Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 161 (Patreon)

For the one of you that is spamming me everywhere, Dark Fate is posted as it is written.

That out of the way, here's some Lewd Dungeon.

Chapter 161 – Escape

The Dungeon was busy, as it always was. Indeed, it had grown to the point where few groups could clear it all in a day. Traps and terrain increased the time it took to get through the dungeon, beyond the time to fight and recover from the various encounters. If it weren’t for the fact that the dungeon was able to have ‘instances’ up, allowing for more parties to be inside at the same time, it would have been troubling trying to space groups out so that they didn’t interfere with each other. As it was, the Adventurer’s Guild recorded an average of twenty-five dives per day.

Those twenty dives were not all equal, of course. Only six out of ten groups claimed that they were trying to clear the dungeon anymore, and that number dropped each time a new floor was added. People had learned, either from the Guild or from hard-fought personal experience, that the dungeon, while it reportedly had the lowest number of average deaths in the state, was not to be trifled with. Because of this, more and more people were starting to ‘farm’ the early levels of the dungeon, with the main cutoffs being after the second-floor swamp (before hitting Goblin Town), the Lizardfolk Swamp (before hitting the Water Temple), and the Rest Floor (before hitting the Undead Floor). Those ‘checkpoints’ as people had started calling them, were just before difficulty spikes in the dungeon, and anyone who passed through the Undead Floor was going to try and progress through the Black Temple, which was, by all accounts, easier to clear than the Fallen Ranger’s Mansion.

The Guild asked (but didn’t require) groups to check in before they entered the dungeon, and again when they left, so that they knew how many groups were delving. Only the groups that had, for one reason or another, been barred from the guild (such as the group with that man who had tried to enslave the local representative of the guild using a collar he’d won in the Dungeon) typically entered the Dungeon without checking in. The reason was simple. While the Guild couldn’t help people in the dungeon itself, a sudden spike in groups not returning would signal that something had changed. That information was potentially life-saving for those who came after, so everyone joined in, as that was the only way to find out if prior groups were missing.

The established ‘meta’, as people were calling it, was for groups to enter the dungeon every half hour, starting at eight in the morning, and continuing until the last group was done with the day. This wasn’t a formal thing, of course, but the common courtesy that groups had worked out between themselves over time. The reasoning behind it was much like the check-in system. If people all rushed in at once, anything that happened to one group would probably happen to them all, without anyone knowing better. And there was the little fact that no one knew if all the day’s groups rushing at once would ‘overwork’ the dungeon. No one wanted to know what the Demon would do if he felt he was being overworked!

So, when the doors of the Dungeon’s entrance hall opened a little after noon, there were plenty of people around Swamptown’s central square to see. Six people and a cat emerged from the dungeon, all of them wearing gear that was clearly in serious need of repair. Oddly enough, the women and cat all wore matching black leather collars, each sporting a brass ring at the front. There was nothing remarkable about the collars themselves, except for the fact that there was no visible latch to release them.

Most of the time, people leaving the dungeon were treated to a few nods, or other signs of respect. After all, anyone who entered the dungeon risked death and psychological torment, especially if they caught the Demon’s eye, or somehow earned his ire. You could usually tell when a group was composed of ‘clearers’ instead of ‘farmers’, because they all had the same harrowed look on their faces when they left. Which is part of why the farmers were the only ones who entered the dungeon daily, while the clearers typically entered once, maybe twice, per week, with each of their delves taking several days to complete. People could see immediately that these were clearers.

What made their reception different from the others who ventured into the dungeon and returned was the rogue leading the party. The only male in the group, he wore the symbol of the Demon. That, combined with the collars around the women’s necks, and the way they gathered around him, made it instantly clear that something had happened to them in the dungeon. But it wasn’t until merchants began recognizing the group as being the college students from the University of Florida that the reaction turned from one of pity for the females to something else.

So, as the group made their way into the Adventurer’s Guild building, representatives from the other parties that were planning on diving that afternoon followed them, to hear what this group had to say about the dungeon. If the stories from the forums were true, then they would be some of the first ones to set foot on a new floor, with new threats and dangers. For any clearers, this was important, potentially life-saving, information.

Bethany Walsh, the local officer in charge of the Adventurer’s Guild, smiled professionally as she watched the group come in. “Welcome back. I see y’all made it out of the dungeon all right. If you need help getting your gear repaired, the Guild has a list of reputable people who can get it done. And if you need cleansing, or just some counseling, there’s members of several faiths at the multifaith center that will be glad to listen to any… issues you might have. With that out of the way, how was your first time in the Dungeon?”

As she spoke, she took a moment to use her Analyze skill on the college kids. They had clearly been through a lot in the dungeon, and it would be good to see how they had grown. What she found was startling, to say the least.

Alice Brown

Human Female

Level 40 Priestess of Knowledge / Archivist

Titles: Genius, Slave

Charles Knight

Human Male

Level 40 Rogue / Alchemist

Titles: Corruptor, Devoted

Lacey Evans

Human Female

Level 40 Paladin of Kuronoth / Blacksmith

Titles: Defender, Slave

Inga Ekdahl

Human Female

Level 40 Fighter / Miner

Titles: Vanguard, Slave

Diana Harris

Human Female

Level 40 Wizard / Enchanter

Titles: Arcane Savant, Slave

Soledad Garrido

Dark Elf Female

Level 40 Ranger / Herbalist

Titles: Daylight Adapted, Slave

Bagheera

Panther Female

Level 40 Animal Companion

Titles: Bound Companion

They had all gained five levels since she last saw them! That was impressive in its own right, since it was common knowledge that the higher in levels you got, the harder it became to level. Most of the ‘clearer’ parties managed to get at least a level or two per delve, but it became much harder the closer people got to the next tier. Five levels in a single run, when they were already relatively high level, was quite impressive.

