.
Now, I just really wanted to test myself against something strong. I wanted to become stronger. But that was normal since we were meant to be training, right?
I had to pull myself out of this thought as we went down this new hallway which had a pair of doorways on either side. Moving to the left doorway, Dyne entered first with his shield up while I and Ninya came after as Peter covered the rear. Once inside, we were able to see a load of stone rectangular boxes…
"Hey, don't those kinda look like…" I began as I pulled out a pair of arrows and nocked them to my bow.
"Coffins?" Peter finished as he brandished his shield. That seemed to be the signal for all the lids of these coffins to slide open as zombies began pulling themselves out of their former resting places.
"Shit!" I exclaimed as I fired off an arrow into the head of one zombie. Ninya fired off that blue flame of [Foxfire] on another zombie. While Ninya and I kept trying to put down zombies faster than they could rise, Peter and Dyne used their enchanted weapons to great effect as they smashed and slashed through the undead. Even with our good showing, my ears picked up a sound that made me worry as I turned to the doorway to see zombies coming from the other room.
"Guys, we've got company!" I announced as I rapidly tried unloading arrows into the growing horde. The itch in my hand kept growing and seemed to come to a head as I reached into my quiver and pulled out a rough arrow that I was fairly certain wasn't in my quiver before.
I didn't have much time to contemplate it as I nocked the arrow and fired it in one swift motion, only then noticing that it was definitely not one of my arrows. It was too rough, like white roots twisted into a facsimile of what an arrow could be. But still, the arrow fired true into the head of a zombie that had gotten through the door.
Then, the zombie's head exploded into a mass of white roots that stabbed into the heads of two nearby zombies before pulling them into the roots of the original zombie's head which ended up permanently putting the three undead down. Then, the itching in my hand grew once again.
Looking down at my hand, I was horrified to see another white root arrow push itself out of the palm of my hand until it grew into the full length of an arrow.
What the fuck is this?
The moaning of the zombies didn't give me time to think about it as I nocked the root arrow onto my bowstring and fired it at another group of zombies. Once again, white roots exploded from the initially hit zombie's head, then stabbed into the heads of four more nearby zombies before retracting, ripping the heads off these zombies. That seemed to be the last of our foes as I turned to look at my friends who looked at me with wide eyes.
"Lukrut, what was that?" Ninya asked. Looking at my hand once again, I couldn't see any difference after those arrows seemed to just 'grow' out of my palm.
"I-I don't know." I genuinely responded. What were those white roots?
"Well, whatever it was, it certainly saved us from being overrun by the undead." Peter said in an effort to try to see the positive in the phenomenon. Looking from my hand, then to the white roots covering the zombies, I felt a strange connection with them. Almost like…
Hold my hand out, I watched in fascination as the roots untangled themselves from the zombie corpses and jumped towards my hand. As they did so, the roots continued twisting themselves into a thin line before entering the palm of my hand until, finally, the roots were all gone. I actually felt a bit of a rush from those roots reentering me, like they had grabbed some type of power from those zombies before taking it back into my body.
"Okay, definitely not normal! Are you okay, Lukrut?" Ninya asked in worry as she rushed up to me and examined my normal-looking hand.
"Yeah, feel great, actually." I answered.
"Feeling great doesn't mean that you are okay. There have been plenty of people who said they felt great before suddenly dying." Dyne remarked.
"Maybe we should try to head out of this dungeon and get whatever it is," Peter said while gesturing to my hand, "checked out." While I can't deny that their worries weren't unfounded, I actually did feel great.
Take your seed and grow…
Those words echoed within my mind as I couldn't help but wonder. Perhaps this was what that seed was meant to do? The being did speak of roots and power, and considering how I felt after reabsorbing those roots, that ancient being may have been quite literal in what it had told me.
"You guys are worrying over me too much. Maybe what happened was some weird kind of magic my body developed?" I reasoned to the three.
"Perhaps. There have been stories of children developing unique magical abilities as they grew older. It's just, I've never heard the same occurring to an adult. You might be different in that way. Unfortunately, I'm not the best versed in such aspects of magic, so you should take what I say with a grain of salt."
I then grinned at our young mage, "Look, Ninya, I'm magic now!" She snorted at the joke before lightly punching me in the arm.
