Chapter Forty Adventurers (Patreon)

Ivy peeked through the door. She had been doing this a lot lately. Sometimes she wasn’t sure why, and other times she was afraid of what she might see. Afraid that she might see that demon corrupting her daughter. The same way that other demon was. By the Infernal Plains, she had caught that imp Asarya masturbating in front of her daughter. Ivy was afraid of what else that imp might be teaching her daughter. Especially with her ‘lessons.’ Lessons she wasn’t allowed to observe. Asarya kept locking the doors, and since they were in a dungeon there wasn’t much she could do about a locked door.

Ivy didn’t exactly have any skills or spells related to lockpicking. Dungeon doors were quite durable, and even if she could destroy them it was illegal to do so. There was a reason for that. One that she understood, and respected. Ivy wasn’t really sure what to do. As she worried that her daughter was slipping away from her. She seemed to be spending a lot of time with the dungeon’s spirit.

At the moment the two of them were curled up on the bed together. Wearing nothing but a set of pajamas, heads close together as they peered into a book. Giggling and chatting. Honestly it looked very cute, and if Misaki wasn’t a demon she might not have given it a second thought. For a moment she wondered why she kept peeking in on them. They had been here for weeks, and Misaki had done nothing untoward. In fact, she was starting to wonder about the demon girl. She knew lust demons were very sensual creatures, often engaging in sex. Yet she had not seen Misaki engage at all. Not once.

“What are you doing?”

She jumped and turned around to be greeted with the sight of a familiar girl. Wearing nothing but a pair of panties that did little to conceal her pussy. Her gaze moved up past her modest boobs with those fat little nipples that she always had on full display to her pixie face.

“Asarya? I thought you were...”

“I finished that an hour ago. I brought something for young Misaki.” then she gave Ivy a look, “now I can’t help but notice that you avoided my question. What are you doing?”

She sighed, “I was checking in on my daughter.” Shifting, she continued, “Speaking of Lily, she has been spending a lot of time with Misaki lately. You wouldn’t happen to know what they are doing?”

“Sure do!” she beamed, and after a moment, she said with an even wider smile, “But I ain’t telling. It’s a surprise!”

“Surprise!?”

“What are those two plotting?”

“My lips are sealed!

Before she could press further, there was a shout from behind. Followed by, “Sorry Lily. We are going to have to cut this short. There are strangers by my door.

Amy studied the massive door in the side of the hill they had found. It was on a raised platform, at the base of an old watchtower. Surrounded by a low wall. It wasn’t hard to guess what this was. She had consulted the map Aidera had given her, and the notes she had taken at the ‘Dragon’s Eatery’ when consulting the healer. There were no old watchtowers in this area. Yet that was exactly what she was looking at.

Someone voiced her conclusion, “it’s a dungeon.”

Thomas with clear excitement shouted, “YES! A dungeon. Our chance to be heroes! Fame and Glory await. Let's go explore it!”

Amy sighed, “We aren’t out here to explore a dungeon. We are supposed to be looking for the bandits that killed the Third Princess Stormwind. We should report it to the guild when we get back to Sunblossom and collect the finders fee.”

“I thought she was kidnapped, not killed,” said Thomas, frowning.

Amy shook her head, “Technically missing, but if she was lost or kidnapped we would have heard something by now. She is most likely dead. I just don’t see what else could explain why she has been gone for months without so much as a ransom demand, or word from her if she escaped.”

Kei interjected, “Moving away from depressing subjects, maybe we should take a look?”

Amy frowned, “Hmm? Why?”

“Well you mentioned the finder’s fee, but don’t they pay more if you can submit a scout report along with it?”

Amy blinked, and scratched her ear for a moment, “hmm, now that you mention it I think you are right.” she paused and glanced at her party. “So what do you girls think?

Eri drooled, “More money means more food! Let’s go!”

Amy sighed of course she was going to say that. She glanced at Mara, who shifted.

“I could use the exercise. There isn’t anything here but low-level wolves, and a few slimes.” she frowned, “Speaking of the wolves, any idea why all the wolves we have fought have been female? I don’t think I have seen a male monster in days. It’s weird.”

Amy had been wondering about that herself. It was strange alright. Very strange. Personally, she had a suspicion that someone was poaching the male monsters. For what purpose, she wasn’t sure yet. There were too many possibilities for her to make a guess. She put that aside however, and instead focused on the opinions voice. Thomas was all for going into the dungeon, Kei seemed to be leaning towards entering, Eri was eager to go in, and Mara wanted a change of pace. It seemed everyone was in favor of going in. That left her as the odd girl out, who wanted to steer clear.

She sighed, “Alright, we will go inside, but we won’t go beyond the first floor.” she paused and took a moment to look everyone in the eyes. “Any objections?”

No one objected. Amy turned towards the door, and double-checked her quiver. She had lost a few arrows since leaving Sunblossom, but her quiver was still mostly full. She pulled one from her quiver, and held it at the ready. Amy didn’t bother to nock it, just yet, and then she signaled Kei to open the door. As the party scout, she would take the lead.

