“YOU DID WHAT?!” Zorren yells, his eyes staring at Anathema who just calmly drinks from a gourd.

Anathema just ignores the [Berserker], enjoying the fruity drink, a drink obtained from a rather common plant in the second level of the dungeon.

“Ana! You’re putting your daughter in danger. I don’t trust this man,” he seethes with panicked anger.

Flicking her tongue out, Anathema places her cup on the table, annoyed at the man's overprotective nature.

“Zorren, stop being so untrusting. I can read that man as clear as water. His aura, though abysmally dense, is so untrained that his feelings flow out.” she says with a smile, ”Just a bit ago, before I left him, he had wanted to mate with both me and my daughter!” *chuckle*, ”It was quite flattering Zorren.”

Zorren just looks at his longtime friend, unable to fathom the woman's personality at times.

“You left a crazed, horny- whatever he is, with your only daughter Ana!”

Anathema just smiles, ”I did, do you think he will be able to impregnate her? Ohhhh, I do wish to be a grandmother.”

Zorren’s scales quickly lose their color. With a trembling hand, he places his only good hand on his face, elbow on the table, keeping himself upright.

Taking a few calming breaths, he speaks.

“What are you planning Ana?”

Anathema, enjoying the defeated look in Zorren’s tone, picks up her gourd and starts drinking again, ”Well, he wants to rule the world and we want to escape this prison. And if the Kitsune are to be believed, then this man is their savior.”

“Foxes.. I don’t like them.”

Rolling her slitted eyes, Anathema takes a sip of her gourd, ”I have lived with the kitsune for many many cycles, learning their ways, training under them. Though they are small in number, they are immensely wise. They believe that their god’s champion will come to free them from captivity,” she exclaims, She pauses, admiring the softness of the gourd, ”and I believe this Quasi is their champion.”

Zorren takes his hand off his face, his tongue flicking out, tasting the air, ”And what is it that you want from me,” he says, feeling the way the conversation is going.

Anathema smiles, ”Simple, I will have you lead him to the sixth floor.”

At those words, Zorren’s posture changes, straightening, his eyes glinting with new life.

“You are finally allowing me to return?”

Anathema nods, her eyes going cold, ”I’m just as worried about the people I had sent to that floor, especially now after not getting any response from them for so many cycles--”

“Which you refused to allow me to investigate.” Zorren interrupts.

“Only because we need you. We had sent half our population to the sixth floor, hoping to create a stronghold. You’re the only one with the training to guide the soldiers here. I know your daughter was leading the congregation and that you fear for her life, but our species must come first.”

Zorren glares at her, his nonexistent tail, swishing manically, ”And now you want me to leave! To guide this this, whatever he is to the sixth floor! For what?”

“No Zorren!” she yells, her aura enforcing her voice, ”You will be guiding the next generation of our people.”

Zorren stops, not because of the aura, which he is immune to, courtesy of his class, but at the mention of the word ‘generation’, ”What’s happening Ana?”

“I.. I don't think we will get another chance. The dungeon has been getting more and more dangerous. I’ve noticed this, the kitsune have too. The monster levels in the entire dungeon have been slowly increasing. Eventually, they will overtake our warriors. We will eventually die..”

Zorren’s anger completely diminishes, back hunches forward, eyes staring at Anathema, watching her saddened face.

A woman who had lead her people for so much of her life, realizing that they will eventually die off if nothing is done is something few can stomach.

“I’ll do it,” he says, eyes moving towards a room, a room his daughter used to live in.

“Thank you,” Anathema whispers, her gaze lingering only slightly on the empty drink in her hand.

Silence takes over between the two, light slowly diminishing as the dungeon stone dims.

Anathema gets up, picking up her staff. She walks towards the exit, taking one final look at her friend, a man who had lived a hard life, harder even when you consider his age, far older than any of her kind.

“Sleep well,” he says as she walks out.

*******************************************************************************************

“Jessica, our services are needed.”