"Just… Just try to be careful with whatever that weird magic is, okay? Magic can be dangerous if you're not careful." Ninya warned with a lot of worry in her voice. I put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring nod.
"I will. I don't plan to play around that much with an ability that I have only just discovered. Seeing what happened to those zombies, I do not want something like that to happen to any of you because I screwed up." I promised to the three. They gave me nods of trust and I couldn't help but grin. "So, ready to continue on since I've got an order from Kashia to fulfill?"
The others laughed at that and we exited the room before continuing down the hallway once more.
[Kashia]
My nails tapped on the arm of my chair in a constant, steady pattern as I thought about what I just saw happen.
First, Ninya managed to learn how to cast [Foxfire], something that was either a racial spell or a spell that had been gifted by a very specific being… Mother. That spelled out a whole list of issues that I could end up dealing with. But Ninya? Mother had taken interest in my student/daughter and I didn't know whether to be worried or relieved.
What I did know is that I needed to keep a closer eye on Ninya. That also might mean that the two blessings which Ninya had ended up receiving had come from Mother. What exactly was Mother's plan with my Ninya? I needed to get to the bottom of this.
Then, that led to my other mystery of the day, Lukrut.
He told me himself that he had no aptitude for magic, and nothing about what he had told me sounded like a lie. Yet, somehow, he ended up growing arrows of roots from his hands and used them to rip apart eight zombies in an explosion of white roots. And then, he sucked those very same roots back into his hand like a goddamn vacuum.
I was worried about my silly archer. The way that the others had reacted to seeing that weird magic told me that nothing about it was normal. Even stranger, my knowledge of magic had no idea what that was. I know it was magic, there wasn't any other explanation. Yet, somehow, my supernatural knowledge just couldn't understand it.
That did not make sense.
Why are the people I care about getting involved in weird magical shenanigans?
"Kashia, is that ability of Lukrut's something you knew about?" Momo asked while looking at my silly archer through the scrying spell.
"No. This is the first time I've ever seen it. I'm trying to figure this one out as well." I answered the armored skeleton while continuing to watch my team traverse the dungeon.
"Interesting. Do you plan on testing Lukrut's new abilities soon?" Momo asked, making give him a side-eye glance.
"If it's safe for him, then yes. If it risks harm to him, then no. I won't put my mate's life in jeopardy." I answered.
"So, he's your mate now, huh?" Momo teased, making me glare at him.
"Don't even try to start with me, dickless. I've been on edge all day today, and it taken all my willpower to keep it together in front of the others." I said before slumping back into my chair with an annoyed huff.
"Oh, yeah. I was going to ask you about that. How has it been going?"
"It's lasted more than three days. I basically slept in a bath filled with ice cubes last night. And Lukrut's teasing has not helped me in the slightest. Especially because he has no idea what's happening." I answered with a frustrated moan.
"Lady Kashia, while I was unfortunately unable to find out anything about kitsune biology, I did have a detailed conversation with my sister, Lupusregina Beta. I have good news and bad news from my talk." My eyes widened at what Narberal said, and I quickly sat up and looked at her.
"Narbee, what's the bad news?" I almost begged.
"Lupusregina said that you will likely be unable to resist your instincts if your species is as close to hers as she's guessed. She's actually quite impressed that you've managed to hold out for so long." Narberal answered, making me sigh.
"The good news?" She handed me a satchel that I quickly took from her and opened. When I saw the items inside, I blanched. "What?"
"You did say that you had worries about pregnancy. The Pleiades came up with multiple different methods that could work to help you. I hope that this aids in your issue, Lady Kashia." Narberal replied calmly, while I was anything but.
"Thanks for the help, Narbee." I said in appreciation, even if everything she told me made me want to melt into a puddle.
"You are welcome, Lady Kashia."
I hated the fact that I couldn't even be mad at Narberal. She was just trying to help as best as she could. The fact that she was so earnest about the information she gave me just made me sit back and glance at the satchel that she had handed me. If nothing else, at least this might be useful later. With that, I stored the satchel into my storage and just went back to watching my team continue on their path through the dungeon.
Besides the weirdness, my team was doing pretty well for their third attempt into the dungeon. Making it past the crypt rooms and towards the next junction. They decided to take the right path, making me smirk at the choice. They just picked the next miniboss.
Then I immediately cringed after that as they triggered a pressure plate that set off a trap which filled the hallway with a green gas. After it cleared, I saw my entire team unconscious on the floor.
