"So, now that is over," I turned to Tilly and gave her a hand chop between the cat ears.
"Owww," Tilly moaned, rubbing the spot I hit while she looked at the ground.
"You have to control your excitement! Dave got hurt because of your antics!" Lavender scolded Tilly, and then she rounded on Gretchen, like the mother of two delinquents.
"And you! What is your excuse for being so damn careless? How many times does the Hero save you from traps?"
I put my hand on Lavender's arm to stop her from going on. The way leveling worked here, everyone would be different, but when Lavender said "Hero," Gretchen's eye became lifeless, and she began to fall. I rushed and slid to catch her.
Gretchen's body sunk into my arms lifelessly. Her body felt cold and lifeless. When I pulled her eyelid back, the eye that stared back was vacant. The girls rushed to my side.
"I think this was like you before. You were cold, and we thought you were dead," Lavender explained to me.
So this means she might be going back to that time in the coffee shop? Will she remember more now? Not like I had any idea what she was thinking in that 13-year-old brain. Suddenly, Gretchen let out a gasp, and she began to cough in my arms.
"Are you ok?" I let her catch her breath before posing the question.
"I think so," Gretchen looked into my eyes as she said this, and I could see the recognition.
Now I knew for sure that she recognized me. Though, now wasn't the time, and I'm worried that trying to explain to the girls would cause one of us to blackout. So I winked at Gretchen, and her eyes went wide in a bit of recognition. I'm not sure if sure understood, but it was the best I had for now.
"Are we going any time soon?" Lavender's voice cut through our wordless gaze.
"Sorry, I feel like I just pulled my head out of water, It was like I couldn't control my own body," Gretchen apologized as she got up from my arms.
Lavender crossed her arms as I looked at her, and when our eyes met, she turned towards the now open door. I followed her, and the rest of the girls trailed behind. When we got to the opening, we all stopped.
In the room was an ant-man tied against the far wall, but he wasn't moving. It was hard to see if ant-man was breathing, but then again, does his kind use oxygen the same way a human body does? I stopped in front of the door and put my arms out.
"Alright. Girls, and you know which two I'm talking about! No entering until we have a plan. There is no door in there, and the man we are looking for is in there. So this only means one thing; this has to be the boss room."
"What do you think it will be?" Tilly asked as she tried to peer around me.
"From the carvings around the ceiling, I would say some kind of large snake," The words coming out of Gretchen's mouth sounded more mature, and even she looked surprised, so before she garnered too much attention, I spoke up.
"That makes sense. See? If you just take a second, it's easy to get a better idea of things. Give me a minute. I want to check something."
I turned back to the room and scanned around it, looking for clues. While I did that, I also tried to bring up my avatar.
ACCESS DENIED
WARNING YOU ARE IN A DUNGEON
While in any challenge mission or quest, you can not access your status menus, alerts, or inventory.
Except for that one, I guess?
"Trina forgot to tell you all about dungeons!" Came the small fairy voice behind me.
Tilly and Gretchen screamed as Trina appeared, and I turned in shock. Not that Tilly noticed her, but that Gretchen did. I couldn't see any alerts, so I didn't know if she was already a part of the party, but her scream was enough of a confirmation.
"What or who is that?" Tilly questioned, reaching a hand forward to touch Trina.
"Trina is not a what! Trina is Dave's guide!"
"What did you forget to tell me?"
"Well, Trina guesses you know about not getting into your menu, but there are some good things! All items the monsters drop, you will auto-pickup, and the monsters will disappear once you kill them. Then, in the end, the experience is divide by those that got last hit on the creatures. The items are left to the party to divide."
So, Gretchen got the last hits on the knights before, but we killed the goblins. Then maybe we should make sure she gets the boss too, even if she gets an extra level. We needed a plan, and I was no master strategist. The combat skill only helps you perform in combat.
"Do you girls have any ideas for plans? I don't think Tilly should rush in because if this thing is huge, it could cause serious damage."
"I have forty-five MANA left so I can enhance two weapons," Tilly pointed out.
"Ya, that's good! It would be best if you used it on your new toy sword and Gretchen's sword. What other ideas do you guys have?"
"I can use my Chaos Rain again, but then I'm limited on the amount of fire I can use," Lavender explained.
"You should put the Gauntlet Of The Heart to use, and I will protect you while the other two attack."
Everything decided and planned to the best of our abilities, and nothing left for us but to enter. The room smelled damp, and I could hear water dripping somewhere. Once the door close, torches lit on the wall, giving us a better view of the vast room.
There was a pool of water at the far end, and the lights gave it an oily black look in the dim room. As we walked forwards, the water started to stir and a massive snake half a meter thick pulled itself out of the water, coiling in front of Antman. By the time it had come out of the water, it was over 5 meter's long.
"Holy shit, Isn't this a starter dungeon?" My voice tinged with panic, but Lavender was already casting.