Of course, there were some less-than-impressive elements to their status, as well. All the women had gained the Slave title, and it was clear as crystal who their Master was. The fact that the rogue, who had changed from an almost timid boy into the confident man in front of her, combined with his titles and the holy symbol he wore, convinced her that he had made some kind of bargain with the Demon. If this was another situation like that Randy kid…

The Rogue smiled at her, and said, loud enough for the eavesdroppers to overhear, “We managed to travel deep into the Dungeon, deeper than we intended to go, in fact, because of a couple items with unfortunate effects that required us to seek the final level of the Dungeon. The Dungeon was much like the reports we’d gotten from the Guild, save for some of the bosses and minibosses learning new tricks.”

Bethany raised an eyebrow at that. “New tricks? Care to explain that? It could be important for future delvers.”

Charles nodded. “Well, the first trick we found that wasn’t in the Guild’s guidebook was that someone taught Captain Hentai how to climb trees.” There was a general gasp from the crowd as they recognized the implications of that, and Charles offered a grim nod. “Yeah, we were busy fighting slimes on the ground, keeping an eye on the bushes for the Captain, when all of a sudden the attack comes from above. Not our finest hour, I can assure you.”

He took a breath. “Of course, that doesn’t compare to the absolute failure we had against the twin mages. I don’t know if other people have run into it or not, but the Wizard has a new spell that basically creates a barrier full of that pink mist, but concentrated. You get caught in it, and a single breath is enough to incapacitate you. So, you have to break out somehow, or you’re toast.”

Bethany nodded. “Yes, we’ve heard about these tricks from some of the groups that entered after you did, even thought hey returned before you. This morning, a group returned after defeating the new guardians of the Black Temple, and were told that they were the second group to pass that trial.”

The Priestess, Alice, nodded, speaking up for the first time since they’d left the dungeon. “Yes, we… cleared the Temple, and the boss encounter at the end, with the twin succubi and their pet. We were forced to recover for a while on the new ninth floor. And we encountered a… life-altering surprise there.”

The guild officer looked at the Priestess. “I can imagine. Would this surprise have anything to do with the fact that you are all now slaves of this man, and not free individuals like you were before? I’ll have you know that truthtelling enchantments are on this building, and that it is a crime to enslave people against their will.”

Charles smirked. “Oh, I’m well aware. And yes, it does have something to do with the reason why I now have my party members as my pets. You see, the ninth floor is another jungle floor, only this time the jungle is not of this earth, but rather from some world where the plants grow in shades of blue. The monsters on this floor, even the boss, are all plant creatures.”

“And what has this to do with enslaving these girls?”

“Patience, ma’am. As I was saying, there are a pair of Dungeon Laws in place on the ninth floor. The first strips everyone not following the Lord Kuronoth of their gear and clothing, and holds it in trust until they reach a shrine to retrieve it. The only exception would be slaves, who are unaffected. If someone should be enslaved on the floor, their gear is returned in neat stack at their feet.”

Alice nodded. “Because of this, only one of our group had clothes, much less weapons and armor. We could have tried to make it to one of the shrines, but we knew we were on a floor that no one had seen before, and there could have been all kinds of dangers down there. We decided not to risk things, and gave ourselves to Master willingly. Because of that, our gear was returned, and the cursed item that was forcing us to seek the end of the dungeon was not immediately placed around our paladin’s neck.”

Inga joined in the story at that point, “Once we’d each taken Master’s collar, we only had to find a single shrine, to recover the items that Bagheera had been wearing. As we ventured into the jungle, it became clear that most of the threats in the jungle were either from traps, or immobile plant creatures from some far-off world. So those who are thinking of trying to go deeper into the dungeon, than the Temple need not worry too much. As long as you don’t get complacent, you should be able to avoid the dangers well enough until you get to the first shrine, at least.”

Soledad smiled. “As we neared the floor’s exit, it became clear that there were more floors below us, but we didn’t have time to consider that before the new floor boss attacked us. It was this strange plant lizard things with flowers that could numb you, and basically acted like muscle relaxers. That fight was difficult, but made easier due to the fact that plants dislike fire. But after that, we decided not to press our luck, and used escape tokens to return to the surface.

Bethany nodded slowly. The crystal linked to the lie detection spell remained firmly unlit, indicating truth. “You mentioned there were two laws. What was the second?”

Lacey coughed. “The second promoted… submission to other creatures when you were not fully dressed. Not on the level of mind control, or even coercing someone to act one way or the other, but anyone who is naked on that floor will definitely be receptive to what other people have to say.”

Bethany groaned. This was going to cause all kinds of headaches, she could already see it. She decided that she would kick it up the chain, and let Miguel deal with the situation, and perhaps the cops, if they got called. Looking to the assembled crowd, she said, “All right, you’ve heard what they had to say. Clear off, now! We’ll do a more in depth debrief, and have the updates to the guide out as soon as we can.”