So, Yunia was right. The fucking sap is fucking everywhere. If we didn't have a bunch of wind elementals around or our [Sound Barrier]s up, we'd all be silicon statues.
The dungeon will reabsorb the mess, but we might as well clear the flower path towards the rest area since it got swallowed in a wave of sap. We're the "janitors" of the dungeons in our territory, and it's explicitly our responsibility to ensure that the adventurers can proceed with relative safety.
"I can't eat this!" Aoi complains as she spews out a chunk of silicon glue.
"R-really? Why?" Lina questions, baffled that there's something that Aoi can't swallow.
The little dragon grimaces, which is a fearsome expression on her huge draconic face. "It tastes horrible, and it's too chewy. I can already feel my tummy hurting just from a nibble I had a little while ago."
"Please don't eat any more, then," Ciel kindly requests and casts [Purify Body] on her.
And Aoi continues to whine loudly, her deep double voice echoing across the quiet dungeon, "But this monster's huge! That means it has a huge brain! I want to eat a huge brain! Eat and grow!"
I walk up to her and pat her head as I soothingly state, "I'm sorry, Aoi. This one was a bust, but there will always be the next Aberrant that we'll have to deal with, hm?"
"Yeah…" she dejectedly accepts as she lowers her head, but she'll be fine. She's a big girl, and she can wait for the next big one.
--
After the quick clean-up, we have a late lunch: a feast of pizzas because they're easy to eat and full of energy to replace what we used just now. I prefer the Brazilian flavor of chicken breast with Catupiry, and Aoi likes to have it that way too. The girls all have their favorite flavors. Alissa enjoys a purple, not-tomato pizza with a rich meat sauce, Roxanne goes with a thin and spicy bell pepper pizza, Hana likes the not-pepperoni one, Ciel prefers the vegetarian choices, Lina is all for mushroomy sauces, Aoi wants them meaty, of course, Yunia savors a simple and classy Margherita, and Gify is down for the thickness.
But after this heavy but quick feast, we return to the dungeon because now everyone wants to see the end of the "mystery" of the battery-gem-key-thingies.
And we have an obvious lead that we must investigate. Where the paths split, they immediately turn away from each other, but they eventually come back together and end at the rest area, creating a very obvious and conspicuous shape: a circle.
The Hollys have scoured everything near both the flower and the metal paths, and they haven't found anything that indicates that we should explore away from them, so our first destination is the center of that circle.
I spread a few Hollys around just to help us triangulate where the center is because there's no obvious clearing or structure piercing through the canopies of the mini High Trees. Then I also spread around a few dogs to help us comb through the mini forest's floor.
But because I've summoned dogs, I have to give the girls some corgis, even Aoi, draining the rest of my MP.
"You shall be rewarded with blowjobs," Alissa gently states as she pats her cute, little, orange, happy doggo. She knows me well.
And we soon find our target: a dark-red stone arch with three mysterious slots on the left side, facing us, as if it was expecting us to come from the rest area. And so, I can now unsummon everything but the emotional support corgis.
The girls were expecting a bit more, but Yunia tempers their excitement, "This isn't a very complex dungeon, and neither are we particularly deep in it, so we shouldn't expect a deep mystery."
"It also isn't over yet," I point out, and they hold back their disappointment for now.
Hukarere is quite content, though, and she casually hums, "Well, I'm having fun. I've never been to sky fortresses before, and this little adventure is almost like a stroll through the castle's gardens."
"The way Their Highnesses solved the challenges was already quite the spectacle," a Companion quietly remarks.
And I flash them a handsome smile, which works even though I have a helmet due to my [Sexual Charm] and high "Charisma." Then I extend my armored and clawed hand and request, "The keys, please."
We can't take them out of the dungeon, so we had one of the Companions keep them safe for us while we were back in the castle. And the loyal soldier delicately hands me the three storage-gem-key-thingies, so I promptly slot them in the holes in the arch.
