Ramiel explored the dark corridors of the new dungeon floor. The entire complex resembled a huge maze with great potential to become an eternal tomb. Without the map in Avi's head, Ramiel would have gotten lost dozens of times.
The corridors were wide enough for four people to walk comfortably side by side. At their end, a cave or a dilapidated room awaited curious explorers.
" I don't understand. Shouldn't it be dark here? "
Ramiel had been wondering about this for some time. If darkness reigned here, the maze would become a trap with no way out.
Avi looked at him as if he were an idiot.
' You realize that only the creatures of the dungeon of damnation can see into the dungeon. Impenetrable darkness awaits everyone else. '
The fairy felt like a kindergarten teacher, introducing the world's secrets to innocent children not yet scarred by life. However, Ramiel quickly shattered her notion.
'How am I supposed to know this when my encyclopedia didn't deign to tell me about it? ' - The former hunter muttered, offended.
'Hmpf, I won't live forever. You can guess some things yourself! ' - Avi rolled her eyes. But Ramiel had prepared a retort. A very apt one, by the way.
'Are you trying to blame me for your incompetence? '
Avi looked around, looking for an excuse.
' Have you perhaps seen today's weather forecast? It promises to rain... '
' You know that we live underground? ' - The former hunter didn't hesitate to hammer another nail into the coffin.
' I don't know what you're talking about, Ramiel. '
The man's hands dropped. Her insolent nature was passing itself by. Ramiel was slowly running out of ideas on how to deal with the little fairy...
I can always ask Sarron for help...
Ramiel shook his head resignedly, arguing with the fairy when she insisted on something that didn't make the slightest sense. Only his nerves would suffer from the discussion.
" We will temporarily place the Condemned Sloths here. I don't want to mix them with other creatures. Their inner nature is terrible. Besides, their petite physique is ideal for fighting in tight spaces. " - He quickly changed the subject.
" This is a great plan! I don't want to look at their hideous mouths! They give me the creeps. "
The little fairy grabbed her shoulders in a gesture of disgust. Avi was really afraid of those monsters. If she had to look at them every day, she would be plagued by nightmares.
~~~~~~
Ramiel sat by the campfire, humming one of his favorite songs under breath. Despite Asme's divine voice, the man missed contemporary music.
" Mmm... how much longer? "
Speaking of the horned beauty... drool dripped from her lips. Her eyes glowed, and her tail swished happily along the ground. Caera tried to put on the brakes, but the situation didn't look any better for her. Both women couldn't wait for the new dish. The smell alone was driving them crazy.
" Ten minutes. " - Ramiel replied dryly. All his attention was focused on the rabbit stew. The man had already been cooking it for an hour. True, he was missing a few ingredients, such as cream and flour, but the result should at least be satisfactory. After many weeks, eating something other than grilled meat should taste divine.
If anyone hadn't guessed, the rabbit population had reached a tipping point. Ramiel had waited three months for this moment. His head was filled with thousands of recipes where rabbit meat played the main fiddle. In the near future, he would eat nothing but them.
After stirring the broth in the pot, the man took out equal portions and distributed them to the women. The enchanting aroma filled the room, stimulating the taste buds of the hungry creatures.
Asme's eyes lit up after taking the first bite, tears of happiness flowed from their corners. This! This is delicious! Paying no attention to the rest, Asme greedily devoured the contents of the bowl.
Caera behaved similarly to her friend. After the first bite, her ears fluttered merrily, and her mouth couldn't keep up with her hand.
" Please have some more! " - Asme finished first. She looked at Ramiel with puppy eyes, waiting for more.
Before the man had time to do anything, another bowl appeared before him. It belonged to Caera. The elfess said nothing as her mouth filled with food. The woman, hearing Asme's request, panicked. After all, she couldn't let her eat everything.
A woman's heart can be won through her stomach. Ramiel laughed, repeating an old proverb in his head. He thought women's behavior was charming.
" Is it really that good? "
The women waved their heads up and down at the same time.
Huh, just like synchronized swimmers... Surely they hadn't practiced this before?
Pushing unnecessary thoughts out of his head, Ramiel poured them a second serving and set about eating it himself. The man didn't think it was great, but after so long, the stew tasted good. It was missing a few ingredients to be perfect, but it wasn't the worst.
