Somewhere in the vast universe, a man was sleeping peacefully in an undefined space. The poor man savored the sweet nightmare while he still could. After experiencing the same events countless times in reality, the dream seemed to him a sad fable reminding him of the recent past.
If he had only known what scenario ruthless life had written for him, he might have decided to stay in the never-ending nightmare forever.
So far, the events he has experienced are just the beginning of his adventure...
Will he be able to cope with the future that awaits him? Or will he succumb to the unyielding judgment of fate? About this, my dear friends, see for yourselves.
~~~~~~
Ramiel was awakened by the pleasant pressure of something soft exerted on his left hand. When he tried to move it, he felt something or someone tighten a grip around it.
Opening his sleepy eyes, he was greeted by a scene he had partially expected. The horned beauty was asleep, snuggled against his left side. Her arms and tail were wrapped tightly around the limb, holding it in a peculiar position. Ramiel's hand lay trapped between the succubus's twin peaks.
He reflexively tried to move the other limb, but his action failed.
" What... Oh... I guess I can't complain... ". - Ramiel gasped in surprise, turning his head in the opposite direction.
Caera, on the other hand, was lying snuggled into him like a teddy bear, requisitioning more than half of his body. As a result, she squeezed his innocent hand.
Ramiel didn't mind such mornings. On the contrary, he liked them very much and could experience them every day. The only downside he noticed was the annoying numbness in his limbs, which affected him after a while. At least he could no longer complain about the low temperature. After all, he was being warmed by two beauties...
Ramiel let out the air faster, feeling the embrace around his left hand diminish, and the pleasant feeling faded away.
Asme was roused from sleep by a large and warm thing drilling between her shapely breasts. At first, she was confused, but the events of the previous night quickly refreshed her memory.
Loosening her grip around Ramiel's limb, Asme rose. The warm thing that was her Master's hand had left its haven. Of course, all the while, his hand lay politely much lower, not crossing the boundary.
Asme could have gone further, but she still hadn't figured out Ramiel. She preferred to play it safe and not pull the string. All it would take is one wrong move, and she would end up as goblin food at best.
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, the horned beauty noticed a change of expression on the Master's face. His lips curled in an act of displeasure.
Huh? So he likes it, hehe. I have to remember that for the future. Maybe I'm holding back unnecessarily. - Her green eyes fixed on the man's crotch, but Asme quickly took them away.
No... it's too early... - Pushing the dirty thoughts out of her head, her attention shifted to Caera.
Who would have expected our shy Caera to be so brave! - Asme laughed in her mind and returned to reality. It was time to focus on what was important.
" Good morning, Master... Did you have a light sleep today? ~ " - Asme smiled restrainedly, covering her half-naked breasts. She was wearing the jacket that Ramiel had given her, but it was unbuttoned. The sneaky succubus cleverly took advantage of this fact.
Releasing herself from the other woman's grasp, Ramiel nodded.
" It was much better than the first night.... "
Cough
Cough
Caera's sudden coughing fit worried Ramiel. In their current state, the illness could have been a death sentence. He had only a small set of medicines in his space ring, capable of fighting off a minor infection, but that was all it took. A cold or mild flu was within his reach. But with more serious things, he was powerless. Pneumonia, for example, could finish off a sleeping elfess.
Ramiel put his hand to Caera's forehead and checked her temperature. - Tsk... not good, she's burning up.
" Caera, wake up. " - Ramiel shook the elfess gently by the shoulders, but it didn't have the desired effect.
" Caera, it's time to get up! " - He used more force, but the effect was still the same. The elfess was deeply asleep.
" Damn it, Caera wake up! " - Without much success, Ramiel tried to wake the woman up.
After a few minutes, her condition worsened. Cold chills shook Caera. Earlier
Ramiel had warmed her with his own body, so the temperature difference wasn't so severe... But now her natural heater was gone.
