DD 202 Ch 4 (Patreon)

Chapter 4

I slid my pants on as Des weakly tucked Charlotte in. Des smiled, flopping over onto her side with a satisfied face.

The green-haired druid had a smile plastered on her cute sleeping form as well.

“That ability is never going to get old.” Des sighed, her eyes a little unfocused.

“You sure it is okay to use it so much?” I asked.

“Pretty sure the text there is a little misleading.” Des smirked. “I don’t think anyone will die, but you might get poor Charlotte hooked to the point she’s an addict. Then again, she’d be a cute little nympho.” The purple-haired demonic mage played with Charlotte’s chest as she slept.

I rolled my eyes and put on my shirt. “Take good care of her.”

“We’re just going to have a nice blissful sleep.” Des pulled Charlotte in close to cuddle and murmured, seeming to fall asleep immediately.

The two of them had really gone all out.

Still, I was surprisingly full of energy, maybe even more so than when we’d started.

Des had certainly been effective at reminding me why we were all better together, not that I’d needed that reminder.

The blunder of walking into that boss room alone had been enough for me to realize that diving the dungeon was incredibly dangerous and having people at my back to support me when I stumbled was always going to be a good thing.

We couldn’t all be as reckless as Crimson.

It wasn’t like those books where the character lived as a lone wolf for their entire life, growing with neatly spaced out challenges. Those were unrealistic. An adventurer needed someone to watch their back.

I couldn’t think of anyone better than my party.

Besides, I’d go crazy being alone for that long.

I brushed aside the tent to the roar of a bonfire and chatter from the groups all around it. The tent was incredible at blocking sound.

I smiled, taking a step as I noticed a lot of looks coming my way.

Most noticeably, Fayeth and Felin were staring. The two non-human girls were easy to pick out of a crowd.

I shot them a wave and headed over. Fayeth had her cooking station set up and a splattered apron on as she worked. Felin kept darting forward and trying to steal a piece of prosciutto from her pan while she had her head turned.

Fayeth smacked Falin’s hand away with a spatula without even looking. “The other two?”

“Passed out.” I shrugged.

Fayeth raised an eyebrow. “Des? Tired?” She spoke with mock shock.

“I think she just wanted an excuse to cuddle Charlotte who is most certainly passed out.” I covered for the temptress who would hate to have her prowess doubted.

“Charlotte is adorable.” Felin said, rubbing her hand. “I would think both of them would make incredible pillows.”

“What are you making?” I asked Fayeth as she turned the pan and deftly used the spatula to scoop liquid from the corner and drizzle it back over the cooking meat. I could tell she was making something wrapped in prosciutto, which I had learned was like fancy bacon.

“Chicken Marsala.” Fayeth said, letting Felin steal a dripping mushroom and pop it in her mouth. “Well, it would be if someone would stop eating it before it’s cooked.”

“It’s good.” Felin said. “You’ll love it.”

Fayeth gave her a flat stare.

“Is it for me?” I asked, coming to sit next to Felin. The Nekorian’s nose twitched over me as I made myself at home with a glass of water.

“Oh. OH. That’s why they are so tired.” She shook her head. “You are all a very active pride.”

“Are Nekorian’s not that sexually active?” Fayeth had zero problem talking about sex.

“Eh.” Felin waffled her hand. “It’s fun during heat if you find the right partner, but outside of that it’s rather uncomfortable.”

Fayeth tilted her head. “Uncomfortable? Really? I don’t think you’ve had the right partner before. Sex is incredible.”

“The barbs are—“

I spat out my water. “Barbs?”

“Yeah. You know, the spines when you get all roused and the blood makes them swell and hook you down there.” Felin waved between her legs. “During heat you are so caught up you really can’t feel it, but…”

She trailed off as both of our mouths hung open.

“What?”

“I don’t have spines or barbs.” I said quickly, feeling the need to dispel that notion.

“It’s smooth. Well, a little rough in the right ways.” Fayeth added thoughtfully. “No barbs though. Not even a prickle.”

Felin just stared at both of us, her mouth open as if we’d just told her that the sun wasn’t real. She closed her mouth and looked down and to the side murmuring to herself.

“Well, now that’s been sorted out.” Fayeth plated the food and handed it to me with both hands and a giant smile. “Eat up.”

I kissed her briefly before pulling out a knife and fork.

The blonde and tan elf was a bit of a homemaker. She took delight in cooking for her party and doing simple things like sewing up torn clothes.

“This is so good.” I swallowed my first bite. “You are wonderful, Fayeth.”

She hummed happily and started on another dish.

Our group wasn’t the only one around the bonfire. All of the other Haylon parties were split up into their own groups chatting away, enjoying a meal by the fire. They were fairly intermingled. The exercise to have our parties switch around had really helped us get to know each other.

Though, it seemed that Fayeth, Felin and me were being given our own sort of private moment amid the clamor.

“So, no barbs?” Felin finally came out of her musing.

“None.” Fayeth confirmed for her. “Do you have any special anatomy? He was surprised a little at my own.”

