Chapter Seventy-Five Tempting Fate (Patreon)

Michael looked up at the gaping maw that was the entrance to the dungeon and shuddered. For a moment she wondered why she was even here. Just a few short days ago, she recalled... the incident. Unlike previously she didn’t break down at the mere thought of it, but a shudder rippled down her back. Nearby Delilah pressed against her, the mere presence of the smaller girl being quite comforting. Michael was extremely grateful for the support. Of course, Delilah also had her own issues to work through. In return, Michael tried to be a pillar for her. As a result, the two of them were almost always together lately. In fact, she could say their relationship had only grown closer.

Even with Delilah nearby for support, she couldn’t help but feel a bit of trepidation. She hadn’t really had time to process it given the whole... incident, but she was a girl now. That was a whole other problem she hadn’t really put much thought into, and had only recently started thinking about. On one hand, being back meant a chance to beat the dungeon, to regain her manhood, but Michael had other things on her mind. Delilah spoke up, “It’ll be fine. We will be in and out before you know it.”

“I just have a really bad feeling about this. You know what I mean?”

Delilah squeezed her hand and whispered, “With Susan here? So do I. First sign of trouble, we are leaving. Agreed?”

Michael nodded, she very much agreed with the thought. There was no point staying if there was trouble. Part of her once again questioned why she was here. Nearby the dragonkin girl they had met at the guild after having been dragged out of their tent, spoke up. Equally quietly, “Don’t worry I’ll protect you.”

She was not sure what to make of that, but she seemed nice.

“I can’t let such a pair of cuties come to harm. Especially not again. I heard what happened, and let me say if I had the chance I would have made that bastard suffer.”

A shudder rippled down her spine. Michael was suddenly less sure about this girl. Her words were one thing, but there was just something about them that made her feel... Well, honestly she wasn’t sure, but alarms were ringing. Not that she had much time to really decipher what she was feeling. As Susan was suddenly ushering them all along. They entered the dungeon, even as she felt this was a mistake. Something was wrong, she was sure of it. Unnoticed by any of them was the pink-haired girl watching them as they went in.

Entering the first room, they were met by the same demons she had fought the last time. The two girls seemed quite excited when she stepped into the room at the head of their little formation. What they said surprised her, “It’s Miss Swordsman!” shouted out the beastkin, her tail wagging like a puppy. She ran up to her, “Are you here for another friendly spar or would you like some other kind of fun?”

She blinked, when the other demoness spoke, in a much more relaxed tone, “Forgive my friend, she is just excited to see you. Really excited. If you four want to pass, I’ll allow it. Not much point fighting, but a friendly spar does sound nice,” she paused, “normally I would have offered some of the other kind of fun too.” She gave her a friend a look, “But I have a little more tact than that.”

For a moment she was quite confused until she realized what they meant, “Wait! Does that mean...”

“That we know what happened to you?” she nodded, “Sadly we do. A friend saw it, and Mistress saw it too. She wasn’t happy...”

Michael blinked and flushed red. Next to her Delilah went equally red.

Nearby Mira was silent and watching, while Susan was looking bored. As she interjected, “Wait! The dungeon was watching!!!?”

The demon nodded, “She was, and wasn’t happy. Not happy at all. Her curse was never meant to be used that way. Our Mistress was very unhappy with that... man.”

Delilah commented, “I uh see.”

The demon waved it off, “anyway, you’ve already proven yourselves here and your new friends seem as strong as you are. So if you aren’t here for a friendly spar, why don’t I just escort you to the next floor and you can resume your previous challenge from there?”

Susan blinked, “Why yes, if the insects are going to just take us to the next floor why waste time.”

Mira gave the woman a look, “While rude, she is right on one thing. It doesn’t make much sense for us to challenge the first floor. It’s already been evaluated.”

The demon gave the woman a look and then nodded, “Very well, I’ll show you to the stairs.”

New Status!

Guest of the Dungeon: You have been granted guest status for floor one. Dungeon monsters will be friendly until you leave the floor. Your challenge will resume on the second floor. Note traps will remain active.

With the aid of the first room demons, they made it to the second floor easily. She left them at the stairs and the group proceeded down to the second floor. As soon as they entered the first room, Delilah cast a spell on the group, while Susan looked around, “So this is the floor that beat you two failures?”

Delilah glared at the woman, Michael didn’t know what to say. While Mira jumped to their defense, “You know you could stand to be more understanding. They didn’t fail anyway. I talked to quite a few people about what happened. They were betrayed!”

Susan gave the diminutive dragonkin a look, and scoffed, “That’s an excuse, a single rogue shouldn’t have been able to do that much damage to their party. Utter carelessness and foolishness.”

