Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 71 (Patreon)

It has been a while since we had a nice, solid run of the dungeon, so expect some fun with the Valkyries this arc.  

Chapter 71 – Return

After they’d returned from dealing with the undead wave to the north, the Silver Valkyries had left Swamptown. Given the results of some of their previous dives into the dungeon, none of them were especially keen on going back into the demon’s lair, especially now that his Temple was there. Instead, they had gone north, escorting a merchant convoy from Miami to Jacksonville and back again. It was a trip that took over a month, round-trip, with their horses doing the work of traveling, and breaks for combat, or taking a day to trade in the cities they passed through.

Still, even aside from the pay they’d gotten as guards for the caravan, the trip had been quite a profitable one for the Valkyries. They’d fought several creatures that had not shown up around Miami, giving them more experience in new tactics. And while the loot they got traveling the remains of I-95 was not exactly great, trading items that were common around Miami with locals who couldn’t make the trip made them some decent coin.

There was a dungeon near Savannah where demons had been sighted, and the Valkyries had joined the queue and dived into the dungeon. However, they found it… lacking. Oh sure, there were monsters to fight and traps that would not hesitate to take your life, and so on. The loot wasn’t terrible, either. And yet, it did not have the same kind of pressure that the Demon’s ‘Forbidden Chambers of Exotic Pleasures’ had. If there was a will behind this dungeon, it did not express itself like the Demon did.

That dissatisfaction carried with them on the return leg of their journey. Hunting in the wild, or diving in the other dungeon, just didn’t have the same thrill as diving into the Demon’s dungeon. Sure, they fought, risked death, and were rewarded for their victories, but it just wasn’t the same as pitching yourself into battle against a will that actively was working against you, preying on you, looking for you to fail.

Which is why they were back in Swamptown once more, armed up and ready to head into the dungeon. Clarissa looked at her group, and said, “Everyone’s remembers what was said in the Guild report on the changes to the dungeon, right?” They’d purchased five copies of the report when they’d gotten into Miami a week ago, and had spent the time since then studying the report and preparing for the floor people had started calling the Water Temple, after a particularly infuriating area in an old video game.

Fighting aquatic creatures in the water was going to be a challenge, especially when there was a restriction on support magic while they were on that floor. As part of their preparations, they had gone to the beach, and after a particularly harrowing day had come up with alternative weapons and armor setups to use in the temple, at least until the restriction wore off. They’d followed the guild’s advice and picked up the [Re-equip] skill, so they could swap out quickly. Still, fighting with unfamiliar weapons and armor while underwater was going to be troublesome.

Mari, their Lightning Sorceress, frowned slightly. She would have both the easiest and the hardest time in the lake surrounding the Water Temple. Her spells would be brutally effective against the enemies they fought, but there was a very real risk of harming her own teammates even with single-target spells, thanks to how electricity behaved in water. “We should be fine, but remember, the Guild says that the Ranger is no longer on the first floor. There’s a Lizardman there now, and he likes to ambush from the water.”

Shannon, the Priestess of Freyja, shook her head. “Well, at least the beast has calmed down somewhat. Apparently, the first couple times it caught ‘prey’, it couldn’t decide between breeding and eating them. Now it picks one or the other.”

Rubi frowned. “Where did the bastard Ranger go, then? They said something about him becoming more powerful, but no one has seen him, yet.”

Tina, the rogue, sighed. “I heard from SunnyBunz on the forums that he’s apparently been turned into a Vampire, and will probably be a floor boss, once the Undead floor is completed. So we might not see him at all this time, Rubi.”

Clarissa looked over to the Barbarian, and said, “And if we do see him, remember that he’ll be more powerful, so don’t go losing your head, or you might end up worse off than before. If he’s a Vampire, that means he can probably make others into vampires, and then you’d be his permanent fucktoy if you get trapped by him.”

Rubi shuddered at that thought. “Fine, fine. I’ll keep it together. Let’s just go on in. No sense keeping the dungeon waiting.”

They got into their normal formation, and entered the ‘entrance hut’ that had been expanded since the first time they’d come to the dungeon, what seemed like a lifetime ago. They each paused to buy an escape token and the compass that allowed them to find their way through Goblin Town, since they hadn’t been back since the goblins were added. Clarissa shuddered slightly as she felt the damn tail plug shifting around, mirroring her excitement at once more going into the dungeon.

That plug had been a rather unpleasant thing to get used to, at first, but once she’d gotten used to the sensation of being filled back there, and the way the tail twitched with her emotions, then she found herself more accepting of it. Having her clothes and armor refit to allow the tail through without showing half her ass helped with that, as well. In a dangerous world like this one, it was always a good idea to have a ‘backup plan’. While Shannon was at a level where she could resurrect people now, it wasn’t something she could do quickly, or often, so having a ‘get out of death free’ card was a good thing, especially as she was on the front line in their fights.

Tina cursed as they made their way towards the first gauntlet of the ‘jungle swamp’ floor. “Looks like the reports of the traps changing are right. This isn’t the same trap that we saw the last time we were here.”