"Chaos Rain!"
As she spoke the Spell, the serpent focused on her and shot forwards, but Tilly swung at it with her now shining great sword. The snake dodge, but she still nicked it, and it continued to try and get at Lavender as tri-colored raindrops fell soundlessly. I stepped in front of her to intercept the snake, but then the strangest thing happened.
Somehow the lower half of the snakes was knotted, and Tilly has it by the tail. The black snake tried to look back, but a small figure in blue streaked along the snake's opposite side, dragging her sword. Now, torn between the Tilly tail pull and Gretchen's blade drag, the angry snake whips around to attack the blue armor.
Gretchen is ready and screams, "Riposte!"
As the snake's jaw closes on Gretchen, her sparkling blade drives home into the roof of its mouth, making the snake go limp. Before the weight of the snake can crush her, it disappears in a cloud of smoke, but I hear a splash.
I look over to see Tilly struggling in the water. When the snake disappeared, she must have fallen back into the water and well, cat+water=bad. I ran to the water and dove in as the water tried to claim her.
The water was cold, and I could see Tilly frantically struggling to get to the surface. I swam over to her, grabbed a flailing arm, and started to pull her back to the surface when something caught my eye briefly. A small red light deeper down was flashing, but I ignored it with Tilly, swimming to the surface.
We broke the surface, and Tilly was sputtering and choking, but she seemed ok. I pulled her along as I swam to the edge. Once there, the girls helped to pull Tilly back out.
"I'm going back down. I saw a flashing red light down there, so I want to check it out," I began to turn, but Lavender stopped me.
"Wait for me," She said as she took her dress off.
I tried to turn away, but I still caught sight of Lavender's shapely body. Suddenly, the water wasn't that bad and I started to have dirty thoughts about what I might do to that body, but the sound of Lavender getting into the water brought me back to reality. I tried to keep eye contact, and she could tell I was uncomfortable too from the red in her cheeks.
"Let's go. I saw a blinking red light down below," I informed Lavender before we went underwater.
After taking deep breathes, we both dove into the dark water. Once under
the light of the torched helped a bit, and we swam to the red light. On arrival, there was a door, and the blinking light was a button beside it. I pushed the button, and the door slid open.
A translucent film covered the doorway, and upon entering, it seemed to wick the water from our bodies, still leaving me chilled. On the other side of the barrier, the was no water, just a dim-lit chamber with a chest in the middle. Lavender came in behind me but stood behind me, pressing herself against my back as she shivered.
The feeling of her shaking body pressed against me sent shivers down my back, but a warming feeling that crept into places not needed replaced it. I reached and pulled her forward in front of me to warm her up. The two of us awkwardly moved towards the chest.
"What do-o you think-k is in it-t?" Lavender asked in her shivering.
"I don't-t know, but-t let's get what-tever it is and go-o-o!" I sputter, letting go of Lavender and open it up.
The chest has some gold and gems, but a pair of winged boots and a cloak were the only items. We went to grab it all, without the menu's, we couldn't check any of the stuff. On top of that all, we were both exhausted, and the girls above must feel the same way. Once we picked up the items, they disappeared, so we swam back up to the top.
Once back above the water and back out into the final room, I could see the girls had already untied Antman. They seem just to finish talking to him, and he had turned to leave. Gretchen and Tilly ran back to us and helped us out.
"What did the guy say?" I asked, ask we got onto dry land again.
"Not a lot, just thanks and to come to see him and his wife at the market. I had talked to Miss Gri'Xikickic at the market before coming, so thanks for the help!" Gretchen thanked all of us, but as she did, a light blue circle filled with octograms appeared on the floor in front of us.
"What is that?" I asked, and Trina appears as if on command.
"This is a return circle! This magic circle will take you back to the entrance of the dungeon!" Trina explained to me.
"Well, are you girls ready to go?" I turn and smile at them, as I asked.
They all nodded with exhausted looks. We did it, our first dungeon completed, and we gained a new member. Our party of four walked into the circle, and a soft blue light surrounded us.
Chapter 20: The Nametag In That Café
As we stepped out of the blue light, Miss Grace was there waiting for us. She was holding a white handkerchief that was very wrinkled and rung. Miss Grace must have been twisting it pretty hard, worrying about the girls.
"Oh, my baby! Your lips are blue!" Miss Grace exclaims as she rushes forwards to Lavender.
"I'm ok, mom, just tired and cold," Lavender mumbles, sinking into her mother's arms.
Another blue light appeared beside me, then a pile of treasure was left in the wake of the light. The winged boots, red cloak, and the massive stone sword sat atop a good-sized pile of gems and gold coins. As I admired our spoils, three quick flashes behind me make me turn around.
"Uh, Dave, I'm not really sure what to do here," Gretchen hesitated as all eyes fell on her.