Ramiel reacted quickly. He knew that every second counted. In the blink of an eye, his jacket was under the elfess.
" Asme, I need your jacket. "
Worried, Asme immediately handed the garment to the Master. Using the jacket, he covered the elfess's legs. It didn't help much. Caera was still shivering, but it was always better than nothing.
With a pained heart, Ramiel took anti-inflammatories and some vitamins in tablet form from the space ring. These were the only emergency medications he had with him. If he gave them to Caera, he would have nothing for himself.
In fact, he was gambling, a risky gamble. There was no certainty that the medicine would help the elfess. Ramiel didn't even know what exactly was wrong with her, not saying anything about curing her. The only thing he could afford was to ease the symptoms, but even that was questionable.
" If I had known what was in store for me, I would have robbed the apothecary... ". - Ramiel muttered, forcing Caera to drink the medicine. The elfess wouldn't cooperate with him, so he had to move on to more direct methods.
Without hesitating, he took a sip of water and forcefully shoved the pills down her clenched throat. Plunged into a deep sleep, Caera intuitively tried to spit out the foreign object, but something warm and wet clung tightly to her mouth. After a moment, the hot thing forcefully parted her teeth, forcing her to swallow the inserted liquid.
Moved by the scene, Asme watched as her Master... actually, she wasn't sure what he was doing. From her perspective, it looked like sexual harassment of the unconscious Caera, but the Master's indifferent expression didn't indicate that.
Ramiel stepped back and wiped his moistened lips with the back of his hand. He could still feel the sweet taste of the elfess's lips. He lost himself in the pleasant sensation for a moment, then blinked his eyes a few times back to focus on what was important. He had to beat the high temperature somehow.
With Asme's help, he made a supply of ice cubes, wrapped them in a clean blouse, and placed them on the inflamed elfess's forehead.
She currently lay inert on Ramiel's lap, moving her eyes nervously under closed eyelids. Caera was panting heavily between systematic coughing fits, her mouth slightly parted.
He was doing all she could. The rest was up to the elfess and her will to live, or rather her immune system.
~~~~~~
After an hour, Caera's condition normalized, although it was still far from normal. At least she was no longer shivering, and her body temperature had returned to normal. To be safe, Ramiel changed her cold compress from time to time. Caution was never too much.
Now that one crisis had been temporarily averted, he could deal with the problem that had arisen in the meantime. A certain fairy had made a home for herself out of his head. She lay brazenly there without thinking she was doing anything wrong.
Ramiel tried many things to get rid of her... but nothing worked. For a while, he felt as if Avi was glued to his hair... her ability to stay on his head defied all logic and the rules of physics.
Even if Ramiel managed to get Avi off his head forcibly, she returned like a thrown boomerang with redoubled force. Deciding that there was little point in fighting her, he declared defeat.
At least he doesn't want to bite me ... yet ... - The man consoled himself.
" Ramiel, I understand that taking care of the subjects is important, but we need to talk. " - Avi rolled over from her back to her stomach, and her face became serious. " Tomorrow, the gates of the abyss open, and you are dealing with this elfess instead of preparing yourself. You seem to have confused your priorities... "
His mouth took the shape of three question marks.
The abyss? The only one I know of is the one in Greek mythology and fantasy books. - Ramiel tried to find the answer on his own but failed miserably. The cheeky chuckle of Avi, who read his thoughts, only confirmed it.
" You do realize that I have no idea what an abyss is, don't you? " - Ramiel waited another moment, but all he got was a stifled laugh.
" For God's sake, you know my memories. You should know what I know and don't. " - Ramiel growled, scolding her. He terribly dislikes working with incompetent people who don't know how to play the game of life.
" Ugh... Why do you have to be an Earthling... What did I do to the great Nenneke that she condemned me to you. " - Avi muttered under her breath, frowning at her lack of basic knowledge.
Nenneke? I've heard that name somewhere before. - Ramiel furrowed his brow, searching his memory for clues.