Turning around from my prayers, I find the [Archpriest] standing over my prostrated form in front of a statue of Eir. The statue, a beautiful representation of a human woman, wearing intricate armor, while majestic white wings burst from her back.

Giving one silent prayer, I turn to the priest, giving him a small respectful bow.

Nodding towards me, his eyes turn to the statue, gazing into Eir’s magnificence.

“We are needed in the borderlands. One of the armies of a [King] named Henceforth will soon be going into war against a [Lord] Dominus. Apparently, this [Lord] Dominus is quite a brutal and cunning man who is causing Henceforth quite a few problems.”

I nod slowly, understanding the situation.

So our coffers are empty again and we need to make more coin.. as private healers.

“When are we leaving?” I ask.

He shakes his head, ”Not we, Jessica, you will be leaving with your fellow [Priestesses] to administer healing to the [Soldiers] after a battle.”

“Yes [Archpriest],” I say, acknowledging his request.

“Good, you will be leaving tomorrow morning. Be ready,” he says.

I take a bow and walk past him, heading towards my room.

I became a [Priestess] to help people, to show them the glory of Eir, not to be some common [Healer].

As I pass the large marble hallway, I look outside, watching the courtyard, my fellow [Priests] and [Priestesses] toiling away on the garden, making sure the medicinal plants are well taken care of.

We should be able to make enough coin from the plants, why must we risk our lives healing armies?

A minute goes by as I pass an intersection and enter the hallway which contains the living quarters.

The living quarters are merely a hallway with small rooms. Each room is numbered and organized by age.

Having been a [Priestess] for several years now, I only walk past eight of the rooms before I stop at mine.

Opening the lockless door, I enter the small confines of my room, gazing at the simplicity of it one last time before I am forced to leave home for several months, possibly even a year.

I walk forward, shutting the door behind me as I sit on my bed, enjoying the softness of the wool bed.

“I guess I can take a small nap. I don’t have much to pack anyways.”

I immediately lay down, gazing at the ceiling.

My eyes slowly close, the warm air lulling me slowly to sleep.

_______

Opening my eyes, I immediately jump up, panicking.

“I overslept,” I say, wiping my eyes with my.. bare arm.

What?

Finally gazing around, I find myself in a relatively large room made of stone.

A cold breeze sends a shiver down my back as I find that I am completely naked except for a leather blanket covering me.

Looking around, at a corner, I find a large spider staring at me from an intricate web on the ceiling.

And then my memories return.

“Peter,” I blurt out, gazing at the red eyes of the black furred arachnid.

Peter, acknowledging my presence, lifts his front feelers up and points at a door.

And then I realized it, this place has no open windows and peter can't open doors.

“Where are we?” I ask, only to immediately realize that I am talking to a spider.

Peter merely just wiggles his feelers, pointing at the door again.

Shaking the sleep from my face, I finally notice where the light for this room is coming from. The ceiling is made of some kind glass which is allowing light to enter the room.

Moving to the side of the bed, I look around, noticing my clothing neatly stacked on a stone chair.

What.. what happened. I remember entering the fog.. and then passing out.

I reach for the clothing grabbing it, staring at the rather rough fabric in my hands.

Did Quasi strip me? Damn, I can't seem to remember. I feel like I overslept.

Groggily, I slowly put on the clothing, my mind feeling very relaxed and slow.

Finishing up, I stand shakily, taking one final look at the room before heading towards the door.

Peter immediately jumps, landing on the shoulder of my robe, his eyes gazing at my own.

I feel like I should be disgusted, but all I feel is a weird sense of calm.

Turning away from Peter, I move my hand to the handle, pulling hard. The door, made out of a translucent crystal, grinds loudly on the floor as it opens.

I step forward, entering a hallway leading toward some stairs.

********************

So I figured out what a cycle is. Apparently, each level of the dungeon except for the first is lit up with giant crystals in the sky. The crystals would periodically greatly dim and then increase in intensity, mimicking the sun.

Getting out of bed, I move over the furred leather covers and walk towards a stone table with my clothing which I slowly put on.