Once the last one is in, a rolled tapestry suddenly grows from nothing at the top of the arch, and after a couple of seconds, it unfurls, covering the arch in the same way as the entrance. The tapestry depicts four cartoony Flower Dancers merely walking past a tree with a bulbous trunk and cute little windows, a traditional home of elves, seemingly with more of these tree homes in the background. It's an elven town, if I had to guess.
I look around at everyone, and I don't even need to ask. We all walk into the tapestry, which ripples as we cross through the portal, just like when entering a painting in Super Mario 64.
--
We've entered an elven town, alright, except that a heavy gray mist covers everything just a few meters ahead of us while what we can see is blurry, and the colors are muted. A light traffic of Flower Dancers merely walks past or through us as if they're ghosts, or maybe we are the ghosts, as nobody seems to have noticed our presence.
The only thing that looks "normal" is a long shelf behind us full of Flower Dancers' heads, right next to the arch we just crossed through.
"You know I'd love to," Hana answers before I even make the suggestion.
"I don't like the idea of taking off my armor in front of so many monsters," Alissa quietly complains with a frown.
"I have a feeling that these aren't hostile," Ciel calmly remarks as she looks around.
"We already had to go through three challenges without killing the bosses," I point out.
And my prudent little orange fox gives in, "Hmm… fine."
--
The masks on the shelves are easier to put on since they seemingly weren't taken from the bodies of living beings, and even their face holes fit much more snugly than the ones we carved. But the doll golems look criminally adorable with these disguises, so much so that we take a quick [Instant Painting] of them.
I also unsummon the corgis because it'd be too cumbersome to carry them around in unknown territory.
Once the last of us have put on the mask/hood/disguise, the mist starts to clear, revealing a charming residential district. It seems this town has been "grown" in the grassland elf style, for we're on the ground floor instead of high-up and suspended from huge trees, but the trees used as homes seem to be mini High Trees, as their bark has the usual knitting patterns used in the real High Trees.
This could mean that this town represents both grassland elves and high elves, but that's too big of an assumption to make since dungeons aren't that deliberate with their references.
But the colors remain muted, and the Flower Dancers are still blurry, so I guess we're missing something?
"I only sense Flower Dancers in this town," Alissa reports.
There are no tall landmarks drawing our attention, so I summon four Hollys and have them explore the area for anything interesting. Nothing immediately catches their singular eye, aside from the mist surrounding the town, which prevents us from seeing anything past the tall bark walls. And we also seem to already be at the center, so there's really no obvious direction for us to go.
I send a Holly into the homes, but they're completely empty. The trees are just hollow, and there isn't even any Dancers inside them, making me believe that this is the dungeon saying that they aren't important.
"Let's just wander, then, and hope that something happens," Hana suggests.
And we do just that, but I make sure that my cock is erect at all times while I walk with a proud stride.
--
But it doesn't take long for something to happen. The third Flower Dancer that crosses our path suddenly jumps out of the way right before it would've walked through us as if it suddenly just realized we were here, but it simply moves on after only giving us a "glance," even though it has no eyes.
"We've been noticed?" Hukarere questions, unsure, as she puts a hand on the handle of her sword, the waist belt holding the sheath the only thing she's wearing aside from the flower disguise.
The other Companions also become more alert, but I don't think we'll be fighting these Flower Dancers any time soon.
We continue walking through the ghost town, but the silence is starting to get eerie. We can only hear ourselves, and there's not even a breeze rustling the grass.
But a couple of minutes later, we forget all about the gloomy atmosphere as we spot a Flower Dancer that isn't blurry. It's merely standing at the center of a flower garden square, and it's "looking" right at us.
"Ooh~…" Roxanne hums excitedly.
We quietly approach the female Dancer, and we notice that its daisy head is following us, but it doesn't look like there's anything else that's special about it. Its colors are still muted, though.
Then we stop before it and begin a staring contest with the eyeless monster. After a good ten awkward seconds, it moves its pretty female hand towards my face, and everyone tenses up. I'm far from being a flower myself, so I just tell them to wait.
