Dungeon 102 Chapter 4 (Patreon)

The forest turned out to be even better than I’d originally planned. Not only did it provide more hooks to hang alarm wires on, but the bushes and trees blocked the light from a small fire well we built.

Another party would have to almost be on top of us to see the dim light. But the light provided enough for our lookouts to be effective.

Though, we wouldn’t have any warning should one or more groups gather together outside the bushes. We would have to defend our flag like any other group.

Our increased numbers between our two parties was our best shot at keeping our flag.

I sat up in a tree, using a small serrated knife to cut partially through the branches as we prepared.

The canopy posed some challenges, but I was setting fairly sneaky traps. And crashing down from the tree would be pretty brutal.

“Ken, how’s it going up there?” Charlotte walked below the tree where I was working

“Almost done with this branch, why?” I asked.

“Fayeth and I made dinner together.” Charlotte’s eyes pressed into two crescent moons. And I gave her a genuine smile. I was glad they were starting to get along.

“Oh, you two both worked together? I’m sure I’ll die of happiness after I try it.” I teased.

Charlotte giggled, making her green braids flop around. “Hurry up then, so you can die of happiness. Afterwards, we can use a healer to revive you.” She walked away with Bun-bun on her head turning to me and giving me a paws-up.

I finished sawing on the branch. It sagged a little, but not so much that it would be noticeable at night. The trap would take care of that when someone used it to hold their weight. If someone put too much weight on the branch, it would snap.

Jumping from the branch, I once again marveled at the increase in my stats as I flipped and landed on my feet with just a slight bend of my knees.

Even after just a few levels in the dungeon, I was performing acrobatic feats like they were everyday movements.

“Food.” Harley was drooling over the platter of hot sandwiches and soup.

“Wait for my Fieore.” Fayeth looked like she was about to defend the food with her life if needed.

“No need to be so tense. I’m here.” I stepped up to the little camp site. Our two parties had split it down the center. They were sitting by their tent and we were sitting by our tent.

“You are a lucky man.” Kendra blew on what looked like stir fry. “Two ladies slaving away over the fire for you.”

“Hush.” Charlotte glared at the other party’s leader. She was still cute even with the glare.

Kendra only shrugged.

I took one of the sandwiches only to realize they were warm. “Thank you. Now that we are done with preparations, it’s time to head out. Charlotte, you are coming with me on offense. Kendra, I assume Bonnie is staying here with your group?”

She looked around at her party. “Regan and I will go on offense.”

I nodded, expecting something like that. “Charlotte and I will go, too.” I glanced at the druid with her green hair split into two braids that fell down on either side of her.

Kendra mulled over that for a second before nodding. “Bonnie will heal for both of us then. I just ask that if you spot us out there later, you have Charlotte heal us up.”

“Of course.” I agreed.

Our offense teams couldn’t really work together. There was only one flag per camp.

I scarfed down my delicious sandwich and Fayeth handed me another one before giving me a bag with two extra in it.

“Figured you could use a few for tonight in case you get hungry while you are out and about. We adventurers burn a lot of calories.” She handed me the bag and I put it in my CID inventory with a smile.

They were really taking good care of me.

Desmonda shot me a wink as she took another big bite of food.

Deciding we still had a minute, I grabbed Fayeth’s hand as I walked away from the campfires, pretending I was going to show her the alarms. A few murmured scoffs behind me told me I was fooling nobody, but it seemed like the respectful thing to do.

My fieore was beautiful with her sun kissed skin and golden blonde hair. I enjoyed her slim frame, the way I could circle her waist with one arm. She made me feel so strong and powerful when I held her.

Fayeth, as if sensing my thought, wove her fingers together with mine with a smile blooming on her lips. “My Fieore, you wouldn’t be about to sneak off with me in the woods, would you?”

“Would you be opposed to that?” I still wasn’t quite sure of the elven courting rituals. Fayeth always talked about our souls harmonizing as if there was some measurable quantity happening that she could sense.

She smiled and drew me behind a bush to block us from the rest of the group. Her thin, yet impossibly strong, arms wrapped around the back of my neck.

I could take a hint.

Leaning forward, I kissed her. If there was anything to this harmonizing of our souls, I felt it then.

As I wrapped my arms around her thin, tight body my heart swelled and I felt closer to her than ever.

She wasn’t an experienced kisser. She was hesitant and slow as our lips touched.

It was up to me to draw her deeper into the kiss, pressing her to me as I drew her lips to mine.

Fayeth let out a whisper of a sigh into my mouth, and I tasted all of the fruit that my Fieore often snuck into her CID.

I drew back to check on her, looking into her crystal clear blue eyes. “I think our soul harmonization is coming along. At least, it is if that was anything to judge it by.”

She kissed me again, a quick thing that communicated so much love. “Me too. Physical intimacy is important to continue its development.”