"I'm disappointed that they ended up triggering your trap instead of mine." Momo remarked with disappointment before he looked at me, "Our score is still in your favor at two for you and one for me."
I forgot to mention, both Momo and I were keeping score on which of our traps my team would trigger. I got my point on the first trap since I was the one that set those fun devices up. Momo was the pitfall trap, and mine was the gas trap. If my team ever found out that it was Momo and I who set up all of those traps, I feel that they might want to strangle us.
I stretched my arms before getting out of my chair. "Be back in a minute." I said before I went to collect everyone once again.
After pulling everyone out of the dungeon once again, at looked down at their unconscious forms and smiled. While it was going to take some time, from what I had seen by watching them, they were definitely getting stronger.
They were still a long way off from being at the strength I'd like, but even I was reasonable enough to understand that this process could take months to a few years to accomplish.
Still, this was a start.
Then, I found my gaze moving over to Lukrut's sleeping form. Hmm, I did promise a reward for the group making it further than they had previously. They had performed said task quite admirably.
With a smirk, I finally decided a reward for my silly archer.
[Lukrut]
As I opened my eyes, I found my view of the sky was mostly blocked by a pair of large, dark, round shapes. At the same time, my head felt like it was resting on a plush pillow. What was this?
"You finally awake, Lucky?" Kashia's voice asked from above me. Then, I realized exactly where I was. I was resting in Kashia's lap. And the things I was looking at were the underside of her generous chest.
I am a very lucky man in a position that many would kill for. I didn't exactly want to move right now.
"You sure I'm not dreaming right now? This is something I'm fairly certain occurred in a dream of mine before." I answered with a smile.
"Oh, so you dream of waking up in the lap of any random woman? Should I be jealous?" She asked while her fingers teased my hair.
"Doubt that any woman could ever match comfortable thighs like yours, real or dream." I replied while giving the bare section of said body part an appreciative pat. I was satisfied to see the blonde sorceress' breathing speed up from the action before slowing down. Very satisfied.
"That's good to know, Lucky. But try not to tease me like that. I might just lose control and decide to do something about it." Kashia warned in what sounded like a playful manner. That made me quite curious on what Kashia might like to do.
"But that just makes me all the more curious about what you might want to do." I quipped back.
Sadly, I then felt Kashia move her hands to my shoulders before she gently pushed me into a sitting position. When I turned to look at her, I saw the gentle smile of hers with those warm orange eyes ringed with gold. Yet, there was a slight nervousness and worry mixed in them.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked softly, minding the others hearing us as they conversed among themselves.
My sorceress princess was quiet for a moment as her eyes looked away from mine in silent contemplation. After coming to a conclusion of whatever internal debate she was having, she finally whispered back, "Tonight, I want to tell you a secret of mine. Would you be willing to hear it?"
"Of course I would, Kashia. But why do you seem so worried?" I answered as I cupped her cheek. She leaned into my hand as if searching for relief. Then, she sighed and met my gaze once more.
"Because it might change how you think of me." She admitted softly. I could see the doubt eating away at her. Whatever secret of hers that she was keeping obviously was massive in her mind. Likely, she also considered how it might affect our other friends if I didn't like whatever she said and decided to inform everyone about it.
Yet, the fact that she was willing to risk all of that just to tell me whatever it was that she had bottled up meant that she had both an immense faith as well as love for me. She felt I deserved to know this secret, even if it meant opening herself up to be hurt.
At that moment, I felt completely confident in admitting that I am absolutely in love with this woman.
Taking her hand in mine, I rested my forehead against her before reassuring her, "You could say that you are a fraud, a monster, a simple peasant, that you have green skin, but it wouldn't change how I feel about you. I promise that you can put your trust in me."
As the words left my mouth, she kissed me before separating. "I'll hold you to that promise tonight, my silly archer." She then stood up and helped to pull me to my feet before looking up at the sky, now filled with red and orange from the slowly setting sun in the horizon.
That made me realize how long my friends and I had been delving into that dungeon. Between all the fighting, exploring, and the traps that we fell to, we had been in there for hours. Time really flies when you get focused on something.
Kashia led the two of us over to the others, whereupon her face grew into an amused expression as they all turned to look at us approaching. "Seems like everyone had a good third attempt. Too bad that the gas trap got you all."
