We had to get ready in a hurry the following day. Mobsters checked the inn's rooms across from us, knocking on doors and searching. A drider held back while three lizard-girls and a club-wielding ogre intimidated the guests. The innkeeper, a cat-girl with silky orange hair tied up in a bun, seemed to be on the verge of bursting into tears. A tall charcoal-skinned dark elf messaged her back.
I closed the door and walked over to the window. Fortunately, we were only on the second floor.
"The mayor must have called in a favor from quick-strike Susie. That lamia wouldn't hesitate to put out a hit as a favor to the major. Word at the groomers says they're in bed together. So, few get as close as a lamia and a naga. They're practically cousins." Vraley said.
Kale scooted the bed in front of the door just before we heard a knock. "You'll come out if you know what's good for you. If you aren't who we're looking for, then there won't be any trouble. If you try anything, Clare will string you up and suck; you dry." I flung open the window and looked down to see the drider glaring back at us.
"Do you think we're stupid?" Clare asked.
"Yes," I replied while amping myself with enhancement and used skate on the outer wall to fling myself down. Fortunately, my blow caught drider in her midriff. Fortunately, all eight of her legs shot off the inn from my blow tossing her spider body ass over tea kettle. I pushed my hand forward, and for a second, I moved to finish her.
A grin spread across my face when the black fireball formed. The drider whimpered at the sight of her obliteration. It would be easy, and she would die in seconds.
But the world spirit screamed, waking me from my actions. I was moments away from killing some dumb monstergirl, but the spirit wouldn't shut up.
"Fine, she gets to live for now," I yelled through my aura.
My fireball dissipated harmlessly
The look of surprise on her face didn't last long. She threw herself on her back and shot out a stream of sticky silk, and moved her legs quickly. "You smell delicious," Clare shouted as her silk caught fire around me.
Unfortunately, the dress and wig soon followed. Monster girls everywhere looked on in shock as I stood up in all my naked bearded glory and ran for the gate.
The others weren't far behind. The village residents remained shocked for half a second more before they gave chase. The village had a wall and a gate, but communication wasn't the best. Finally, we made it to the gate and ran down the South Road towards the dungeon.
Kale shifted into her centaur form and grabbed Molly. Most of the monster girls behind us weren't fighters and didn't have much in the way of enhancement techniques. Ordinary civilians out to get their groceries or merchants opening their stalls for the day weren't prepared for a chase. I knew they weren't ready for a dungeon crawl.
"Do you think they will give up?" I asked.
"Not a chance if one of them manages to drain you dry, they will rank up for sure. A man's worth of fresh semen is worth more than most of them will make in a lifetime working in their village." Molly said.
"The dungeon will butcher them like lambs to a slaughter," Vraley said.
"That's on them. If the villagers can't control their lust, then they deserve what they get." Kale said.
"That's rich coming from you. If Red wasn't so resilient, you would have drained him dry already." Molly said.
"You tried to drain him dry when we first met because you couldn't stand that I was more attracted to him than you," Kale said.
Our groups had a lot of problems. What did they think I wanted in the dungeon? I couldn't guess how normal humans grow stronger in dungeons. For me, the monster spirits were the prize.
Fortunately, the dungeon was close by. "Cut the chatter. I see the entrance," I said.
Tombstones covered the ground as far as the eye could see, reminding me of the civil war memorial. The names of hundreds of monster girls covered the tombstones, and I could feel the world spirit's control over this space weakening. We had entered the dungeon's outskirts.
As we walked through, a fog rolled in, blanketing the ground around us. "Be careful; this is how you enter the dungeon; if we drift too far apart, we will appear in different areas," Vraley said.
"Should we even do this? If we went around, our pursuers could enter first and clear the way for us." Molly said.
"Hopefully, the townspeople will return to their senses and go home. I don't want to deal with them and the dungeon. The mecha-girls will be on their way soon." I said.
"That's right, we'll have to deal with mecha-girls equipped with the finest gear. One scout would be bad enough, but if they send Valkyrie models, none of us will stand a chance. Well, maybe Kale if she had ranked up into a giant." Molly said.
"I could rank up into a titan, and it wouldn't do any good against multiple Valkyrie models. There is a reason why Lilium is the dark lord of the taur nation.
Did that mean I only fought a scout? I should be worried, but I couldn't stop smiling. I couldn't wait for the Valkyrie models to arrive.
The fog cleared in front of a mansion. Large white columns covered its front of the mansion leading to a heavy wooden door. Away from the mansion, there were fields and far off a black lake with a ghost ship half sunk in its center. Low-class spirits began to form around us, making air, water vapor, and dirt bodies. I waved my hand and flexed my aura.
A wave of powerful qi swept through them, shattering their newly formed physical shells. Then, their forms vanished, leaving behind tiny red pills, copper coins, and a single scroll.
"How did you do that? We had to fight them countless times." Vraley said.
"I have the right skill set for the job. It's as simple as that. While I want to check out the ghost ship, it's too early to take that one on. Let's go into the mansion and see if it has an earth level. Oh, and collect the loot we need it." I said.
I approached the door cool as a cucumber and yanked on the handle. It wouldn't budge.
"We need a key to get inside, and that can only be found in the slave quarters," Vraley said.
