Dungeons and Dalliances Ch. 190-199

Armor? Was that even the right word? Her large breasts were squeezed in by tiny cups of metal, not even fully covering herself, and her stomach, arms, and thighs were also fully on display. But most importantly, Leah's eyes were drawn to the cup at her crotch.

Holding in a bulge. A sizable bulge.

On ... a woman?

What?

Did she have ... one of those?

Their mage was wearing something nearly as scandalous: robes with ribbons of fabric that barely covered both her chest and her crotch, and would certainly show far too much if the wind picked up. She held no visible weapon, which Leah might normally have noted as odd, but she was too focused on everything else.

Even the rest of the team was dressed somewhat ... immodestly ... compared to a typical team. As if they'd gone out of their way to show as much skin as possible, for reasons unknown. Especially in a cold environment like this.

Though the tank and the mage were by far the most brazen.

Seriously—what in the world?

The red-haired woman carried herself confidently, expression cautious but unconcerned as she sized up the four of them. She wielded an enormous two-handed hammer, which rested face-down in the snow, her hand wrapped around the wide shaft. How did she swing that thing around? A skill, certainly, unless these five were much higher level than she assumed, for being on the second floor of the dungeon.

"Hey," the woman said in a casual greeting, far more unconcerned with the situation than Leah's tense team was. "You all from Tenet?"

5.33 - Saviors II

Realizing she was staring, Leah jolted, her eyes flicking up to meet the stranger's—away from that metal cup. That sizable cup. Between a woman's legs.

To her side, Elliot gave one slow whistle, vocalizing Leah's—and probably everyone's—thoughts on their new arrivals. Adam elbowed him hard, to which Elliot let out a little oomph, then stiffened when he realized what he'd done. Leah sympathized, at least with how he'd been unable to control his initial reaction. The squad of five was ... quite the sight.

Slowly, she forced her brain to start working again.

What had the woman asked?

"Tenet?" Leah repeated dumbly. "No. We're not from Tenet." The question confirmed that their party was, though. It felt a bit ridiculous that Leah and her squad could ever be mistaken for a Tenet team. They didn't look the part, where this team very much did, based on the quality of their gear—or just the way they carried themselves. Even if the gear was ... rather strange. "But we're not independents either. Ether Deep."

The woman tilted her head. She obviously didn't recognize the name. Leah couldn't say she was surprised.

"It's a non-sanctioned academy." Top delvers like the ones from Tenet tended to be in their own little world. That they didn't recognize smaller schools came as no shock. "You five are Tenet, then?" she asked, just to make sure.

"Yeah. First years."

Leah's brain slowly started to catch up. To make the conclusions she should already have if she hadn't been so flustered from the catastrophe earlier. And the very strange attire of the Tenet squad.

Leah wasn't necessarily happy to have run into them, but all things considered, it was good news. It meant Leah and her team weren't in as much danger. Why would a Tenet squad rob them? Even at first glance, she could tell they were fully geared out. There might be some profit to be made, but not much, not by the standards of Tenet students. It wouldn't be worth the effort.

Plus, their Academy had a reputation to maintain. While mostly unenforceable, delver-against-delver combat was illegal. Laws still applied down in the dungeon. Just, they were more for show than anything, because how could they be enforced? Most Tenet students wouldn't risk the trouble for such a paltry reward.

Then, another realization hit her.

Not only was their arrival not another disaster compounding upon their first ... but maybe Leah and her team had found salvation through random chance.

Had they found someone who could help?

Leah dismissed the idea as soon as it occurred. These were Tenet students. Why would they care? Those rich bastards never concerned themselves with anything besides what directly benefited them.

But, then again, just maybe ...

There was a chance?

Leah tried to squash down the hope blooming in her chest. But after despairing over her brother's kidnapping and Adam's maybe even justified suggestions to cut their losses and save their own lives, the other squad's arrival was a beaming ray of light.

She couldn't fight away the anxious hopefulness that surged in her. Leah glanced sideways at her three teammates, then took an accidental step toward the other group in her sudden eagerness. The red-haired woman's eyes flicked to her, though she didn't seem concerned by the sudden movement.