"It is extremely…" I could see Peter mime trying to strangle a person in frustration before letting go and sighing, "vexing. The people or things that made this place along with these traps makes me really wish to meet them. Preferably with my boot and new sword."
The feeling was mutual.
"That last trap was annoyingly cruel. The middle of the hallway was just one massive pressure plate trap that activated darts to rain down on us. Then, then sides of the hallway that we tried to shimmy across were trapped to release a gas to knock us out. I dread what we may deal with on the lower floors if this is just the start." Dyne said with a visible shiver.
"I think we may have to just attempt to power through the dart traps with you and Peter using your shields to block the raining darts." Ninya suggested.
"Yet, that might also leave us open to further dart traps like what happened during our first delving. I highly doubt that the solution would be that simple." Dyne reasoned back.
"We could always try holding our breaths with the gas trap?" Peter then added which, while one possible idea, had potential issues.
"The only problem is that we don't know how long that gas might linger in the air or if it even needs us to breathe it in to affect us." I replied. We continued to deliberate amongst ourselves on this annoying conundrum until, surprisingly, Momon piped up.
"Technically, you have two potential methods of traversal that you've overlooked. Both of which are performable by Dyne." We looked from the armored man to Dyne, then back again.
"How so?" Dyne asked, quite intrigued.
"Make a bridge. I'd like to believe that you, Dyne, are a strong enough druid to conjure and control plants. Try either making plants that can form into a bridge from the soil you carry or manipulate the roots of that mace you now wield." Momon answered, causing our druid to think about the suggestion.
"I've never been able to conjure as many plants as you're suggesting before without running out of mana."
Momon then pointed over to Kashia, "She's made certain that none of you will tire or run out of mana during your delving. Use this as a chance to see the potential of what you can do when not restrained by the limits of mana or stamina."
Our large druid thought about this for a moment before standing up and moving a few feet away from us until he had an open area to work with. From there, he pulled out his enchanted mace and gave a few test swings, causing roots to grow out from the spikes of the mace in a straightened bundle, just waiting to make contact with something, then they pulled themselves back into the mace's spikes until Dyne swung again.
After the fourth swing, Dyne suddenly slammed the mace and tangle of roots into the ground before quickly casting a spell that covered the roots in a green aura. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the roots began diving and weaving a road of roots before our druid until the rooted road stretched to a distance of over thirty feet.
The green aura that covered the roots quickly faded after that, and Dyne ripped the mace from the rooted road with a simple jerk of his arm. Once completed, the druid fell to his knee and we all rushed over to check on him as he breathed heavily.
Guess even with limitless stamina, the extreme exertion from growing all those roots took a toll on our friend.
"You alright, Dyne?" Peter asked in concern.
"Jus-Just need a moment." Dyne answered between gasps, "Never tried growing something that large before."
"Pretty impressive first attempt." Kashia praised as her eyes gazed over the grown creation. "I think I know the perfect training activity that I'll want you to complete during our time here."
Dyne gave the blonde sorceress a questioning look which she took as approval to continue, "This area has a few bunches of trees here and there. But it could be better. I want you to grow me a forest."
The druid did his best to hide his surprise at the assignment he was given. "That's a tall order, Kashia."
"It's a tall order, but I know that you can do it." She replied with absolute confidence.
Dyne decided to fall onto his back and just remain there, "Looks like I'm taking up forestry. Ninya, you were definitely telling the truth when you said she worked you to the bones. I can already feel mine aching and I haven't even grown a sapling, yet."
"If you think that's bad, then I've got some terrible news for you." Kashia said with an ominous giggle, "Time to run a mile."
We all groaned at this.
After running an arduous mile where we had to carry all of our gear with us while doing so, we made it back to find a pot of stew hanging over a fire with Kashia, Momon, and Nabe sitting around it chatting. Kashia was the only one eating as she had a steaming bowl of soup in her hands while Momon and Nabe sat without.
When we finally arrived, it took a moment for us to catch our breaths, especially Ninya who had fallen to her knees and immediately rolled onto her back. As a mage, she already was at a slight disadvantage performing physical exercise in comparison to the rest of us. Even with the enchantments Kashia cast on us, that didn't change the fact that her body was sore and ragged from the strenuous activity, just that she would be able to continue running or casting spells if the need called for it.