I raised an eyebrow asking if she was saying what I thought she was saying.

Fayeth only gave me a wry grin and kissed me again.

This kiss lasted longer, but it was no less charged than the first.

By the time she pulled away, I was breathless.

“My Fieore. I would relish more physical intimacy, but I’m worried about something.” She blushed and stared back at me.

“What?”

“You are harmonizing with more than just me.” She reminded me. “You need to be good to Charlotte, there’s…” She struggled to say what came next.

But I already knew. “There’s a gap growing between me and Charlotte. She was my first friend here… but Des has taken up a lot of my time.”

“I have too.” She admitted. “But that’s because Des and I are actively pursuing you.” Fayeth kissed me on the nose before moving to get her feet back on the ground. “You need to pursue Charlotte. You like her, correct?”

“Of course.” I said in a heartbeat. “It’s just—“

“She isn’t aggressive, and I’ve taken some of her role. Charlotte is stronger than she knows. Tonight, rely on her, and show her that she’s part of this group. Please.”

I touched my forehead to Fayeth’s. “What in the world did I do to deserve you?”

Not only was she inserting herself into my life and helping me with all manner of small tasks, but Fayeth was helping me with my party and harem.

“It’s not what you’ve done but what you will do. You are a great man that will do great things.” She pressed her forehead to mine and leaned close so that I could wrap her in my arms.

She nearly disappeared in my hug.

We stayed like that for a moment, just enjoying each others’ bodies until I heard two whip cracks boom in the night.

We broke from the hug.

Fayeth laid a small peck on my cheek. “Let’s get to work my Fieore.”

I nodded and headed back to the camp with her, still holding hands.

“That was a quick one.” Harley chuckled before being silenced by a chop from Des.

“Don’t be a jerk. Those two just like to cuddle and it’s cute as hell.” Des shot back.

Harley pouted, throwing a stick into the fire in anger.

“Yes, our souls are harmonizing wonderfully.” Fayeth smiled. “But now it is time to separate. Harley, go get some sleep, maybe you’ll enjoy your lewd dreams.”

The bard’s mouth opened and closed a few times before she just snorted in laughter.

“We are heading off.” Kendra announced. “Please reset the alarm behind us.”

That was the cue for Charlotte and I to get going too. “Us too. We’ll be back soon to help.” Our plans were changing as we set everything up. There was no time for me to get rest when camps were going to be losing flags early in the night.

I figured that going out early was more important. We needed to get the flags of other camps while each camp still had them. I could come back later and help the others defend. Ideally I’d also catch some sleep so I wasn’t useless in class. I had no doubt Crimson would work us just to push us harder.

Charlotte perked up and caught up to me in several long strides as Bun-bun hung onto her hair. “Yes. Let’s go.”

We followed Kendra and Regan out through a few alarms that we had made to be able to be disarmed. Unhooking them, we moved past and then reset the traps.

“Alright. See you later.” Regan smirked. “Don’t fall in one of the traps on your way back.”

Bun-bun squeaked atop Charlotte’s head, shaking his fist at the other woman.

Regan held her hands up like she had understood whatever Bun-bun had said. “No, I’d never cook a rabbit as cute as you.”

Her response only caused more angry noises from the rabbit.

“He doesn’t like to be called cute.” Charlotte informed Regan. “He prefers being called handsome.”

Kendra just rolled her eyes and moved on, forcing Regan to catch up.

“Let’s go the other direction.” The last thing I wanted was to follow behind Kendra. Our two parties were already tense, and we needed to be able to keep working together.

Charlotte kept up with me, her face in a hard mask of determination.

Fayeth’s words came back to me, and I tried to think of a way to involve Charlotte more.

“So. Is it time to use our secret weapon?” I asked her, slowing down.

Charlotte looked at me confused. “Secret weapon?”

I pointed to the rabbit on top of her head. “You and Bun-bun. Let’s be honest, here at night he’s going to be vital. What do you say, Bun-bun? Can you find us a camp?”

The rabbit shot up straight and saluted me before leaning over and checking with Charlotte.

“Yes. Go.” She shooed him on, and the rabbit launched himself from her head.

After he was out of earshot, Charlotte turned to me. I could barely make out her face even just a few feet away. There were small dots of light on the ceiling mimicking the night stars.

“Thank you. Bun-bun needs a win.” Charlotte whispered. “I’ll be sure to hang back for healing when we find these camps.”

I shook my head again. “No. I think in some of these, I need your help.” As much as it might be fun for me to sneak in and try to steal all of these flags myself, Charlotte and Bun-bun were absolutely vital.

Stepping to the side, I started to undress and put my Yorai on.

Charlotte made a dramatic motion of looking away. “Don’t just get naked right next to me.” She spoke louder than she meant to, her voice going hushed quickly.