"We, um—" Leah started, her head spinning, talking without having organized her thoughts properly. "We just got out of an ambush. Where we lost half our team. Four of them."

The woman blinked in surprise. To be fair, Leah's words had come out of nowhere, without them even finishing proper introductions. But Leah continued, the words tumbling from her. It was possible salvation. Unlikely. But possible.

"There were these wolves," Leah said. "Stronger than they should've been. We didn't stand a chance. And they only dragged four of us away, despite that they could've taken us all. Then there were these keys." She gestured behind herself, at the cave entrance—the chains hanging on the sides, where the keys had been attached. "With their names on them. One each. We think the dungeon is baiting us to go inside. It's a two-part encounter of some kind. Probably suicide. But my brother's in there. We can't just leave them, but there's also only four of us."

Leah breathed in. She realized she was rambling, but she couldn't help herself.

"We could pay you, maybe? To help? With our gear? I guess it's not much if you're from Tenet. But it's something." Leah looked to her side, at her teammates, who nodded quickly in agreement—even Adam. He wasn't a bad person for having suggested they save themselves. Just a pragmatist. He was more than willing to trade what they had if it meant helping them; he hadn't even hesitated at the idea, despite Leah not talking it out beforehand. "And maybe Ether Deep would also give you some kind of reward?" Though Leah didn't feel too hopeful about that one.

"Okay," the woman said, raising both hands—leaving her warhammer sitting in the snow. "Start from the beginning. And I'm Natalie. We didn't get your names."

Leah gathered her thoughts. They traded names and brief introductions, as requested. Then Leah explained what had happened in a less rambling way. Afterward, she fielded questions from the Tenet party. A frown grew on Natalie's face as Leah detailed everything.

When she'd finished, Natalie faced Jordan—their team's dark-haired rogue—and shared a concerned look with her. She faced back to Leah.

"Give us a second, please," Natalie said.

Leah nodded.

The party of five walked a short distance away, discussing the development amongst each other, each of them shooting occasional looks toward Leah and her team. Leah watched anxiously, slowly resigning herself as the seconds ticked by. Even all of their gear wouldn't make a great payment to a group of Tenet students, hence why Leah hadn't been all that concerned with them being robbed.

Even more relevant, why would they risk their lives walking into a potential trap? Because the dungeon dangling their kidnapped teammates in front of them was definitely a trap of unknown threat level. And Leah and her team were strangers, not even other Tenet students, so why would they care in the slightest? People died down in the dungeon all the time.

When Natalie finally faced back to Leah, Leah had braced herself for the inevitable answer.

"Okay," Natalie said. "Obviously, we're going to help. And we're not taking your gear for it. We're not assholes."

The words didn't quite make sense.

"But," Natalie said, seeming awkward. "We don't want to share experience, either, if that's fine. So can you guys just follow behind us? We don't want four more people to split it with."

Leah stared.

Natalie cleared her throat. "Sorry, we know that's kind of rude. But we're rushing for level three. Tenet's competitive."

Leah stared some more.

Their only condition was that they wanted to make the trap even riskier? By turning down their help and doing it alone?

Tenet students ... were really something else.

"T-That's fine," Adam stammered out, finding his voice where Leah couldn't. "That's, uh, yeah, no problem."

"Perfect," Natalie said, seeming relieved. She hefted up her warhammer, resting it on her shoulder. "Well, clock's ticking, it sounds like. We shouldn't waste time. Though, they'll be fine, I promise. The dungeon made those keys for a reason. It's kind of a jerk sometimes, but usually somewhat fair."

"Hopefully there's a boss at the end," Sofia, the white-haired fighter—with a collar around her neck?—added. "This seems like that type of situation. Lucky us. I thought we weren't going to find one today."

A boss?

They would be lucky to find a boss?

Leah and her team, and most squads, avoided them like the plague. Sure, bosses came with guaranteed loot at the end, often better than average, but the risk wasn't remotely worth it.

Yeah. Leah was certain now. Tenet students were completely insane.

5.34 - Carnal Boss

A bit dumbly, Leah and her party followed behind the Tenet students as they—with seemingly no concern whatsoever—set off into the sprawling cave mouth. The snow-covered terrain of the dungeon's second-floor forest was quickly replaced with the dark stone of a cave system. Piles of ash covered the floor, alongside decaying bones, the prey of those monstrous wolves that had attacked them.