After two wraps, the women's appetite was fully satisfied. They were now lying on the Ramiel, with a wide smile on their lips. None of the three were doing anything inappropriate. Asme and Caera were simply enjoying a tender moment with a man.
They had no idea what the next day would bring. Life in the dungeon was fraught with danger. The companions they talked to today could be dead the next day. For this, they used their free time as they wished.
Things don't always have to be based on sex. Sometimes, small gestures like kissing or spending time in silence were enough.
Ramiel didn't want to disturb the blissful moment. He felt strangely calm at the moment, but he had to do it. Before he fell asleep, he wanted to explain the plan of action.
" Asme, Caera, I would like to discuss the plan for tomorrow's attack with you. "
The women knew the general outline but had no idea about the details. Ramiel did not want to share them beforehand. The women became slightly nervous, which could be seen on their faces. They were hopeless at hiding their feelings. Besides, they had something to be afraid of. After all, the mutated scorpion is the strongest monster they will have to fight.
Ramiel took a deep breath.
" The plan isn't complicated. The most important task will belong to Asme. "
Hearing her name, the horned beauty's heart sped up. She didn't like the direction it was going.
" What will I have to do? " - Ramiel heard a hint of fear in the woman's voice.
" It's simple. With the help of illusion magic, you will hide yourself and the Night Rippers from the scorpion. If you don't, there's a good chance I'll lose all reinforcement from Leach. I don't think I need to explain what will happen to me then. "
Asme didn't like the idea. Too many things could go wrong with it.
" I should be able to do it... but don't count on miracles. My magic is still Crlaw, and entering the minds of strong monsters isn't so easy. "
Ramiel, seeing the woman's uncertainty, stroked her head. He was careful not to touch any of the horns. Some time ago, Asme had explained to him why her body was so sensitive.
It was because she was a hybrid. Elementals were naturally extremely sensitive to various stimuli. Succubi were the dominant species in this combination. So the fruit of their rapprochement was Asme, who had the body of a succubus with the sensitivity of an elemental. In her own way, she is unique and one of a kind.
However, where there are pluses, there are also minuses. Ironically, Asme's mother hated her for the blood flowing in her veins, even though she was directly responsible for her birth... This led to turning the horned beauty's life into a nightmare. Her siblings abused her. Even the servants at the palace despised Asme.
The actions of her mother and sister, Annabeth, effectively slowed the woman's development. Asme had a great talent for magic but couldn't nurture it properly. Even the most beautiful flower, deprived of sunlight, will wither.
Asme only spread her wings under Ramiel's guidance. His teachings opened the horned beauty's eyes and plunged her into the infinite world of arcane magic.
Without interrupting her blissful rest, Ramiel tried to lift Asme's spirits.
" You can do it. After all, if my little succubus can't do it, no one can. "
Without waiting for the woman's response, he went back to explaining the rest of the plan.
" The next steps are quite simple. Once Asme has secured her safety, Caera will fire her strongest spell, starting the fun. I will engage in direct combat with the monster. I will use four The Condemned Wolves and two The Condemned Sloths as support. They will not do much but always buy a few seconds. Technically, they will be cannon meat. When the opportunity arises, Sarron releases a poison cloud, poisoning the target. "
Caera's plan seemed too simple. The woman expected underhanded tactics with lots of deadly traps. However, such assumptions didn't fit Ramiel's fighting style. He preferred direct clashes in which pure and brute force wins.
" Isn't that too easy? " - A small amount of worry mixed into the elfess' voice. Recently, the woman had become extremely sensitive to the former hunter's safety. Every time the man took unnecessary risks, her heart tightened with sadness.
" Of course it is. I have too little mana and resources to come up with something hmm... more exquisite. I would love to create some kind of trap, but the mutant is too strong. I wouldn't even look towards the mine if it weren't for the weapon hidden in my ring. "
Emergency equipment in the ring. This was the only reason Ramiel thought about killing the monster. Enchanted swords, space-piercing spears, all this, and much more were waiting in the small vault.
Ramiel was a rather cautious person. He packed a huge amount of armor and weapons into his emergency ring. Unfortunately, he never anticipated that all his stats would be taken away. So for that, not counting one sword, most of the weapons were adapted to the high level of an intermediate advanced hunter.