Nenneke... Nenneke... - He repeated the mysterious name in his mind, waiting for the glare to descend.
Coincidentally, didn't Asme and Caera use it in their vows? - Ramiel felt some concern. At first, he had trivialized the strange name, considering it part of an incantation, but now... He had the feeling that he was playing with entities with powers he didn't understand.
" Who is Nenneke? " - Ramiel asked directly. His question knocked Avi out of rhythm. Even Asme raised her eyes in disbelief.
" You really aren't from here... ". - Asme gasped in surprise. She had already suspected something about the Master's background. He had many strange but useful things and often used incomprehensible phrases and words.
At first, she attributed his strange behavior to his rich background and past, but now... she was 100% sure. There wasn't a person in Avalon who hadn't heard of Nenneke.
" As always, everything is on my mind... ". - Avi groaned.
"Isn't this your job, by any chance? " - Ramiel grunted, pointing out something obvious. His comment clobbered the fairy. She had no way to compete with him.
Annoyed, Avi rose in front of the man's face in a flash, flapping her wings furiously. She pointed a finger at the tip of his nose, waving it threateningly.
" Listen carefully, arrogant man. Today, you will receive an honor you don't deserve! The great Avi will enlighten you with her knowledge. " - The fairy proudly puffed out her chest, swimming in the spotlight. And with this modest gesture, she began an extensive lecture.
Avi started with Nenneke. No one really knew who she was, where she came from, what she looked like, or what her purpose was.
Everyone recognized her as an omnipresent being who upheld the laws of this world. It was widely believed that she was responsible for creating and running the world.
But surely, one soul is capable of carrying such a massive burden on its shoulders? In the absence of reliable sources of knowledge, let us provisionally assume that it is.
In a strange and unexplained way, the oaths containing her name were eternal and binding. Sacrifices made to her were reborn in the dungeon to serve a new master or to perish in torment. It was a cruel and unjust fate, but no one said life was fair.
Everything unexplainable was considered the will of Nenneke. Did it make sense? Definitely not.
The next issue raised by Avi was the current location of the dungeon and an explanation of the basic things that Ramiel should know about. She left out a lot of details and mostly threw out generalities. She said only what she thought was appropriate and necessary.
Ramiel will learn about the rest in due course if Avi doesn't forget to inform him. For a dungeon fairy, she is surprisingly incompetent.
The dungeon is a rather peculiar creation. It serves as a bridge between the Underworld, which Avi didn't mention anything more, and the Avalon of the world, which Ramiel will learn about later. The abundance of superfluous information might make his head hurt. Especially when these are problems he is yet to face.
Returning to the source, the dungeon was a magical place overflowing with mana. The higher the rank of the dungeon, the more floors it consisted of.
Through the dungeon core and with a little help from Nenneke, the dungeon master could summon a limited number of monsters. The mane-rich environment lured the rest of the residents.
However, recognizing them as permanent residents of the dungeon wasn't so simple. The creatures had to accept Ramiel as their new Master. Otherwise, he would have to subjugate the living creatures by force.
Upgrading the dungeon's core to the next level, and thus the dungeon itself, required an enormous amount of resources and sometimes strange conditions.
Only three types of resources never changed. They were monster cores, mana, and life essence, respectively.
Monster cores contained a unique type of energy, which the dungeon core uses as food. The stronger the monster, the better the core could be extracted.
Avi didn't have to explain too much to Ramiel in the case of mana. The dungeon was constantly accumulating a certain amount of it. When its reserves peaked, it would use the surplus to improve itself or strengthen the beings within slowly.
As for the essence of life, it was the rarest resource. It could only be obtained from beings not affiliated with the dungeon.
For this, dungeon masters often placed numerous rewards on each floor in the form of rare weapons or resources. The goal is simple: lure the creatures in and kill them.