It didn't take long for those exact beasts to emerge. Where Leah and her team had struggled to defend themselves against their vicious claws and teeth, the Tenet delvers were barely fazed. All five moved with practiced efficiency, making short work of the snarling monsters.

Their tank, Natalie, was especially entrancing to watch. She swung her mountainous warhammer around like it weighed nothing at all, batting wolves wherever stone met flesh, tossing them like ragdolls. Leah almost wondered why this team was even on the second floor. From how fluidly they handled the encounters, couldn't they be on the third?

Were they even level-two delvers, for that matter? Or level three? Higher, even?

Deeper and deeper they winded into the cavern, Leah and her party following behind the Tenet students, the whole situation feeling a bit surreal, watching just how effortless the expedition seemed to them. They barely even needed to catch their breath between fights—as soon as one ended, and they checked that everyone was fine, they continued on.

At one point, the team stopped to mine a vein of iron ore embedded into the cave walls, which Leah had briefly felt like protesting—they didn't know how much time their teammates had—but the complaint dried up, considering the sheer speed they were already working at, and the benevolence of their aid in the first place.

The brief mining break was its own perplexing event, since Jordan had teased Natalie about how she 'should still put her mining skills to good use', and that there was no 'need to be shy', which had drawn a blush from the red-haired girl and some hurried shushing. Leah wondered what all of that was about, and why someone would be shy about mining skills, but she expected she wouldn't be getting any answers.

Soon enough, they arrived at what could only be a boss chamber: an arched doorway with runes inscribed into each stone block. The entrance led deeper into a curved hallway, but they paused outside it.

Leah briefly considered insisting that she and her party help Natalie with the boss encounter since if they failed, it meant their friend's lives were also forfeit. But, again, her argument dried up before she even voiced it. Because if they'd made such short work of the regular monsters of the cavern, the boss monster might pose some difficulty and even incur some injuries in the worst case, but a team wipe? It didn't seem plausible. And the team's one request had been to keep the experience and loot to themselves.

So after briefly conferring with each other, and after Leah passed over the four keys with her teammates' names on them—she suspected they would be found somewhere inside that climactic chamber—she watched the five Tenet students walk, unconcerned, through the arched doorway, headed for a boss fight.

***

Natalie sighed a quick breath of relief as they put the other group of delvers behind her. It had felt pretty weird, being followed around and watched as they cleared the dungeon. Especially considering her state of dress: the total lack of modesty her armor afforded her.

Natalie had known about the possibility of bumping into other people in the dungeon, but still, she wasn't accustomed to the scantily clad armor—much less other people ogling her not-so-subtly in it. Natalie couldn't even really blame them for how many times she had caught them looking. The armor was basically designed to force people's eyes across her body.

She was doubly thankful they hadn't insisted on joining them in the boss chamber, since it would've ruined their goal today. Their use of the [Erotite Arrow]. Obviously, Natalie had no intentions of fucking a boss monster in front of another group of delvers. Even in front of her own team, the idea was rather embarrassing. Though the event with Ana earlier had warmed her up to that particular inevitability, at least.

She set all of those thoughts aside as she strode through the arched entrance. The dungeon was as deadly as ever, and she couldn't afford distractions. Especially when she wasn't fighting for her own team but another one entirely, today.

The four missing individuals worried her. She agreed with Leah's appraisal that the keys probably meant they were alive. But like always, the dungeon couldn't truly be relied upon. They very well might be dead, the keys simply taunting them deeper, however much Natalie had assured them otherwise.

An enormous cavern opened around them as they walked deeper in. Like the rest of the sub-dungeon, bones, ash, and jagged rocks littered their surroundings. A cave-dwelling, a home for the vicious wolves they'd killed so many of.

One structure broke the natural surroundings, positioned directly in their path, a centerpiece of the boss chamber. A throne of carved dark gray stone jutted out at the far end of the cavern. To either side of it sat wolves as least twice as large as any they'd seen so far, with midnight black fur and glowing orange eyes.

