[DCI] Chapter 65 - Grand Resupply (Patreon)

“Alright, ladies.” I clasped my hands together, turning around to face my beautiful companions. “We’ve raised a giant flag just recently so I need us to go all out. No cutting corners, no cheapskating, no worrying about money. We most likely have only one chance at doing this, and we will do this.”

“Flag?” Levia glanced up at me curiously.

“Oh, I know that one.” Aisha grinned, lightly bumping the petite Witch with her hip. “It’s when someone says or does or says they will do something happy and positive in quite a foreboding moment. Like a first-line foot soldier telling his comrade that he will profess love to his childhood sweetheart when they get back home right before the battle. It is said that such declarations are certain to bring misfortune, often ending with death.”

“I see.” The blue-skinned lady nodded sagely. “And what would be our flag?”

“Well, I have just introduced the both of you to my parents and they accepted our relationship right before us having to face the big bad of this Dungeon.” I chuckled wryly. “Our happily-ever-after is at stake here. I’m not saying that this is a suicide mission, but it’s a first in terms of how low will our information on the problem be.”

My bold drakan girlfriend stepped forward and patted my shoulder with a proud grin. “We’ll be fine. Levia’s cards told us so. We just need to listen to that smart brain of yours and it will be a breeze.”

“Another flag.” I pointed a finger at her and we both laughed. “So, work with me. Both of you. Levia, you are going to take care of these supplements you mentioned earlier. Anything else that could help us?”

“I think my current collection of arcanas is diverse enough.” My quiet lunar elf girlfriend stroked her chin. “I can prepare some additional basic solutions. I do not think we have enough time for me to concoct more advanced healing potions and salves.”

“I’ll buy those,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “Anything else I should get us while at it? Maybe something that could assure our safe descent since the end of the staircase is now definitely smashed to bits? Anything to hide us from the enemies like the spell you used, just without putting so much strain on you?”

“If you purchase a batch of Spirit Sealing Tonic, I can prepare False Life Brew. They will hide our spiritual and life signatures for about twelve hours, or until we use a magic spell or an ability,” she suggested. “They can be consumed at the same time and it will allow me to focus on investigating the altars without having to focus on an arcana.”

“Let’s do that.” I nodded approvingly.

“As for our descent, I have three medium-tier arcanas with a Blink spell imbued into them, but they are for very difficult emergencies. Perhaps Feather Fall will be better as it is not as complex a spell and can encompass us all. I am not sure what to use besides Blink to bring us back up, though.” Levia’s soft brows furrowed ponderingly.

“If we fuck it up, there will be no going back up.” Aisha snorted. “I think we should worry about that after we succeed in clearing the Dungeon. No way that ocean of Skeletons, the giant fucker, and its master will let us run away from them.”

“How safe are those Blinks?” I raised a brow at our Witch.

“Since the materials used for those cards do not exactly match the required ones, there is about a fifty percent chance that they will fail,” Levia admitted. “That is why those are only for critical emergencies and also why I have not made more.”

“Talk about coinflip.” Our Berserker smirked. “We’ll need to work on those in the future.”

“Yeah. But that’s for the future.” I turned to her. “Aisha, any input from your side?”

She scrunched her lips and wriggled her nose. “I mean, not much. We are up against bones, bones, bones, and… oh right, bones. Weapon oils and ointments won’t be of much help. I can suggest a few things for our maintenance but don’t expect explosions. Best but pricy option is concentrated holy water to dip our gear in, I guess.”

“Got it. I’ll look at those.” I added her suggestion to my mental notes.

“Also, if we are going all in, you need to gear up.” Aisha roamed her gaze all over my figure, without a hint of desire or mischief this time. “We can’t wait for another reward box. You would give it to the next girl anyway. Get your ass in the shop and pick some good shit for yourself. That’s an order from your mate.”

“I agree.” Levia supported her right away. “You should spend more on yourself. Your safety is our safety. It is commendable how much you do care for us, but you should not neglect your needs for our sake. I also implore you as your woman to upgrade your equipment.”

With two pairs of completely serious eyes drilling right into me, I could only raise my hands in surrender. “You are right. I promise not to skimp on my own stuff. Anything else?”

They exchanged glances before looking at me once more.

“Don’t think so,” Aisha replied. “I’ll go with you to take a look at some items I’m familiar with while Levia starts her magic here. Maybe I’ll recall something useful.”