She had leveled three times, and she had become more than cute. Her long coppery hair stretched to her chest, and I self-consciously reach to touch my own almost shoulder-length mop. I hadn't thought about my hair until now, but Miss Grace cut through my thoughts as she ran to Gretchen.
"And who might this little beauty be?"
"Gretchen," her voice was low as Miss Grace held her at arm's length, examining her.
"Gretchen? Hmm, Dave, what are your thoughts on this?"
Miss Grace turned to me while still holding Gretchen by the shoulders. I wasn't sure what she meant by that at first, but then it dawned on me. So, I looked back at Gretchen and examined her face more and tried to remember, and then it hit me.
"Victoria should be a good name. That's what you meant, right?"
Miss Grace smiled at me as she turned back to Gretchen.
"I think that you should come live with us since you came back with the group. I will assume you are in the party now. The only thing is we will have to change your name to become part of the family. Are you ok with that?"
Gretchen smiled as she nodded her head vigorously. She was obviously not fond of the name and I couldn't blame her. I had my over run in with the random name generator!
"Then how does Victoria Huntington sound?" Miss Grace asked her.
In response, Victoria's eyes filled with tears, and Miss Grace pulled her into a hug.
"There, there, girl. I know it's probably been rough, and you're all tired," she said the last part while looking at the rest of use. "Let's go home now, I will get some food into you all, and then you can rest!"
I collected the treasure, and we all headed into a horse-drawn coach. All three girls fell asleep on the way, and I ended up carrying Lavender up to her room straight from the carriage so she could sleep. The cold had taken it out of her, and Miss Grace waved for Tilly to take Victoria and I down to the kitchen while she tucked Lavender in.
Down in the kitchen, we all flopped down around a small table in the corner. The smell of all the good food made my stomach turn. For some reason, we hadn't eaten any of our rations we had brought along. I think it may have had something to do with Victoria's haphazard behavior in the dungeon.
The cooks brought us over bowls of a spiced mushroom and leek soup with fresh bread. The food warmed us up, and the girls talked about the snake they tag-teamed. Soon, with our food finished and all of us yawning, Tilly escorted us to my room.
After pleasantries and goodnights, Tilly took Victoria to her new room, and I closed my door. Turning around to the massive space called my room, I walked over to a couch. Sitting down, I let out a sigh as I lean back, this place was crazy, and the people are no less. The thought makes me laugh out loud, and I'm thankful I'm alone.
I decided that a bath would be nice and went to a drawer to find some clothes. After getting clean underwear and some soft pajama pants, I left my room for the bathroom, careful this time on my room choice. My last wrong door was filled with an eye, and I was too tired to try that again.
On opening room seventeen, warm condensation hit me. There was a bath filled with bubbles already, and a towel hung from the rack. This house was full of many strange things, but having a large bathtub always ready and filled with bubbles wasn't bad.
I stripped down, throwing my ripped shirt and grimy pants in the corner. I went to the massive tub filled with bubbles and began to slide into the water. The tub was around 1.2 meters deep and almost as wide, but as I slid in, my foot connected with smoothing smooth, soft, and round.
Before I could react, Tilly's head popped out of the water, wet ears standing on end and eyes wide with surprise. Seeing her pop up startled me, and I lost my footing outside the tub and my grip on the edge. I tumbled into the tub in a soapy and splashing mess.
Somehow our faces met in the tangle, and I knew my face was just as red as hers. The more we struggled to get untangled, the more awkward movements became. Finally, both of us sat in far corners of the tub, with only our eyes peeking above the deteriorating bubbles.
"Tilly, I'm so sorry. I had no idea you were in here!" I protested.
"I know," she mumbled through bubbles, still red. "It's my fault for not locking the door. We don't have men staying here, so we never lock the bathroom door."
I was about to get back out, but Tilly stopped me by grabbing my arm. I turned to her and no amount of immature brain couple stop me when I seen the look on her face. Tilly pulled me to her and I pressed myself into her naked body as our lips connected.
I turned us, so we were side by side, and I pulled Tilly in closer as the water splashed gently around us. I hand ran down her smooth back and then fell onto her wet tail that I began to stroke as we kissed. Suddenly, Tilly started to moan into my mouth, and her questing hands reached between my legs, stroking my glass stiff erection.
Was Lavender going to kill me for this? Pft,
I hardly cared at this present moment, as Tilly and I got out of the tub, still kissing, I slid myself between her leg, after pulling her tail aside. I let my hard shaft slide between Tilly's soft thigh and took her soft small breasts into my hands. Tilly stopped kissing me and leaned forward, putting her hand between her legs, guide my tip to slide into her silt.
I pushed and felt a bit of resistance, but Tilly pushed back into me and let out a small cry as I watch her pussy swallow my shaft inside of her. As I started to move, I started to stroke her tail with one hand and spread her soft ass with my other hand so I could enter her deeper. I started to move faster, the excitement of it all getting to me, and explored inside Tilly, making her legs shake violently.
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