Then, the main event itself. Seated in the throne, legs crossed and reclining lazily against the armrest, sat the two wolves' apparent master: a woman with angular, predatory features and orange eyes even more vibrant than her companions'. Humanoid, but far from human, she was half-wolf and half-woman. Her limbs ended with paws for both feet and hands, and her gray skin was covered with black armor. She wore an expression of veiled, predatory excitement, the attention of her orange eyes sharpening on Natalie as she and her party walked deeper into the cavern.

[Hellhound - Lv. 2]

Her status read the same as the actual wolves. That was interesting.

"Jackpot?" Jordan murmured to Natalie. "She's mostly human, at least."

"It's the best we'll get," Natalie murmured back.

They were unsure how the [Erotite Arrow] would work when it came to creating a 'Carnal Boss', but they'd chosen to err on the side of safety. In case it didn't come with any transformation, Natalie would rather not have to fuck a real monster. That would be ... weird.

Reaching the center of the cavern, Natalie and her team came to a stop. Neither the two enormous wolves nor the woman on the throne showed any intention to move. Most bosses began the fight themselves—but it seemed this time, they were given a brief moment of calm. The opportunity to act first. Natalie wondered whether that was another signal the dungeon wanted them to hurry up and use the erotite arrow.

"Shall I, then?" Jordan asked.

Natalie eyed the woman and her two wolves for a moment longer. Then, she shrugged.

"Go ahead, I guess."

Jordan eased her bow into her hand, moving slowly and non-threateningly—in case a sudden movement would prompt the fight to begin. She nocked the pink-tipped arrow and pulled the string back, keeping the weapon pointed at the floor.

"However this works," Jordan said. "We're probably going to be down Natalie, while she handles the boss. So it'll be us four against the wolves. I'll take the attention of one, Sofia, you the other?"

Sofia grunted in agreement. "Shouldn't be a problem. The boss is the real challenge. We can handle two add-ons, even if we're suboptimal front liners."

"Then, is everyone ready?"

At a series of nods, Jordan moved. Natalie barely even registered it. Jordan had raised her bow and loosed the arrow before Natalie recognized she had acted.

Jordan, as the team's rogue, had always excelled with matters of finesse and aim. The fragile pink projectile streaked through the air before slamming into the exposed neck of the humanoid boss—a perfect hit, before anyone had time to blink.

5.35 - Ranked Competitive Sex

The arrow hit the [Hellhound] square in the neck, then shattered. Cracks of pink energy splintered across the woman's figure before she, suddenly, exploded in a burst of pink light—a flash bright enough to make Natalie wince and look away.

Blinking away the spots in her eyes, she quickly refocused, not willing to be caught by surprise. Her vision slowly came back.

There, sitting on the throne, was a [Hellhound] transformed into a Carnal Boss.

Despite some suspicions, Natalie hadn't known for certain whether the arrow would come with a physical transformation, hence her concern over which boss to use it on. It turned out that had been unnecessary. The already human-like [Hellhound] had changed.

Into...

Well.

The [Hellhound] resembled its previous form, with thick, wild, long black hair, glowing orange eyes, paw-like hands and feet, and dark gray skin, but the harder, more monstrous edges had been sanded away. The animal-like eyes and general vicious physiognomy had been replaced with something far more ... palatable. In terms of, well, human compatibility.

She'd gained a few curves, to put it lightly. Her breasts had swelled out, her hips had gotten wider, and her abs were now firmly on display—because even the black armor she'd been wearing had changed to be more revealing.

In short, where there had been a monstrous [Hellhound], only verging on humanlike, now stood a much more human, much more ...

Well, to be plain about it.

Fuckable [Hellhound].

Likely, that was how any use of the arrow would have worked. So Natalie and her team had wasted time tracking down an appropriate target.

Unfortunately, too, Natalie noticed, the arrow had shattered upon contact. It was single-use. Though possibly not the last she saw of them. Natalie would have to see if Shara could replicate the item. Or perhaps more would come as future rewards.

The strangest part of everything, though, was the Hellhound's reaction. Her newly acquired humanness was most visible through her expression: the way glowing orange eyes widened in shock, and how she looked down at herself, then up at Natalie and her team, surprise etched onto her features. For a long moment, they simply had a staring match: both frozen in surprise, either party unsure of how to react.