As I put on my clothing, I take a satisfied look at the bed, admiring Tessa’s naked soft scaled body sleeping peacefully on the furred leathered bed.

Yup, I was right, that tail was quite kinky.

Yesterday night was rather interesting, not because of the sex, but more about the fact that she had instigated it.

Granted, I have no qualms going into coitus with different species, especially considering I have had bodies of different species.

Anyhow, she had quickly figured out that I was very experienced, which is why she is still sleeping so soundly.

But damn was she loud. The whole city must have heard her orgasms.

I shake my head, trying to move my mind forward, towards the questions I need to ask, especially considering I did not get any time to ask Tessa about.

Finishing up with putting on my clothing, I open the crystal door and walk out, Mule standing right next to the doorway, looking all intimidating like.

Walking past him, I move down the stairs where I find Anathema sitting in front of a table filled with meats and some kind of liquid in crystal cups.

Nodding towards her, I move to an empty stone seat and sit down, grabbing a cup and drinking the weird green liquid.

Huh, some kind of fruit juice. It’s actually pretty good. I wonder where they get it.

“I must say,” Anathema starts, gazing at me with a smile, ”I was actually not expecting you to mate with my daughter, especially on the first cycle.. nor was I expecting you to make her scream in such pleasure. I am quite jealous, I don’t suppose you have some stamina for me?” she asks with a sharp toothy smile while her tail flickers erratically behind her.

In my long life experience, this is probably one of the weirdest situations I have been in.

Clearing my throat, I lift an eyebrow, ”As much as I would love to awaken your entire city with your screams, I do unfortunately need you awake and cognizant to answer my questions.”

Pouting, or what at least seems like a pout, she grabs one of the glasses and gulps down the greenish fruit juice. ”Well, unfortunate, but I’m sure I'll get my turn.”

She then looks at me, ”Now Quasi, before your questions, I’d like to ask you if you know anything about Aura.”

I stop mid-bite as I was biting into a slice of weird pink meat she had placed in front of me.

Chewing slowly, I then take the meat out of my mouth.

Its raw meat.. should have expected this considering they seem to not have any heat source to cook it.. and sharp teeth.

“I have no idea what aura is, but it sounds like something pertaining to a person.”

She nods, frowning at the partially chewed piece of meat on the table.

“I need my meat cooked,” I say.

Her eyes widen in understanding, ”I see, you are similar to the kitsune.”

Kitsune are fox people, right? Interesting terminology to use..

“You are correct about aura pertaining to a person,” she says, her thoughts going elsewhere.

“This is actually rather difficult to explain considering my aura is nowhere near enough to affect you.”

Affect me.. could it be!

“Give me an example, I think I’m starting to understand what you’re saying.”

Her tongue flicks out, ”Hmmm, when I speak, I can imbue my words with my aura, making people obey me without a second thought.”

My eyes widen, ”That's how you got all those people to leave without complaints!” I say, realizing what she had done.

She nods, smiling now towards me, ” Correct, many of them would have been against my decision to be left guardless around you.”

Alright, that makes a lot of sense now.

“Soooo, how would one like myself be able to utilize this aura as you do.”

She chuckles softly, ”Unfortunately, I had learned to utilize my aura through training from the kitsune, training which I, unfortunately, cannot teach you.”

I frown at her words, ”Is it because the kitsune do not want you to or is it because you can't for some reason.”

She flicks her tail, ”Both actually. The Kitsune wouldn't want me spouting out their secrets, but I would make an exception for you if I could. Unfortunately, aura training requires someone of a more powerful aura to train someone with a weaker one.”

Interesting.

“So my aura is stronger than yours.”

She nods slowly, ”I wouldn't use the word stronger. A better term would be thicker.” she says, thinking.

“My aura would be described as a gas, while yours would be described as thick mud. I have little to no chance of even affecting you.”

Nice, my aura is thick.

“Let me guess, age determines aura strength.. or err, thickness?”

