[ Can't add to Menagerie. [Cecile] is contracted to another entity. ]
"Huh?"
Cecile must have received the notification too, because she nodded as if she'd received a confirmation to something she'd already suspected. "I would've been surprised if it worked. The dungeon owns me."
"I can't add you?" Ari was … well, disappointed. Immeasurably. Not only would Cece have been the highest level monster girl she'd have been able to add into her Menagerie, but those vines—having them to play with whenever she wanted sounded like heaven on earth. "That's so lame," she complained. Now's the time my class has to stop being broken?
Ari and her friends were scattered about the mini-boss room in various positions, as was becoming a recurring theme for the moments after their sweaty debacles. Lori sat crossed-legged with her hands in her lap, tail swishing in annoyance—probably at herself, that she hadn't been able to fend off the vines and come help Ari. She'd lost to the pleasurable delights Cecile's vines had offered, the same as the rest of Ari's teammates.
Claire was laid out entirely, laying back-first on the ground, exhausted. Silvana, on her part, was starting to rouse. Undoubtedly, they'd each been through their own crucible as they pleasured—and were pleasured—by Cecile's many cold, writhing appendages.
They might not have been able to break free and come help Ari, but they'd pulled their weight. The {Stimulation} damage each had inflicted on Cecile had been the only reason Ari had won. Because things had been close—she'd came barely a second after Cece, and it wasn't because she'd finally let go, but because it had been the last possible second she could hold out. Ari wouldn't have won without her friend's help.
"What is it?" Lori asked.
She hadn't received the notification Ari and Cece had, and was also the only one recovered enough to pay attention. Silvana and Claire were out for the count. To be fair to them, cocks were a lot more vulnerable to being one-and-done. Their orgasms had taken a lot more out of them.
"I can't add Cece because she's 'already contracted'," Ari explained to Lori. Ari frowned. "But why could I add Silvy, then?"
"She's probably not important enough," Lori said—which was a brusque, but logical, inference. "She's a mini-boss," Lori clarified, nodding at Cece.
"But …" Ari pouted. "Still. That's so unfair."
Cece—having fallen apart under Ari's thrusting, but subsequently recovered—had returned to her aloof, cool demeanor. She lounged against the flower petals of her bulky plant-life body, which was slouched down in an inexplicable 'relaxed' pose. Of all the monster girls Ari had found so far, she was by far the least human. Her central body was human, sure, despite pale-green skin and red eyes—but everything else, not so much.
"It's disappointing," Cece agreed. "But as I said, predictable, all things considered." A shrug. "And it doesn't mean you can't come visit, whenever you want."
Ari paused. A smile crept across her lips. That's true. Any time Ari wanted more fun with Cece, she just had to track her down. Ari couldn't have her in her Menagerie, but that didn't mean this encounter had to be a one-time deal.
And speaking of … how did that work, anyway? Could Ari keep fighting Cece and keep receiving mini-boss rewards? That would be useful. Normally, mini-bosses took a while to respawn. The dungeon had to collect enough energy and reform them. Or … however dungeons worked. They weren't exactly a solved science. Not to public knowledge, at least. Who knew how much the Collegium, or other entities, kept secret?
"I think I'll take you up on that offer," Ari grinned. Then, the pout returned. "But that doesn't mean I'm happy about it. I wanted you to join us."
A hint of a smile quirked Cece's lips, but she otherwise stayed her normal, expressionless self. "Perhaps it's for the best. This form is enjoyable, but my natural one—I enjoy that, too."
Her natural form. Ari had only seen it for a few seconds before she'd thrown her hand out and activated [Transform], but what she'd seen had been intimidating. Far less … plush and yielding … than Cece's current form, which wasn't the gentlest of things even as it stood. At her core, Cece was a monster who served a dungeon with the explicit intent to fight adventurers.
To kill them, even, should things go poorly. Ari paused, unsettled. Had Cece ever done that? Killed someone? It would be in her nature, but still.
Ari shied away from the idea. For all that Cece seemed like a kind enough woman in her monster-girl form, she didn't think that held true when she was in her natural one. In her monstrous form, in the most literal sense.
Ari cleared her throat. "Right. So, um. What do you have for us? Not to rush things along." Corralling herself back to the practicals helped her avoid thinking about the grim reality hidden behind Cece's alluring curves. And the rest of her friends, for that matter—their previous lives. Had any of them killed an adventurer? Probably not, since they were low-level creatures, but the idea still upset her.
Cece tilted her head. She held a hand out, and—as Ari had seen a few times now—mana coalesced, taking shape into an item. Their reward for defeating a dungeon's miniboss.
===
Hungry Vines Seed
Provide plenty of sunlight and water. Feed daily.
===
"Oh," Ari said, surprised. It was an odd gift—one not seemingly useful in combat, whether directly or indirectly. And such a vague item description. "Feed? Feed it what?"
Cece seemed amused by the question. "Considering your class?" She nodded to the side, where Silvana and Claire were still groggily coming to their senses. "I could guess that they'd help."
It took a second for Ari to understand. She blushed. "Oh." Hungry. A seed, hungry for … a different kind of seed." That was a funny play on words. And It was just a guess on Cece's part, but Ari had a feeling she was right. Her class had consistently produced lewd item results, so why wouldn't this item work like that, too?
Cece leaned forward and handed Ari the item. She cradled it in her hand. It was a smooth, obsidian-black seed that glinted in the light. It had a … menacing aura to it. Huh.
"Thanks. I'll keep good care of it." She hoped it didn't take too long to grow. She'd admit a burning curiosity over what it would become. As a reward for defeating a miniboss, it had to be their best item yet. But what was it?
"You should scurry along," Cece said. "I won't be locked to this form for much longer."
Ari blinked rapidly. Right … the monster girls who didn't accept—or couldn't, as with Cece—her offer to join her Menagerie would revert to their natural selves. Ari didn't want to be around when that happened.
"Okay. I'll make sure to come find you again. I had … a lot of fun." Ari blushed.
Cece smirked, then made a shooing motion. Her expression said everything Ari needed, though. That she'd had fun too, and looked forward to her return.
Ari collected her teammates and left.