We agreed with that plan and went right to work.

Bidding temporary farewell to my petite lover with a gentle peck, I brought Aisha back to the main apartment. We sat down in front of the PC right away and booted up the D-Shop first. I located the mixtures Levia mentioned and we discussed them with Aisha. I got a good enough batch of the one hiding our mana, and just in case, threw a few of the lifeforce ones into the cart too. We topped it with a good stock of various healing potions and other products before checking out.

Then, we browsed a few categories familiar to my amazing Berserker. As expected, concentrated extracts and oils containing Holy Water were damn expensive. Almost a thousand D-Dollars a pop. And it looked like that pop would last for maybe five applications. Talk about a scam.

But, I promised the girls and myself not to whine so we got one just to be safe. Besides that, Aisha picked up a few maintenance products to prepare our weapons for the upcoming battle better. They mostly reinforced the durability of our gear and raised its resistance to blunt damage. For armor, she found some oils that increased piercing resistance, and one lotion that supposedly suppressed magic of low level, weakening the impact of spells such as Firebolt or Frostbeam, reducing the effects of mid-tier ones like Fireball.

Nothing much, but always something.

After that, we moved to the actual gear and armor. Wanting to get it over quickly and properly at the same time, we decided to traverse all the categories from top to bottom, in a physical sense. This meant that we started with shoes and I got myself some sturdy, reinforced boots that were supposed to slightly cushion the fall.

Next came leather pants with protective pads for knees, and even a hidden plate for the boys. I bet it would feel weird for a moment being able to literally knock on the area, but any protection out there was a blessing.

As for the chest, I decided to go another tier up too. I replaced my old armor with a thick leather vest with a somewhat thin metal plate over the ribcage. The rest of it was tough enough to stop a few good slashes and perhaps a weak stab, but the crucial part would prevent instant death from the loss of a quite important organ that was one’s heart. Lungs were decently safe too.

Aisha wouldn’t have it without me taking a look at some coats to finish the set so we spent some time browsing those too. I didn’t want it to be just pure vanity so I focused my attention on products that also were at least somewhat reinforced or decently durable and had additional pockets, belts, and rings for more stuff.

In the end, we got a quite neat black leather coat with a hood just so that I could hide part of my face if I wanted. With all the other items we’d picked up, the whole look was starting to border on a fairly edgy theme, but Aisha was more than thrilled about it so I didn’t really complain.

At least I didn’t have to wear some spooky, spiky helmet thanks to that hood.

In terms of weapons, I was happy with my two bonded handaxes and my trusty mace. The small buckler was still in a more than decent shape so we left it as is. I needed some more tiers in my Armsweaving and Telekinesis to comfortably wield bigger and heavier stuff. One day, for sure, but right now, I still needed to remain somewhat mobile.

With everything collected, including some minor equipment like belts, pouches, fingerless gloves, and so on, Aisha smashed the purchase button, draining our account of over seven thousand D-Dollars, and sprinted for the door. I just sighed heavily at the potential hundreds of thousands of Earth Dollars escaping my fingers.

One’s life was priceless, but it always hurt a tiny bit seeing such a fortune disappear.

My excited partner unpacked all my things and urged me to try it on. As always, she gave me a hand with everything, even going as far as pulling my pants up this time, so damn giddy about my new equipment. I did need some assistance with the chest armor as the entire thing was quite stiff from how tough it was, not to mention the slightly bulging metal plate at the height of my chest. It felt somewhat comfortable, though. And definitely safer than my previous gear.

After pulling on the final bits, ending at the neat fingerless gloves, I spread my arms and spun around. Aisha applauded my new look, which consisted mostly of black and dark gray colors. It wasn’t as edgy as I had expected, at least until I pulled on the hood. Then, it was a full-on edge. Sleek, ominous edge.

I guess I was going full Overlord now.

Aisha was disappointed to see me out of it, but we were tight on our schedule, and she knew it well. We put all the pieces on one of the armor stands in the storage and admired the set briefly as it was displayed on the humanoid mannequin.

It wasn’t bad. I could get used to it. Next Halloween was going to be dope, for sure. All of us had the perfect costumes.

Then, we sorted through the consumables we had bought and returned to Levia’s workshop. She had already prepared quite a few things and we gave her our full attention, speeding her crafting up with additional hands on the deck. For the next few hours, it was all potions, concoctions, salves, ointments, and little trinkets. Plus, some arcanas too, of course.

