I made my way up the stairs and out of the mine shaft as the dungeon shook. My attention turned back towards the depths where my spirit sense went haywire. Something was awakening in the dungeon's depths. What did that matter to me? There wasn't much point in going deeper while my heart wasn't in it. I needed to talk with someone.
A swift kick knocked me against a wall and out of my thoughts. Teacher stood over me, radiating an aura thick and red as blood. I pulled a chest from my inventory and tossed it to her. Her mood made a 180 when she caught it. She opened the chest and inspected its contents before closing it.
"You've outdone yourself." I staggered back to my feet and sucked in a breath.
"Why didn't you tell me about the sacrifice?" I said.
"Humans are squeamish about those things, and the ritual doesn't work if there is only one person, so the dungeon often supplies them. It's not like you actually had to fight; just survive the meeting. In exchange for sacrifices to their dimension, the demons provide dungeons with miasma. Did you get attached?" Teacher asked.
She giggled. "That's so cute; I can smell the sadness on you. Well, get used to it; there are no happy endings in this life." Teacher said in a serious tone.
I went to my inventory and absorbed the metal core. All at once, my cultivation increased, and I could see well over the wall. I raised my hand and fired a qi blast.
She appeared to my right, raised her leg high, flashed her red silk underwear, and kicked down. I felt her kick exponentially accelerate as it descended. It wasn't just one enhancement technique; she had used several. As her kick fell, she stacked one enhancement technique atop another.
The wooden plates of my armor cracked under pressure, my shoulders jarred painfully, and I flew back. I waved my hand forward, throwing my aura around. A burst of energy expanded, hitting the vampire as she tried to dodge it. A small crimson barrier of aura rippled around her. I forced myself to stand and put up my hands.
Fighting against an opponent out of my depth reminded me of training with Emily in the other world.
Another powerful kick slammed into my arm, driving me down to one knee. I countered by throwing my palm out for a straight blast. It was easier to use my energy with my suit cultivating for me. The red pills didn't hurt either the more I fought, the easier it was to use my power.
She dodged and countered with a roundhouse kick. This time I moved, catching her blow before she had time to accelerate it. While it felt like my bones were grinding together, I wasn't knocked across the room. I didn't know whether that was the limit of her technique or just a red herring.
Suddenly a complicated series of runes spread around her, followed by a large crimson circle. "Armor Break," The vampire shouted, and my armor opened up and spat me out as a crimson wave swallowed the room.
"What are you going to do now without your crutch, human?" Teacher said.
Crimson bolts of lightning danced around my suit as it flailed. The next-generation suit would need some defenses against that. Formations formed applications in my mind that could work, but they would need time to implement. Unfortunately that was something I was in short supply of now.
I took in my position, my qi was topped off; I still had three cores I could implement to advance my cultivation at the price of my now nonrenewable qi. But then, red lightning suddenly covered her dress, and it broke away.
"Unfortunately, there is a side effect of using a high-tier spell-like armor break. All armor in the vicinity of the spell also breaks." Her titties bounced as she took a step forward and brandished her bald cunny. Her leg flashed in the air, and her lips opened just enough to show off how tight her opening clenched. That masterful display was punctuated with a barefoot stomp that cracked the reinforced dungeon stone.
"Unless that dress of yours was enchanted to the gills, then you should have an even greater advantage now," I said.
She smirked and moved her hands in an intricate circle. Crimson wired grew from tiny magic circles at her fingertips. The wires moved the cut through everything in their path. All of a sudden, this fight was much more dangerous. She took a step towards me, crushing the stone beneath her feet.
I only knew one spell. But maybe that's all I needed. After all, she seemed to still need to touch the floor to move. My skating technique didn't require that I floated on qi and pushed myself forward with it.
The three symbols appeared along with a pink magic circle. She raised an eyebrow before I fired off the spell. A stream of lube rushed out of the magic circle like a firehose. In moments the lube piled up on the floor three inches deep before spreading. Teacher opened her mouth then closed it.
"Did you really just cover the floor in sex lube?" Teacher asked with clenched fangs.
"Come on, what's a little environmental control against someone with your experience. I'm sure you have a counter for a slick floor." I said.
If she did, then I was up shit creek without a paddle. If she had a play, now was the time to use it.
Her eyes twitched and suddenly glowed a deadly crimson. She stomped her feet repeatedly before clawing at the dungeon walls. I sprayed them and the ceiling too for good measure. Then I took a step forward and skated atop the surface of the growing lake of lube.
"What's wrong is the big bad vampire scared to get her feet wet?" I asked.
Despite how this began, I felt better. While the situation wasn't ideal, I could deal with it. Since I started dealing with this weird woman, she always had the advantage; but for the first time, she was on the back foot. She vanished from sight, and I skated to the right. Teacher landed threw her hands out to grab me before flailing and falling into the lube. One of the wires sliced across my chest, and I nearly whited out then.
I held my chest as blood flowed freely down a long slash in my chest. Then, after some searching, I pulled a seed from my inventory and placed it over my wound. It grew and sewed up my wounds with its roots with some coaxing. The bleeding stopped even as the seedling dried up and died. I stared at the dead remains of the plant as it crumbled up and fell away. All I needed from it was to stop the bleeding for a few precious seconds. I hadn't known the blood wires were cursed.
My wound slowly healed as I skated over the lube. Unfortunately, teacher wasn't doing so hot.
She twisted and clawed, throwing lube everywhere only to slip and fall again. For all her super strength and speed without friction to rely on, she was left to flail around. She punctured the ground with her nails and glared up at me.
"Are we done; did you have your fun?" Teacher asked.
For once, I decided to be gracious in victory.
"Tell me your real name, and I'll help you," I said.
"You're pushing your luck, human. I might have invested a little of my time into your training, but it's not enough to get familiar." She said.
I raised my hand, and the symbols for lube reappeared. "I'm sure if I get to the stairs, I can drown this whole floor in lube. It will be like a water slide but with lube." I said.
Red words appeared on the side of the dungeon. "I'm taking that idea. It's just what my mineshaft needs to take it to the next level." The dungeon said.
Teacher glared at the words furiously. "Do you see what you've done? You made a dangerous place even more dangerous." The vampire said.
"I don't see your point. I can walk out of here just fine. Can you say the same?" I asked.
"Why do you want to know my name? It's nothing but trouble?" She said.
"Because calling you teacher is retarded." I said.
"Fine, if you'll get me out of your trap, I'll tell you. Do we have a deal?" She said.
"Tell me your name first, and then we'll have a deal," I said.
"Smart human, my name is Elizabeth Bathory IV, but you can call me Lizzy most do," Lizzy said.