She pauses and then nods, ”Age and class. Many classes utilize aura and grow in strength with levels. I have had a class called [City Leader] before I outleveled it with my [Geomancer] class. Eventually, the class was removed but I still kept all of my skills relating to it.”

“Regardless, your aura will cause many problems if it’s not suppressed, which is actually relatively easy to do. And yes, you are going to want to suppress it unless you plan on sleeping with every female which takes a liking to you,” she says with a seductive smile.

So what, I've been giving subconscious sexual vibes to people every time I get horny? Fuck you Loki.. It's probably not his fault.. still, Fuck you Loki.

“So what do I have to do?” I ask

She moves and grabs a piece of meat, her teeth ripping it apart with ease. She chews and swallows slowly, her thoughts, ”aura surrounds people similar to a physical entity. The aura will meld, form, change based upon your emotions, affecting people of a significantly weaker aura. What you must do is visualize your aura to stand still, to restrict it to your body.”

Easy enough

Immediately I enter a meditative stance, my heart slows as I feel myself, visualizing a dense liquid to relax and stay still, unmoving to the force of my will and emotions.

“Amazing,” she says, her eyes widening, ”it took me several months to suppress my aura..” she continues to stare at me in utter amazement.

“I.. you truly are amazing.”

Not amazing, just experienced.. very experienced.. and amazing.

“Well then, I can't tell if it's working, but I’ll take your word for it.”

I grab my glass and chug it down, her gaze still planted on me, ”So, question, what is this dungeon, why are you trapped here and what plan do you have for me?” I ask.

She blinks, her mind returning back to the present, ”Right.. well, we can't leave this dungeon precisely because of the fog, thus, the only thing we can do is to go deeper into the dungeon,” her tail swishes, her mind thinking about something else.

“We know that there's a way to escape the dungeon on the tenth floor, but traveling to that area is impossible for us.. which is where you come in.”

So they are trapped and want freedom but lack the strength to obtain it.

“So you need me to free your people. What's in it for me?”

I don't work for free. I'm too old for that shit.

Her gaze hardens, not of someone caught unaware, but of someone who knows what they want and the price, it will cost.

“Loyalty and servitude. I will pledge my people to your cause. I doubt you can rule the world alone, you will need an army.” she says without a stutter.

That.. is actually a pretty good deal.

“Simple enough, but what’s your plan?” I ask, reading her underlying confidence.

Her tail swishes quickly, ”That will take a while to explain. First, you must know that we have three other intelligent beings living within this dungeon. We, the Gajeda, live on the first floor. The second floor is home to the minotaurs. The third floor is home to the centaurs,” and then she pauses, ”and the fourth level is home to the kitsune.”

Mythology meets reality, dungeon style.

“Is your kind known by some other names.”

She immediately shakes her head, and then stops, ”Actually, the kitsune once told me that my kind used to be called 'Draconian’.”

Failing to suppress a smile, I gaze at her lizard-like features, features which seem to be more present on males than females.

I wonder if they have some relation to dragons.

“I see, so what floor is giving you trouble?” I ask, already figuring out the play of the game.

Unfortunately, my question quickly causes a frown to descend on her face. ”Recently we’ve been able to pass the fifth floor and enter the sixth. On the sixth floor, a floor covered in mostly sand, we were able to create a staging point. A place of safety to build another city of our kind.”

She pauses, her tail swishing back and forth, ”But we lost contact with them completely.”

And here is the underlying problem.

“And you don't know the reason.”

She nods towards my statement.

“So you want me, to go to the sixth floor, find out what took out an entire cities worth of people or what is keeping them from traveling back here, solve the problem, and continue on towards the tenth floor.”

“Correct,” she says without hesitation, her tail swishing quickly.

I lift an eyebrow, ”Am I to understand I will be given a guide?”

“You will be given half my population and a guide.”

Holy crap! Half? I mean sure, I can already see their population already pretty low, especially considering it’s mostly children, but still, they’re quite desperate.

“How much is half..” I ask, trying to think up a proper number.

Considering the density of the population going in, the size of the city, I’d guess their current population is about 2000.. so about a thousand people.