The most important things, meaning the stimulants, had to chill in their vials for at least twelve hours, so we decided to depart right in the morning of the next day. That gave us enough time to wrap up everything. As I remained by Levia’s side, Aisha went out with Rose to let Lulu know about the plan, and also check on her own preparations.

Meanwhile, I helped the adorable Witch go through all the other concoctions we had already finished. As we stood in front of rows of rows of vials and glass containers, Levia sighed softly. I stepped closer and put my arm around her slim waist, sensing some kind of an issue troubling her bright mind.

“Something wrong?” I asked and she lightly rested her weight on me.

“We bought and made so much. I am not certain we can bring everything with us. Your new coat and vest have a good amount of pockets and vial holders, but it will not be enough, and would definitely slow you down a bit. I was thinking about a bag or a backpack, but with so much glass, it might end in a disaster with an unfortunate fall or attack,” she explained calmly.

“So, the problem revolves around the vials not shattering from the slightest shock, right?” I raised a brow at her and she nodded softly. “Hmmm… Maybe I can do something about that…”

I slid my palm into Levia’s hand and guided her back to my PC. She observed intently as I browsed through the D-Shop, getting a little bit confused and maybe a tad curious when I switched to the General Goods tab. But, as expected, this section had almost anything, and it certainly had the thing I was thinking of. There even were variants I had no idea existed, but that was even better.

Ordering the improved version of the thing, I stood up to fetch the package and brought it to the bed. Levia helped me bring the product out and examined it with her wise gaze from all angles. Unfortunately, it came in only one color and pattern, which was quite noticeable, but we would need to do something about that later.

What I had just bought was one of those striking red medical bags in the shape of a rectangle, taller than wider. It even came with an obligatory white cross, which made me smirk. Especially considering what we would be transporting in it.

I showed Levia how to operate the top zipper and revealed the insides of the specialistic container. This one was equipped with a form made of something resembling styrofoam but more gel-like and elastic. The form had two rows of six openings for vials and potions. And this particular bag fit three of those forms one over another, giving us thirty-six slots. Fully shock-proof, according to the product description.

To test it out, we picked up a few potions and slipped them into the empty slots. Some flasks were slightly bigger than the openings, but the elastic material of the form made enough space for them before hugging the vials neatly like the perfect memory foam. It was easy to pull them out but they were held firmly otherwise.

Levia praised this invention and filled the bag up to the last slot in a blink. We then closed the zipper and I helped her put it on her shoulder. This particular bag also had two safety straps ending in durable carabiners that could be attached to her belt, which was nice. She jumped around with it and nothing seemed to clink or make any other noise that would suggest anything was loose.

It was perfect.

Well, except for the color and perhaps size. It still looked quite large with Levia’s slender figure, but she had no issue moving around with it next to or behind her. And the tiny, beautiful smile curling up her dainty lips proved that she was more than happy about this little present.

Soon, Aisha came back and we had to show her the new goods too. As Levia introduced her to the bag and its amazing features, she let us know that Lulu would be ready to depart in the morning. It was all coming together and we were ready for it.

After some final checks, we hit the bed at the same time. Perhaps I should have predicted this, but Aisha discarded her bra and slipped under the sheets with just panties on. Now that Levia was part of our little family, all decency was going out of the window. But, since the lithe lady didn’t seem to mind, I allowed it and had a snuggly drakan smushing her soft peaks into my side with a satisfied smile. The silent elf embraced my other arm with some more modesty and we chatted a little more about everything we had done before falling asleep.

Morning came fairly quickly. We woke up and went straight to work. Aisha started with maintenance while I accompanied Levia to her workshop to see how her concoctions were doing. A few of the stimulants failed to brew correctly but she assured me that it wasn’t anything surprising or uncommon. Not a hundred percent of every batch was successful every time.

I helped her pour everything into neat flasks and we repacked her new potion bag to accommodate the new additions. She had lots of space for potions and other vials in her coat and so did I, therefore we stuffed our clothes full of the consumables that were going out first, like the elixirs that were going to make us invisible to enemies.

With that wrapped up, I checked on Aisha and lent her a hand with some maintenance oils and salves. She instructed me on how to properly apply them to my new gear and old weapons. She’d already taken care of most of it so I was left only with the chest, buckler, mace, and handaxes. Soon, I was done and jumped under the shower first while she added some finishing touches to everything.