Felin frowned. “Special anatomy? I have no idea what normal anatomy is for you. I thought we were the same but apparently now I’ve been corrected.”

“You’ve seen us all naked at least once.” I mumbled between bites.

“I didn’t examine you!” Felin pouted. “No, I’m completely normal. Normal for a Nekorian, that is.”

“What about this ‘heat’?” Fayeth frowned at the word and glanced at me.

“Do you have animals with only once or twice a year fertile periods?” I asked Fayeth.

“Ah. Yes. The female then… oooh.” The elf understood the word now. “Nekorians are like that too?”

“Twice a year.” Felin rolled her eyes. “It’s weird that you guys go at it all the time.” She sniffed me again.

I patted her on the head, rubbing her between her ears until she let out a satisfied groan. When I stopped she went back to eating.

Nekorians were really more cat than we gave them credit for at times.

Fayeth took out some cream to make a sauce and as soon as the jug touched the counter, Felin tried to swipe it.

I stopped her, but her ears fell back and she gave me the most pitiful pleading face.

“Don’t fall for it.” Fayeth warned me, rolling her eyes. “She’s already had a jug.” The elf stared down at the Nekorian’s trim waist with a little awe.

“Just a little more?” Felin pleaded.

I caved and pulled out a glass before pouring her a cup of cream.

Fayeth sighed as Felin slugged back the whole cup in an instance and started licking her lips. “She has zero restraint when it comes to dairy.”

Felin also had zero regrets judging by her satisfied face.

“Wait, then what happened to the milk that I gave you?” I asked Felin.

She had a guilty look on her face. “Huh? That? I don’t know.”

I deadpanned, knowing just how much we’d given her. I was impressed that she wasn’t a giant blob.

“See?” Fayeth said, setting aside the white sauce pan and working on meat in another.

“It’s so tasty though.” Felin looked longingly at the empty glass and then back at me. “Just a little more?”

“She’ll never stop asking.” Fayeth warned me.

“Later.” I told Felin, knowing that she’d be able to eventually wear me down and that I was probably going to end up giving her some later regardless.

“Okay.” She perked up. “So, did Crimson say anything about the training?”

“Eh…” I hesitated. “That didn’t come up.” I wondered where she and Heather were now.

Felin shrugged. “That’s fine. I sort of figured she was going to start handicapping you. The rest of the groups are going to get reliant on you otherwise.”

I thought about her statement and shrugged. There were those heavy manacles that I had stopped wearing, but I wasn’t sure how effective they’d be now with my current stats.

Suddenly, the idea of Crimson covering me in sandbags and making me fight like that occurred and I shuddered.

It was a distinct possibility.

“Or you might get benched and forced to train with Crimson.” Fayeth added, pulling out a cutting board and sliding it over in front of me along with some herbs.

I knew when I was given a job to do. Using the kitchen knife, I performed my duties as an automated chopper brilliantly.

Felin clapped as I turned chives, parsley and basil into little flecks and separate piles for Fayeth.

Fayeth hummed happily and added the herbs to the meat before making dough and wrapping each of them in little rolls before pouring the cream sauce over them in a shallow baking dish and tucked it into her grill.

My Elven lover was an incredible sight. There was something very peaceful about her when she cooked.

“You do enjoy cooking.” I said watching her.

“Of course. Everyone eats. Why not make the process enjoyable?” She hummed and dusted off her hands before filling a shallow bowl with water and handing me a scrub brush.

“Ah. This is an interesting dynamic of the pride.” Felin narrated from the side. “After the females catch the ingredients and combine them, the male must clean the utensils to get his share.” She nodded to herself.

“That’s not what’s happening.” Fayeth sighed. “I’d give him food if he didn’t clean… it’s just… it’s…”

“It’s my inclusion in the process even if it seems a little less than the cooking part.” I explained. “It really isn’t. She did all the preparation by getting the ingredients and cooking while also feeding me. I’m simply thanking her by doing the cleaning.”

Felin nodded. “The females get the food, as it should be.”

I thought about arguing, but decided to let the concept go. Instead I focused on cleaning the pans as Fayeth dried them and occasionally we swapped dishes and kisses as we worked.

Just as we were finishing up, Crimson appeared next to me, quickly leaning on my shoulder. “You are done with Mrs Renard faster than I expected. If I had known you were out here, I would have abandoned the hussy a lost faster.” She pecked me on the cheek.

“I can’t figure you two out.” I said.

“It’s easy. She lost, I won. I always win and that’s fun.” Crimson smirked. “So, when were you going to tell me that you carried the whole event, hmm?”

“Me?” I feigned innocence, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end in warning of impending danger. “Are you sure that Hussy isn’t just messing with you?”

“Helen told me and she’s not really one to exaggerate your accomplishments now is she?” Crimson pursed her lips. “Now, I was wondering if we were going to have to hold you back…”

“You just want me all for yourself don’t you.” I booped her on the nose, trying to stop her train of thought.

The fierce adventurer blinked as I booped her nose. It was like her reset button. Nobody else was so brave to be so physically familiar with her. “What?”

“Exactly. So we don’t need to hold me back.” I nodded in agreement.