Rubi looked over the rogue’s shoulder, and said, “I can’t see anything different, but I’m not a Rogue. Can you tell what is going on?”

Tina looked closer, and said, “The original trap, the one that filled the room with that pink mist? That is still here. You can see the tripwire right there. Little obvious, even for low levels, but my [Trap Sense] skill is picking up a second trap just behind it. Some type of collapsing floor. Rubi, you have that huge trident for when we go fighting in the water, right? Poke the floor just past the wire there.”

Not bothering to argue with the rogue on the subject of traps, the Barbarian pulled her trident out of the Bag of Holding she had at her side, looked to make certain of where Tina was pointing, and then carefully jabbed the trident at the ground. The ‘stone’ turned out to be little more than a clay slab that shattered when she hit it. It certainly would not have bore the weight of a person.

Under that plate was a pit barely six inches deep, but littered with sharp spikes along the bottom! Anyone who had the misfortune of falling into that trap without proper foot protection (the kind no one wore when they were expecting to trudge through a swamp) would likely be hobbled until they could get their feet healed. Beyond the fact that it would cause walking to be painful as all hell, reducing a group’s speed, it would also open the victim up to any number of diseases or parasites that might be living in the jungle.

Worse still was when Shannon sucked in a breath as she looked at the pit, and said, “Those spikes are poisoned, too!” They all looked, and cursed softly as they saw the glimmer of liquid on the spikes. Shannon cast a spell, and frowned, “It looks like some kind of anticoagulant, mixed with that aphrodisiac the Demon loves to use. Not immediately fatal, but would probably cause a slow bleed, like a long, slow DOT effect. And the other part would make you distracted, more likely to run into other troubles further in.”

Clarissa nodded slowly. “So, an evolution of what was already in place? Traps designed to hobble and distract, making future traps more dangerous. None of it instantly lethal, but they add up to something that will challenge even veteran groups, while not being insurmountable for rookies. Can we avoid it?”

Tina considered, and said, “I could jump it without setting off the gas, and probably Rubi could, but the rest of you? No chance. Especially Mari and Shannon. No offense, but your robes aren’t designed for parkour.”

Mari winced. “So, choose one victim to be in serious pain and distracted, or choose to gas everyone with something we know how it works. And the rest of the traps are probably going to be just as bad.” The sorceress shook her head, and said, “And there isn’t any lightning support magic that would help with this. An Earth or Ice mage could at least seal the gap, but the best I could do would be to try and heat the poison enough until it cooks off.”

Clarissa shook her head. “Save your power for when we get slimes, Mari. And I don’t want to see what happens if cooking the poison causes it to change. We’ll set off the gas, and deal with it later. Remember, the slimes usually come out after the group enters the chamber. Keep it together. When we get to the end of the gauntlet, we’ll take a break for… ‘relief’.”

Rubi frowned. “You know that bastard Demon will be watching us, right? Like a pervert with a hidden camera. That’s why stuff like this is here.”

Shannon shook her head. “Yes, but there’s nothing we can do about it. I could cleanse it with spells against poison, but do we want to use the power for that, or for healing and protecting against poisons that are less annoying and more likely to get us killed?”

Clarissa shook her head. “There’s no point worrying about the horny bastard watching us. You all remember what this dungeon was like back before we gave him the goblins. There’s enough tricks, traps, and nasties here that our getting into a compromising situation is pretty much a given. We always knew that before, and accepted it, because that was part of the price of the dungeon. Only thing that has changed is that we know someone is watching, and has always been watching.”

With that said, Clarissa swung her sword, and sliced through the tripwire across the doorway. Instantly, pink mist exploded into their faces, causing the familiar warmth inside as they felt the mist going to work. That done, Clarissa stepped over the pit, which was only a couple feet wide, and into the room, her sword and shield raised as she cleared the way for the others.

Tina squinted as she looked down, trying not to stare at Clarissa’s butt in the tight leather pants she wore, and frowned. “Check this out! Secondary effect of the main trap just activated! The little pit just got covered with a sheet of metal. Looks like setting off the first trap makes the second one ‘safe’. Probably wouldn’t even crack the clay tile unless you stomped down on it.”

“Contact front!” Everyone’s eyes turned from the piece of metal making it safe to cross the floor, to the center of the room where Clarissa was pointing. Two slimes had emerged from their hiding places, and began moving towards Clarissa, intending to dissolve her.

“TWIN LIGHTNING!” With a small chant, Mari unleashed one of her basic lightning spells, and two bolts of lightning arced past and around Clarissa, avoiding the fighter as they struck home on the two slimes. Two level 3 slimes could hardly be expected to stand up to the magic of a level 31 Lightning Sorceress, and both were wiped out instantly.

Clarissa nodded to the others, and said, “All right, good start for this run. Let’s get moving. Tina, with me. Check for traps as we go. I expect we’re going to have more surprises waiting for us as we go along.”