"Since I'm not a cruel task mistress, I'll take it a little easier on you all for your first day and not force you to go through the dungeon again for your dinner." Kashia announced which made all of us feel relief.
"Thank the gods." Ninya grunted out from her spot on the ground. We then made our way over to the pot of stew with growling stomachs before taking a seat at the different chairs around the fire. Ninya had to be carried over to an empty chair with Dyne's help before being sat down, much to the young mage's gratitude.
Taking a seat next to Kashia, I watched as multiple bowls floated from the ground towards the pot where the ladle inside deposited a portion of the stew into each bowl. Then, the invisible telekinetic magic passed the bowls to each of us.
"Thanks for the dinner." We all said before quickly digging into the meal. If someone saw us, they'd probably assume that we hadn't eaten in days from the way that we were scarfing down our stew.
"You're welcome." Kashia replied with amusement. That was when we saw Momon and Nabe stand up from their chairs.
"Where are you two heading off to?" I asked.
"Nabe and I can only stay so long, unfortunately. We have some jobs that need to be accomplished which we've delayed long enough. We'll be back in a few days to see how much you've progressed." Momon answered before looking at Kashia and giving her a nod.
"See you soon, Momo, Nabe." Said as the enigmatic duo walked off towards the west as the light of dusk was quickly fading away to night.
"What were you three talking about?" Ninya asked after gathering her strength.
"Just a lot of random topics. Momo and I knew each other from back home in Yggdrasil. It was good to catch up." She answered.
"Wait, so there are more people from your homeland here besides just you and Meepo?" Peter asked with some amazement.
"From what I know, just Momo and Nabe. I knew Momo when he was a lot skinnier." Kashia seemed to smirk as she said this. I could only assume that it was some sort of inside joke. "He's done pretty well for himself, all things considered. But enough about me. How are you four after your first day of training?"
"Exhausted." We answered together.
"Then that just means you are all pushing yourselves to your limits. Becoming stronger is hard work, and hard work is never easy. Otherwise, everyone would be able to become adamantite-plates."
"Here I thought that fighting ogres was difficult. Fighting off all those zombies and skeletons in such a cramped space filled with traps changed that opinion real quick." Peter remarked with a chuckle.
"At least we only had to fight off that giant zombie just once. That was the worst thing to deal with in that dungeon in my personal opinion." Dyne said while finished his stew.
"No," Ninya countered, "the worst thing in the dungeon are those crawling skeletons. They are just so disgusting to watch move. I'd prefer fighting the giant zombie another time if we didn't have to see the crawling ones ever again."
"I was actually fine with our enemies." I spoke up, "It's just those fucking traps that bother me. We've been taken out of the dungeon every time by one of those bullshit traps triggering."
"I'm in agreement with you there." Peter followed up.
That was when Kashia added her two coppers to the opinion, "I once had to traverse a dungeon where every single step had a different trap. It was known as Fafnir's Vault. Story behind it was that an extremely greedy dwarf named Fafnir wanted to protect the treasure he murdered his father for. So, he built a vault within a mountain to protect his hoard. Yet, as time passed, Fafnir's body began slowly changing. His paranoia and greed consumed him as his flesh turned to scales, his fingers to claws, his teeth to fangs. His unending lust for gold made his body elongate and grow to slowly match it.
He became a wyrm until not even that form could match his insatiable avarice. Wings burst from his back, tattered and weighed down by chains of gold as a crown of horns stabbed through his skull. That was when Fafnir the Greedy became Fafnir, Dragon of Avarice. Fighting him was terrible since he still retained that same mind which transformed a mountain into a vault. He continually triggered traps during our battle that made me never want to visit that place again, even after I defeated him."
That was definitely a unique story. "What caused Fafnir to transform into a dragon?" I asked.
"It was a curse given to him by the gods. It was seen as a fitting punishment to match the greed it took to kill his father and hollow out an entire mountain to build a vault to protect his wealth." Kashia answered.
"But why a dragon? If you're trying to curse someone, why give them a curse that makes them even stronger than they were before?" Ninya asked with confusion.
"What are dragons known for?"
"Being powerful and hoarding wealth?" Ninya replied, unsure of her answer.