“I..,” she hesitates, thinking, ”I can send about seven hundred, most of them are people who can fight.. I do not wish to send children.”

Seven hundred, most can fight, and they're probably underleveled.. She’s very desperate indeed.

“I’m going to pick and choose people to go with me. I doubt you have any experience leading armies, but you should know, the strength of an army is based upon the people who reside in it, not the number of fighters. A large untrained, unorganized group will just cause needless deaths and wasted resources.”

Her gaze looks to me, attempting to read my aura, but when she fails a frown forms on her scaly face.

She looks down, ”Have you led armies before?” she asks, knowing the answer.

“Several. Some of the armies have even numbered in the millions.”

Taking a deep breath, her posture improves, ”How would you like me to organize my people for your choosing process?” she asks.

“I’ll tell you in a... cycle, first I must check the surroundings... analyze your people,” I turn towards the stairs, looking at Jessica as she calmly gazes at me, ”and get some much-needed information from her.”

I wave for her to come closer, pointing a chair next to mine.

Jessica, abnormally relaxed, walks forward, her mind seemingly elsewhere as she calmly ignores the lizard woman in the room.

She sits down, the spider on her head jumps down, landing on the table and bites into some pink meat. Jessica merely looks at the table, looks at me and the empty drink in my hand. She then reaches forward, takes a cup and slowly starts to sip.

Well, that was anticlimactic.

I turn to Anathema, ”Soooo, this is Jessica.. who is acting very oddly.. more so than she usually does.”

Anathema looks at the girl, gazing at Jessica as she just sits there, eyes blank, ”She’s fine. Her aura is in a state of shock, having been suppressed for so long due to the fog. It will fix itself within a half cycle, probably less.”

Well, that's good. I was kinda hoping for an over the top reaction from her, especially considering how against she was towards me entering the fog.

I stand up, cracking my neck, ”I do have more questions for you, but I think it would be best to wait a bit longer.”

I look at Jessica, her gaze devoid of thought, ”Jessica, how far can I get from you without the collar killing you?”

Her head moves away from Peter, turning towards me. She pauses, gazing for a moment, ”Half a mile,” she answers calmly.

That is so weird.. it's like talking to a puppet.

Anathema just stays quiet, gazing at us, watching our interactions, specifically focused on the spider.

“Good enough. I’m going to head towards the dungeon stone. I’m curious what I’ll find.” I say, turning towards the exit.

“You should really get an escort,” Anathema interrupts as I am walking out.

Without turning my back, I wave my hand in the air, ”Please keep Peter and Jessica safe, I’ll be back in a bit.” I say, exiting the home.

_____

Anathema’s home is built above, towards the dungeon wall, overlooking the entire city. From it, I am able to see the entire city. At the center of the city is a glowing stalagmite coming from the top of the cave down to the center of the city. Around the stalagmite are crystalline mirrors surrounding it, redirecting light into dwellings and streets around it.

Without further ado, I quickly find the stairs, walking down and heading towards the Dungeon Stone.

Moments pass and I find myself leveled with the city, only passing a couple of people who just look at me with curiosity and a bit of fear.

None approach me, not even the children who keep their distance but follow me as I pass by streets. Even a few [Guards] which I have walked past had only given me a furtive glance.

This city, though decently big, should be able to house quite a few people.. unfortunately, it seems so empty. I can only wonder the number of people they had sent to the sixth floor.

A couple of minutes of looking around, I quickly get bored after realizing that the most interesting aspect of this place would be the light source. Other than that, this city seems more of a ghost town, especially considering the lack of adults and the large number of kids. I stop, turning around.

Immediately, over twenty Gajen children stop, stare at me, and then quickly run and hide behind whatever is available, their eyes poking out to check If I am looking towards them or not.

Seventeen kids.

Shaking my head, I turn around and make my way towards the source of the light.

A couple of minutes later, adding five more kids to my posse, I finally reach the bottom of the stone. Around the stone are clear walkways while two [Gejadan Guards] stand firm, ready to react to any threat.