The Dancer's hand is as delicate as a young woman's, and it doesn't seem to have any claws, so I hardly think it could kill weredragon me faster than we could turn it into tea. Its hand then delicately grabs the border of my disguise and pulls it up, though it gets momentarily snagged on my horns, but I lower my head to let the Dancer pull it all the way off.
Suddenly, all the other blurry Dancers start running away in a visible panic, and they all disappear from sight within a mere few seconds.
"Well…" Ciel hums concernedly.
The Dancer throws my snowdrop disguise onto the flowers, and dark, thorny vines with colorful flowers immediately burst out from where it fell. They grow up at a surprising speed, then turn and create an arch, exactly like the one at the entrance.
And just like the previous arch we crossed through, a rolled-up canvas grows at its top and then unfurls, covering it with a dark and cartoony painting of a masquerade, a party of naked elves all wearing flower-themed masks to hide their identities. Obviously, it's the exit of this dungeon.
Then the Dancer points towards the arch as if it's rudely telling us to leave.
"Is this dungeon doing some damn social commentary on elven society?" I remark, a bit baffled.
"I have no idea what's going on!" Aoi gleefully exclaims.
"I have no comment," Yunia dryly states as she glares at the Dancer. She understands the symbology being used here, and she hates the type of elf that this Dancer represents.
"We ain't leaving, you spit. Our Royals won three challenges just to get here!" Hukarere indignantly shouts, giving us a welcome surprise.
"Good point. We have the right to be here," I calmly add and nod.
But the rude Dancer simply shakes its head in disappointment, then sinks back into the earth.
Okay, did we just trigger the next phase…?
"What a weird dungeon," Alissa remarks with a sigh.
"It's very elven, though," Ciel wryly replies.
"Infuriatingly elven," Yunia grumbles through gritted teeth.
And now we just awkwardly look around, thinking about what to do next.
"Continue wandering?" Hana suggests.
"Yeah…" I hum and shrug.
But before we can start to move, Alissa's ears twitch as she detects a sound. It's a faint whispering punctuated by a low beat, but it's getting louder, so she quickly recognizes what it really is. It's the sound of metal rubbing against metal, along with the regular thump of marching footsteps. There are heavily armored soldiers coming our way.
Then she senses something coming from the opposite direction before she hears them. Flower Dancers are coming toward us while marching in formation, and they seem to be carrying weapons.
We all take off our disguises and [Equip] our armor, then assume a battle formation.
The two groups of soldiers slowly approach the garden, allowing Alissa to count them with her [Sense Presence]. There are ten rows of ten soldiers on each side, and even Hana knows how many that adds up to, but that number doesn't threaten us even one bit.
They enter our sight just as they enter the flower garden. Then they widen their line, covering both sides of the garden square, and putting us right in the middle. The soldiers on both sides have long, oval shields, but the Flower Dancers are using halberds and pole hammers, while the Martial Dancers only have spears, but I'd still bet on the Martial Dancers due to their armor.
One soldier from each side drops their weapons and starts walking toward us, then they both stop a few meters away and extend a hand.
"Even after telling us to leave, they'll still ask for our help," I grumble with a pout.
"I don't like how the empire is seen as the 'villain' here," Ciel sourly remarks.
But Alissa shares a level-headed take, "Not really a 'villain,' just an 'enemy.' The Martial Dancers haven't done anything besides being in our path."
Then two lines start to slowly march forward, prompting us to make a decision fast before we're crushed between them.
Leave, watch, or join either side. These seem to be our choices, and I wonder if any of them can even be considered "wrong." Leaving might give no rewards, though, so I guess that one is just an "abort quest." I also wonder if the Martial Dancer bosses could be peacefully beaten just like we did with the bosses on the flower path.
But this time, we're firmly on the flower's side, so I walk up to the Flower soldier and grab their hand.
The moment I touch it, the Flower and the Martial soldier immediately turn into a cloud of mist that quickly dissipates, and then both lines quicken their advance.
"Well, well, well. I guess it's time for some good ol' ultraviolence," I whisper with a sadistic smirk.
