Content warning:


    Blood.


    The following morning, Lauren was waiting with her family while others were still busy preparing for the day.


    Heather came over to them. “I got a reply from Marama. She said to show the mushroom she left behind as proof that Abyssal Seekers came here illegally.”


    Lucia looked at her. “She’s aware of the trouble she’s like to get in?”


    “She is. She wants out of the team that badly.”


    “Alright, I’ll get Sean on it, then.”


    Lauren glanced from Heather to the others, then back to Heather. “Several of you seem tired. Will you be okay?”


    “Yeah.” Heather stifled a yawn. “Sleeping in a Dungeon is always nerve-wracking, especially this one.”


    Lucia asked, “Do you know where you want to set up the telepad?”


    “Yeah,” Lauren said, making and then drinking a sip of water. “I’ve got a good spot in mind. It’s far enough away that people hopefully won’t bother us too much here, but still close enough that we can rush over if there’s trouble.”


    Once everyone was ready, Lauren led the group to a nearby rocky overhang. It only took around half an hour of running through the trees to get there. Lucia removed the portable telepad from her back and got it set up while the rest of the group stood protectively around her.


    After activating it, they then had to wait several hours for a large part to come through—one section of a permanent telepad—and then repeat that process all over again. By the time they had all the pieces fully assembled, the sun was setting.


    Lauren tensed as the permanent telepad was activated for the first time.


    Alright, here we go.


    A group of five appeared with their weapons drawn. Seeing no immediate danger, they relaxed. While the new arrivals were informed of what was the area, the empty spools from the day before were loaded onto the telepad and sent back to the EA. And with that, their task was complete, so they returned to Lauren’s house.


    There was still a little time left in the day, so Lauren got to work creating another bathroom so there wouldn’t be fifteen people all trying to use the one in her house. She quickly ripped large amounts of rock from the wall to make an alcove, making no attempt at a nice-looking result.


    With that done, she began on the toilet. Unlike the walls, she spent more time on it, making sure it would actually be comfortable, and ensuring the stone was solid and had no leaks. She then ripped another alcove out of the wall for a shower, and made the floor slightly slanted, with a hole leading outside. With all the structural work done, she grabbed compost for the toilet, and crystals for both rooms. The crystals were for light, air circulation, water, and soundproofing, as well as the other crystals for making sure the Dungeon wouldn’t regenerate the rock she’d removed.


    “Alright,” Lauren said, checking to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. “I’ll make them nicer tomorrow, but for now the focus was on function over form. I’ll make more tomorrow, but it’s already late, so this will have to do.”


    “Creating a big bath might work better, otherwise we’ll still have tons of people waiting to use the limited showers,” Emma said. She’d been sitting in the training area with Mist, arms around each other.


    “That’s a good point.” She stretched. “I can work on suggestions in the morning.”


    She walked into her garden area, where Heather and Savannah were leaning on the outer wall, taking in the night view of the jungle and chatting. They turned when they heard her approaching.


    “All done?” Savannah asked, her brown hair swaying in the breeze.


    “It’s functional, but I wouldn’t call it done,” Lauren said.


    Savannah nodded. “Mom and Lucia are digging into the wall, by the way. They may even have the beginning of another room started already.”


    “Oh, that’s helpful.” Lauren licked her lips. “Um, I wanted to talk to Heather for a bit, so could we talk later.”


    Savannah’s gaze went back and forth between Lauren and the bee girl a couple times. “Sure thing.” She gave a knowing smile, then entered the house.


    Lauren moved next to Heather, who was smiling in anticipation.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Okay, I’ve had a whole month to think about this.


    “So, um…” Lauren started. Every feeble plan she’d come up with vanished from her mind. “Do you want to go out?” she forced herself to say.


    Heather’s antennae twitched while she was momentarily stunned from the sheer bluntness. She chuckled. “Yes, you dork. As long as you’re ready.”


    Lauren grinned and nodded. “I am. …Um, I’m not really sure what to do now. It’s been a while for me.”


    The bee girl stepped forward and hugged her. “I know. That’s fine. We can just chat while we work on Dungeon stuff together, and make time for the occasional date.”


    Lauren returned the hug. “When you say it like that, it sounds so easy.”


    “Should be. As long as we talk to each other when something is difficult, we can deal with any potential problems.”


    Lauren tightened her hug around her new girlfriend.


    She’s so smart.


    “I gotta say,” Heather began, “being hugged by someone so much taller than me is pretty incredible.”