But, my brief bathing session was quickly interrupted by the very same drakan lady who snuck under the stream with me, grinning impishly. She didn’t even have to say a word, I knew exactly what she was here for, especially right before our big expedition. Therefore, besides washing each other, we also proceeded to dirty ourselves a tiny bit first, making sure that all the buffs were applied properly and, at the same time, testing the durability of the shower cubicle once more.

I swear, with how wild she was, it would take no longer than a month or two before we needed some real renovations. Hopefully, Levia didn’t mind the soundtrack as this time Aisha hadn’t brought my phone to play some well-timed music to mute out the surroundings.

When both of us finished, Aisha said that she wanted to soak under the hot stream for a little longer and urged me not to wait for her. I saw no reason to deny my dazzling companion some hot solitude and got out, immediately understanding the motive behind her request. Levia awaited me on the bed in nothing but her charming underwear and the faintest blush on her sweet, blue cheeks, clearly hearing everything from earlier.

So, I spent a slightly more delicate and slow moment with the enchanting elf, both of us enjoying greatly how gentle and quiet our passionate union was when compared to what often transpired between me and the fiery Berserker. Both of them were just so unique and exquisite that I had no idea how my life had turned out like this. A real blessing.

Afterward, we lay on the bed together until Aisha freed the bathroom and I had to jump in once more, for obvious reasons. But, taking care of Levia’s mesmerizing skin and hair was more than enough of a motivation to accompany the petite lady. The relaxed face she made when I massaged her head while dealing with her hair was simply priceless.

We didn’t waste too much time there and hastily rejoined our frisky companion. All of us geared up, brought all the necessary stuff into the main section of the apartment, and waited for Lulu to show up, rehashing the initial plan we had come up with.

Well, for the most part. Aisha couldn’t stop staring at me and my new look. Judging by the joyfully wagging tip of her tail, she approved.

Soon, the final member of our little team arrived and we were on our way. Lulu also had invested in some additional protection for her small figure, perhaps a tad scared by what we had seen and the fact that we were down two Defenders this run. I couldn’t really blame her. But, thankfully, it looked like my change of attire quickly redirected her thoughts from those dark themes to my dark themes.

As usual, we traveled the spooky hallways without encountering any opponents. I half expected the evil Witch to send some of her underlings to the higher levels after learning that we had been snooping around the spires below, because she definitely had to be aware, but it looked like we either were lucky or she was very confident in whatever defenses she had set up at her home base.

We reached the stairs fairly quickly and began our descent, stopping at the entrance to the massive cavern. We took a brief glance around, spotting no flying hands or the big fuck. Unfortunately, just as we remembered, the spire connected to the stairway was damaged, and so were a few other nearby ones. We had to figure something out this time. And as we had thought, getting back up after getting off the stairs would be far harder.

Levia instructed us to drink our fill and we did exactly that. For the next minute or two, the four of us were chugging down four different potions. One of the physical stimulants, Spirit Sealing Tonic, False Life Brew, and an elixir either granting or enhancing Darkvision. Only our wise Witch drank three, forgoing the spiritual one for now, since she was a crucial part of our plan to descend.

Hopefully, no monster would notice her until then. And hopefully, my unused to consuming so much magical shit stomach held out. We were more or less safe from external diseases, but it was a different topic when it came to those from within. Happy accidents were not welcome.

Somehow, we arrived at the broken end of the path without an issue. Aisha hastily located a still-hanging bridge between two spires to our left and Levia cast Feather Fall through an arcana. Lulu offered to test it out first since she had her shadows to assure her safety and the small imp girl ran forward, jumping off the edge. She fell slowly towards the bridge and landed on it with a quiet thud after what felt like a good thirty seconds. Waving back up at us, she confirmed that everything was fine.

We followed one by one and met her down there. As soon as Levia made it to us, she deactivated the spell and downed her own spiritual suppressant.

“We need to locate more of those altars,” she said calmly. “I will be able to triangulate the position of the main ritual through them. Though, my actions might not go unnoticed so we will need to be careful.”

“Worst case scenario, someone will have to lure the Rib Titan away again.” Aisha sighed heavily. “Let’s go. We have a Witch’s ass to spank.”

I rolled my eyes and turned to our Witch. “Lead the way.”