I walk forward, the two men look at me, their eyes curious.

“Anathema has allowed me to access the dungeon stone,” I say.

“We know,” the guards reply.

Immediately, they move away from each other, allowing me to pass.

I nod toward them as I pass them by. They do not react, merely watch me with curiosity.

With a slight bit of trepidation and an enormous amount of curiosity, I lift my hand and place it upon the soft glowing surface of the stone.

Scanning...

Class [Hero] found, updating entity [Quasi Eludo].

Quasi Eludo

Level 14 Necromancer

Level 29 Hero

Raise Undead

Advanced Analyse

Skeletal Renewal

Enhanced Undead

Bone Telekinesis.

Strength

23

Dexterity

36

Stamina

32(34)

Perception

235

Endurance

14

Vitality

227(229)

Mana

700(1000)

M/regen

2.3(3.83)

Affinity

13

Intelligence

435(545)

Willpower

3047

Soul

4143

Robe of the Undead Caller(Rare): Halves All mana regeneration costs for undead upkeep. Does not allow additional Upkeeps.

[Hero] Level 25 has been achieved. Max number of classes to level quickly has been increased from 2 to 3. Currently ?.

Information floods my head, telling me what I have and what is available. At the same time, the same screens appear in front of my eyes. The whole situation takes me a good minute to fully comprehend and understand.

Weird, all of the information I’ve been getting was in the form of boxes appearing in the air, no weird information was ever forced into my head.

“Hey guys,” I say, grabbing the attention of the two guards near me, ”when you place your hands on this stone, is knowledge about yourself placed directly into your head or is the information shown in writing in front of you?”

The two guards look to each other, trying to better understand the question. One guard flicks his tail in confusion while the other just looks at me like I'm an idiot, ”There is nothing to read, it's just a rock.” he says.

I see, so people do not normally get floating screens in front of them.. which means the screens are a result of my [Hero] class.

“Thank you, that's all I needed to hear,” I say, focusing upon the stone once again.

The guards, confused, just shrug, turning away from me.

With a mental command, I order the stone to show me a list of possible classes.

Calculating classes available based on species, stats, and life experience...

Immediately a wave of enormous pain rips into my head, forcing me on my knees. My mind, fervently attempting to withstand the sheer onslaught of information bombarding my head. The pain is significant, but it does not last long.

Query finished.

And then the pain stops, my mind flowing with an enormous amount of information on classes.

Taking a deep breath, I stand up, waving the concerned and questioning eyes of the two guards.

That was a horrible idea.. I seriously need to ask more questions before I do things.

Well, I have a lot of classes to choose from, many of which are quite useless, while others are pretty interesting. Looking through my mental encyclopedia, I shift through it for several hours until I find two classes that interest me. I mentally choose and accept them, which leads me to be greeted with several system messages.

New class obtained: [Enchanter]

Enchanters are those who add magical abilities to objects.

You are now a level 1 [Enchanter].

New skill obtained: [Enchant]: By utilizing mana, you are able to create a magical effect towards an object based upon your level.

The first class choice is rather simple, it should allow me to enchant any object, this I believe includes bones and flesh, something I am very familiar with.

New class obtained: [Noble]

ERROR- CLASS BLOODLINE RESTRICTIONS NOT MET.

scanning..

Entity Quasi Eludo has class restrictions waived by SAS11.

Class [Noble] has been obtained.

You are now a level 1 [Noble]

New skill obtained: [Loud Voice]: Some heroes walk the world as a silent protagonist, but not you. You instead make your presence clear, not just by your actions, but by your voice.

The second class was chosen because of Anathema and her ability to outright manipulate people with her aura. She had mentioned that she had a [Leader] class which had given her skills that manipulate her aura into affecting others, but I felt that that specific class was rather weak.. in the sense that its potential did not feel that large.

Yes, feel might not be the best way to describe it, but when I hovered over the idea of obtaining the [Leader] class, I felt rather congested, like it was going to be a bad idea.. something I would regret later. I -->>

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