Chapter Sixty-Three Evaluation (Patreon)

Misaki stirred. Shifting a little, but she largely stayed where she was on the bed. Pressed against her, she could feel the soft body of a familiar form. A reminder of last night. Sadly it wasn’t that exciting a story. Rather instead she was just sharing her bed with Lily. The pair of them had fallen to sleep together after spending a few hours together. In fact Lily had been teaching her about makeup.

Misaki didn’t think she was going to bother with it. She had a really cute face already and all her demons were the same. As for her guests? None of the elves really used it either. Apparently it wasn’t really needed and rather rare anyway. Magic could do many of the things it was meant for, but the lesson was still interesting. Makeup was about enhancement, not concealment. Unfortunately it was not a lesson every girl learned. Lily said that used properly a little bit of makeup can make the right features pop and draw that little extra attention. Even told her a few stories of how it could be used, on places other than the face for the right effect. Something that reminded Misaki that despite her body, she had previously been a young woman.

Her thoughts on that were suddenly interrupted when she noticed something. Casting her senses out, she refocused on a location outside of her dungeon. Entering her territory she spotted a large group of people. It was a diverse group of humans, elves, dwarves, and even some beastkin. Some of them were in armor, others wore absolutely nothing, and the rest were in just plain clothing. They had quite the mix of equipment as well. Some had weapons, others didn’t. It didn’t take her long to realize what she was looking at. The wagons full of supplies were a good hint as well. The wagons contained food, water, tools, tents, and more. Misaki felt a smile come to her face. She knew what this was! These were settlers! They were going to build a dungeon town! Finally, something was happening! She practically vibrated on the spot as she watched them.

It took them time to find her little clearing. Some familiar faces leading the way helped, but they needed to take a detour to get the wagons to the clearing. When they finally got there, most of the people fanned out and began expanding the clearing. The wagons were set up. Land surveyed and mages began working the land. She had already done some work to make it better. Improved the water supply, the soil, and landscaped her clearing. Misaki hadn’t done much, her work outside the dungeon had been for helping the gargoyles mostly. She even adjusted the paths so that the only way to easily reach their town was to go through this clearing and past her dungeon.

For a while no one seemed to head for her dungeon, as everyone was too busy with setting up the town. Eventually, as the morning hours were whiling away and Lily was starting to stir beside her. A group of three adventurers walked up the path to her dungeon entrance. Two young men, one with a fiery mop of red hair and the other with unassuming brown hair. Both looked handsome enough, but she would bet the red haired man had all the luck with the ladies. Taking up the rear behind the two men, was a very cute dwarf girl with lovely green hair. Misaki focused on her, she was so cute!

“So what are you looking at?”

Misaki glanced to the side, Lily was awake and looking her right in the eyes. It was kinda cute. She smiled, “We have guests!” responded Misaki as she shared her sight. A screen projecting to allow them both to watch. As she did, Reiko walked in. “Um, Mistress? You asked me to...”

Misaki waved her over, “Come! Join me. We have guests!” Then she summoned some snacks for them to enjoy.

Michael checked his armor and weapon one last time as they stood before the dungeon. As a three-man team each of them had a bigger role to play. As a Guardian Swordmaster, he was quite durable and had decent offensive skills as well. He had picked primarily leather armor with his vital areas protected by metal plate. Thin metal inserted reinforced the protection over his limbs. It was decent enough protection and about the best you could get at his level without transitioning into enchanted equipment or switching into something like full-plate. Both options were expensive and full plate also came at the cost of mobility. Not to mention it was heavy, not something he wanted to carry around. So like most adventurers, he had gone with something lighter that still offered a certain level of protection.

Michael opened the door and Richard made his way in ahead. Richard, being a rogue, favored lighter armor. Hardened leather that focused on mobility. At his side, Richard had his brace of trusty knives. The main reason he was moving first was to scout. His skills made him well suited for the role and if they encountered foes, Richard could quickly fall back.

Delilah pulled up the rear, she was their mage and healer. Her job was to provide support. She would treat their injuries and cast spells to help them out when needed. None of them spoke, they didn’t need to. This wasn’t their first dungeon dive.

It didn’t take long to reach the first room. They paused outside of it. Richard came back to report what he had scouted out. “Two Demons. Low level. One Demon girl, One beastkin demon. No armor, light clothes, no weapons.”

“Sounds a little light. I’ll take point, you circle behind and check for traps. Delilah, stand by to support if needed.”