As a reminder, the division of ranks among hunters was as follows :
Low - low
Low - intermediate
Low - advanced
Medium - low
Medium - intermediate
Medium - high
High - low
High - intermediate
High - high
Anything above that ranked as a destroyer. This was due to the small number of skilled hunters and the difficulty in assessing their combat strength. Their strength was assessed using a special boulder found in a dungeon. The darker it became during an attack, the higher the hunter's ranking. However, the test couldn't be performed every day. After each use, the stone needed a week to regenerate...
Back to the dungeon.
Caera drew small circles with her fingers on Ramiel's chest. She wanted to ask the former hunter something, but she was ashamed. Although she had broken the first ice spectacularly, her shyness towards the man remained.
Ramiel, seeing the woman's behavior, decided to ask directly.
" Are you all right? "
Caera nodded.
" Then what's the matter? You may not know it, but I'm not clairvoyant. Sometimes, it's really hard to understand what's in your lovely head. "
Caera was flooded with a pink blush. She seemed embarrassed.
" Pff, haha." - Asme laughed, letting out air faster through her nose.
" It's nothing like that... I was just wondering why you don't use your strange skill on the dungeon creatures. Wouldn't it be more effective and safer than hunting the Night Rippers? "
Caera had been bothered by this question since the beginning of the conversation. Maybe there are some restrictions or special conditions that allow the skill to be activated. The woman wasn't quite sure about that.
" It's not that I haven't thought about it. I just can't do it." Leach doesn't activate against life forms considered as allies. If it were possible to do as you say. I would have cleared the abyss ten times already. "
" Hmm, I see... " - A look of sadness appeared on the woman's pretty face. Caera thought her idea would be of great help to Ramiel, but it turned out to be useless.
As a consolation, the man kissed the woman's head and hugged her tighter. After a while, he felt Asme do the same as Caera.
" Do you also want to ask something? Or... our Asme is just jealous... " - Ramiel's quiet derision hung in the air.
" Oh... you are unfair... How can you only care about one of your women when you have two of them... " - Asme fluttered her eyelids seductively. As a succubus, she didn't even have to make an effort to look appealing, but when she wanted to seduce a man... she looked intimidating…
Evidently jealous. - Ramiel muttered in his mind, but the real bombshell was unleashed only now.
" If this is how it is now... what will happen when you have more women? " - Asme was wise. She had heard many times about the numerous harems of powerful men. The horned beauty realized that a similar fate might befall her. But before that inevitable day came, she wanted to know the man's opinion.
Ramiel blanched; he hadn't expected such a question. He had to play it right. Otherwise, well... an upset woman is a bad woman.
He had never really thought about it. He had always dreamed of a private harem in his heart, but more problems than good resulted from it.
Placing a kiss on Asme's head, he gave his answer.
" I don't know what will happen in the future, but I don't plan to chase every woman I meet. "
Only and only after the talented ones. Ramiel didn't say this out loud. It would have caused a huge uproar, and it was the last thing he wanted before going to sleep.
" If there are more of you, I will try to divide my free time among all of you. " - The former hunter quickly added.
" So you don't want a huge harem? " - Caera stared at Ramiel with hope in her eyes.
" Definitely not. It may sound cool, but it brings more problems than good. Imagine how I would have to divide my time between ten women and manage the dungeon. It seems impossible. If there are beings who can do it, I respect them wholeheartedly. "
Ramiel's reply reassured the women. Their greatest fear was to be abandoned by a man as soon as he grew bored with them, like a child with an old toy...
The former hunter would have been happy to talk some more, but he could feel his eyelids becoming heavy and his body increasingly demanding sleep. Besides, the topics of conversation were descending into dangerous ground. Better to cut them off before it gets really dangerous.
" Asme, could you? "
The horned beauty stood obediently and then stroked Ramiel's head, making his time more pleasant with one of her songs. He enjoyed their routine even more, the peace and relaxation provided by the angelic timbre of Asme's voice. There was something addictive about it as if some part of the ex-hunter's soul was clinging to it.
Weird indeed... - That was Ramiel's last thought before he let Morpheus kidnap him to his realm.