Mira’s glare intensified, “Do you have a brain? Do you feel anything about others?”

“Why would I care about a pair of failures?! I’m a future archmage, they won’t even be close to my peerage in a year much less two. I’m at the border of A rank and the best you three can do is a measly C rank.”

Mira threw her hands off, “Well aren’t you confident. Why not just solo the dungeon then? Why did you drag us in here?”

She scoffed, “Of course, I could solo the dungeon, the gods know I can. I brought you failures along to deal with the insects and those puzzles. No point wasting my magic on weak demons, and puzzles are beneath me. Why should I be bothered?”

Michael felt a surge of alarm, “Don’t mention gods, they just might answer.”

Susan scoffed, “Come on let's get going. Which way...”

Suddenly a cute female voice spoke up, interrupting Susan. With each word the pit in her stomach grew. Alarms were ringing, this wasn’t good. Not good at all.

Phillip shifted in his seat. He was getting to know his new aide. Melisa definitely had talents. Already she was helping him out with the paperwork. There was actually a lot of it that needed to be done with establishing a new guild. Her help had also given him the time to read the letter Sierra had given him. It was a response to the letter he had sent as soon as the guild building was finished.

It was a fairly short letter. Sweet and to the point. Nothing wasted on overly flowery words. He smiled after reading it and deposited it in his cabinet. Just as Melisa deposited several files on his desk. “So what did they want?” she asked.

“Hmm? Nothing. It’s a response to a letter I sent. They’ll be sending an agent this way. I should expect them in a few days.”

“Noted, I’ll make preparations to receive the Moonlight Departures guild.”

He looked at the files she placed down on the desk and as he reached for the first one she informed him that these were recently completed and accepted quests.

The first quest was an investigation quest to confirm a possible Soul Snatcher sighting. A couple of reports of them had come from adventurers traveling south of the town. The Soul Snatcher was a type of plant that thrived on demonic mana, with a nature that was often tinged based on the mana it was getting. Since the dungeon was of the lust alignment, the plants would be tinted with it. Phillip noted the quest down and made a mental note of the result. A Soul Snatcher was a serious sighting. The plants tend to grow quickly. Rapidly reaching high levels and evolving. Their most terrifying trait however was their ability to steal souls, turning their victims into a soulless husk. A husk that would serve the plant as a minion.

The plant used its minions to protect itself, secure additional minions and to cultivate the land around it. Of course the whole aspect of stealing souls made it very dangerous, a fact that negated most of the benefits of having one around. There were benefits to them being around, they have very positive impacts on the fertility of the soil around them and the vibrancy of other plants in the area. Farmland near a Soul Snatcher was known to be very potent and productive. Producing larger quantities of quality produce.

Another thing to note was that a victim could in theory be saved from the plant. Assuming that it wasn’t too late. After the plant steals someone’s soul they have a month to get it back. What happens to the stolen soul, isn’t fully understood either. It was largely believed that the soul is consumed and people saved from them are always noted to be changed. This is believed to be due the soul being damaged in some way by the experience. Phillip wasn’t sure what to think, but regardless he planned to take one being around seriously. Even if it was just uncertain sightings at this point.

He noted the party that took the quest and when they left. Filed it aside and then moved to the next file. This one was much closer to home. Phillip blinked, “Is this correct?”

Melisa sighed, “Unfortunately, yes. Susan decided to undertake the Eval mission and dragged Michael and Delilah along with her.”

His shoulders slumped a little. He didn’t know Susan that well, but from his first impression? Well lets just say, she didn’t impress him. “I, uh... see.”

Melisa then interjected, “Mira tagged along. I’ve met her before, she can be very protective. Especially of young women she deems cute and with how vulnerable those two are right now? Her instincts will drive her to protect them. I think they will be fine, so long as Susan doesn’t do anything foolish. That woman is far too assured of herself and likes tempting fate.”

“I take it that you know her?”

“Sadly.”

Silently he sent a prayer to Timura, wishing they would come back safely this time. Since they had already left, there was nothing he could do. Well technically he could try barreling into the dungeon himself, but he wasn’t about to just do that. Sighing he put the report to the side and picked up the next file. This one a completed quest, an investigation into Thornback Wolf Activity.

He scanned it, the team in question observed several packs. Taking notes on several specimens and tagging certain individuals. One thing he quickly noted was that packs around here were larger than usual with significantly fewer males than would be normal for a population. Being larger, the packs were a bit more aggressive. Often observed hunting larger prey then they would usually go after. That was interesting, and it was noted that the levels of the population had spiked compared to what they were previously. He made a note to keep an eye out for possible evolutions. Phillip didn’t question why there were so few males among the packs. It was obvious, he was sitting on the cause. It was just a reminder to be careful about the dungeon.