"Oh, I get what this is now. We're on an old cum plantation." Kale said.
I blinked, then blinked again. That was apparently a thing in this world, and I shouldn't be surprised, but someone had to be. My group seemed inordinately pleased with themselves after figuring that out.
"Are those normal?" I asked.
"Of course, before Lilium took over, someone had to supply the villages and towns with fresh Devateria. While a few rich families had their own male larders, most had to buy what was shipped from farms. Keeping males alive in a city of monster girls was difficult. We have a habit of draining them dry sooner or later. It's the succubus in all of us." Molly said.
The longer I stayed in this world, the more terrifying it became. Nevertheless, I suspected that Lilium's actions might not have been as terrible as I thought. Monster girls did seem to have a compulsion to drain men to death. Their ancestry might be responsible, or it could be something else another factor I don't know about yet. Either way, my best move was to advance.
…
Ghostly men charged at us when we made eye contact. They brandished axes and hoes but were no more a threat than any other low-level spirit. Bones filled the open mass graves where the men who were no longer useful were thrown away. Finally, we approached the slave master's quarters, a large furnished house.
The ground shook as a large centaur covered in spectral armor and wielding a whip stepped out. She cracked the whip at me and cackled.
"In life, I drank a man dry every week and whipped them from the cradle to the grave. Look at me and know a woman with a life worth living. Have you brought this man to me as a sacrifice? Perhaps in exchange for him, I can tell you of a secret treasure in the mansion." The ghostly centaur said.
"This ghost took our entire party to defeat, and we still lost a member. I don't know if we can win this." Vraley said.
What was she talking about? This centaur spirit might be stronger than the other low-class spirits, but it was still low-class.
"Don't be so skittish; we aren't giving Red to some dead slut with a whipping fetish, right Kale," Molly said before waving her wand and growing a massive horse cock. "I've gotten good at this spell."
"If anyone is going to drain him dry, it's going to be me," Kale said.
"Fools, I offered you treasure and your lives for a man, and instead, you decided to throw my goodwill away. Well, what does your man think? Will he sacrifice himself for you? In exchange for your lives, the dungeon will let him go." The centaur woman said.
I couldn't help but chuckle. My laugh wasn't at the audacity of a low-class spirit claiming to be a threat. That was more sad than funny. It wasn't at the offer to betray them for free power either. I wasn't tempted. My companions who didn't know the whole situation had backed me up even though the threat was real to them. Dealing with spirits was dangerous if you didn't have the proper tools. Physical strength against a spectral being was worthless to a point, enhancement didn't close that gap, and only Molly could reliably use spells. Apparently, she was going to fuck the ghost centaur to death.
Our qi locked together as I pushed my hand forward. Low-class spirits were frail things; with the slightest tug, they could be unmade. So, I pulled, and my qi tore the spirit apart.
The ghostly centaur appeared confident one moment then terrified the next. Its image became blurry before parts of it faded. Then, before it had a chance to panic, it was already over. The ghost was no more. I had snuffed out its existence like a strong breath does to a candle. It was just as easy as tugging a string and its existence unraveled. Spirits of the low class were especially susceptible.
The mansion key appeared on the ground: alongside a small stack of copper coins and a whip enchanted with spiritual energy.
"I'll take the whip. I have some experience using one." Kale said.
"If she was smart, she would have possessed something around us. But she couldn't let go of her form. Her pride in her centaur form damned her." I said.
"So, she left herself weak to maintain her dignity as a centaur," Kale said.
"It didn't do her any favors against you, but against a normal party, she would have taken hours to defeat. Few magics work well against spirits." Vraley said.
That was interesting. I didn't enjoy such benefits against monster girls. Despite the strength of my qi barrier, their physical blows still hurt. Or were spirits immune to most magic damage by their nature itself? As far as I knew, Qi couldn't be destroyed, but it could travel out of reach or be altered until it's unrecognizable. At the end of the day, qi was spiritual energy compacted into a usable form. It could take on many personality types, and a bunch of it gathered together could form complicated structures. Spirits were one type of structure qi could form; low-class spirits were easily displaced. Of course, physical attacks didn't affect qi but the belief that physical attacks merged with qi could affect qi.
We weren't in the worst position. Kale had a mid-range weapon that could damage the spirits. However, Molly had magic, and Vraley made for a good guide and probably knew how this dungeon operated.
"I'm assuming the mansion is where the rooms like to shift," I said.
"That's a common tactic with some dungeons; there isn't any reason to worry. We are a party of four with an overpowered anti-unit adventurer. This dungeon doesn't stand a chance. Also, Red should start taking the red pills now to prepare for the black and white pills." Molly suggested.
"So, he really hasn't been enhanced before even with his power," Vraley said.
"No, if you smelled him, you would know he's as untampered with as a man can get. This allows us to enhance him however we want." Molly said.
"Yea, what does that mean for me," I asked.
"We're going to make you the lover with all the stamina you can handle. Red pills for health, black pills for poison and disease immunity, and white pills for lots of cum production; you're going to be amazing when we're done." Kale promised.
I never felt more used, but Kale's smile seemed so genuine I couldn't help myself. So instead of getting angry with her, I just smiled and shook my head.
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