There was also a more efficient method, but Avi kept quiet about it. Of course, Ramiel also learned nothing about the essence of life. The fairy disposed of him with the words. " It is still too early for you. If I were you, I would think about how to survive. "
An important thing that Avi uniquely had a lot to say about was the abyss. Every dungeon had its own, and none was ever the same. The abyss plays a remarkable role in dungeon survival. It acts as a huge resource farm, necessary for survival in the basic stages of development.
It can be compared to an infinitely large dungeon without a master. Just as in a traditional dungeon, monsters live in it, extremely rare resources can be found as well as even ruined temples.
The abyss grows along with the core of the dungeon. The higher its rank, the bigger the abyss becomes.
After it was all over, Avi felt like sleeping again. Exhausted, she landed on Ramiel's head, made herself comfortable by making a pillow out of his hair, and fell asleep. Her abilities regarding sleep were amazing. The world could collapse, the trumpets of the apocalypse would announce their arrival, and the little fairy would still sleep peacefully.
" Tsk, how can she be so incompetent ? " - Exasperated Ramiel clicked his tongue. Instead of learning something, he had even more unanswered questions. The little fairy was getting on his nerves. Thinking that he would spend the rest of his life with her made his blood flood. How was he supposed to cooperate with someone like that?
" It's pointless anyway... Getting upset won't do any good. " - He muttered under his breath, checking Caera's condition. It was a good way to take his mind off an incompetent... partner? That's probably the best term.
He touched the sleeping elfess's forehead with the back of his hand, checking her body temperature. He breathed a sigh of relief when everything seemed fine. He was concerned that the medicines might not work. After all, the institutions make them with humans in mind, not elves.
Although Caera looks deceptively like a human, she still belongs to a different species. Her immune system might be different. Fortunately, the former hunter's dark thoughts proved wrong. The elfess absorbed the drugs well and showed no signs of rejection.
He was pulled from his torrent of thoughts by a familiar voice. - "Master, may I express my opinion? "
" You don't have to be so uptight with me Asme and don't be afraid, you can easily express your opinion. I will even accept constructive criticism if you present me with solid arguments. " - Ramiel looked at the succubus standing over him and added. " You look like an intelligent person. You should recognize where the boundary lies. "
" Thank you for the compliment, Master. ~ " Asme drastically changed her posture. She smiled playfully, and her tail waved calmly in the air, catching her attention.
Maybe I didn't come across so badly. - A brief thought crossed the seductive demon's mind.
" So, what did you want to talk about? "
Asme took a deep breath.
" With all due respect, master, what you are doing is nice, and I appreciate how you take care of Caera, but do you have time for it? - The horned beauty threw Ramiel a skeptical look.
" I don't want to offend you, but you should focus on yourself... You seem terribly weak, to the point where even I can beat you. "
Ramiel didn't get upset. Asme was right. He is far short of his glory days. He gradually tried to change that, but what could he do in two days? And so he made more progress than 99% of people in his position.
" If her body temperature rises, give her the blue pill. You have to make sure she swallows it. Otherwise, the medicine won't work. " - His tone was indifferent. Apart from the cool breeze that constantly accompanied him, he expressed no other emotions.
Asme shuddered as she felt the ever-present cool breeze. It would take her a while to get used to it.
After a while, she took over the duty of caring for Caera. The elfess's head now rested on her thighs, and a pleasant song resounded in the dungeon.
Ramiel reluctantly moved away from the two women. He strongly desired to listen longer to Asme's singing, but unfortunately, his duties called him. In addition to his training routine, he had to deal with one more thing before he could relax.
Apparently, the goblins were bursting with energy, and finding something for them to do was better. At least they wouldn't be thinking about stupid things and would be doing something worthwhile. It would kill two birds with one stone.
The green creatures didn't like the presence of their new Master. Not only did he force them to live in a small corner, but he seized all the women for himself. Such an action was unacceptable!