She shook her head. “No, you need to wear those manacles I got you again. Besides, they are really classy and strong. I was thinking we could get them enchanted so that they get heavier the more stacks you get. Just think how strong you’ll be by the end of grueling training.” Crimson batted her lashes at me as if she’d said something sexy.

“Pass.” I said. “To the enchantment. Though maybe I should start wearing them again. They’ll help with training my strength.”

Crimson nodded her head rapidly. “You are going to be our ace at the raid. We need to get you as strong as possible.”

I scratched my cheek. “Wouldn’t I already be able to run laps around most Damage Dealers?”

Crimson nodded. “Most.” She agreed. “But the Big Four are full of talents. Headmistress has been doing a little light snooping, and from the Royal Academy there’s an adventurer from Qatar who’s been power leveled to the mid forties and geared up in legendary gear for his level. He also has access to extensive potions and elixirs to help him work on his stats.”

That type of leveling wasn’t unheard of, although it required quite a bit of funds. 

Certain financial powers in the world went all in on adventuring early on, spending exorbitant sums to gain power and control over the dungeons in their regions.

More than a few oil barons had chased after mana crystals, realizing their potential as an energy source.

“That’s practically cheating.” Fayeth said. “It goes against the rules of not overly helping an adventurer progress.”

I had to agree with her, but then again, he might not be in any danger if he stays so far ahead of the curve. Being able to quite literally buy adventurers of that strength could be very useful for creating farming teams.

Crimson shrugged. “He’s still overwhelmingly powerful for an event of his caliber. Some people really hate to lose. I hear Trusk has a class with some interesting adventurers. Something about a whole slew of summoners. Marlow couldn’t get much on them. Then, of course, Pendulum is considered the top of the Big Four and they are going to be coordinated as fuck with an average strength above ours.”

“So, I’m our ace?” I repeated her earlier words. It sounded like there was going to be a fierce competition. Here I’d been worried I would blow everyone away.

“Duh. That’s what I just said.” Crimson scoffed. “Leveling is all nice and swell, but we’ll get that pretty quickly. This event takes four hours to regenerate every time you finish it. So, we’ll level quickly enough. The rest of the time…” Crimson chuckled darkly and rubbed her hands. “You’ll be training with me.”

I kissed her, contrary to her expectations and she melted against me. “Thanks for taking such good care of me. We’ll have to find ways to train my stamina too.”

“Yes. Yes of course.” Crimson smiled. “I brought lots of rope.”

Felin tilted her head like a confused cat. “I don’t get the rope comment. Are you making a hammock to sleep in?”

“There’s no barbs, thus he has to find another way to control Crimson.” Fayeth explained.

“Ooh.” Felin made a noise of understanding and blank eyes.

“You still don’t get it.” Fayeth slapped her face and Felin moved like lightning to steal the rest of the cream that she’d left out.

Fayeth removed her hand from her face only to see the Nekorian sigh as she pulled the carton away.

“You! I’m going to run out of cream at this rate. Do you realize how hard it is to make Italian food without cream!?” The petite Fayeth moved to strangle the larger Nekorian woman.

It was an odd interaction, because Fayeth had significantly more strength than the larger woman.

“Should we help them?” I asked Crimson.

She shrugged. “I think it’s more fun this way.”

“Stupid cream thief. You owe me some more.”

“Na uh. You left it out. It was going to go bad. I was helping.” Felin couldn’t be dying if she could still speak.

A Haylon student came to a panting stop not far from us as we watched the Elf and Nekorian banter. “Ken… Crimson…” She huffed.

I raised an eyebrow, trying to recall which group she was from, only to realize she was from the seniors. “What can I do for you?”

“The…others… too much. They bit off too much.” I realized that she had sprinted all the way back to camp from the event. That’s why she was so winded.

I stood up. “Where are they? The event?” I checked my CID. It had been a little over four hours since we’d defeated the boss.

The student sucked in a deep breath and nodded. “They wanted to push themselves.”

Crimson shrugged. “Up to you Ken. People die in the Dungeon every day. Are you going to help them?”

“You aren’t going to save them?” I asked.

“Teaches everyone a bad lesson if I do it. And you probably can do it, so why not let you make the decision?” Crimson decided to use it as a teaching moment, or she was just lazy.

“Fayeth, Felin… Crimson is going to go run to a safe zone and get you more cream.” I pointedly looked at the woman who stuck her tongue out at me.

Then I looked out over the bonfire to spot many of my classmates relaxed. More than a few of them had started drinking. “Selene, Candice, are you two fit for a fight?” Candice was so straight laced she wouldn’t be touching anything and Selene… well, Selene had been too busy ogling me to drink. They were the group next to us and I’d observed them out of the corner of my eyes for most of the time I’d stepped outside the tent.

Selene put up her hands like she was going to box. “For you, I’m ready.”

I chuckled. “I need a healer.”

“Even better. Where are we going?” Selene asked.

Candice stood, straightening her hair that didn’t need it and straightening her clothes that certainly didn’t need any pressing. “We’ll go.”