She giggled, “I will but I doubt you will need any help. I’ll conserve my mana.”

He nodded,their planning done, and charged into the room. Almost instantly the beastkin demon charged him. She was kind of slow, but he noted her movements. She had talent and some skill for her level. He engaged her. Choosing to play with her a bit to get a feel for her ability, while the other demon started casting.

From behind, Delilah informed him what spell she was casting. It was a nasty one, but easily countered if you knew to watch for it. At the same time, Michael slipped past them both and checked for traps. After signaling for one. He stood by at the rear, as Michael enjoyed a brief warm up with the pair.

Then he knocked them both out. As the pair crumbled to the ground. Richard commented, “Now what did you do that for? Thinking of having some fun?”

He gave his friend a look. “What?... NO!”

Delilah sighed, “Richard! Stop thinking with the little brain. Come on, let’s go. They weren’t worth killing anyway.”

Michael commented quietly enough Richard would likely miss it, but not Delilah. “Those two seem young, but they are definitely mature. Also talented. If I could, I would love to have them. With a bit of training, those two would make a wonderful test for any rookie.”

She nodded, “I take it you want to come back and give them instruction?”

He smiled, “Sure do!”

Catching up with Richard, he inquired, “So what kind of trap do we have?”

“Nothing special, just a pitfall. A nasty one, it would kill any unaware rookie.” said Richard as he revealed the trap using the only spell the rogue knew. A bolt of rock shot from his hand and slammed into the ground. Cracking open the thin layer covering the pitfall. Revealing a nasty drop, and a bed of spikes.

Michael whistled, “Damn. That would hurt.”

Delilah, observing the floor space said, “It’s well placed too.”

He had to agree, if they didn’t know it was there. It would be hard to avoid. Now that they knew for sure there were traps. The trio proceeded with caution as they mapped out the dungeon.

It wasn’t long before they reached a fork in the path. Another pitfall, forced them down the right hand path as it was quicker to head that way. Then take a left thanks to the trap’s positioning. As Richard scouted ahead for traps, Delilah observed, “that trap was placed to encourage us to go this way. There must be something special up ahead.”

“I agree, Maybe a trap or a monster room. Possibly with some kind of special reward.”

She nodded and they moved on in silence. Bypassing a hard to avoid rock fall trap. That Richard successfully disabled, they entered into a room where four demons waited for them.

It was easy to deal with them, but Richard noted the room down. As they were looking over the rewards. Richard commented, “A decent reward for the difficulty. I doubt most rookies would be able to deal with this.”

Michael concurred, “Yeah that rockfall would have trapped them and without a good party composition those four would have overwhelmed them. Not insurmountable and it would be a good experience for any rookie team. Win or lose.”

Delilah didn’t have anything to say. Before long, rewards in hand, they proceeded deeper into the dungeon. The path proved fairly straightforward and they soon reached the floor boss. It was an easy sweep at their levels. A level fifteen mage demon and her four party members. They had good synergy and skills for their levels. Would have made a good test for any rookie team.

As they headed down the stairs, Michael said, “The first floor is great. Not that complex a layout, simple but effective traps and a decent variety of demons. Most rookies would get a decent challenge out of it. I think we should rate it high E or low D. What do you two think?”

Delilah was quick to respond, “For a party? Definitely E. Going solo, you would want to be mid D rank at the least.”

Richard chuckled, “It’s a damn disappointment. Why are you two acting like it’s decent?”

Michael gave him a look, but the other man didn’t respond. They proceed down the stairs. The first floor had been a sweep for them, but that wasn’t a surprise. They were a C rank party, all of them were strong enough to solo that floor. In theory. In practice, they each had something that helped them get through. Richard was responsible for scouting and traps. Delilah support, and he was the primary combatant. Tanking most of what the demons had to throw at them and dealing a fair amount of damage in return. A glance at this status, showed they hadn’t leveled at all either. It wasn’t worth much experience given how overleveled they were.

Before long they reached the bottom of the stairs. Where the dungeon opened out into a modestly sized room with stone walls and three exits. Each on a different side. The lack of monsters indicated that this was possibly a safe area. In fact it was likely a temporary rest spot. Monsters might show up later, but for now they could rest. It seemed they also had to choose which path to take. He turned to his party for a quick discussion. For a moment, he thought Delilah was looking cuter than normal, but then he set that thought aside. They needed to plan their next move.