“You can’t see anything with how dark it is. Besides, it'll be better if people can’t tell who I am. In terms of strategy, I’m thinking I will try and sneak in. If I get caught, I can always metamorphosis and cause a big fuss. That’s where I need you and Bun-bun ready. If he can slip the alarms and deliver the flag to you while I cause a distraction, we still win. We’ll meet up after each camp, and I’ll have you heal me if needed.”

Taylor’s attempt back in the classroom had me thinking.

A distraction was highly valuable. This time, I’d have to be the distraction though.

“Really?” Charlotte sounded shocked by the plan.

“I’ll try to be sneaky, but everyone is going to be on high alert tonight. Someone is going to catch me.” I told her. “So, you and Bun-bun are the real plan.”

There was a fire of determination in Charlotte’s eyes. “Yes! Do you have another of the ninja uniforms?”

I actually did. Earlier that school year when it had gotten torn up, Crimson had fixed it for me and gotten me several more in dark, yet different, colors.

The one I gave Charlotte was a very dark green. Black actually worked worse than dark colors. Not much was pure black.

Charlotte took the Yorai from me with a particular reverence and started to undo her shirt. “Ummm…” Her face went so bright red that it could be seen even in the dark. “Can you turn around?”

Right. “Sorry.” I swiftly turned away while Charlotte disrobed behind me. In the dark, it felt like the sounds were magnified as her clothes rustled to the ground and she put on her Yorai.

I didn’t watch, but I assumed Charlotte had cute girly underwear, the kind that was a light pastel color with bows.

My imagination got the better of me. She wasn’t as curvy as Des, but where Des was sinful, Charlotte was soft and innocent.

“I’m dressed and Bun-bun is coming back.” Charlotte whispered.

She looked good in the Yorai. The belt made her figure especially hourglass, but it struggled with her chest. It wasn’t fit for a person with breasts. “Is there a secret to the headwrap?” She struggled to hide her hair.

“Here, let me help.” I pushed at her braids and wrapped her head before giving her a demon mask to wear.

She looked at it with a chuckle. “If you wear one of these and then metamorphosis, you are going to make a lot of people sound spooked when they talk about it.”

“We should get you a mask with a rabbit on it.” I joked, but based on the way she was quiet, she seemed to like the idea.

Bun-bun bounced back over, gesturing madly and squeaking at us.

“He found two camps on opposite sides of a large rock in the mountain area.” Charlotte translated.

I nodded. I was pretty sure I knew the location. “Lead us then. You are in charge, Bun-bun.”

The rabbit gasped, or at least made a noise that sounded like a rabbit gasp, before he bounded off. I was in hot pursuit as we cleared out of the forest.

I had a feeling one or two more camps existed in the forest, but I didn’t have an issue going a little further out. If Kendra left them, we could raid them at the end of our trip.

Bun-bun led us on a merry chase through the dark to the two camps, but when we arrived, both of them were already active, fighting someone. Both camps had bright fires that made them stand out like sore thumbs and attracted attention.

They were both parties from class C and were out of their tents defending themselves, though I couldn’t make out who their attackers were.

“What do we do?” Charlotte asked.

“Bun-bun, think you and Charlotte can take the one on the right? Just get in and get the flag before getting away. We’ll meet back here.” I looked and both of the camps had a single assailant being brought down quickly by the defenders.

“On it. Bun-bun, let’s go.” Charlotte didn’t hesitate and peeled off.

She had something to prove, and I hoped that she’d get what she needed.

I rushed to the left. The defenders were wrapping up with their attack, so I needed to hurry. They would quickly be on edge, scanning for any other intruders as soon as they finished with their current opponent.

Their flag was in plain view.

The fire was big and bright, making their alarm wires blatantly obvious as I drew my sword, cutting through them with a single swift stroke and hopping over a snare trap. “Sprint.” I hissed into my mask and ducked low as I shot into their camp.

The alarms hit the ground rattling, but the attackers didn’t even so much as flinch, focused on their current target to the extent that they didn’t hear the alarms.

I had the flag in my hand and was stuffing it into my CID when someone shouted. “There’s another!”

My sprint was still powering my legs as I shot out of their camp. A bolt of electricity shot over my head, shattering some rocks and lighting up the night.

“Get her!” Another shouted, not recognizing me before a bolt of electricity slammed into my back.

Thankfully, I resisted any ill effects with my high stamina and rushed around a rock. Then I used the rock to run as fast as I could while staying out of any open shots.

As soon as I passed a few more rocks, I cut to the side, hoping to confuse my followers.

Another few bolts of electricity shot through the night, but they were off of my path. They shot to the left of where I had been earlier. Firing blindly hoping to catch me.

I smirked and dodged again, circling around before I met up with Charlotte.