"Exactly. The gods essentially lit a massive beacon on top of Fafnir's head telling everyone that a powerful dragon with a massive treasure hoard is waiting for someone to claim it. Fafnir would never know peace as someone would always be after him, either for the fame of killing a dragon or for the wealth he hoarded. He couldn't leave his mountain either since his form was too large for it."
"So, you killed him and took his hoard for yourself?" Peter questioned with interest.
"Killed him? Yes. Took his hoard? No. I was relatively young in my travels of Yggdrasil which meant that I needed help to even challenge him. His hoard was payment for the assistance." Kashia's response did interest me. Hearing that she hadn't always been immensely powerful gave me hope that I could reach her level of power one day as well.
"Was Fafnir the only dragon you fought?" Ninya asked excitedly at the prospect of hearing more of the blonde's stories.
"There were a few. One of the memorable ones was the fight I had with Gesta Danorum, the Mountain Tyrant…"
As we all were all told the tale of her time traversing the dragon's mountain, I couldn't help but be enthralled by how excited she looked recalling the memories of that adventure.
I hope that all five of us will have many moments like that during our journeys together.
It was almost two hours later after hearing more stories and setting up our tents that most everyone had finally gone off to sleep.
The only ones still up, besides the crickets chirping, was Kashia and myself. The fire besides us which was slowly dying, letting the night encroach upon us.
Soon enough, the only light left to illuminate us would be the moonlight and stars above.
Kashia was the first to stand before giving me a smile as she began walking away with her hands held together behind her back. "Nice night for a walk, huh?" She said, beckoning me with her hand which made me chuckle as I got up from my chair and followed after her.
"Well, with you, it is." I answered while catching up until I was keeping pace next to her. She playfully bumped into my side with a giggle.
"Flatterer."
"I recall hearing that you enjoyed my flattery." I retorted.
"Never said that I didn't." Kashia taunted back. By this point, we were starting to enter a copse of trees until we arrived to the center. Shafts of pale moonlight cut through the trees to the ground below. It gave me more than enough light to pick out all the details of Kashia's form.
"Where is it that you are leading us?" I asked with a smirk as I looked at the nervous Kashia. Her eyes seemed to be flickering with gold and I was fascinated watching them change.
"I just needed to bring you someplace so we wouldn't be interrupted." Kashia answered before stopping. She then turned to me and took a deep inhale before breathing slowly out. "You know, Lukrut, I'm not exactly like most other women."
I couldn't help but laugh at that, "Kashia, I highly doubt that there is any woman that could match up to you. If that's your secret, then it isn't exactly a well-kept one." That got my beautiful princess to laugh.
"Not what I meant, dummy." She retorted before finally calming down, "More specifically, I'm not exactly like most other human women." The emphasis that she ended up putting on human made me pause. What exactly did she mean, because I already had a guess on what she might say?
Was she not human?
"What are you trying to tell me, Kashia?" I asked calmly.
"It's better if I show you." As she said this, I watched as what seemed to be reality ripple around the blonde sorceress as what seemed to be nine golden claw tips tore into existence until they kept growing. Soon, I was able to distinguish that what I was seeing wasn't claws.
No, they were furred limbs, the color of gold, that kept growing all around Kashia until they were multiple feet in length. I was finally able to understand that these were all tails as they swayed hypnotically in the air.
Atop Kashia's golden hair sat two long furred ears of matching color that lightly twitched in movement before swiveling towards me. Taking it all in, this was Kashia's true form.
And it was breathtaking to behold.
"I-I hope that this doesn't frighten you. I'm not exactly sure how you feel about woman with multiple extra lim-mmph!" I swiftly moved over to her and silenced her insecurities by kissing her. And, seeing her tails writhe in pleasure around us, I could tell that it was quite effective. Breaking apart for air, we gazed into each other's eyes and I got to see her constantly shifting eyes beam with happiness. "Should I take that as a sign that you like them?"
"Why wouldn't I? They just make you look more beautiful in my eyes." That was the right thing to say since she then pulled me into a kiss as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I took that as I pulled her in by the waist and felt up the bare section of her thigh with my right hand. Kashia aided in this endeavor by lifting up her leg so that it was easier to hold. All the while, her golden appendages continually brushed against my body, as if her entire being couldn't get enough of me.
I don't know how long we were like this, but we eventually broke apart and I finally asked her one question on my mind before I got too engrossed in carnal desire to care.