    Lauren chuckled, and they locked eyes for a long moment. Lit by moonlight and dim garden lights, the bee girl’s face had an ethereal glow to it. Lauren opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.


    Heather gave a small smile. “We should go to sleep.”


    “…Yeah,” Lauren said. “Goodnight, Heather.”


    “Mhmm. I’ll see you in the morning.”


    Once Heather was gone, Lauren thunked her head against the wall. She gazed at the underground sky for a few minutes, then left for the comfort of her hammock.


    Alone, Lauren landed on a small bit of rock jutting out from the cliff face, which overlooked the telepad site from a distance. Heavy rain and wind battered at her, so she altered the rock slightly to lock herself into position. A thin barrier around herself prevented her from getting drenched.


    The Explorer’s Association had already constructed a large stone dome around the site, merging it with the cliffside. Several small slits ran along the wall, faint light coming from within. Signs of battle surrounded the structure, with carnage from numerous spells already visible. The soil and foliage were blasted apart, several spots were scorched, and copious bloodstains covered the ground. Some of the bloodstains trailed inside the dome’s entrance, where six guards stood just outside of it, keeping watch.


    Should I have stayed to help people? Clearly at least some of them are struggling. I don’t see any signs of people going very far into the forest yet.


    With there being no immediate danger, she decided to just keep an eye on things for now. A while later, she noticed some branches shifting in a slow pattern, gradually moving closer to the dome.


    A snake. It’s closing in on them. How will those guards handle it?


    The guards were diligently keeping their eyes on their surroundings, and those with ears that could swivel like Lauren’s also tried to hear anything through the pounding rain. They occasionally cast spells to detect if there was anything nearby on top of that.


    But, despite their efforts, they had yet to notice the train-sized snake looming high above them.


    I guess they’re not used to environments at this scale? Even the Floors above were only maybe half this size. Really makes you feel insignificant.


    Lauren leaped off her perch and landed silently on the dome. She sensed the mana of at least a dozen people below her feet, though none of them seemed in a rush.


    The snake launched itself from the treetop, aiming directly for one of the guards, while simultaneously using a water spell to fire venom from its teeth


    The guards were only just starting to react, so Lauren launched herself at the snake, catching the poison with a water spell of her own before tossing it aside.


    Oh, it’s a python! It’s nice to actually know the species of stuff now. Pythons don’t have venom, though, so I guess it was changed by mana? I don’t recall any pictures of ones with purple and yellow spots like that.


    Amid such a downpour, it was a simple task to manipulate the water. She collected it into two large masses and wrapped them around the snake like a giant pair of hands. Using those ‘hands’, she turned the snake around, then flew into the distance, pulling the thrashing creature behind her. One of the guards yelped in surprise before she vanished.


    Lauren set the snake down far away. It immediately lunged at her, but she was already gone. She soon landed back at the dome, finding that the guards had retreated inside and shut the entrance.


    Resting her spear on her shoulder, she loudly announced, “The snake is taken care of. I won’t always be around, so be careful.”


    No one came out to talk to her, so she flew back home. A few minutes later, she ran into her girlfriend and older sister, both waiting for her in the garden. They got up from their seats when they noticed her.


    “How is the snake?” Heather intoned.


    Lauren paused. “Um… fine? How do you know about it?”


    “They’re streaming,” Emma said, holding up her phone for Lauren to see. The view was from one of the thin slits along the dome’s wall. The guards had stepped back outside, and half of them were looking up now. They also appeared much more tense.


    Heather stepped closer. “Why did you go off on your own to watch them like that? I’m guessing you left much sooner than when you showed up on camera?”


    “I-I mean,” Lauren began, “when I need to check on something, I always do it first thing in the morning.”


    “Lauren, you scared the hell out of them,” Emma said. “They’ve already had a few close calls. You showed up suddenly, and your armor looks even more menacing than normal when you’re standing there in the rain after showing off powerful magic.


    “Basically, you should’ve just spoken with them and actually gone inside the dome.”


    “Right…” Lauren muttered. “Sorry. I was worried about what they might be up to, but I guess I need to reevaluate my behavior when dealing with humans.”


    Heather nodded. “Thankfully, they don’t seem to know that you were watching them.”


    “Spying bad, got it,” Lauren said, then started giggling.


    “What’s funny?” Emma asked, tilting her head.


    “Having someone to scold me is nice.”


    Emma and Heather both gave complicated smiles.