If they encountered an enemy, she would fall back, and let Mara, Thomas, and Eri take the front line. Amy would stay on the rear and support with her spells, and arrows. Mainly arrows since she was better with that.

The heavy door swung open with surprising ease. Revealing a passage leading into the earth. Despite her previous objections, Amy could not help but feel a little excitement. They were actually getting to do some exploring. It wasn’t every day that she got to do a dungeon dive. She took a breath and waited a moment as Kei made her way into the passage. She signaled, and they began to follow. As they entered the dungeon, they were all graced with a notification.

Congrats! You have discovered an unknown dungeon!

Make a report to gain a reward!
You have entered the ??? Dungeon.
Alert! ??? Dungeon is a demonic dungeon beware of corruption!

New Quest! Available!
Dungeon Report

Report the location of this dungeon to a nearby guild or kingdom for experience and gold
Bonus Reward for any additional information you collect about the dungeon.
Difficulty: Trivial
Do you accept?

Naturally they accepted, but she was slightly worried about the mention of demons. Demons were not easy foes to beat. Amy didn’t have much experience with them herself though. Only what she had been told about demons, and what she had to look out for. Mentally she filed that down, and made her way deeper into the dungeon.

As they made their way down. Kei checked ahead for traps while keeping an eye out for enemies. The first passage was usually safe, but that was no reason to drop their guard. As it would turn out, the first passage was safe, and they soon reached a modestly sized stone room. Two demons were guarding it. Lust demons to be specific. One Demon girl, a mage from the look of it, and a Beastkin Warrior. A wolfkin to be specific. Levels Nine, and Seven respectively. Neither demon wore much, just a simple short skirt and a top that barely covered the breasts. Not unusual for lust demons, they typically didn’t wear much

Amy signaled the party into formation as Kei dropped back into the rear. Mentally she noted the levels of her opponents, and what that meant. She didn’t focus on that, it was important, but she had something more pressing to focus on. Amy nocked her arrow and took aim. Mentally she considered her opponents. The mage was a bigger threat, in her mind she targeted the Demon Girl.

Her arrow shone with energy just moments before she released it. As it sailed through the air, she was already drawing her next arrow. The arrow slammed into the shields of the mage, and a burst of light flared up. As her arrow unleashed the charged magical energies she had imbued it with. When the light cleared the mage was still there, and already chanting her first spell.

Amy released her second arrow. While at the same moment, Mara blocked the advance of the beastkin demon. Her blade flashed, as it stopped the claws of the demon in their tracks. Blocking the blow, and staggering the demon. Thomas was quick to exploit the opening and his blade blurred as he unleashed a powerful flurry of blows. Three quick strikes sliced the demon across her chest in the blink of an eye. Each one sliced her skin, and shredded fabric. Her top fell from her frame to reveal her bloodied chest a moment later, and the demon growled. She had been wounded but not felled.

As for her arrow, it had found its mark. Striking the mage, but again her shield held. It seemed to be weakening though. So Amy released a third arrow, just as the demon mage unleashed her spell. A lightning-like bolt of pink light streaked with black sprung forth from her palms. Striking Mara in the chest.

The armored dwarf let out a yelp but otherwise seemed fine. Amy barely gave her a glance, and didn’t immediately notice how the spell had really affected her.

Her third arrow seemed to have more of an effect, and the demon’s shield shattered. While Amy’s fourth arrow was already in the air, but before it could land the demon moved. She could not move far enough away to evade it though, and the shaft sprouted from her breast an instant later. She cried out, but barely missed a beat with her chant, and unleashed a second spell an instant later.

Amy was a bit surprised, as she seemed to get faster. A similar bolt flew out, and again struck Mara who unleashed another yelp, and collapsed. Just as the wounded beastkin was charging in. Without missing a beat, Eri stepped in. Filling in for Mara, and stopping the demon in her tracks, and Thomas thrust his sword through her an instant later.

The warrior was dealt with, and that left just the mage. Who went down a moment later. As Amy’s final arrow found its mark. This time proving to be more than a flesh wound.

As the second demon fell to the ground, Amy rushed over to Mara. Kneeling next to the armored dwarf girl, Amy quickly used inspect. She breathed a sigh of relief at the results.

Name: Mara Blacksteel

Gender: Female

Race: Dwarf (Mountain Tribe)

Level: 22

Age: 17

Health: 98% (Unconscious)

Class: Foot Knight

Shields: 0/0

Subclass:

Mana: 0/300

Titles:

She quickly realized that the spell the demon was using had a mana drain effect. She sighed, and pulled out a potion. Mana potions were not cheap, but it would help revive Mara more quickly than waiting. It might take a few minutes even with the potion for her to wake up, and she was too heavy to move. So regardless they were going to have to wait in the first room. As she was applying the potion, she heard a shout.

“NO! Wait, I haven’t checked...”

There was a crashing sound, and then nothing. Followed by a notification.

Party Member Thomas Drake has died!

Realm of False Death will activate in

[2:00]
If no resurrection spell is cast before time expires, Thomas will revive at the [Entrance]

and penalties will be applied

She stared at the window for a moment or two. Before she realized what that simple notification meant. “Thomas! You lucky fool! What were you thinking!”