However, the goblins had already sworn allegiance to Ramiel. As inferior creatures, they didn't have much say. Besides, the new Master evoked a deep-seated fear in them, quite as if they had encountered a natural predator lurking on their juicy-looking necks.
The goblins' reaction was natural. They instinctively recognized the hunter in Ramiel. What does the prey do when sensing a predator? It defends itself or runs away. The green monsters had no such luxury.
Ramiel pulled several pickaxes from his ring, a hammer with a sharpened shaft that could crush rocks, and a shovel. He had a lofty goal: to build a storage, or at least something like one.
Hearing an earlier lecture, Avi decided that having one would be essential in the near future. The sooner he built it the better, or rather, the goblins would do it. The problem, however, was communication with his slaves... I mean workers.
' Will they understand me? ' - He snapped his fingers, drawing the goblins' attention.
" Take these tools. You will find them useful. Your task is to build a warehouse for raw materials. You will be forging the southern wall. Do you understand what I am saying to you? " - Ramiel pointed his finger at the wall behind the dungeon's core, just in case. He wasn't sure if the monsters understood. The unintelligible gibberish he received in response didn't help much.
" Krr Wrr Wru Ha Ha Ke Ke Sa Mrrr Wryg " The goblin standing at the head of the group let out a throaty snarl. He appeared to be the current leader of the group. He was slightly larger than the rest, and two sharp fangs protruded from his mouth.
'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA man, I'm trying to sleep here! If you think, disconnect us! I used to put up with it, but now... Ugh... I'm trying to sleep here! ' - Avi's loud scream echoed in Ramiel's head. He hadn't yet gotten used to the presence of a stranger in his head... Well, okay, he had forgotten.
' Besides, the group leader asks about the dimensions of the warehouse and what size the entrance should be. It would be best if you draw a simple plan they can follow. ' - Avi muttered, clearly angry at the uncharitable man who interrupted her sweet sleep.
' Wait, you understand them? ' - Ramiel gasped in surprise. He hadn't expected this little parasite to be of any use.
' Pff, I can understand all the creatures living in the dungeon. Otherwise, how could the powerful Avi manage them! ' - The fairy proudly puffed out her chest. She probably didn't realize how stupid she sounded.
' Is there anything else you forgot to tell me? '
' Yes, this powerful fairy doesn't need to tell everything at once, it's annoying. Besides, you'll forget most of it, and I'll have to repeat myself. '
Ramiel wasn't even nervous anymore. There was no point in tugging at his nerves. The only thing he felt was self-pity. Don't misunderstand him. Avi was useful, and he saw great potential in her... But that was where her advantages ended. Her communication skills, or rather her lack of them, were killing him.
You know that talking about yourself in the third person doesn't sound cool. It just sounds pathetic? ' - Ramiel didn't know why, but tormenting Avi seemed pleasant to him.
'You're just saying that to annoy me, that's just your opinion! ' - Avi didn't believe him. According to their twisted logic, this is a ruse! In addition, a very poor one.
' Pff... ' - Ramiel snorted. ' You have an insight into my memories. See for yourself what people think about it. '
Avi fell silent while squinting her eyes. She didn't believe him, but she did what he said anyway. Being careful never hurts.
' You! You! YOU ! ... You're right... I never said that.... ' - On Ramiel's head, the little creature just turned red with anger and humiliation.
' Do you think I will forget it so easily ? '
'...'
' Is the great and powerful Avi doing well ? ' - Ramiel didn't give up easily. At least this way, he could take revenge for her incompetence.
' You are a monster! The worst of the worst! ' - Avi exclaimed while puffing up her cheeks.
The man smiled. Revenge always tastes best cold. He then drew a plan of the warehouse, handing it to an embarrassed Avi. If one looked closely, one could see steam coming out of her ears.
" Take care of it. The entrance should be 2 meters wide and 2.5 meters high. I'm going to go train," he said. "