"W-What exactly are you?" I asked with a smile.
"Th-That's a l-loaded question." She replied, her eyes mostly gold at this point with small rings of orange around her now slitted pupils.
"How so?"
"We can talk after. Stop teasing me!" She said as a primal hunger filled her voice.
"Yes, ma'am." I answered as I lowered her to the ground…
Laying down on my back with Kashia resting her golden head against my chest, I couldn't help but find her tails to be very convenient in acting as both pillows and blankets for us. Taking a moment to feel a tail nearest to my hand, I noted how soft the golden fur felt. It felt impossibly smooth and one could probably get lost in just stroking it.
Then, a twitch in the corner of my vision and my eyes focused on her ears that twitched at the slightest sound. I couldn't resist as my hand lightly caressed her ear, the fur of which had the same smoothness as her tails. That seemed to finally draw her attention as Kashia turned her, now orange, gaze up to me.
"Careful now, my ears are quite sensitive." She softly stated with a satisfied smile on her face.
"I just couldn't resist. They are just begging to be touched." I retorted with a grin.
"I guess I shall allow it this time since it's you." She conceded with a giggle before I once more started to softly rub her ear. "So, before everything that happened, you had a question for me."
"Yeah, I still remember it. What exactly are you? You said that it's a loaded question, but that doesn't explain much." I asked her.
"I'm two things, my silly archer. The obvious part is already plain to see. I'm a kitsune. We are known for being magical foxes with multiple tails and the ability to take on human or humanoid form. The less obvious part would come from my parentage." She answered with a kiss.
"And what would your parentage be? You said that your mother is the queen of your land. Does it have something to do with your father or is it something else?" I asked with quite a bit of curiosity. She gave a beautiful laugh as she shook her head.
"No, silly. Remember when I said that the Realm of Foxes is protected by a guardian goddess that I called the Queen of Foxes?" She asked.
"Yes, I remember. It's why the foxes of your land are magical and revered in the first place." I answered, remembering as much as I could from the feast yesterday.
"Well, she's also considered the queen of the Realm of Foxes." As Kashia said that, I finally put it together.
"Your mother is a goddess!?" I said before also remembering that other conversation those nobles had. They mentioned a goddess in the Great Forest of Tob. A woman of inhuman beauty with fox ears and nine golden tails. The Fox Princess. "Kashia, are you the Fox Princess that those nobles at the party were talking about earlier?"
She gave a wide smile and said, "Surprise! You just had sex with a demigoddess princess! How does it feel?"
I couldn't help but chuckle at how little she took this seriously as I cupped her face and stroked her cheek with my thumb. "Absolutely divine, Kashia. Just like you and your fluffy tails." Kashia yawned as her eyes fluttered with exhaustion after I said this and laid her head back down onto my chest. I saw her eyelids slowly close as a contented smile filled her face.
"That's good. Let's talk more in the morning. I'm tired and you're this demigoddess princess' pillow for tonight." Soon after she muttered this, her breathing slowed until I could tell she had finally gone to sleep. I was about to drift off with her until I found a movement in the corner of my eye.
Quickly shielding Kashia in my arms, I found myself looking at a large red fox with streaks of blue spreading throughout its fur. Besides just the intelligence I saw in its blue eyes, the fact that it had seven tails flowing behind it told me that this fox was probably another of Kashia's people.
But why was it here?
Its blue eyes quickly flickered from me to Kashia who was held in my arms. Its eyes studied her nude form for a moment before focusing back on me once more.
"The Princess picked you. Take very good care of her or I will be back for your face." As the deep and gritty voice of the male fox said this, I saw the fur in one of his tails stiffen before it slashed against the bark of a nearby tree. To my horror, I watched a large section of bark fall off the tree in one smooth piece.
Then, the fox traced the tip of another tail lightly on my face in warning. I gulped before nodding.
This seemed to appease the fox as it slowly trotted off until it had disappeared, or I think it had disappeared. For all I know, it might still be around, watching and waiting for me to slip up. Hugging Kashia to my body a little tighter, I closed my eyes and hoped that I didn't end up waking up with most of my face sliced off like that tree.
Been a while since I've done one of these. Just letting you know that besides crossposting this from Spacebattles, I've been convinced to post a... smuttier version of this chapter to Questionable Questing. As of now, it is there.
Stay Frosty My Friends.