--
"You are now level sixty-four," the announcer speaks in my head.
Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy.
Once the last Martial Dancer falls, it's like a bomb of color is thrown at us, and the muted world turns vibrant again.
No blood has been spilled on this battlefield because the Martial Dancers are empty inside, merely Living Armors on steroids. But there's a lot of molten metal around, which is causing small fires in the flower garden square. Aoi douses them all with her control over water faster than my water-Roxannes can, and so, peace finally returns to the Flower Dancer town.
The not-elven soldiers wordlessly turn around and retreat, but one of them remains, and the way its flower is staring at us tells me it has some business with us. So I sheathe my sword, un[Equip] my weapons, and undo my tentacles, then approach the lone Dancer.
It drops its halberd, then extends its hand towards me, palm up, and something very interesting starts to grow on it. It's a flower, of course, a lotus, but it's a faintly glowing, silver flower, and I do love me some silver; it's part of me and our heraldry, after all.
Its shaft and leaves are also entirely made of silver and glowing with a rainbow-like sheen, making it scream of an Artifact, so I quickly put points in [Metal Appraisal] and use [Appraisal Eyes].
--
['Item Info']
[.Material: 'Multi-Element-Attuned Silver'.]
[.Quality: '100'.]
[.Anomalies: 'Heavily complex magical patterns deeply ingrained within the item'.]
[.Enchantments: 'Irregular mana absorption enchantment; irregular mana dispersal enchantment'.]
[.Origin Insights: 'Requires very high [Nature Magic] knowledge'.]
--
Oh, hang on. If I raise my [Nature Magic] to 100 with my cheats, I might be able to unlock the "Origin Insights" entry.
I gently take the half-meter tall flower, which weighs just like paper, even though it's supposedly made of pure silver. But at least it feels as hard as the metal is supposed to be.
"Wait, [Mana Body]!" Alissa suddenly exclaims, reminding me that it's a bit dangerous to touch magical things, especially one with an enchantment like "mana absorption."
I freeze, not willing to drop something seemingly so valuable, and the girls rush to take it from me, but nothing happens, so their rush immediately loses steam.
I raise my eyes to the Dancer, and it gives me a small wave, then sinks back into the earth, and the gray mist starts to cover everything. The town is quickly enshrouded, and we soon find ourselves unable to see anything beyond a couple of meters ahead, except for the exit, which has a faint, golden glow.
"Artifact first," I state and start raising my [Nature Magic].
Putting more than 30 points into it starts to strain my soul, and I feel mounting stress with each additional point I add, but it'll only be for a couple of seconds, so I can handle the pain.
Once my [Nature Magic] reaches 100, I feel a headache start to hammer my brain, but I manage to use [Appraisal Eyes], and I'm pleasantly surprised by the updated entries.
--
['Item Info']
[.Material: 'Multi-Element-Attuned Silver; Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Electric, Nature, Light, Dark, Spirit, Space Attunements'.]
[.Quality: '100'.]
[.Anomalies: 'Deeply complex magical patterns that elegantly convert any standard system-attuned mana into any other standard system-attuned mana, sacrificing speed for perfect efficiency'.]
[.Enchantments: 'Irregular mana absorption and conversion enchantment; irregular mana dispersal and infusion enchantment'.]
[.Origin Insights: 'A masterfully crafted farming tool, whose purpose is to infuse the crops with mana and increase their yields. Adapted to work in a small area, as elven farms were always constrained in size'.]
--
I immediately take all my extra points out of [Nature Magic], then sigh and lurch forward as relief washes over me.
"Mana-infused food helps boost a person's 'Magic Power' and mana pool," Yunia blurts out, stunned at the revelation as her mind races with possibilities.
But Roxanne retorts, "Only for the magically weak, like the commoners, and we're already way past it having any noticeable effect on us."
"We can use it to raise more mages," the Queen calmly replies with a cool smile.
"And what about us?" Hukarere eagerly chimes in.
Exciting possibilities.
--
--
Hall of Fame of Patrons
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